Student Activity Samples
1) Introducing Unit Vocabulary
Objective:
Students can define unit vocabulary using a variety of sources as needed
Students can find examples and non-examples of the vocabulary they have defined.
Procedures:
In order to have a firm grasp of some basic vocabulary several terms will be pre-taught with this activity. Rather than simply looking up a list of words, students will use what they learn in several different ways.
First, students will of course look up the words. Terms such as equality, equity, privilege, position, power, segregation and more will be included, and students will be encouraged to look them up using either paper or electronic dictionaries. They will record the definitions onto a graphic organizer and then be asked to rewrite them in their own words (to the best of their ability).
Next, students will take part in a gallery walk where they will use the information that they have just found. Around the classroom will be pictures of examples and non-examples of the terms that students have worked with. The students will be given labels and asked to move around the room and place their labels onto the correct visuals. Once they have finished we will debrief as a group and discuss.
Then students will be given a series of three different colored dots: green, yellow, and red. Once again looking at the same images, this time all now properly labeled, students will evaluate the images and decide how effective they are in conveying the definitions. A green dot mean will indicate a more or mostly effective image, a red dot will indicate a less or least effective image, and the yellow dots will be used for those that are undecided. This type of evaluation allows students to practice the historical thinking skill of historical significance, and gives them the opportunity to be the historian. It also sets them up for success in the next step.
Finally students will be asked to use technology to find examples of these terms in the world around them, as well as non-examples. For instance, an example of equality might be a union job where people get the same rate of pay regardless of gender or skin color; while a non-example might be a gender pay gap. Students will be asked to record these examples with both text and images.
Once they have all of this information for all of their terms they will make a poster of what they consider to be their three strongest pieces of work and these posters will be displayed outside the classroom.
2) Researching SJUSD High Schools
Objectives:
Students can compile, compare, and evaluate data about five high schools in the San Jose area.
Students can make a claim about their assigned school and support with evidence from their research.
Procedures:
Students will begin their analysis of school data by focusing on their own school and district. In order to be able to make comparisons and form conclusions data must be gathered. Students in this specific activity will be using the California School Dashboard to gather the necessary information.
The Dashboard is useful because data is separated into specific categories for all schools, which simplifies, at least at first, the comparison process. In order to create an understanding about what the Dashboard offers and model how the data can be accessed we will begin by looking at our own school as a whole class. I will create an organizer for the students to complete which will focus their research. For the whole class activity I will recreate this organizer onto the white board and then display the Dashboard website from my computer.
In this phase students will be required to collect data in the following categories:
- School Name
- Address
- Enrollment
- Socioeconomically Disadvantaged percentage
- English Learners
- Foster Youth
- Suspension Rate
- English Learner Progress
- Graduation Rate
- College/Career readiness
- ELA scores
- Math scores
All of these are readily available on the Dashboard for 2019 (2020 data is not available due to the pandemic, in subsequent years the most recent available data will be used). During the whole class activity I will solicit student volunteers to find these details and fill them in on the board.
After this data is collected students will then discuss the data trying to create opinions about what it tells them. What is their initial reaction about the school? Based on the data, is this a good or a bad school? Are those terms even useful? Would they send their own children to this school, and why or why not?
Once the own school data has been collected and discussed students will be broken up into five groups (there are six comparable high schools in their district, your numbers will or course vary). Each group will be assigned another high school in the district and asked to repeat the whole class procedure in their groups. In addition to the information collected as a group I will also ask each group to collect three details from their research that they feel are surprising, noteworthy, or important. Students will complete the organizer on a poster-sized sheet that can be hung in the front of the room with the others.
The next step will be for all students to get up and look at all of the data, creating and recording an initial reaction for each of the schools. Once this is done they will write up and support their claim for three out of the six schools and submit to me as their final step in this process. The data itself will stay available for continued discussion and comparison to other schools in the state and the country.
3) Researching Possible Solutions
Objective:
Students can make, support, and communicate a claim about the author’s point of view in a jigsaw activity.
Procedures:
In this activity students will be evaluating specific sections of Hill’s report on the reforms of the Oakland Unified School District. Although the report is lengthy it is divided into seven separate sections. I will lead students in a review of the first section, which contains background on the Oakland schools. Student groups will then be assigned the remaining sections to read together and analyze, with guided reading questions to focus their efforts. In order to keep the group sizes small there will be two sets of students working on each section. This will also provide a peer review opportunity.
Once students have their assigned section they will be provided with a graphic organizer that will help with note taking and organization. I have not provided a sample of the organizer here as it is assumed that different teachers have different organizers that they prefer and/or are familiar with. Questions that students need to answer include 1) What are the five main ideas of this section?, 2) Is this section reporting a positive change or not?, 3)What evidence from the text supports your answer?, 4) What is the author’s purpose and point of view?, 5) Do you agree with this point of view and why or why not (use evidence to support your response)?
Students will be given approximately thirty-five minutes to read their section, discuss as a group, and answer these questions. This will take up most of one 50-minute class period. The subsequent day students will be put back in their groups and give 10 – 15 minutes to wrap up as necessary. If everyone is finished on day one then this, of course, is unnecessary.
The next step is to share with students that often different historians and scholars can look at the same information and come up with different conclusions. To illustrate this each duplicate group will get together and share their data with the other, highlighting and recording both the common and unique information that was discovered. Students will have roughly 15 minutes for this process. This information will be saved and shared as a part of the presentation and/or debrief process.
Once the peer reviews have been completed students will get back to their original groupings and use their original information to create a presentation for the class. Students will be given some options about how to present and will be able to use their own creative ideas as well. All groups will give their presentations, and students viewing the presentations will be required to fill out a response sheet with notes, reactions, questions and more. A short Q&A will take place after each so that students can practice forming questions and thinking on their feet.
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