Due Date: June 21st at 5 pm.

Please submit via the course website. Details on how to do so will be coming! 

For your final project, you can create a teaching tool aimed at any age group from elementary to post-secondary. This tool can be a lesson plan, a video or podcast designed to explain certain aspects of Medieval Spanish History and Popular Imagination OR Medieval Spanish History, or a “wikipedia-type” encyclopedia entry. 

For the Wikipedia-type encyclopedia entry, please use citations (formatted according to your discipline).

All assignments must include a bibliography.

Option One: Lesson Plan

(This section of the assignment was developed by Aaron Larsen.)

SUBMISSION OF LESSON PLAN

Submission of Lesson Plan

  1. Please complete your lesson plan using a word processing program or Google docs, ensuring that everything is formatted correctly, including footnotes (if needed). 
  2. Go here: https://hist365finalproject.opened.ca/write/
  3. Input your title into the “Title” section.
  4. Include your name under “author” (please do not submit your assignment anonymously as otherwise I won’t be able to give you credit for your work!).
  5. Cut and paste your lesson into the “Writing” area. Make sure that it is formatted as needed. See the red “editing tool tips” for assistance. You can include images and embed audio and video into this area. 
    1. To add images: click on “Insert Image” OR insert the URL (see instructions on the site).
    2. To add powerpoint slides, upload the slides to https://www.slideshare.net and insert the URL into your lesson plan. 
  6. Don’t forget to include your bibliography.
  7. Choose an image for the “header image” related to your topic and upload. Don’t forget to include a credit for where you have taken this image from. 
  8. Click on ‘Save Draft’, then ‘preview’. 
  9. You can edit it as many times as you would like, but if you want to leave and then return, make sure to include your email address and the page will send you a link through which you can edit your piece.
  10.  After you are done with editing, don’t forget to click “Publish Final”.
  11.  Check back after June 21st to see the work of your fellow students!
  12. Don’t forget to complete the self-evaluation and submit it to blackboard. Please download it and fill it out. You can access the self-evaluation here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/19_KzqOnnIaBGlX93PHukSVpdEJAN1_br2rkEXEPWvlk/edit

For a google doc form to use in constructing your assignment see:

Lesson Plan Form

When creating lessons for any age group, a lesson plan can serve as a guiding document for yourself, your learners, and anyone who wishes to observe and understand your ideas. While every institution and every individual has different ideas of what a lesson plan should be composed of, there are a number of key factors that should be taken into consideration. These factors are ideas that should be included in every lesson plan you write, as without them the lesson you are attempting to teach can fall apart or you can miss the targeted learning objectives. Below, I have included a list of terms and ideas to include, and a template for your lesson plans.

  • Title of the Lesson
    • Every lesson should have a title to help your teaching remain clear and organized and to help make the theme apparent
  • Age/Grade
    • List the age or grade of your learners. This can help someone evaluating your teaching ensure that your ideas and processes are appropriate for the age group you are teaching.
  • Learning Objectives
    • What is the takeaway that you would like your students to walk away with after you are done? What would you like them to learn? This should be the most important part of any lesson plan, as if your students do not understand the point of the lesson and have not learned, this lesson will have been a waste. Learning Objectives should be attainable, reasonable, and demonstrable.
  • Assessment
    • After every lesson, you should be able to assess what the students have learned. This is how you can tell if the lesson was effective or not. Assessment can take the form of anything, so long as the students can demonstrate their understanding of what they learned over the course of the lesson. Remember to include the ways that you will assess their success. Will you use a rubric? Does completion of your activity signify success? Will they demonstrate their understanding verbally or on paper? This part is up to you and depends on the style of your lesson.
  • Prerequisite Knowledge
    • What should students know prior to the beginning of this lesson? Is it a stand-alone lesson, or will you need prior knowledge and learning? If a student does not have the proper prior knowledge, they will lose interest almost immediately.
  • Supplies
    • What do you need to deliver this lesson? List everything you will use, as even the best teacher can show up at school and realize they have forgotten the supplies they require for their lessons. This will help you prepare.
  • Allotted Time
    • How long will your lesson last? Keep in mind that every age group has different attention spans. A kindergartener can sometimes struggle with a twenty-minute activity unless there is movement and changes throughout the activity, just as a high school student can sometimes struggle with an hour of pure note-taking. If you are creating a longer lesson, remember you will need greater differentiation in tasks.
  • Set Up
    • What will you have to set up before the lesson? What supplies need to be laid out and prepared? Do you need to do any photocopying?
  • Hook
    • How will you grab the student’s attention? This should describe how you will start the lesson and how you will attract the students. Why would they want to learn about this topic?
  • Lesson
    • How will you provide the information to the students? Will you use presentation software? Read them a story? Provide instructions for how to use a manipulative?
  • Activity
    • How will the students apply what they have just learned? Every lesson should have an attached activity. This allows for students to solidify their learning and demonstrate their understanding to you.
  • Conclusions
    •   How will you wrap up the lesson? How do you know when the students are finished? Does your conclusion require clean up time?
  • Review and Summary
    • At the end of each lesson, you should bring your learners together and discuss what you have learned. The lesson should be summarized, the students should be able to answer questions about their learning, and understand the significance of what you have taught them. The takeaway can be as simple as “It is important to learn the letter A because it is the first letter in the alphabet,” or as complex as “Understanding postmodernist thought in the historical discipline is important as it is a vital cornerstone in almost all modern historical literature.” Just remember to cater this summary to your audience.

By following these steps, you are providing enough detail to make your lesson and objectives clear, while demonstrating your mastery and understanding of the topic you are teaching. Below, you will find a potential template for your lesson plans, containing all of the factors that a successful lesson plan should include. You can use this template for submission of your assignment, but it is not required.

Option Two: Video or Podcast Episode

SUBMISSION OF VIDEO/PODCAST EPISODE

Submission of Audio/Video Teaching Tool

  1. Go here: https://hist365finalproject.opened.ca/write/
  2. Input your title into the “Title” section.
  3. Include your name under “author” (please do not submit your assignment anonymously as otherwise I won’t be able to give you credit for your work!).
  4. Provide a brief paragraph discussing your audio/video teaching tool and include your bibliography at the end. 
  5. Upload your audio/video to youtube, soundcloud, vimeo or other sites. Insert that URL in the writing area, after your brief introductory paragraph. 
    • If you are creating a narrated powerpoint, make sure to export it as an mp4 and then upload to one of the sites above. 
  6. Choose an image for the “header image” related to your topic and upload. Don’t forget to include a credit for where you have taken this image from. 
  7. Click on ‘Save Draft’, then ‘preview’. 
  8. You can edit it as many times as you would like, but if you want to leave and then return, make sure to include your email address and the page will send you a link through which you can edit your piece.
  9.  After you are done with editing, don’t forget to click “Publish Final”.
  10. Check back after June 21st to see the work of your fellow students!
  11. Don’t forget to complete the self-evaluation and submit it to blackboard. Please download it and fill it out. You can access the self-evaluation here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/19_KzqOnnIaBGlX93PHukSVpdEJAN1_br2rkEXEPWvlk/edit

Your goal with this video or podcast is to inform your audience about your topic, with the understanding that they have little or no background on it. In other words, you want this video/podcast to be an introduction. 

You can choose to explore an aspect of medieval Spanish history as represented in Guy Gavriel Kay’s The Lions of al-Rassan OR a historical topic from medieval Spain. 

Requirements

  • The video should include images. Make sure to provide information about from where these images are taken.
  • Videos should be approximately 15 minutes in length. Podcast episodes should be 30 minutes. 

Medieval Spanish History and Popular Imagination framework

  • Explore where Kay’s novel presents a historically AUTHENTIC representation of some aspects of medieval Spanish history
  • Discuss what aspects of his novel are historically inauthentic
  • Consider the role the fantasy genre plays in allowing the author leeway in his interpretation of these aspects of medieval Spanish history

Historical Topic on medieval Spanish history:

  • Choose any topic related to medieval Spanish history.
  • Remember this podcast episode/video is an INTRODUCTION so you will need to provide background AND specific details related to your topic.
  • Consider discussing specific primary sources as a way of teaching your students about this history and its significance.