Next week the 8th graders will be teaching their own lesson on a disease. The only thing I've asked them to turn in is a lesson plan (following Hunter's Model for an effective lesson) and a test (unguided practice). The parts they are struggling with most are how to do a good anticipatory set and the idea that they don't have to turn in a PowerPoint. The only things I want are 2 pieces of paper - 1 with the lesson plan and 1 with the test. The rubric has how I'm going to grade the presentation of the lesson. Yesterday I talked about "old school" before computers and projectors and photcopiers and smart boards. I even forgot that when I started there weren't even whiteboards. I remember when I got my first computer in a classroom (Apple II E). We had to put it on the other side of the room from the chalkboard because the chalk dust was bad for it.
Today the Eighth grade did a chicken leg dissection . (The procedure with pictures and questions was easy to find on the internet.) This was my introduction to the muscular and skeletal systems. The students quickly got the idea that they were involved in the anticipatory set of the lesson . After they idenitifed that meat was muscle, I had them chop off some muscle and throw it in a skillet where I had some garlic and bell pepper starting to sizzle. At the end of the class they could have a piece if they wanted. I then asked how many points would I get for my anticipatory set according to the criteria of the rubric. Ten points (the most you can get) is an oral and visual way related to the system of the human body that gets students involved and interested in the lesson plus something that has all the students actively show they are involved.
I got a unanimous 10 from all the students - even if they didn't eat the chicken.
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