Economics and Society

Zwart

Name ______Per. ____

Economics and Society

Current Events Group Lesson

T/E Skill: CR-7 Collaborate towards a creative outcome

• Work in groups of 4 (3 groups of 5 in period 3)- choose wisely!
• Teach a lesson on your current events topic
• Graded individually and as a group
• HW assignments after each lesson
• Topics are: bitcoin, unions, minimum wage, anti-trust laws, big box stores, and paid family leave

Use this libguide to help you in your research:

Password: stoga

Schedule:

REQUIREMENTS

1/ Lesson Plan: Your group will be designing a lesson to do with the class on your topic. You will make a typed up outline of your plan – in detail – which you will submit on the due date. The lesson will be assessed in its design and its execution, based on: thoughtfulness, effort, creativity attempted, level of engagement with the class, and meeting all requirements.

All group members must participate in the lesson. Your group will go on the day I call you, even if you have members who are absent – this means that you must all be prepared to do each other’s parts of the lesson. Your group could be called on any day – there is no schedule. If a group runs short, we could also start another groups’ lesson.

Here is the lesson format that you will use to plan your lesson, which should be laid out in full detail in your typed lesson plan:

~2 minINTRO: give the class a quick overview of the topic or a preview of the lesson that

captures the big picture of the topic. A ‘grabber’ bit or ‘hook’ fact/story is REQUIRED. You may choose to frame the debate at this point, if not hint at it.

~ 10 minBACKGROUND: create a lecture or create a video or some creative storytelling (skit, song, etc.) to explain the relevant history, problems and issues around this topic. This should include a clear sense of when developments have occurred, as well as why and how. This should include (perhaps at both the beginning and end) a quick description of the debate question that surrounds this topic.

~ 20-25 minACTIVITY: design an activity (or multiple) that allows the class to learn about and discuss the

various points of view on this issue. Your goal should be for all the students in the class to understand 1) the main ideas and 2) problems/concerns around the issue, plus 3) a variety of arguments on the issue, as well as 4) to develop their own opinion. To that end, you will design a class activity that meets all those goals – that said, you can have more focus/information on some parts and less on others. Here are some suggestions:

• Graphic organizer – students are given a handout that asks them to think through the information in an organized and/or compelling format (e.g. flow chart with blanks, web diagram with blanks, picture/map/chart to be filled out).
• Small group discussion – perhaps with a handout of questions, students discuss various aspects of the issue or the arguments.
• Interviewing – have students interview each other about their opinion or some aspect of the issue.
• “Tug of war” – students must convince others to their side
• Height order – pose a yes/no question and have people get in line in order of the strength of their opinion
• Document analysis - students are given a short primary source document to read and analyze in terms of what they have learned (similar/different, agree/disagree, etc.).
• Pro/con organizing – students must categorize information depending on which side it supports
• Illustration – students create some kind of visual (picture, scene, poster, diagram, etc.) about the issue
• Think back to social studies class activities you’ve appreciated over the years – and steal the idea!

Feel free to provide brief handouts or materials in whatever activity you plan – but be sure that there is a chance for everyone to actually discuss at some point. You may make your own discussion questions to supplement the ones in the reading piece on your topic.

*You may include a video if you choose, but it cannot be over 5 minutes long*

~4-6 minWRAP-UP: recap or summarize the entire lesson in a way that helps students to come to terms with or see the point of what they have learned (but does NOT seem redundant). Include brief and simple activity that either asks students to reflect on or to review one or more main points of the lesson.

*Before Presentations Begin:You must email me the technology/online materials that you need for your lesson so that there is no need to sign on and off the day of the presentation.

2/ Homework: Your group will need to create a follow-up HW assignment, the purpose of which is to expose the class to a specific news story or latest development on your topic. Pick a short article (one page single-spaced, approximately) and then design a set of questions for students to answer on it, or some other assignment of your choosing. This will be assigned on the day of your lesson and will be due the next day.

The HW assignment will be assessed in terms of its quality, including: interest-level to a general audience, appropriateness for class’s level of reading and expertise in the topic, effort and thought in the design of the questions, appropriateness of the questions and meeting all requirements.

3/ Bibliography: create a bibliography for this project using MLA format and noodletools for assistance. You need to use at least 4 sources for this project. One of them must be a database and the format of the other 3 are up to you. One source will be the article chosen for the homework assignment.

4/ Individual Reflection: Each member of the group will write their own one page double-spaced (no headers at all, just name) reflection on your issue and your personal opinions. The quality will be assessed based on effort, depth of reflection and length.DUE THE DAY PRESENTATIONS BEGIN FOR EVERYONE!

Grades

1. Typed lesson plan submitted10
2. Quality of lesson plan design and execution40
3. Quality of HW article and assignment10
4. Bibliography 5

65

1. Five completed HW assignments (5 each)25
2. Quality of individual reflection10

Total Grade: 100