Advocacy Lesson

What?

Opening

The lesson began with an opening game, Egyptian Pictionary. The students were provided a whiteboard and marker. Each student had a chance to pick a term out of a cup that they would draw for their peers. Each term related to something we learned about Egypt throughout the six weeks. While the student drew the image, their peers tried to guess what they were drawing. The students put their thumbs up when they wanted to answer to prevent the activity from getting too chaotic. The students were eager and excited to play the game. They also followed directions very well and did not shout out. We were able to get to all the students promptly. 

Student drawing the term "language" during Pictionary.

Read-Aloud

The teacher then read the book The Egyptian Lullaby by Zeena Pliska. This book talks about an aunt who is coming to visit her niece. The aunt lives in Egypt and travels to California. During her aunt's visit, the little girl learns a lot about Egypt, including the Arabic language, traditional food, and aspects of the culture. The book repeats some lines, so the students were encouraged to join if they knew the words. One student was very excited to read along with the teacher and took on the challenge of saying all the repeated phrases. 

Teacher reading Egyptian Lullaby by Zeena Pliska.

Introduction to Water Shortage in Egypt

Next, the teacher introduced the topic for the day's lesson. The lesson had to focus on advocacy globally and in our communities. The teacher created a slideshow to present Egypt's most significant current issue: the water shortage. The students learned how Egypt and eleven other countries rely on the Nile River as their primary water resource. Due to Africa being heavy on desertlands, there is little fresh water available to the people who live there. Thus, the Nile River has been supporting life in Africa for centuries.

Due to global warming, the glaciers are melting, which is increasing the amount of ocean water. This increase in salt water is causing land in Egypt to be covered in water, as well as an increase in the salinity of soil and the Nile River. The increase in salt is causing the land to be less fertile, and the water is becoming so salty that it cannot be adequately filtered. There has also been a rapid increase in population growth, causing more water to be used than previously. 

The students then learned about how people have alleviated water shortage issues in the past. They investigated four leading solutions: conserving water, creating a water filter system, planting more crops, and not building anything near the place you are trying to help. The students discussed how these solutions provided certain benefits that would help increase the water in Egypt. 

The teacher talking about the water shortage in Egypt

Create Solutions

After, the students were challenged to create their own solutions for the water shortage in Egypt. The students started by filling in the blanks in the final space in their portfolios. The students had to name their solution and provide one to two reasons for choosing it. The students were expected to complete this with 90% accuracy, based on their ability to clearly state their solution and provide evidence. Students also had to sketch what their solution would look like using labels as needed. This counted as the students' summative assessment for the lesson; each student could complete it with 90% to 95% accuracy. 

Students were then challenged to build their solutions using the materials provided by the teacher. The students had pipe cleaners, string, tape, a plastic cup, tin foil, and popsicle sticks to build their models. The students excitedly took on the task and quickly got to work! This was not part of the summative assessment but as an extension of their summative assessment. Students could participate in the engineering process, which added to student engagement. 

Students planning their solutions.

Student solution sample one.

Student solution sample two. 

Share Solutions

After planning and creating their solutions, the students could share their ideas with their peers. The students were not graded on their presentations but were encouraged to share as many details as possible. Being part of a community and solving problems for the greater good means sharing our ideas and solutions with each other. Collaborating allows the community to refine and build on each other's ideas to improve them. The students could engage in a discussion about each other's solutions and their strengths and weaknesses. 

The students and teachers sharing models of their solutions.

Closing

For the closing, the teachers presented students with their portfolios, cards, and gift bags to take home. The students also gave the teachers a card. During the closing, the students and teachers reflected on their time together and shared how they would miss each other. The gift bags contained Egyptian-themed gifts such as postcards and building blocks for pyramids. The students were gracious and reminiscent of the last six weeks. 

Card created by students for the teachers.

So What?

For Pictionary, I had the students repeat the directions to me and clarified that if the activity got chaotic, we would stop playing. The students were very responsive to this form of receiving directions. They were able to repeat the directions back as well as follow them successfully. Both teachers praised the students' listening skills and ability to complete the activity correctly and appropriately. 

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Though students understood the water shortage in Egypt and the solutions, some of the vocabulary needed to be less technical. The students struggled to fully comprehend the idea we could assess from their confused faces. Luckily, the teacher had provided more picture examples and visual aids for the terms rather than formal definitions. When students were able to see the images, they showed more understanding of the concepts by being able to explain them or having an "aha" moment. 

The extension of the summative assessment served to be highly motivating for students. Students knew that after they wrote about and sketched their solutions, they would have to build a model and share their ideas with the group. The students worked extra hard on their portfolio pieces due to these expectations. We could tell they were working hard since they were silent, looking down at their papers and writing or drawing. When reviewing the students' work, they put a lot of detail into their drawings and verbal explanations. Since this portfolio addition was the summative assessment, it was important for students to do their best work. Increasing the motivation helped the students be successful. 

When students were sharing their solutions, there was evident growth in their confidence and presentation abilities. Students spoke with clear and loud voices, shared the details of their solutions and models, and made eye contact with the audience. During our first group sharing, students were more timid and nervous. We struggled to hear them, and they were reluctant to share their knowledge. Through many activities that involved peer collaboration and group discussions, the students were able to improve their abilities in sharing and defending their expertise to individuals and groups of people. 

Now What?

In the future, I will have students repeat the directions. This ensured that all students were listening and understood the directions. I quickly assessed the students and their needs based on whether they were able to repeat the directions. If I noticed a student did not answer, I would repeat the directions and then have them repeat it. The students were successful with the activity, and delivered directions in this format played a significant role. 

Next time, I will create informational slideshows with more appropriate language for students. Although the images helped the students understand the concept, a verbal definition would be helpful, too. Next time, further research must be done to ensure the students have accessible definitions and visuals. Students can benefit from one or the other, but using them in tandem is the most beneficial. 

Next time, I would skip the read-aloud to provide more time to investigate the water shortage in Egypt and create solutions. The slideshow could have been a read-aloud while allowing students to learn the day's content. Combining these two segments of the lesson would have given the teacher and students extra time to focus on the essential parts since it did feel rushed at the end. The students could also not complete the student surveys due to time constraints, which could have been prevented by replacing a read-aloud book with a slideshow. 

In the future, I will include an extension to summative assessments. Knowing the summative assessment was for more than a grade motivated the students to work harder. They provided detailed explanations and drawings of their solutions with 90% to 95% accuracy. This was the highest percentage of the whole unit. Having the extension gave the students a purpose for completing the last section of their portfolios. This purpose led the students to more refined work. Giving students this motivation during a lesson and assessment is essential; thus, I will use this strategy in the future. 

Next time, I would switch the opening and closing activity. For the closing, students were supposed to complete a survey, which would be the summative assessment for our interdisciplinary unit. Due to time constraints, students were not able to complete this survey. Egyptian Pictionary was a formative assessment for the interdisciplinary unit. Although it was a fun opening activity, it was less important than the survey. Having students complete the survey at the beginning would have activated prior knowledge of Egypt and allowed the teachers to receive direct feedback on the unit as a whole rather than by each lesson.