Millicent Atkins School of Education: Common Lesson Plan Template

Teacher Candidate Name: Chris Paye

ITSE Standards:

Digital citizen: Students must recognize how to use technology responsibly and resourcefully. They must
recognize their rights and those rights which they give up when using school technology/technological
resources. This skill is crucial in the online world because of the potential dangers the school’s firewall may
not be able to detect or prevent. Using this skill, students can differentiate between credible and noncredible
online sources and what website articles are safe to use as sources alongside at least one physical source, like
a book or newspaper.
Innovative designers: Students need to get creative for their projects. Using both technology and the physical
aspects, if any, to put their own spin on their projects to avoid duplicate/similar projects. Each project does
not have to be purely/totally original, but it does have to have creative elements to make the project unique.
Creative communicator: This skill is crucial in creating and presenting the project in a unique way. For
instance, the presenters could set the project off with a little background information, or more unique, the
repercussions of the event or movement they talk about.
Problem Definitions: This skill is meant for students to overcome logistical problems for their project option.
Specifically, the battlefield diorama and if they decide to make it more 3D and realistic. What dimensions are
they looking at? What details need more emphasis? These are two important questions that are solved by this
skill with the battle map. As for the other options, usually it’s about how to divide the work to each student’s
needs/obstacles, like involvement in extra-curricular activities.
21st century skills:

Creativity: The project brainstorm time is the creative aspect and focuses on the creative aspect on how to
make their project unique. For my part, I would like to see how I can improve on existing ideas out to
incorporate into the classroom, like having more group based work while still maintaining the individual work
load, like the group discussions throughout the lecture portion and some of the online class blogs that are
incorporated outside of the lecture material over the course of the week.
Critical thinking: The brainstorming session and the lecture is meant to enhance student’s critical thinking
skills in terms of how to differentiate historical sources as credible or not, and as first-hand and second hand.
This is to also expand on how perceptive they are at recognizing patterns in history. For instance, before the
Civil War broke out, there were political and social divisions that kickstarted the actual fighting, but it would
take years to reach that boiling point. Now compare that climate to the political and social climate of today
and one can see a pattern about deep divides in both societies.
Flexibility/adaptability: The group work is meant to simulate the skill of flexibility because not all group
members may agree on what option they initially want to use and how to divide the work for various reasons.
It is also up to me to be just as flexible in case there are any unforeseen problems, like snow days, or students
who are gone due to school activities or the ongoing pandemic. This also applies to the project itself if the
group wants to put their own spin on it and present it differently than they originally planned.
List the Rationale (cite theories or theorists):
Students learn best by doing, but some learn better than others. The major theme of Vygotsky's theoretical
framework is that social interaction plays a fundamental role in the development of cognition. This means if
students present their take on the information they had learned, they will be motivated more than without
such a method because they will not want to fail in front of their peers. The plan is at the end of each unit,
instead of a one-hundred-point exam, students will make a presentation to show what they had learned.
Quizzes will be applied to see if they retain information. Not to mention a healthy balance of groupwork and
individual work will also do the trick, according to Vygotsky.
List the learning objective(s) to be addressed in this lesson (specific, measurable, attainable,
timebound). Use the following format: “Students will be able to…”

Students will be able to identify how the addition of new free and slave states divided American society in two
and caused the American Civil War.
Students will be able to identify the many wars of expansion and land purchases that went through out the
nineteenth century that effected society in the east in different forms.
Students will be able to identify the changes between founding and the American Civil War in American
society both in the north and the south.

Describe how the learning objective(s) and the learning outcomes is/are appropriate for the
age/developmental level of the students.

The objectives are appropriate because they enable students to separate the true causes from state
propaganda and incorrect historical research conducted after the American Civil War’s conclusion. Also,
students will be able to identify that westward expansion was more than pushing west for the sake of doing
so. It was about resources and exploration, expanding or containing slavery, and how the “Indian Wars”
hindered or provoked westward expansion before, during, and after the American Civil War.
Describe the Classroom Demographics: (e.g., ethnicities; gender ratios; special needs, including those
of gifted students, those of students’ physical needs, and those due to cultural characteristics).
15 Caucasian
5 Native American
2 African American
1 Asian student from Thailand (specifically a refugee camp)
14 females
10 males
3 gifted students
4 students with individualized education plans (IEP) (1 cognitive, 1 OHI-ADHD, 1 is wheelchair bound and 1
with EDD).
Describe your Knowledge of Students: (in terms of the whole class and individual students)
(e.g., language needs; approaches to learning; prior learning and experiences; academic
proficiencies/behavioral differences; areas of interest).
The student from Thailand might need a translator, but further information is needed before this happens.
The student that is wheelchair bound will need space to move around, and the four IEP students will need
their own special needs, like front row seating and other, more specialized needs, like a break for the entire
class at the end of the lecture portion. Overall, I could try and apply their interests to the overall lesson, but
further info is needed.

List the materials/resources you will need to teach the lesson.

I will need access to the Smartboard, students will need access to the school laptops (or their own if possible),
to provide explicit instructions and standards, not to mention electronic resources and the imitations/options
of their class project for the unit.
Students will need access to online resources, through either the school computers or their own.
I will also utilize the whiteboard to write down URL’s for resources or for class news, like deadlines or
important dates in the class. These will also be in the syllabus for the class or the online webpage/news
section for the course.
Technology
Describe the instructional and/or assistive technology that you plan to incorporate into the lesson and explain
how it will enhance instruction and student learning.
The smartboard will be used to present new material and directions of how to utilize the online resources in
conjunction with the student’s use of the school laptop computers. The instructions are to guide them
through the beginning phases of their end of the course projects and what limitations may apply. Not to
mention how to guide them to credible sources and how to accurately cite them according to the citation
standards (MLA, APA, or Chicago manual style are common in high school).
Accommodations: Base this on the information you provided for Classroom Demographics and
Knowledge of Students above.
Describe the accommodations/differentiation/modifications you will use to meet the needs of all
learners and accommodate differences in students’ learning, culture, language, etc. *
The student from Thailand might need a translator, the student that is wheelchair bound will need space to
move around, and the four IEP students will need their own special needs, like front row seating and other,
more specialized needs. I will keep the student’s prior knowledge in mind and use pre-assessments before
delving into each unit to test their prior knowledge to see what I need to address and what I do not. This
preassessment is not graded, but it will show me what I need to cover in greater context and what can be
glossed over or briefly discussed.
Pre-Assessment: Describe the instrument or process you will use to measure students’ level of
understanding toward the learning objective(s) prior to teaching the lesson.

I will assign, in class, a preassessment to determine what content I need to cover in more explicit detail. It will
be ten questions, stretching over the entire unit, to test the students’ knowledge of the topics we will cover
within the unit. For instance, how the early industrial revolution impacted society and formed divisions in the
Northern states in terms of ethnicity, culture, and immigration populations. For the second unit, we will talk
about how the southern states resorted to large plantations and the internal slave trade continued in
America, despite how the Atlantic slave trade was cut off in the US by 1803. For the third and final unit, we
will cover how these cultural and social divides between north and south, as well as westward expansion (also
covered in the other two units as well) helped usher in the American Civil War. Students will be able to do
their own research throughout these units and be able to understand what life was like in those times from
different perspectives. This may also help with making the critical connections between the political
maneuvers of the 19th century politicians and those of today’s divided political parties.
Pre-Assessment: Describe how the results of the pre-assessment (what the students have
demonstrated they know) will be used to design the lesson objectives, instruction, and post-
assessment. (Include charts, graphs if applicable)
If a majority of the students answer 0 to 6 questions out of 10 correctly, I know that my lesson and
learning objectives will be appropriate. If most of the students answer more than six correctly,
then I will tweak the lesson accordingly to meet all their needs to create an effective learning
environment. This will be done online to speed up the results and while the grades will be only
visible to me, it can offer a sense of what we need to talk about right away.
Classroom Management
Identify the management and motivational strategies you will use to meet student behavioral/developmental
needs in order to keep students on task and actively engaged throughout the lesson.

I will need to walk around the room to make sure students are staying on task and not randomly browsing
the internet. I will also need to address any concerns immediately, like cell phone policies, or standards
about plagiarism. I will address the project standards and tell students were to find them on the syllabus or
the online webpage for the class.
Implementation
“I Do”
(Teacher introduces lesson and models expected outcome(s) of learning objectives)
Describe what instructional strategies you will use to model/explain/demonstrate the knowledge
and skills required of the objective.
I used the smartboard and the assessment to briefly cover the introduction to the unit and what
students already know. This will take about twenty to thirty minutes, including some brief
discussions that break up the lecture content used to help retain information in chunks. Then, I will
direct the students to some of the online materials needed and how to determine if a different,
outside source is credible or not. This mini-lecture will take about another five to ten minutes in total
and will also help answer questions on source credibility regarding their topics of choice.
“We Do”
(Teacher engages students in guided practice)
Describe the learning activities you will use to provide students multiple opportunities to practice the skills
and content needed to meet the learning objective(s).
As a class, we will discuss the standards of their end of the unit presentations and discuss possible
options. This will take about five to ten minutes as well, but this discussion will incorporate the
project and how it links to the actual content covered over the past few days. For instance, a
presentation on westward expansion through PowerPoint or Prezi, a historical film review, or a good
old-fashioned five-page report with a bibliography. Or even a diorama of a battle during this time
frame. There will be limitations on some of the alternatives because of access to resources, general
requirements, appropriate contents, and socio-economic factors so students don’t feel too worn out
before the end of the course or go over the top with their projects.
“You Do”
(Students engage in independent practice)
Describe what the students will do to independently practice the knowledge and skills required by the lesson
objectives?
I will allow the last forty minutes of class time to work on their unit projects individually and learn
how to identify sources and to begin forming ideas of their selected project. There will be only one
 of each topic and how the student goes about presenting it will be up to them as long as it meets the
project requirements, depending on the option they selected. A PowerPoint is required to go along
with the film review and the battlefield diorama options, but the report can be read like a speech.
This first day will consist of brainstorming, yet this same time on the second day will be reserved for
work time.
Lesson Closing
Describe how you will reemphasize the lesson objective(s) and any skills/content that were taught in
an interactive manner (whole/small group, etc.).
For the last five minutes of the lesson, I will allow for students to get the school laptops put back in
the condition they were found in and to give five things they had learned today regarding the new
material at the beginning of the course as their ticket out the door.
Post-Assessment: APPENDIX: Include a blank copy of the lesson post-assessment you will use to measure
students’ level of understanding toward the learning objectives after teaching the lesson.

The Pre assessment will be used for the post assessment when the time comes. It will be ten questions from
the day’s content covered. The answers will be discussed as class to help us as a class improve as the course
goes on.
Analyze
Post Assessment: Based on the results of the Pre and Post-Assessment, to what extent did students
achieve the learning goals/objective of the lesson? Cite examples from the lesson plan, assessments, and/or
video.
If applicable, insert a table/chart/graph before your explanation.
Not applicable

Reflect
Reflect on your instructional strategies, interactions with students, and classroom management strategies.
Describe what went well and what areas you need to revise in the future. Cite examples (from video) that
support your conclusions.
Describe revisions that you could make if you were to teach this lesson again. Why would you make each
revision? Cite examples from the lesson plan, video and/or student work that would prompt revisions.

Not applicable

Paragraph:

This was my second lesson plan, with some subtle changes made for the sake of improvement.

This was about the Antebellum Period in American History, specifically about the many divisions

between the northern free states and the southern slave states. This is more of a recap lecture than fully
introducing new content altogether, but still pretty useful at recapping information in case any students

have been gone or to review for an upcoming quiz or test about the conditions that led to the civil war.