E-mail contact
John Deyab
jdeyab@ boston.k12.ma.us

Teacher Bio
John Deyab teaches Autistic students at Charlestown High School, a School to Career School. As a Lead Teacher, he is certified in secondary English and Moderate and Intensive Special Education. John's extensive portfolio includes a Master of Fine Arts from Columbia University School of the Arts, a Master of Education from Harvard sGraduate School of Education, an additional Master of Education (Special Education) from Northeastern University, and a Certificate of Education in Therapy for Specific Reading Disability from Massachusetts General Hospital. Along with facilitating Best Practices workshops, he has worked as a Boston Public Schools Individual Education Plan Trainer and also serves as a Department of Education MCAS Alternative Assessment Trainer.

Subject Areas
English Language Arts, Communication, Social Studies, Life Skills

Grade Levels
9 - 12

Students
Intensive Special Education students diagnosed with Mild-Moderate-Severe Autism. Can be adapted for all High School English and Social Studies students

 

 
 

PreSERVING America's Past
With the Objects of Our History

Authenticity

Key Question How can archeology help students understand American's past?

Overview A class of Autistic high schoolers research Boston's Big Dig known as the Central Artery/Tunnel project the "largest most complex and technologically challenging highway project in American history." As students complete a virtual tour of artifacts excavated from their city's neighborhoods, they visualize how Native American and colonial peoples lived. They visit the Big Dig Archaeology Lab and meet an urban archeologist who eagerly accepts their offer to help out. During weekly lab sessions, these students learn to perform tasks related to the preservation of objects. They examine recently excavated artifacts, sort them and meticulously wash away centuries' worth of dirt, dust and salt. While they engage in on-going reflective dialogue with the archaeologist and her colleagues, windows open to literacy activities, as well as career related pursuits. Examining the urban archeologist's résumé leads to an investigation of what it takes to work in the field. The young investigators use Alpha Smart technology to write biographies and poems. For the final Archaeology Expo at the lab, they share their collective knowledge and products through oral presentations and poetry readings.

Active Exploration + Applied Learning + Adult Connections
Classroom Activities
Community Activities
Career Activities
• Read & conduct Internet Research on Big Dig.
• Take a virtual tour of the archaeology of the Central Artery Project.
• Study transportation & Big Dig maps for actual tour.
• Relate artifacts to Boston's history.
•
Use Big Dig books & AlphaSmart 3000 computers for writing journal entries, haikus, interviews & biographies.
•
Help prepare boards, programs, invitations, & Computer Slide Show for Archaeology Expo.
• E-mail urban archaeologist about visiting Big Dig lab.
• Tour lab & listen to archaeologist's presentation.
• Arrange for weekly work sessions at lab.
• Sort, classify, wash & photograph Native American, colonial & modern artifacts.
• Photograph archaeologists, construction workers & other hands on workers at sites.
• Present computer slide show, reflections, haiku & biographies during Archaeology Expo at Big Dig lab.
• Display boards & share materials at schoolwide Learning Festival.
• Read & conduct Internet research on careers in archaeology, engineering, & construction.
• Interview Big Dig archaeologist.
• Examine archeologist's & engineer's résumés.
• Use Internet to identify colleges & universities with archaeology majors &/or internships.
• Meet, interact & converse with archaeology intern, Big Dig inspectors & other site personnel.
• Use information for personal résumés & student internship applications.


Academic Rigor
Learning Standards English Language Arts
• Use various formats and technology to complete and enhance work.
• Use telecommunications to share information and ideas.
• Connect reading with own and others' experiences.
• Understand and use the writing process effectively.

Learning Standards History and Social Studies
• Obtain information from a variety of sources.
• Make connections between past and present.
• Identify, employ reference materials, including primary source documents and information technologies.
• Conduct historical and social studies research.

School to Career Competencies
• Develop Communication and Literacy Skills.
• Use technology.
• Organize and Analyze Information.
• Initiate and complete entire activities.
• Act professionally.

Assessment

Informal assessments include teacher notes and checklists documenting students' class work and individual contributions to group products. Formal assessments involve teacher grading the student journals, haiku, biographies and computer skills.

Software or Materials Used For bio sketches, haiku, journal writing AlphaSmart 3000, Microsoft Works, and Clip Art Web Sites; for computer slide shows: Microsoft Office PowerPoint; for photos: disposable cameras; for literature: Books on The Big Dig, Breaking Ground, Breaking Silence: The Story of New York's African Burial Ground by Joyce Hanson and Gary McGowan, 1998: Henry Holt & Company; Eyewitness: Archaeology by Jane McIntosh, 2000: D.K. Publishing.

Teacher Developed Materials Directions for Writing an archaeology-related haiku, using a visual prompt, Notes and Checklists Documenting Class and Lab Work, rubrics for Student Journals, Haiku, and Biographies.

Student Developed Materials Computer Slide Show, Haiku, Biographies, Journal Entries, Interviews, Photo Documentation, Invitations, Boards, Programs for Archaeology Expo.

Web Sites Citizenship Education: Archaeology in the Local Community, The Not Forgotten ~ Sharing History & Archaeology.

Final Words Besides being grateful to Ellen Berkland the urban archaeologist who allowed our students to make connections-- big and small-- to the world of the Big Dig and beyond, we want to pay tribute to Dwight Barnett, Charlestown High's extraordinary Social Studies teacher who suggested this partnership. When students work shoulder-to-shoulder with peers in an archaeology lab, they learn the roles, responsibilities and chores of the army of Big Dig workers. Hands-on contact with artifacts provides a powerful kinesthetic tool and allows them to become literally grounded in their city's past.

Teacher Tip Make sure students understand that archaeology includes activities as mundane as using a toothbrush and a bucket of water to clean pottery shards in municipal building's basement lab, or as exciting as unearthing relics from the days of ancient pharaohs. Although our students focused on meticulous tasks, they also improved their oral communication proficiencies as they shared lab work with teammates. Becoming an integral part of an archaeological work-team is a perfect way to hone life skills and critical thinking.

 
Back to Index Page

Back to CHESP Home Page