Grade 7 students are in the finding out stage of our explorations into the features of ancient civilizations. Depending on their skill level and learning preferences, students worked in small groups, pairs, or independently to explore features and civilizations by using venn diagrams and Compare and Contrast processes. Each working group or independent explored a different feature and pair of civilizations. They used digital resources, leveraged their home languages, learned a little bit about using AI to break information down into bite size chunks and age appropriate language, and sourced images to add further context.
This process was followed by oral presentation where students worked on their speaking and academic language with the help of sentence frames. The sentence frame templates provided students with a model of how to summarize information they had collected into a set of statements that described, in clear terms, the differences and similarities of the cultures they explored. While one group presented they rest of the class listened, took notes and responded to questions they were asked by the presenters. Sentence frames and speaking practice lays the foundation for writing work next week, when students will begin learning how to draft a compare and contrast essay.
