[Ethna Glancy]

Lesson Plan: Discovering Ancient Egypt
Subject: History
Topic: Ancient Egypt
Grade Level: 4th class
Time Allotment: 60-75 minutes (adaptable)

Learning Objectives:
Students will be able to:

Identify key aspects of Ancient Egyptian civilization (e.g., Nile River, pharaohs, pyramids, mummification, hieroglyphs).

Understand the importance of the Nile River to Ancient Egyptian life.

Engage with AI tools to explore and present information about Ancient Egypt.

Materials:

Interactive whiteboard or projector

Computers/tablets (one per student or pair) with internet access

Use of  copilot image creator and microsoft speaker coach

Art supplies (paper, pencils, markers, possibly clay or construction paper for pyramid building)

AI Integration Note: The AI tools will be used as a “presenter” and “research assistant” to make the learning engaging and interactive. The teacher will guide the children with the correct prompts to get a useful output.

Lesson Procedure:
1. Hook & Prior Knowledge Activation (10 minutes)

Teacher uses an intriguing image from Ancient Egypt to get started, created by copilot.Display it on the screen.

Think-Pair-Share: “What do you notice about this image? What comes to mind when you think of Ancient Egypt? Share with your partner for one minute.”

Whole Class Share: Invite a few students to share their initial thoughts.

2. The Gift of the Nile (15 minutes)

Use the AI presentation tool to generate a short, child-friendly explanation of the Nile River’s importance (e.g., providing water, fertile land for farming, transportation). Include a map of Egypt and the Nile.

Discussion: “Why was the Nile so important? What would life be like without it?”

Activity: Nile River Story (Individual or Pair Work)

Teacher: “Imagine you are an Ancient Egyptian living by the Nile.

The AI generates a simple story prompt, e.g., “Write a short story about a farmer waking up by the Nile River. What do they see? What do they do?” Use Copilot Image Creator to help children with their writing.

Students write  their short stories. Share a few examples.

 

[Ethna Glancy]

I also use kahoot and to be honest didn’t really know about the other options until partaking in this summer course. I liked Quizizz and also the quiz creator on Twinkle. These two options are terrific for making quizzes. In this module I learned about joinmyquiz.com which is great for children to participate individually on their own device.

[Ethna Glancy]

I agree when introducing an app across the school a demonstration by an experienced user would bring everybody on board with you. Also it would give space for colleagues to have their queries or concerns answered there and then. This would increase teacher buy-in.

[Ethna Glancy]

I will be teaching a senior class next year and am excited about using AI tools with them. Before I introduce any AI tools I would check in with the children around their understanding of and misconceptions about AI. I would explain to them that many of the games or apps they use on their devices already use AI. I would aim to develop the children’s understanding of AI by explaining how it works, and in particular, make them aware of that the output generated is very dependent on the input, ie the prompt. I would model effective AI use myself. I would promote and revise internet safety before beginning the use of AI in the classroom. I would also highlight with the children the importance of fact checking and not to take everything at face value. I would also teach the children about bias.

I have used Scratch Junior in the past and would now like to try Scratch with my older class. Children can create stories, games and animation using Scratch.

I also liked the Osmo app, although it would be more suitable for the junior classes. I like the way the tool uses concrete materials with the digital games. In my school 6th class buddy up with the new Junior Infants. I think it would be beneficial for both classes if the 6th worked with the juniors and taught them how to use Osmo.

I also like the use of Gemini to create different texts on the same topic from different perspectives. This would really help children with their understanding of bias.

[Ethna Glancy]

I agree with Rebecca that Magic School would be excellent for creating social stories in particular in Junior Infants or in the Autism classroom.

I also think YouTube AI translation would be an excellent tool for EAL students.

[Ethna Glancy]

Part 1.

There are a great number of AI tools in this module that seem very accessible and easy to use. I certainly look forward to trying them out and familiarising myself with them over the next few days.

Copilot Image Creator really stood out for me. In my own classroom I often use scholastics storystarters. This tool randomly selects a type of writng (poem, letter, story, newspaper article) and gives you a descriptive title, for example write a stroy about a pink flamingo who was sad. While this is useful it can really limit the children’s creativity. Image creator is much better as it encourages children to be more descriptive and detailed in their writing. This also teaches the children the importance of providing detail in order to create a clearer picture for the reader. I also liked the way it could be used in the opposite way whereby the teacher created the image and children had to create the prompt that led to the generation of the image.

I really liked Microsoft Speaker Coach to upskill children in public speaking and presentations. I think in the higher end of the school children can become very self-consciuos and may need help in delivering to their peers. I think teachers themselves wuld benefit from this tool also. I know myself I can talk all day to my class but can be very  daunted by giving a presentation to my colleagues as part of my AP2 post. I will definitely use it in the future for myself.

Part 2

All of these AI tools can reduce teacher workload by creating worksheets, images and content. I particularly like Diffit for Teachers as it creates individualised levelled content which is something that can be challenging for us as teachers.

[Ethna Glancy]

I agree with Lorraine that a whole school discussion should take place on the use or potential use of AI in school. It should be included in the Acceptable Use Policy. Board of Management should also be involved in the discussion as well as parents.

[Ethna Glancy]

This module provided very good examples of AI tools that are available to use in the classroom. Broadly AI can be used in three main ways; as a tool to create personalised learning pathways, for routine administration tasks and as a means to provide data-driven insights. I think the use of MATHia would be beneficial to children in my own classroom as it provides personalised learning experiences in maths for each individual child in the class through its use of tailored support. It identifies a child’s strengths and weaknesses and then provides a programme to help each child develop their own learning pathway. I would think it might take some time at the start of the year to set up the class list and input the tests for each child. If I understand the programme correctly this might be a challenging aspect of the programme.

Century AI seems to be a similar tool in that it identifies individual needs for each child and creates learner pathway. It is beneficial in that it provides feedback and states if objectives are reached etc. It would be very beneficial in a classroom with its ability to identify who has grasped a concept, ho is strugglng or who needs to put in more effort. It is great that it can assign homework on an individual, group or whole class basis.

Immersive reader is a tool that we currwently use in my classroom and is particularly useful with the dyslexic child. It is free, and an help a hild to read at a slower pace, or break up words into syllables, highlight text etc. Strangely enough I never thought of Immersive Reader as an AI tool.

I am very impressed with the DreamSpace tool and would like to try this out in my class this year.

With all of the above tools the same challenges are present:

• The need to introduce AI concepts gradually so as not to overwhelm students or teachers
• The importance of embedding AI in regular lessons
• The importance of encouraging collaboration among pupils
• The importance of monitoring children’s interaction with AI
• The importance of discussing data privacy and ethics when using AI

[Ethna Glancy]

I agree with Roisin that AI could really help teachers who are time poor and paperwork heavy.  It could really be of use in creating differentiated worksheets in a class with a lot of mixed ability, which in fairness is most classrooms. I also think it would be useful in creating a variety of activites based around one topic so as to suit the different learning styles of pupils.

[Ethna Glancy]

For me when I think of AI I automatically think of chatgpt and didn’t really know a lot about it apart from this. I recently completeted a masters and there was a lot of talk in Academia about the use of chatgpt and the importance of using your own work and not generative AI. I suppose for this reason I had a somewhat negative view of AI as a tool people used to create work rather than use their own ideas. After completing module one of this course I have learnt that it has many benefits for teaching, learning and assessment in the classroom. It can provide teachers with more time as it can take the hard work out of administration jobs such as writing emails or class lists. As a result of having more time teachers can focus their efforts on teaching and learning.
AI can help teachers overcome the blank page problem by creating ideas and class room activities. It can create lesson plans and tests that teachers can use with their classes. AI can be used to create engaging interactive content, it can research a topic and indeed present a topic. This module highlights the importance of the construction of the prompt in order to get the response you require. Gemini is an impressive AI tool as it gives very detailed responses and it provides a link to its sources which would be helpful. I think AI could create useful quizzes, stories and engaging content for teachers to use in their classrooms.

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