Economics Lesson

 What?

Opening and Read-Aloud

The lesson began with reviewing the rules we had agreed upon two weeks prior and the agenda for the day. The teacher decided to skip the activity so that students would have more time for the invention investigation, which would take a big chunk of time during the lesson. The students were read to from a book on Kindle Unlimited that reviews all the ancient Egyptians' inventions. The teacher did not read the whole book but read selected sections to the students so they would learn about innovations different from those in the investigation activity. The read-aloud needed to be shortened to ten minutes to complete the day's learning activities.

The teacher reading the online book to students.

Goods vs. Services 

The teacher then introduced the concepts of goods and services to students. The teacher started by defining the word goods for the students. Goods are physical items that we can touch and see that meet our wants and needs. Then, she stated a few examples of goods, such as the binder clip she held. The students then passed around the binder clip to enforce the fact that goods are things we can see and touch. Then, students named a few of their own examples, such as pencils and hot dogs. After, the teacher defined the word service for students as a skill a person has that they use to meet their wants and needs. She named a few examples and then had the students call their own examples. 

Defining goods and services.

After explicit instruction, the students were asked to apply their new knowledge to a mini-game. The mini-game was made by the teacher with the intent of quickly assessing the students' understanding of the new concepts and providing opportunities to practice the new vocabulary. The game required students to identify the picture the teacher held as a good or service using cards with each term. After the group gave a unanimous answer, they circled it on their worksheets. The students and teacher did this for ten different items. 

Goods and services cards and worksheet for students. 

The teacher holding a bread card for students, which is a good. 

Invention Investigation

Afterward, the students pretended to be archaeologists! Archeologists study artifacts and the history of civilizations. The students conducted the same process during their invention investigation. The students were given the directions and then organized into two groups of two and one group of three. We originally had one group of two and one of three since two students had to go with the reading specialist. When these students came back, they formed the third group. Once in their groups, students were given an investigation envelope, their portfolios, and a pencil. Students then conducted their investigations.

Invention investigation envelopes. 

Before beginning their investigations, the students wrote the definitions of goods and services on the cover page of the mini-book in their portfolios. Students were allowed to write the actual definition, examples, or a picture to represent the term. The teacher allowed multimodal forms of answers to ensure the students used definitions to help them remember the information. 

Mini-book in students' portfolios.

The students then received their first investigation. They took all of the contents out of the envelope. First, they recorded the information about the invention in the mini-books in their portfolios. They had to read the information card to find the invention name, the year it was invented, the definition, its presence in today's society, and whether it is a good or service. Second, they read the directions for the activity connected to the invention. Lastly, the students would perform the exercise with their partner. After five to seven minutes, students would switch investigations. 

Students working on investigations. 

Students were only able to complete some of the six investigations. Two groups completed four investigations, while the third group completed three. The third group conducted one less study since they returned from the specialist in the middle of the activity. One teacher caught them up on the information while the other continued to help the other groups with their investigations.

Blooket

After the investigations, students had ten minutes to complete a Blooket quiz. Blooket is an online forum that allows students to play a game while answering academic questions. The Blooket served as our summative assessment since it asked students questions about the inventions from their investigations. Students played Tower Defense as the theme and were able to play quietly. There were some questions the students needed to know the answer to since that investigation was not completed by their group. The teachers helped the students by leading them to the correct answer. The teacher did not directly give them the information but told them other information that helped students find the answer. This worked well and allowed the students to use their knowledge instead of the teachers. Four out of the seven students received an 85% accuracy or higher, and the other three received an accuracy of 70% or higher. This means about 50% of the students met the learning objectives. This makes sense since some information was not reviewed during the lesson due to time constraints. 

So What?

During this lesson, we learned that the students enjoy working in collaborative groups. Students could have fun with each other while still learning and completing tasks. They can use each other as resources to strengthen their final product. The teachers rarely had to step in to help the students complete a task. We noticed that the group of three often has one student who gets left out. One of the teachers stays close to this group to ensure everyone is involved. The students enjoy the hands-on activities and following along in their mini-books. 

We also learned that small group work and turn and talks will benefit one of our students exponentially. We have noticed that in the past weeks, one student seemed hesitant to participate in the conversation. We asked the classroom teacher how to help this student feel more comfortable participating. We were informed that he benefitted from working one-on-one with peers and sharing with the whole group. This information enabled us to create an optimal learning environment for him during the lesson. The teacher ensured this student worked in a group of two and monitored to see if the student participated. The student helped his partner by reading and finding important information about the invention. His participation increased when he worked with one other student instead of two others, like last time. The students seemed to be warming up to us as teachers and more willing to answer our questions. 

The students were motivated and excited to participate in the investigations. These activities were fun, thoughtful, and informational. They created an opportunity for students to understand and experience the invention. The students were excited to do the exercises but needed to read the information. The students had to read the info first but often tried to skip right to the activity. We had to monitor students to ensure they were completing the tasks correctly. The students were disappointed that they couldn't finish all the investigations. This led to the students needing help to gather all the information or complete the activities. The students only had time to gather information or complete the activity, but not both. Fewer investigations would have allowed the students to gather all the necessary information while completing the task. 

Now What?

In the future, I will quadruple-check that I have all my materials. Two days before the lesson, I had put all the stuff I needed in a bag. I just needed to remember my laptop Friday morning, which I forgot. Luckily, my co-teacher had brought her laptop. I felt terrible since this was ill-preparation on my part. It also caused a problem because I struggled to sign in to my accounts on her computer and had to do that while teaching the lesson. It was an actual test of multitasking! In the future, I will create a checklist and triple-check it the morning of the class to ensure all materials and supplies are there. 

I would do the invention investigation differently next time. I would include four studies instead of six and change the mini-books to match activities more than information. The students needed at least ten minutes to complete all the tasks in each envelope. I had planned to give the students five minutes for each investigation. I realize now that this was an ambitious goal. The students rushed through the information and were rarely able to complete the activity that made the information concrete. Since students were focused on the tasks, I gave them seven to ten minutes per investigation. This led to students only completing four studies. This shows that four would be sufficient in the future for this age group. 

I also would change the mini-books to focus less on information and more on the activities. This would have allowed students to read the information and apply their knowledge sooner. One exercise asked the students to make breath mints. In their mini-books, they could've provided the ingredients and tools needed to make breath mints. The page would have also said the invention and whether it was a good or service. Another activity asked the students to put the types of door locks in chronological order. The students could have filled out a timeline in their mini-books. This allowed the students to absorb and apply their knowledge during the activity.