EDT 889-Spring 2013

Virtual Tour Lesson Plan

Emily Goranson

Daily Life in Ancient Rome

1. Descriptive Data a. Who are the learners? i. This lesson is intended for a group of approximately 25-30 sixth grade students. ii. There are both male and female students in the class. iii. This is a mostly Caucasian mix of students with the same general cultural background. There are no students with special needs in the classroom and no identified GT students in the subject area. iv. The learning environment is a classroom with desks, carpeted floor, and a SMARTBoard. It is an enclosed classroom. b. What is the context? i. This is a social studies lesson focused on the Daily Life in Ancient Rome. This should take two class periods of 45 minutes each. 2. Prior Requirements a. Students know the classroom procedures of where to sit and materials to bring to social studies. i. They will have their books, their binders, paper, and pencils for this lesson. b. Students know how to follow along on the SMARTBoard with a presentation and take notes. c. Students know what a K-W-L chart is, and have used one before. 3. Learning Objectives a. Students will discover and describe the three social classes that existed in ancient Rome. b. Students will explore an ancient Roman Villa through pictures and descriptions in their text books and enhancement from a virtual tour of an ancient Roman Villa projected on the SMARTBoard. 4. Assessment of Student Learning a. Students will fill out a K-W-L chart. b. Informal assessment will take place during small group turn and talks and large group discussions. 5. Rationale a. This lesson is part of the social studies curriculum that we follow at Nature Hill. I am presenting the information in the form of text book reading so that students meet the required objectives and do the required reading, but I chose to enhance the reading by taking them on a virtual tour to engage them more deeply. This tour will solidify what an ancient Roman Villa looks like in a real life form.

EDT 889-Spring 2013

Virtual Tour Lesson Plan

Emily Goranson

6. Materials and Equipment a. Students will need: i. Text books ii. Binders iii. Paper iv. Pencils b. Teacher will need: i. SMARTBoard ii. Text book iii. Access to the following link: http://www.villa-rustica.de/tour/tour06e.html 7. Procedure a. Students will enter the room and sit in a circle on the floor. Directions on the board will tell students what page to turn to in their social studies book to be ready for class to begin. b. The teacher will get the students started reading the objectives from the text book and introducing students to the section by doing a quick page through looking at the text features to set an expectation for learning. i. Students will then turn and talk to a partner about their expectation of this section. c. Students will take turns reading from pages 224-228 in their social studies text book. i. The teacher will stop on page 225 to generate a large group classroom discussion on social classes in ancient Rome. The following question will be posed: 1. How would you compare the lives of the rich and the poor in ancient Rome? ii. After a few minutes of discussion students will continue reading the section. At the bottom of page 225 the teacher will point out the picture of the Roman Villa and have students examine and talk with a partner about what they see and notice. After a few minutes a large group discussion will be led on ancient Roman Villas. iii. Students will continue reading the section. On page 227 we will stop again for a discussion on lives of slaves in ancient Rome. iv. Students will continue taking turns to finish reading the section. This should conclude the first 45 minute session. d. When students enter social studies the next day they will follow directions on the board telling them to take out their materials from yesterday and turn and talk with a partner about one thing they are still curious about the daily life in ancient Rome. e. When everyone has had a chance to talk with a partner, the teacher will begin the class by having students draw a K-W-L chart in their notebook. Students will spend about 5 minutes jotting down what they already know about an ancient Roman Villa based on

EDT 889-Spring 2013

Virtual Tour Lesson Plan

Emily Goranson

the reading from yesterday. They will also jot down what they are most excited to learn about. f. When students have had a chance to jot down what they know, the teacher will begin the virtual tour of an ancient Roman Villa. i. Students will follow along on the SMARTBoard moving from the gate all the way through to the view from the East, stopping to jot down notes of what theyre learning (some students choose to use their iPad to take notes in Evernote and take pictures of SMARTBoard slides). g. When the virtual tour is over a large group discussion will break out on student observations. Questions such as, How does your house compare with this villa? and How would an ancient Egyptian mud hut compare with this villa? will be addressed. h. After all discussion, students will review their objectives and go around the room to state one thing they found interesting. **Optional- Instead of students viewing the virtual tour on the SMARTBoard and following along with the teacher, they could explore the website in partnerships or individually if there is access to computers.