Teaching All Students: Ancient Rome Extravaganza Lesson Plan
One of my favorite projects conducted this past school year was our "Ancient Rome Extravaganza." In this activity, students were divided into groups based on their AIMSWEB scores from testing conducted throughout the school year. After groups were created, they picked a numbered stick and the group with the number one stick got to pick which area they would like to research and so on. This seemed like the "fairest" way to assign projects, as 6th graders are very concerned about fairness!
Once students had their projects, they decided as a group whether they would do PowerPoint, video, or poster (part I) and what type of interactive display (part II) best fit their project. The projects related to Roman Culture, Engineering, Construction, and Sport. The following days were spent in the library, conducting research through a variety of books picked by the librarian on Ancient Rome. This portion of the project was done individually and each student was required to cite the books they used as well. Because this part was individual and they were receiving a grade for the notes provided, the majority of students stayed on task and researched so they would be able to contribute to their group.
This project required students to work as a team and practice their planning/coordinating skills. Students divided the responsibility and were forced to hold one another accountable. Since they were also expected to "teach" to their classmates, students had to know their facts for the presentation.