LESSON PLAN - CLASSWORK Today and Tomorrow we will be completing the Instruction and Classwork section of your Lesson Plan By now your Bellwork should be complete, this should include Activity for Bellwork What you are going to be doing while the students complete Bellwork The Instructions as to what the students can and cant do Work with a shoulder partner, group, by themselves, Use a pencil, pen, ipad, etc. How you are going to make sure the students understood the Bellwork How are you going to go over the Bellwork (as a class?)
LESSON PLAN - INSTRUCTION Giving Instruction means you need to give directions to what the students will be doing. This will include you instructing the students on how to do whatever activity you have planned for them. You may need to think about what Classwork they are going to do before you think about how you are going to give them instructions Remember instructions should be given orally(by voice) and visually(by Keynote) You need to make sure the students understand the instruction you are giving them
3-2-1 Step one: Answering 3-2-1 prompt After students engage with a text or a lesson, ask them to answer the following questions in their journal or on a separate piece of paper: Three things that they have learned from this lesson/from this text. Two questions that they still have. One aspect of class/the text that they enjoyed. Step two: Responding to these prompts Use students responses to guide teaching decisions. 3-2-1 responses can help you identify areas of the curriculum that you may need to review again or concepts or activities that hold special interest for students.
ABC BRAINSTORM Step one: Select topic or text that is the focus of the Alphabet Brainstorm Topics that work well include broad historical time periods or events (examples: the Civil Rights Movement, World War II, Enlightenment) or themes (examples: immigration, human rights, genocide). Films, books, or other media can be the focus of an alphabet brainstorm as well. Step two: Decide on your purpose Do you want to see what students already know about a topic? If so, use the alphabet brainstorm as an opener or warmup activity. Do you want students to review material they have already studied, especially before a test or writing an essay? If so, you can use this as a class activity to help students recall information. Do you want to stimulate discussion after students watch a film or read a text? Do you want to see what students took away from learning new material? If so, use the alphabet brainstorm as part of a debrief activity or in place of an exit card. Step three: Preparation Ask students to write the alphabet down the left hand side of a piece of paper. Alternatively, you can put 26 posters around the room, each with a letter on it. Or, you can provide a graphic organizer with the alphabet printed on it. Step four: Conducting the alphabet brainstorm Depending on your purpose for using this activity, the way you conduct the brainstorm will be different. Here are some questions to consider: Group? Will students work alone? In pairs? In groups? As a whole class? Timed? This activity works best if students have a fixed time period. An alphabet brainstorm can be conducted in 2-3 minutes if students work in groups or as a class. If students are working individually, you may want to give them more time to generate an entry for most of the letters. Silent? Alphabet brainstorms make good silent activities, with discussion happening after students have reviewed what they have written. Accountability? Will students turn in their work? Will it be graded? If so, what qualities are you looking for in students responses (accuracy, creativity, how many letters they can complete, etc)? Step five: Debrief the activity The results of an alphabet brainstorm provide excellent material for student discussion. What themes do they notice? What was included? What was left out?
FISHBOWL Step one: Selecting a topic for the fishbowl Almost any topic is suitable for a fishbowl discussion. The most effective prompts (question or text) do not have one right answer, but rather allow for multiple perspectives and opinions. The fishbowl is an excellent strategy to use when discussing dilemmas, for example. Step two: Setting up the room A fishbowl requires a circle of chairs ( the fishbowl ) and enough room around the circle for the remaining students to observe what is happening in the fishbowl. Sometimes teachers place enough chairs for half of the students in the class to sit in the fishbowl, while other times teachers limit the chairs in the fishbowl. Typically six to twelve chairs allows for a range of perspectives while still allowing each student an opportunity to speak. The observing students often stand around the fishbowl. Step three: Preparation Like many structured conversations, fishbowl discussions are most effective when students have had a few minutes to prepare ideas and questions in advance. Step four: Discussing norms and rules of the discussion There are many ways to structure a fishbowl discussion. Sometimes teachers have half the class sit in the fishbowl for 10-15 minutes and then say switch, at which point the listeners enter the fishbowl and the speakers become the audience. Another common fishbowl format is the tap system, where students on the outside of the fishbowl gently tap a student on the inside, indicating that they should switch roles. See the variations section for more ideas about how to structure this activity. Regardless of the particular rules you establish, you want to make sure these are explained to students beforehand. You also want to provide instructions for the students in the audience. What should they be listening for? Should they be taking notes? Before beginning the fishbowl, you may wish to review guidelines for having a respectful conversation. Sometimes teachers ask audience members to pay attention to how these norms are followed by recording specific aspects of the discussion process such as the number of interruptions, respectful or disrespectful language used, or speaking times (Who is speaking the most? The least?) Step five: Debriefing the fishbowl discussion After the discussion, you can ask students to reflect on how they think the discussion went and what they learned from it. Students can also evaluate their participation as listeners and as participants. They could also provide suggestions for how to improve the quality of discussion in the future. These reflections can be in writing, or can be structured as a small or large group conversation.
FOUR CORNERS Step one: Preparation Label the four corners of the room with signs reading: strongly agree, agree, disagree, strongly disagree. Generate a list of controversial statements related to the material being studied. Statements most likely to encourage discussion typically do not have one correct or obvious answer, elicit nuanced arguments (e.g., This might be a good idea some of the time, but not all of the time ), and represent respected values on both sides of the debate. Examples of effective Four Corners statements: Step two: Introduce Statements Distribute statements and give students the opportunity to respond to them in writing. Many teachers provide students with a graphic organizer or worksheet that requires students to mark their opinion (strongly agree, agree, disagree, strongly disagree), and then provide a brief explanation. Step three: Four Corners Discussion After students have considered their personal response to the statements, read one of the statements aloud, and ask students to move to the corner of the room that best represents their opinion. Once students are in their places, ask for volunteers to justify their position. When doing so, they should refer to evidence from history, especially from material they learned in this unit, as well as other relevant information from their own experiences. Encourage students to switch corners if someone presents an idea that causes a change of mind. After a representative from each corner has defended his or her position, you can allow students to question each other s evidence and ideas. Before beginning the discussion, remind students about norms for having a respectful, open discussion of ideas. Step four: Reflection There are many ways you can debrief this exercise. You can have students to reflect in their journals about how the activity changed or reinforced their original opinion. Some of their views may have strengthened by the addition of new evidence and arguments, while others may have changed altogether. It is quite possible that some students will be more confused or uncertain about their views after the four corners debate. While uncertainty can feel uncomfortable, it is an important part of the understanding process, and represents the authentic wrestling with moral questions that have no clear right or wrong answers. To clarify ideas shared during the discussion, you can chart the main for and against arguments on the board as a whole-class activity.
GIVE ONE GET ONE Preparation. Ask students to divide a sheet of paper into two vertical columns. Label the left side Give One and the right side Get One. Response to the Question. Ask students to respond to a question such as Do you agree that laws are the most important factor in overcoming discrimination? Why or why not? Students should write their ideas on the left-hand column on their paper. They do not need to write complete sentences; responses can be in list form. Give One, Get One. Tell students to walk around and find a partner. Each partner gives, or shares, items from his or her list. For example, Partner A shares his/her responses until Partner B hears something that is not already on his/her list. Partner B writes the new response in the right column on the paper, along with Partner A s name. Once Partner B has gotten one, the roles switch. Students repeat this process with other peers until time runs out. Debriefing After this strategy, you will want to debrief in a class discussion and/or a journal write. See guidelines for discussion below. Prompts for journal writing include: How might you respond to the prompt or essential question now? What did you learn today? How does this information relate to the prompt or essential question? What else do you want to know? Teacher s role As the students share their ideas, keep notes. Pay particular attention to: patterns of insight, understanding, or strong historical reasoning patterns of confusion, historical inaccuracies, or facile connections, or thinking that indicates students are making overly simplified comparisons between past and present
GRAFFITI BOARD Step One: Preparation You will need a large space in your room where several students (the more the better) can write at the same time. Some teachers cover a section of the wall with butcher or chart paper, while other teachers use a whiteboard or chalkboard. You will also need plenty of pens and markers. For this activity, markers work better than pens or pencils because they allow students comments to be read from a distance. It is best if you have one for each student. Step Two: Contracting Before the activity begins contract with the students in terms of what an appropriate response is and how to express one's discomfort with something in an appropriate way. Students should be told that they are to remain silent during this activity. Make sure students know that several students can write at once. Students can write their own response to the prompt as well as respond to the questions and ideas that other students have written. They should draw lines connecting their comments to those of other students. Some teachers require all students to post at least one question or comment to the graffiti wall. Step Three: Invite Students to the Board Students are invited to write comments and questions on the graffiti board. It is typical for most students to be standing near the graffiti wall during this activity, so that they can more easily read and comment on what has been written. Writing on the graffiti board often starts out slow and then increases as the graffiti board contains more comments to elicit student response. Typically, teachers give students 5-10 minutes for silent writing on the graffiti board, but the activity can go longer if students are still writing. Step Four: Springboard for Discussion The ideas on the graffiti board make an effective springboard for a discussion. You could begin a conversation by asking students to summarize what they see on the board or what they notice about areas of agreement and disagreement.
HUMAN TIMELINE Step One: Selecting content for your timeline Establish a context for the chronology you want students to focus upon. If you are studying a particular moment in history, such as the civil rights march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, you would want students to be aware of key events that led up to this moment. Sometimes, you also want students to know what occurred after the focus event. You want enough events on your timeline so that each student, or pairs of students, can be assigned one event. Step two: Preparation In preparation for this activity, we suggest placing each of the events on an index card or a standard-size sheet of paper, along with the date when it occurred. Rather than distributing the timeline slips randomly, you might want to give certain students easier or more challenging items, depending on their strengths and weaknesses. When students present their timeline events, it is best if they have are sitting or standing so that they are able to see and hear each other. Therefore, this activity often works best if students stand or sit in a U-shaped line, rather than in a straight line formation. Step three: Individual or pairs prepare timeline presentations Assign each student one event from the period that you are highlighting. Each event should be described along with the date it occurred. Whether students work individually or in pairs, here is an example of instructions you can provide: 1. Read over your timeline event once or twice. 2. Rewrite the timeline item in your own words. If you are having trouble writing the statement in your own words, ask for help. An extension of this activity asks students to create or find an image that corresponds with their event. Step four: Building your human timeline Invite students to line up in the order of their events. Then, students present their event. After an event is presented, students can suggest possible causes of the event, and can pose questions about what happened and why. These questions can be posted on the board for students to answer later.
LIVING IMAGES BRINGING HISTORY TO LIFE Step one: Preparation Identify a collection of photographs that reveal important information about the time period the class is studying. Ideally, these pictures should contain enough figures so that everyone in the group is involved in each (or most) living image. Typically, teachers give groups of students (4-6 students per group) a set of 4-6 photographs. This activity works best if groups receive different photographs. Through the performances, students get to learn about the images the other groups have been assigned. While this strategy is often used with photographs, you could use paintings, cartoons or other pictures for this activity so long as the images contain people. Step two: Directions for students Here are directions you can put on the board or print out for students to refer to as they engage with this activity. Review each picture, one by one, and answer the following questions: What is the context for this picture? When and where was it taken? What do you see? Specifically, what do you notice about the people in this image? Why are they? How do you think they are feeling? What might they be thinking? What does this image tell you about the time period? After answering these questions for each picture, create a living image for each one. A living image recreates the scene from the picture in real life. Think about yourselves as actors who are supposed to assume the physical positions, gestures and facial expressions of the figures in the photograph. Each image should have a director who helps coordinate the scene. The picture should be a freeze frame, where actors hold their position for at least 10 seconds. Once you have created your living images, decide in which order you would like to display them. Then, work on transitioning from one image to the next so that your group can present these pictures seamlessly to the larger class. Adapt these directions to fit your own classroom needs. To help groups work more independently through these steps, you may want to have them assign roles. You could also have students record notes about each image in a graphic organizer. Step three: Performances Groups share their work with the full group. Groups present their living images in silence. The audience interprets the scenes as they view them. After each group presents, they can take questions from the audience. Between performances, students can record what they learned about the historical time period from viewing these living images. Step four: Debrief What did you learn about the historical time period? After all groups have performed, you can facilitate a class discussion about what the living images reveal about the time period. Students may arrive at different interpretations of what they viewed. Encourage students to use evidence to defend their interpretations and invite students to change their interpretations as they hear their peers ideas.
LIVING IMAGES WRAPAROUND Step One: Provide a Prompt Any question could be used as a prompt for a wraparound. Fill in the blank statements such as Justice is.. are especially effective when used with this strategy. Teachers often use the following prompt with the wraparound strategy as a way to get students responses to a particular text they have recently read or viewed. What word or phrases come to mind after seeing/reading this text? Students should be given a minute or two to think about their response before being asked to share. Step Two: Students Share Responses One at a time, students share their brief responses. It often works best to have students simply respond in the order in which they are sitting. This way, you do not have to call on students to respond; once their neighbor has had a turn, students know it is now their turn to present. With a wraparound, all students typically share their idea, although it is possible to allow students to say pass. Be sure to tell students not to say anything except the particular response because otherwise the activity will lose the desired effect. Step Three: Listen for Common Themes or Surprises After everyone has shared, you can ask students to report back on common themes that have emerged or on something that surprised them.