Artifact # 4
Social Studies Lesson Plan: a lesson on the Declaration of Independence.
Context
This lesson was created as part of my social studies methods class
during my block experience. It was developed to be an addition to
the Literature Circles unit on historical fiction; specifically, the colonial
period. I used the book, The Journal of William Thomas Emerson,
that was used in the literature unit to create this lesson plan.
Impact
When I am teaching in the classroom, I will have this lesson in my
files that I can use with my social studies program. Other teachers
can also use this lesson since it will be on the Internet, linked with
the literature circles unit. The lesson starts with a focus on the
book, The Journal of William Thomas Emerson. Next, the students
do an Internet scavenger hunt to research important aspects of the signing
of the Declaration of Independence. Finally, clips from the movie/musical,
1776, are shown to further illustrate the events in this important
part of American history.
Alignment
During the Internet scavenger hunt, I cited and linked the resources/websites
used for the lesson. I would explain to students why this is important
for ethical technology use and I will teach them how to cite internet resources
(Tech. Comp. 14.3).
In the closure activity, video clips used from the movie, 1776,
show the signing of the Declaration of Independence, and really illustrate
the different people and events from this period (Tech.
Comp. 10.2).
When I use this lesson in the classroom, I will use a remote control
to work the VCR I will use the fast-forward in order to show the relevant
clips from the video (Tech. Comp. 12.6).
While researching this topic for the, I found the actual words of the
Declaration of Independence. It is on several of the websites that
the students would use to complete the scavenger hunt. This is authentic
data that I found via telecommunications that I would use in my instruction
(Tech. Comp. 10.3).
For this lesson plan, I prepared the information based on the curriculum
goals of Social Studies in North Carolina. These objectives are listed
in the lesson plan. It shows that I can plan instruction using my
knowledge of subject matter. I had seen the musical, 1776, and knew
that it pertained to the lesson I was planning. I knew that the students
could benefit from the internet scavenger hunt, so I included it in the
lesson. Students can also learn a lot about their community by learning
about the Declaration of Independence. Therefore, this lesson satisfies
(INTASC # 7) because it demonstrates
that I plan instruction based on knowledge of subject matter, students,
the community, and curriculum goals.
The lesson also shows that I know the subject of the Declaration of
Independence and can provide a learning experience that makes the subject
meaningful for students. Students are able to research in the scavenger
hunt and construct their own knowledge with this lesson. They pull
their previous knowledge from the historical fiction novel into further
learning of the Declaration of Independence. Through the experiences
of reading, researching, and viewing 1776, students become involved with
knowledge construction (INTASC #1).