Engaged Learning - Mrs. Cragun's class

Because we were told that we could do our service learning in a secondary school, I chose to do the second half of my hours with a history teacher at Mountain Ridge Jr High.  Her name is Emma Cragun and she teaches both 8th grade US history and 9th grade World Civilization and Geography.  Emma has a history degree and a masters in Education both from UVU.  It has been fun to get to know her and talk about experiences and teachers we have shared.

The first way that Emma uses engaged learning is through creating clear lesson plans.  While I was observing a lesson about the Revolutionary War, she used a powerpoint to guid her lesson.  The powerpoint was for her to stay on subject and also for the students to take notes.  The powerpoint contained both pictures and videos for added interest.

A second way Emma engaged her students was through relevant technology in the classroom.  The students were going to take a geography test on Eastern Europe.  The kids had their phones out.  They usually have them in a wall holder at the front of class.  I asked one of the students what they were doing.  She explained that Mrs. Cragun had given them a link to a free online geography game where they could practice learning the country names.  I thought this was a great way to get the students involved in their own learning.  They love being on their phones and this way they could make a game out of learning.

I am going to combine two other concepts Emma used because she used them both in the the same activity.  She used a hands on activity where collaborative groups worked together.  Mrs. Cragun created such a fun 'escape room' which was the culmination of the Revolutionary War unit and the reading of the book "George Washington, Spymaster, How the Americans Outspied the British and Won the Revolutionary War."  The classroom was decorated with Revolutionary War scenery, flags and propaganda.  There were also codes and clues on the walls that the students had to find.  A clothesline was hung up because that was the way they transmitted messages to each other during the war.  Emma really took the time to create an engaging activity that included so many of the things they had been learning about.  

The class was divided into three separate groups.  Each group had a team leader, a communicator, a writer, 2 couriers, 4 code breakers and a secret agent.  Each person had a specific task that they were supposed to do, while still working as a group.  Using clues around the room, they had to decode messages in a packet they received.  They were also tasked with creating a message and sending it to George Washington.  They were to find clues to help them with a lock code for a box that was on each groups table.  Inside the box was another box with a lock, puzzles and even a letter that contained invisible ink!  If they were able to get all the clues to open the second locked box they found a stack of lollipops.  Two out of the three groups were able to complete it during the class I was there for.

I felt very lucky to have been there for this activity.  I was able to see a class who had been prepped through the lectures to complete an activity like this.  The class enjoyed their time, worked together and had fun.