Interning at CGS has really been an experience for me thus far. As an intern I have worked in the office on the press release for the CGS Brown Bag Lecture Series, sorted a list of co-sponsors of CGS previous events and my biggest task of all- heading an after school program at the Young Scholars of Central Pennsylvania Charter School with a group of K-3. The club I lead is focused on learning basics about ancient civilizations in an interactive, hands-on way. I have decided that arts and crafts is the best way to teach this. It allows students to add a new spin to something very very veryyyyyyy old. Ancient Civilizations are something pretty abstract to such a young crowd, but the inventions and concepts that come from these places are not. I figure I can teach about something old by relating it to something new.
In our first session I did an overview of what ancient civilizations were and tried to get a sense of what the students already knew, and what they wanted to learn. To my surprise, some of the students knew quite a bit about old and modern civilizations. They knew about Egypt, pharaohs, pyramids, Machu Picchu and more! Though my most difficult task during this session was keeping the students’ quiet attention I was able to finish the session successfully.
During the second session my lesson began with the first known ancient civilization: Ancient Mesopotamia. We reviewed three revolutionary inventions from this civilization- the wheel, the sundial, and sailboats. Allowing the students to make their own choice- each student made either a sailboat, clock or wheel from clay, construction paper, glitter glue, glitter boards, stickers and more. (See images)
Overall, I am really getting used to these kids and my love for them grows each day :). I am sure with the support of the rest of the CGS staff/interns I will only get better! So far I am more than satisfied with my CGS experience!