As noted in the prior posting, I
taught my lesson to a group of 7 students made up of two 8th
graders, their parents, and my wife. The
lesson centered on the American political parties in existence at the time of
the ratification of the Constitution and the media from that era. The culminating assignment was for the
students to draft a newspaper article documenting the events from that period
and addressing the viewpoints of the two parties.
The pre-assessment consisted of a
Power-Point presentation with information about the two political parties
(Federalists and Democrat-Republicans) and their core tenets. Before showing each slide I would pose a
quick question to the class asking them about a particular aspect of the
upcoming slide (i.e. what were some of the central beliefs of a
Federalist?). This allowed me to gauge
the amount of prior knowledge my class had about some of the concepts we would
be discussing. Plus, I found that it
served to engage the class in the lesson as they were active participants
instead of merely sitting idly by as I droned on and on.
Next, I showed the class an article
from a newspaper from that era. We
briefly examined the structure of the article and how the author provided vital
information within the first paragraph explaining the key information to the
reader. I used the article as a means to
have the class analyze it and answer questions I posed to them.
I organized the class into pairs and
provided them with key events from that period that required analysis based on
the dueling viewpoints of the political parties (e.g. the National Bank). The purpose of pairing the class up was so
that each student could represent a side in the debate. They would research the topic and then each
of them would draft their portions of the article to demonstrate their side’s
argument for or against the issue. The
students would combine their findings into a single article that addressed both
viewpoints.
After the students had had enough
time to draft their articles, we reconvened and I had a member from each group
read aloud their article. I would stop
the reading periodically to have the class discuss why each side would be for
or against the particular issue. At the
end of class, I had each group turn in their articles, which is how the lesson
would be graded.
In terms of assessment, I was able
to keep an eye on the class for the entirety of the lesson. During the pre-assessment section, I asked
several questions of the class to determine the amount of prior knowledge they
had about the subject. I circulated
through the room during their time drafting the article to ensure they were
understanding the concepts of what was being taught. During the class discussion at the end of
class, I assessed their understanding of the concepts as applied to various
issues from that time. Finally, the
submission of their articles would serve as the means to grade their
understanding of the material.
Most notably, I learned how
invaluable the pre-assessment phase in the lesson is. This stage sets everything up and can ensure
that the information provided is something they can understand. By providing a thorough pre-assessment
presentation, the students (all of whom had no real background with this
information) could understand what was expected of them for the day and what
they needed to learn.
Based on the importance of the
pre-assessment, what I would change is how I imparted the information to the
students. In this particular instance, I
felt I needed to provide a history lesson to my class due to the fact they were
sitting in on a one-time class with no background knowledge of the
material. What I would hope to do with a
real class would be to have the pre-assessment focus on more student led
discussion. I feel that such
collaboration amongst peers, both with the entire class and in smaller groups
or pairs, can create a more engaging learning environment and experience for
the students.
What I enjoyed the most from this experience was the discussion
with the students. It felt amazing to
have them be engaged in the material and to be answering questions with well
thought out answers. I could see it in
their eyes as they gave answers to questions that they were enjoying themselves. Even more, I loved seeing them think through
the questions and provide answers that they discovered on their own. It was truly exhilarating to have them
respond to the material and to the manner in which it was delivered to them.
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