POWERFUL SOCIAL STUDIES LESSON PLAN OUTLINE

JMU Elementary Education Program: ELED 434 ALL SECTIONS

Shea Hestmark
Mrs. Clark: Westwood Hills Elementary School
2nd Grade
April 20

A. TITLE OF LESSON: On the Banks of the Pharaohs Nile: Ancient Egypt

B. CONTEXT OF LESSON
The students have been learning about different famous Americans throughout history as a part of their second grade SOLs. Part of
their famous Americans unit is understanding the contributions various Americans made to the United States and to the world. This will aid the
students in their understanding about how the Ancient Egyptians contributed to todays society. Additionally the students have been learning
about different habitats and how the climate can have an effect on the things or people that live in the various habitats. This will aid the
students understanding about why the Nile River was key to the Ancient Egyptians survival as a civilization.
To aid my planning of this lesson I conducted a Seeing Student Thinking interview about students prior knowledge about Ancient
Egypt. For this inquiry I chose a very advanced student and a typically developing student to try to get a sense of what the students already
knew and any misconceptions they might have regarding this topic. The results of this indicated that the students need to be taught about the
location of Ancient Egypt on a world map, which is an SOL, and they need to learn what the Nile River is and its significance to the Egyptian
people. Lastly the students have a lot of misconceptions about the Ancient Egyptians, which should be addressed during this thematic unit.
Since this lesson is the introductory lesson to a larger unit on Ancient Egypt I decided to use this lesson as a formative assessment to
gauge the students understanding and interest in this topic. This lesson will be used to construct the students understanding about the
significance of the Ancient Egyptians and transition to the learning about other ancient civilizations.
C. LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Understand what are the broad
generalizations the students should
begin to develop? (These can be
difficult to assess in one lesson.)
Ancient Egypt was a civilization that
thrived and contributed to society
today.

Know what are the facts, rules,

specific data the students will gain
through this lesson? (These knows
must be assessed in your lesson.)
The students will know where
Ancient Egypt and the United States
are located on a world map. They will
know the importance of the Nile
River to the Egyptian people and

Do what are the specific thinking

behaviors students will be able to do
or practice as a result of this lesson?
(These will also be assessed in your
lesson.)
The students will share their prior
knowledge about where Egypt is on a
map. By allowing students to share
prior knowledge with the class they
are not only peer teaching but they

understand how the environment

affected the civilization. Lastly the
students will briefly learn about the
Egyptians ancient writings and the
Pharaoh was a god-king.

are also practicing communicating

their background knowledge on the
subject. Students will do the same
when locating the United states on
the world map. Then as a class we
will view a world map label Ancient
Egypt and United States.
Next the students will follow along as
I read aloud from the book On the
Banks of the Nile. During the read
aloud I will stop to ask the students
their predications, thoughts, and
questions about the material learned.
This requires the students to actively
listen and comprehend what is being
read.
To assess the students learning I will
give them an exit slip where on which
they will locate the United States and
Ancient Egypt and answer the
question: Why was the Nile River so
important to the Egyptians? The art
of the exit slip is the students will
either write a question that they have
about Ancient Egypt or tell me
something they would like to learn
about during the Ancient Egypt unit.

D. ASSESSING LEARNING:
Task:
What learning tasks
have you organized
that can be used for
assessment?

Exit Slip:
1. Label the
United
States and
Egypt on a
world map.

Diagnostic features:
What features will you look for in student
responses or products from the task(s)?
What criteria will you use for assessment?

I will expect them to spell and label the

Untied States on the continent of North
America, and label Egypt on the continent of
Africa.

Support:
What resources can you draw upon (or
adaptations can you make) to be
certain you are actually assessing the
objectives youve set for this lesson?
Some children may still be developing
the basic skills needed to complete
your assessment, but it does not mean
they have not learned the objectives
for your lesson. How will you support
these students?

I will read each question on the exit

slip aloud, so that students who
struggle with reading are not limited
in their ability to answer the
questions.
At the beginning of the lesson I will
show the students a world map on
which I will label the United States
and Egypt. I will explain to them
that The United States is located on
the continent of North American
and Egypt is located in the northern
region on the content of Africa.
I will have the United States and
Egypt written on the board to ensure
that the students spell the words
correctly and so they con focus on
locating the countries correctly

rather than struggle with the

spelling.

2. Why was
the Nile
River so
important to
the
Egyptians?

3. Do you have
any questions
about what we
learned today
or write down
something
about Ancient
Egypt you
would like to
know more
about.

The students should indicate that the Egypt is

mainly desert and the Nile River allowed the
Egyptians to grow crops and have fresh water.
Additionally the Nile River provided the
Egyptians with numerous natural resources,
which contributed to the success of their daily
lives. These include papyrus, silt, fresh water,
irrigation, fish, and means of transportation.
I will accept phrases or words or even pictures
about what they learned. Even if the students
only remember one fact about the Nile, it will
provide me with useful feedback about their
understanding, which will dictate follow up
instruction.
Questions students have should be relevant and
reasonable. Student should not simply repeat
the questions on this exit slip.
I will challenge the students to think of specific
and interesting questions that we can discover
as a class through other readings or individual
research.

I will encourage the students to

think back to the read aloud and the
pictures we looked at in the book. I
will prompt students who are
struggling to think about the climate
of a desert and what all living things
need to survive. I will also prompt
student by asking them to think of
natural resources or useful materials
the Nile River provided to the
Ancient Egyptians.
Acceptable answers will also
include something about the Nile
flooding or irrigation.
I will prompt students who are
struggling to think of interesting
question by sending them into the
hallway to look at the Ancient
Egypt bulletin board which has
pictures of pharaohs, pyramids,
sphinx, and many more Egyptian
objects and contributions.

E. RELATED VIRGINIA STANDARDS OF LEARNING

2.1

The student will explain how the contributions of ancient China and Egypt have influenced the present world in terms of architecture, inventions,
the calendar, and written language.

2.4 The student will develop map skills by

a)
locating the United States, China, and Egypt on world maps;
b)
understanding the relationship between the environment and the culture of ancient China and Egypt;

F. MATERIALS NEEDED
Projector
Smart board
Pencils
24 exit slips
Egyptian bulletin board (located outside the classroom)
World map
Courtalon, C., & Broutin, C. (1988). On the banks of the Pharaoh's Nile. Ossining, New York: Young Discovery Library.
G. PROCEDURE
(Use this graphic organizer if it is helpful for you. If you create your own format you must include each aspect listed below, in the column
headings). NOTE: You are not required to include 4 learning events if your lesson will not include this many! The extra events are only
included for the sake of demonstration.
Activity Element
& Time (in minutes)

Procedures and management

Step-by step procedures including
questions and main points visualize
what you are going to say to the students.
It might be helpful to script out what you
are going to say, although during the
lesson you do not need to use this
language verbatim.

Introduction

I will introduce the lesson by saying

This year we have a been learning
about famous Americans and the
contributions they made to the United
States and the world. Can someone
remind the class what a contribution
is?
I will allow the students time to think
and choose a student to answer.
Once the students have given a
correct definition I will ask the class

Students
Describe what the students will be doing
as a result of your instructions

Student A: A contribution is the act of

giving or doing something.
Students will repeat the definition aloud
as a class.

Students will be actively listening an

participating in the lesson.

Academic, physical, social &

linguistic differentiation,
resources, and support
How will you support ALL
students by differentiating
aspects of your lesson based
on readiness and interest, and
according to content, process,
and product? It isnt always
necessary to include
differentiation in logistical
aspects of the lesson such as
transitions.

Event 1

Transition

Event 2

to give that back to me, which

queues them to repeat the definition.
I will say today we are going to learn
about an ancient civilization, meaning
a civilization that lived and thrived a
long, long time ago. This civilization
is called Ancient Egypt.
Ask the Students, Does anyone
know where Ancient Egypt was
located on a map?
I will project a world map on the
smart board.
Once students have answered I will
point to Egypt on the world map.
I will then ask the class if they can
find the United States on the map. I
will allow one student to come up and
point to the United States.
I will label the United States and
Egypt on the projected world map.

I will say, As you can see from this

map the United States and Egypt are
very far away from each other, but
that doesnt mean that the Ancient
Egyptians didnt contribute or affect
the United States. Im going to read a
book about the Ancient Egyptians. As
I read I want you all to follow along.
I will place the book under the
projector so that the students can
follow along on the smart board.
Will read the first two pages without
stopping.
Once I have read the third page,
which is about the climate I will stop
and ask the class, why do you think
it would be difficult to live in the
desert?

Student L who was interview in the

Seeing Student Thinking project
knows that Egypt is located in
Northern Africa.
I will have one student come to the
board and point to the United States.
This will keep the students engaged
and interested in the lesson.

Students will read along by looking

up at the smart board

Students will raise their hands and

wait to be called on.

Transition

Event 3

I will read the fourth page, which

introduces the Nile River to the
students.
I will explain that without the Nile
River the Egyptians would not have
been able to sustain their civilization.
I will read pages, five and six which
describes the natural resources the
Nile provides. I will explain to the
students that the natural resources the
Nile provides are often referred to as
the gifts of the Nile. I will note the
word papyrus in the story and write it
on the board. I will point to the
picture in the book to show the
students what papyrus looks like. I
will further explain that the papyrus
was used for any thinks like boat
building and making paper for the
Egyptians to write on.
I will then flip to page 34 and 35,
which introduces hieroglyphics. I will
read these pages and show the
students the pictures.
I will then pull up an interactive
website that has the student decipher
hieroglyphic writing into Egyptian
vocabulary words. I will call on three
students to come up to the board and
compete the activity.
Once the interactive activity is
complete we will return to the read
aloud. I will introduce the next page
by explaining to the students that a
scribe was an ancient Egyptian whose
job was to read and write.
I will read page 17, which is about
papyrus paper and scribes.

Students will raise their hand

patiently to be called on. I will try
to choose students that have not
spoken during the lesson yet.

This activity will be helpful

when trying to engage the
kinesthetic learners and the
students who are unengaged
in the lesson.

Students will actively listen to the

story. I will allow students to ask
questions about what we have read so
far.

Transition

Event 4

Conclusion:

We will switch gears and go back to

learning about the Nile and how it
was used in agriculture. I will say,
Papyrus was not the only useful
natural resource the Egyptians used
from the Nile.
The Nile also provided the Egyptians
with plenty of water to grow crops.
Lets read about how they farmed.
Read page 18-19
Explain the picture of the shadoof
and explain how it was used to
irrigate the land.
Explain to the students that the Nile
allowed the Egyptians to produce
enough food to feed the vast empire.
The Egyptian Empire was ruled by a
Pharaoh, who was a god-king.
Read page 12 and 13 about the
Pharaoh.
I will finish reading about the pharaoh
and say, we have learned a lot about
Ancient Egypt and the Nile River
today. Im going to hand out an exit
slip with a few questions on it about
what we read and learn about today.
Answer as best as you can. If you
need help remembering raise your
hand and you can go to the hall way
and look at the pictures about Ancient
Egypt on the bulletin. When you have
finished flip your exit slip over and
read quietly until it is time to line up
for block.

Allow students who are

having trouble recalling
the information discussed
go to the bulletin board
outside. Additionally I
will encourage the
students to think back to
the read aloud and the
pictures we looked at in
the book. I will prompt
students who are
struggling to think about
the climate of a desert and
what all living things
need to survive. I will
also prompt student by
asking them to think of
natural resources or
useful materials the Nile
River provided to the

Ancient Egyptians.
Each question on the exit
slip will be read aloud so
those students who
struggle with reading are
not at a disadvantage
when recalling the
content of the lesson.

H. DIFFERENTIATION:
I will support all of my students learning by allowing students to ask questions throughout the lesson. I will give the students the opportunity to
ask for clarification or share if they know something about this topic. This allows the students to be supported during their learning while also
engaging them. For example I know that student L knows where Egypt is located from a pre lesson interview. I will allow him to share his
knowledge with the class and build on what he says. Additionally there are students in the class who struggle to stay on task and can become
easily distracted during lessons. I will purposefully engage them in the interactive website as a way to regain and maintain their attention. I will
also read the questions on the exit slip out loud. This will be done to help the three students who need more support in reading and writing. By
reading the questions aloud the students, I am allowing the emphasis of the exit slip to be on their information recall rather than reading
comprehension. Lastly I will allow students to go into the hallway to look at the bulletin board if they need help recalling some of the
information learned. This will help students think of questions, think of things they want to research about Ancient Egypt, and also help remind
them of the important ideas covered in the lesson.
I.

RATIONALE:
It is important for students to develop deep understanding of the content being taught, because when one develops a deep
understanding for something, they have thought critically and thoughtfully, and are ready to engage in debate or application of this knowledge.
This will aid their understanding of information that they will learn later in school or in the real world. Social studies is an important content
area because it prepares students, when done right, to be active and contributing members of society. One cannot be a contributing citizen
without being enriched with the knowledge of society, history, and a broad worldview. Students gain these qualities when they are taught
powerful social studies. When teachers implement powerful social studies in their classrooms they are using strategies that allow students to
better analyze, understand, and question the information that is taught to them. When this happens they are given tools to deeply understand the
concepts.
In terms of this lesson the students deep understanding of the material will aid their worldview, their understanding of crosscontinental contributions, and an understanding of how other cultures lived. These are all things that can be used to build upon to help the
students become globally informed citizens. By teaching the students about the importance of the Nile River I am engaging the students prior
knowledge of habitats and survival. By asking the student why they think it would be difficult to live and survive in the desert, I am asking
them to call upon their prior knowledge and think critically. I hope students will remember that all living things need shelter, food, and water,
and that these things are scarce in the desert. By discussing this, I am preparing the student to learn about the importance of the Nile River to
Egyptian society. Helping students make connections by providing them with the necessary information is my job as the teacher and facilitator.
Another way they I am enriching the students global awareness is by introducing the continent of Africa. We will discuss that the United States
is a country in North American and Egypt is a country on the continent of Africa. We will look at a map and see that the two continents are

very far away from each other. This will be key information because I will help the students understand that although Egypt is very far away,
the contributions of its ancient society has impacted the world, and the U.S. today. For example we will discuss Egyptian irrigation and writing
systems. Both of these things students will be able to relate to on some level, because they are learning to read and write, and we are in a rural
area. I will explain the differences in Egyptian and modern day practices. This will be a great transition to talk a little about Egyptian culture. I
will teach the students about Egypt in a culturally accurate way and address any misconceptions they may have. I think it is important to
address misconceptions because Egypt is often fictionalized in books, movies, and TV shows. When teaching powerful social studies, students
should be engaged in questioning and connecting historical narratives to past, present, and future rather than simply listening and memorizing.
That is why throughout my lesson I will continuously ask the students about their knowledge, thoughts, and ideas.
J. WHAT COULD GO WRONG WITH THIS LESSON AND WHAT WILL YOU DO ABOUT IT?
This lesson might go over time, depending on how many questions the students have when discussing where Egypt and the United States are
located on a map. Also depending on how many questions the students have during the read aloud will affect how long the lesson will take.
Another problem with this lesson is technology. The classroom I am working in tends to lose Internet randomly, therefore this may affect my
use of the interactive website. To prepare for this I will bring the website up on the computer while the students are taking their science test or
during math. This will allow me time check the Internet and prepare a plan B if it is not working. If the Internet is down then I will read more
of the book, On the Banks of The Pharaohs Nile. Additionally I will take the students outside to the bulletin to look at the smaller pictures
of hieroglyphics. Lastly my concern was that the interactive website may not be compatible with the touch feature of the smart board. To
prepare for this I tested the website on the classroom smart board the week before and discovered it works perfectly. If for some reason the
day of the lesson the touch feature isnt working, I can also have the students complete the activity on the computer and project it onto the
smart board.

Reflection
I. How did your actual teaching of the lesson differ from your plans? Describe the changes and explain why you made them.
I thought that the information in the book would take too long to read the whole thing and be overwhelming for the students to learn on their first
day of the unit. In fact I had more time than I thought I would. This was actually a positive because it allowed me to go over some of the questions
on the exit slip. The students were very excited to share questions they had about the lesson as well as things they hoped to learn about during the
unit. This was a great way to end the lesson and a useful tool I could use if I were continuing tis unit.
II. Based on the assessment you created, what can you conclude about your impact on student learning? Did they learn? Who learned?
What did they learn? What evidence can you offer that your conclusions are valid?
I think the student learned a lot. The majority of the class was eagerly engaged, especially during the interactive website activity. We reviewed
throughout the lesson what the importance of the Nile River was and where on the world map Egypt and the United States is located. Most students
were able to label USA and circle or color in Egypt. Although they were supposed to write the country names out, they were still able to identify
the countries, which showed me they were paying attention. The second question on the exit slip was the question most of the students answered
correctly. With the exception of two students who did not answer the question, the students answered by mentioning the importance of the water,
the fish, or other gifts of the Nile. This showed me that the students really understood that the Nile was key in the success of the Ancient Egyptian
empire. The student loved answering the last question because it gave them a chance to be heard and be creative. A lot of the students wanted to
know about the daily life of the Egyptians; what they wore, if they had pets, and what their homes looked like. Other students asked if they could
learn more about hieroglyphics or learn to write hieroglyphics. Lastly for the students who wanted to go into the hall to look at the bulletin, they
copied down words like sphinx, pyramid, and widget and asked what they meant. For the students that did not complete their exit slip, I think that

they just did not want to work anymore. They had just finished their science test and were excited about gym class, which was next. Student E in
particular had not been paying attention all day and was not as engaged in my lesson, as I would like him to be. Because of this he struggled to
complete the exit slip.
III. Describe at least one way you could incorporate developmentally appropriate practice in a better or more thorough way if you were to
teach this lesson again.
One of my students transferred into the class halfway through the year. At her previous school she had already learned about Ancient Egypt and
therefore wanted to share about her knowledge of the civilization and Egyptian mythology. I wish that I had planned extension questions for her on
the exit slip. Although she learned new information and old information was reinforced, I think this student could have been challenged more. One
benefit of this students knowledge was her peer teaching when she shared her knowledge about Egypt to the class during the read aloud. She
introduced topics that we werent discussing today, but would be included later on in the unit. One way I could have introduced her to knew
information is while the students were filling out the exit slips I could have sent her and the other students who already knew a lot about Egypt to
the student lap tops and go to other parts of the ChildrensUnversityManchester.com and read more about ancient Egypt.
IV. Based on the assessment data you collected, what would you do/teach next if you were the classroom teacher?
If I were to continue to teach this unit, I would base my next lesson on the questions and student inquiry that the students wrote on their exit slip.
The students seemed to be very interested in the daily life of the Egyptians, such as what did they wear, did they have pets, what did they look like.
I would continue reading On the Banks of the Pharaohs Nile. This book has a brief section about the diet, housing, and daily routine of the
Egyptians. I could also show the students different art and sculptures that have been recovered from Ancient Egypt to give the students a real world
visual. I could integrate this lesson into writing by having the students compare and contrast daily life of Egyptians to the students daily lives. This
would be a great way to help the student practice organizing their information and writing a comparison essay.
V. As a result of planning and teaching this lesson, what have you learned or had reinforced about young children as learners?
I have learned from this lesson that the students get very excited when their input and questions are valued. This was seen in their excitement and
enthusiasm during the review of the exit slips. Students were eager to share and comment on other students questions. From planning this lesson it
has been reinforced that peer sharing is important and encouraged. I made sure to allow students to share their knowledge because I thought it was
important to understand what background knowledge they had or what misconceptions they had. Just as we have discussed throughout the
semester, planning lessons that interest and excite your students is one way to make it engaging and meaningful to them.
VI. As a result of planning and teaching this lesson, what have you learned or had reinforced about teaching?
It has been reinforced the students respond to interactive lessons that use different mediums to engage the students. This was exemplified during the
interactive website activity. I think by switching from a read aloud to a smart board activity captured the students attention and kept them
involved. This encourages me to continue to think of creative ways to integrate technology, literacy, and other content areas into my social studies
lessons.
VII. As a result of planning and teaching this lesson, what have you learned or had reinforced about yourself?
From teaching this lesson I have realized that I have the ability to plan and execute interactive and engaging lessons, but I still need to work on my
classroom management and refocusing the students. This is a skill that will only come if I continue to practice and as I become more comfortable
teaching whole group lessons. I have learned a lot about classroom management from my cooperative teacher and am working to implement her
strategies in my teaching.