Lesson Plans: Language Arts, Science, Social Studies
They Live in Guinea
Four Lessons for Middle/High School
Send questions and comments concerning this lesson to authorBarbara Linde
Middle/High School
The students will:
Science: 6.9, 6.11, LS.7, LS.8, LS.12, BIO.9
History and Social Science: 7.4, 7.7, 7.9, 11.18, 12.6, 12.9, 12.10, 12.12, 12.15, 12.16
English: 6.1, 6.2, 6.7, 6.8, 6.9, 7.1, 7.2, 7.3, 7.8, 7.10, 9.1, 9.6, 9.7, 10.1, 10.7, 10.9, 10.10, 11.1, 11.7, 11.8, 11.9, 12.1, 12.7, 12.8
In 1996 Sharon Zuber and David Essex co-produced They Live in Guinea , a 51 minute video which looks at the changing life of the watermen who live in the Guinea Neck area near Gloucester, Virginia. The video is now available for educational use. Teachers are invited to use this guide to accompany the video. The guide is intended for use in the middle and high school. Learning objectives based on the newly revised Virginia Standards of Learning are given.
To obtain a copy of the They Live in Guinea video, contact Cheryl Hunter at WHRO-TV and ask to have the program broadcast during the "Curriculum on Demand" time slot. You may record the program for use in the classroom.
With the increased use of video in the classroom, teachers and researchers have begun looking for the most effective ways to use video as an instructional tool. One successful approach is to break the video down into segments and provide pre and post viewing activities. This guide follows that format. The 51 minute video is divided into four lessons. Each lesson is approximately 40 minutes long. The lesson plans include pre-viewing activities (10-15 minutes) watching a section of the video (15-20 minutes) and post viewing activities (10-15 minutes.)
During the initial previewing activities, students will be involved in discussing what they already know about the topics mentioned in the video. In the last three lessons they will also review information from the previous lessons. Suggested purpose-setting questions and activities are included.
Note taking forms are provided so the teacher may have students actively involved in recording key concepts and ideas while watching the video. Students are encouraged to take notes individually as they watch, then discuss their findings in small groups and summarize the lesson with the entire class. Points for discussion are included for each section.
Additional materials include graphic organizers, tests, vocabulary lists with contextual sentences from the video, and definitions, and crossword and word search puzzles. A list of resources and a bibliography are also provided.
A KWL activity helps the teacher find out what concepts need to be taught by determining what the students already know. It also helps students set purposes for their learning. The KWL is typically arranged in a three column format. The "K" stands for "What I Know." Students record information they already know about the topic. The "W" stands for "What I Want to Find Out." Students list several questions they would like to have answered by watching the video. The "L" stands for "What I Learned." Students first attempt to answer any of their questions from the "W" column, then summarize any other key points. The KWL can be used either individually or as a class before watching the first section of the video. Students can then revisit the KWL after watching the entire video to record answers to the questions posed, and to identify areas for further research.
An anticipation or prediction guide prepares the students by having them think about statements pertaining to the content of the video. In this way the students focus on the video and attempt to anticipate what it will be about. The anticipation guide helps the students connect information they already have with the new information being presented in the video. It also promotes lively class discussions. An anticipation guide can also serve as a springboard to reading and writing activities. To make maximum use of an anticipation guide, have the students complete it before watching the video, and then return to it at the conclusion of the video to compare their predictions with what they learned from the video.
The Note-Taking Form is divided into two sections, for individual and group notes. Students who are able to take notes while watching the video should do so. The other students should spend a few minutes immediately after watching to individually write down as much as they remember. After the individual note-taking is completed, students should work in small groups to discuss their notes and add information. A separate note-taking form is included for each section of the video.
A post-graphic organizer is a diagram which shows how the important concepts in a text or video fit together. It may be either pictorial or hierarchical. The purpose of the post-graphic organizer is to help students summarize the important points and show how they fit together. Post-graphic organizers can be constructed either individually, in small groups, or by the class as a whole. One should be constructed after watching each section of the video. The four completed organizers can then be used to review the entire video.
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