Craig+Jones+Lessons

Lesson Title: **Getting to Know the Ancient Inhabitants of Georgia** Grade Level: 8th Unit: Georgia Prior to European Contact

=GOALS=


 * Academic Knowledge and Skills:**
 * Evaluate the development of Native American cultures and the impact of European exploration and settlement on the Native American cultures in Georgia (GPS) (8SS_D2007-32)
 * Indicator of Achievement:
 * 32a - analyze the evolution of Native American cultures prior to European contact: Paleo, Archaic, Woodland, and Mississippian

ISTE NETS-S

 * 1) Communication and collaboration
 * 2) Research and information fluency
 * 3) Critical thinking, problem solving, and decision making
 * 4) Technology operations and concepts

=ACTION= During Class
 * Instructional Objectives:**
 * Students will research and compose a list of the major cultural differences between the four time periods of ancient inhabitants of the United States prior to European contact in order to determine which group they would most want be a part of.
 * Before-class preparation**: Reserve computer lab for student usage. The students will need to be broken into collaborative groups of four, however groupings will be based on very limited prior knowledge of student work ethic and/or ability level. A wiki space will need to be created by the teacher for collaborative groups to record their research on each of the four cultural periods of ancient inhabitants. These wikis can be established at www.wikispaces.com. Double check that the websites [] (prehistory link on the left), [] (links to cultural periods on the left), and [] (links throughout article to different time periods) are working. Lastly, reserve the computer lab for a morning make-up/completion period for students who are not able to complete workload. As a back up plan, have Ancient Inhabitants PowerPoint ready.

Time: 5 Minutes Instructional Activities: Escort students to computer lab Materials/Resources: Reserved computer lab, internet connection

Time: 10 Minutes Instructional Activities: Students log into computer, get assigned a collaborative group, and create wiki Materials/Resources: Prearranged collaborative groups, www.wikispaces.com Time: 40 Minutes Instructional Activities: Students determine which ancient inhabitant culture they will be responsible for researching and begin researching and recording the information they find on their group wiki, focusing on advances in: Materials/Resources: [|www.wikispace.com], [], [], []
 * Family/tribe/group size, leadership
 * Food source
 * Technology
 * Weapons
 * Religion

Time: 5 Minutes Instructional Activities: Group check-off of each group members work on wiki, save progresss, sign off of computers, and dismissal. Materials/Resources: [|www.wikispace.com].

=MONITOR=


 * Ongoing Assessment**: As students make their way through different sites visually monitor progress and have informal assessment through discussion. Make announcement of time remaining so students can self-evaluate their progress and understanding of the major areas of advancement for their own cultural time period of ancient inhabitants. These time checks can also be used for group members to check on each other and give encouragement/assistance when necessary.


 * Accommodations and Extensions**: The teacher will need to watch for students who struggle to finish workload in one class period, and offer extra time in the pre-arranged morning time slot. If students are unable to attend in this morning session, they will need to access their group wiki from home and complete the research there.


 * Back-up Plan**: In case of computer problems on large scale, have Ancient Inhabitants PowerPoint ready for students to view and, again in groups, collect the necessary information.

=EVALUATION=

Lesson Reflections and Notes: Student assessment should reflect that students are actively engaged in self-directed, cooperative learning. Upon informal visual and oral assessment, take note of problems students encounter and fine tune for ease of use upon next class, if possible. For student evaluation, students would have the task of writing a journal entry describing their daily life as a member of the ancient cultural group they researched.