The lesson below was written as part of a large unit for an education course. The professor that looked over this lesson recommended some changes to make the lesson stronger. The suggestions she made mostly pointed out the need for more detail within instructions and discussion of the document in the lesson. The changes I made to the lesson include pointing out what sort of main ideas the students needed to look for while reading the document and going over in detail what the requirements and expectations were for the RAFT activity at the end of the lesson.
Lesson Plan Name: Keisha Stoots Date: Day 5 Subject: VA/US History Virginia SOL: VUS.4b b) evaluating how key principles in the Declaration of grew in importance to become unifying ideas of American democracy. Grade: 11 th Start time: 10:00 Stop time: 11:00 Lesson Title: Unification and the Declaration of Objectives (What do you want students to know, understand, do, or feel as a result of your instruction?) 1. TSW explore the ideas of the Declaration of by writing a piece on what different people might have thought about the document via a RAFT activity. 2. 3. 4. Critical vocabulary: Due process of law Franchise Economic participation Free enterprise Materials/resources: Transcript of the Declaration of (printed if there is no computer access) Word document on SMART Board for listing key ideas Student notes Textbook classroom library computer access if available/needed Intro (how do you capture their attention and get them interested?): It is time for your class s country to declare their independence from the king. As inspiration, the class will go over the key ideas of the Declaration of.
Body (what comes after your interesting intro?) Hand out copies of the Declaration of and give students ten to fifteen minutes to read it. Instruct them to underline or highlight sentences they think are important. Give them ideas of what to look for by suggesting that they look for reasons the Declaration was written, what the document says the colonists have tried, and what they now plan to do. Once students have finished reading, let them share what they underline (1). Make sure to point out any important points that they might miss after they have shared. The following items should be discussed: Political participation Upholding due process of law Providing free public education Extending the franchise Abolishing slavery Civil rights of women and other groups Regulating free enterprise system Promoting economic opportunity Protecting property rights Discuss the meaning of words that students might have trouble with (2). With the list on the board, hand out the attached RAFT activity and go over the expectations for each activity in the RAFT. The students will work on this individually for the remainder of class. They will turn this in at the end of class (3). Closure (purposeful summary-help them remember today or anticipate tomorrow): Last five to ten minutes of class: Using what they learned, the students will list the main ideas that they want to include in their own Declaration of. This activity will be collected to make certain the students have picked up the main points. Homework: Continue work on the writing project (handed out during first lesson). Assessment: (How will you assess if they have mastered your objectives? Be specific.) 1. Which terms do the students find important without teacher assistance? 2. Find out which terms students don t completely understand.
3. Writing activity will be turned in for a grade. Activity must include discussion on key points of the Declaration of and information discussed in previous classes (patriots and loyalists, etc.). SOURCES: http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/declaration_transcript.html
Role Audience Format Topic American Patriot King George Government document Declaration of British Loyalist American Patriots Speech Declaration of Neutral Citizen Friend or relative Letter Declaration of King George Loyalists Political cartoon Declaration of Using the above table, chose one item from each column and complete the writing activity. You must include discussion on the key points of the Declaration of as well as information you gained from previous classes in the unit. You may use any resource in the classroom in order to assist you with this assignment. It will be turned in at the end of class.