Critical Discussion: Lesson Plans for Ancient Egypt, Year 7, History

This report presents a critical analysis of lesson plans designed for 7th-grade students studying Ancient Egyptian civilization, aligning with the Australian curriculum. The analysis encompasses three key units: the social structure of Egyptian civilization, Egyptian pharaohs, and the religious beliefs of the Egyptians. The lesson plans are structured sequentially, starting with the geographical context of the civilization's growth and progressing to societal structures and the role of pharaohs. The teaching methodology emphasizes inquiry-based learning to encourage critical thinking and the understanding that history involves constructing arguments. The plans incorporate both open-ended and closed-ended questions, along with the integration of ICT tools for research and visual aids to enhance student engagement and retention. The report also includes a section focusing on the needs of individual learners, followed by the detailed lesson plans, including learning outcomes, assessment strategies, and teaching procedures, along with a critical evaluation of the lesson plans' effectiveness. The report concludes with references to relevant academic sources.

Running head: Critical discussion of the lesson plans
Critical discussion of the lesson plans
Name of the Student
Name of the university
Author’s note

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Critical discussion of the lesson plans
Critical discussion of the lesson plans
Introduction
This report will contain a critical as well as a contextual analysis of the lesson plans for 7th grade
students at _______ School. All the lessons have been developed in compliance with the
Australian curriculum framework for standard 7th. The lesson plans have been constructed on
Ancient Egyptian civilization, where I have focussed on the units – Social structure of Egyptian
civilization, Egyptian pharaohs, and religious beliefs of the `Egyptians.
Lesson plan sequence
The lesson plans have been developed sequentially, starting from reasons pertaining to the
growth of Egyptian civilization, beside Nile followed by the society of the Egyptian society, the
place that the Egyptian Pharaohs hold in the Egyptian society. The lesson plan contains learning
objectives that helps to provide an idea of the topic that will be covered in the sessions.
While developing the lesson, I have ensured that the teaching strategies being followed
are more based on enquiry. An inquiry based learning assists the students to understand that
history is not only a collection of facts but a set of arguments that has been constructed
rigorously. An inquiry based learning is necessary for children to find evidences and in certain
cases contradictory evidences (Duran & Dökme, 2016). Apart from using some straight closed
ended questions, some open ended questions has also been used for getting an over view of the
children’s perception and creativity. Such as providing them with the scope to estimate about
possible reasons for the down fall of the civilization. Throughout the teaching session, the
students have been provided with the scope of using ICT to explore their historical knowledge.

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Critical discussion of the lesson plans
Using ICT in classrooms helps the students, discerning about what they read and what they see.
It also allows the students to have a look at the fresh evidences (Lazar, 2015). Throughout the
entire lesson, plan there is a huge scope of carrying out question and answering sessions.
Question and answering sessions are important assessment techniques that teachers use, while
carrying on with the class, without even completing the chapter. Again, it has been stated that
asking questions motivates the curiosity of the students regarding a particular topic and at the
same time helps teachers to assess the student’s understanding of the materials (Eshach, Dor-
Ziderman & Yefroimsky, 2014). The entire teaching and learning experience of this chapter is
based on visual cues. According to Mathew and Alidmat, (2013), visual teaching and learning
increases the retention of the students by about 29- 40 %. It enables the students to see and
visualize the concepts clearly. For example, the picture of a pharaoh will help the students to
understand about their attires and their dressing habits. Similarly, picture of a pyramid will give
an idea about the colossal structure of the pyramids. Visual learning has been found to enhance
the hand-eye mid coordination of children and will help them to recall the facts and learning. The
lesson plan has been constructed in such a way, that all the contents are finished within the
stipulated time.
This lesson plan will definitely help the students to explore themselves further about this
civilization and learn about them.

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Critical discussion of the lesson plans
References
Duran, M., & Dökme, İ. (2016). The effect of the inquiry-based learning approach on student’s
critical-thinking skills. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science & Technology
Education, 12(12), 2887-2908.
Eshach, H., Dor-Ziderman, Y., & Yefroimsky, Y. (2014). Question asking in the science
classroom: Teacher attitudes and practices. Journal of Science Education and
Technology, 23(1), 67-81.
Lazar, S. (2015). The importance of educational technology in teaching. International Journal of
Cognitive Research in Science, Engineering and Education, 3(1).
Mathew, N. G., & Alidmat, A. O. H. (2013). A Study on the Usefulness of Audio-Visual Aids in
EFL Classroom: Implications for Effective Instruction. International Journal of Higher
Education, 2(2), 86-92.