Lesson One/Learning from Presentations: Advance Organizers
1. HEADING: Randall Cook, rcook7@indstate.edu, February 12, 2010, Government, 12th grade, 50 minutes.
2. RATIONALE AND BACKGROUND: The model of teaching that guides the development of this lesson plan is the use of Learning from Presentations in the form of an Advance Organizer. The lesson will be used in a required course for graduation. The classroom, therefore, consists of a wide range of academic abilities and interest. This is the first lesson of a unit over the U.S. Constitution.
3. LESSON OBJECTIVES:
1) After completing the lesson, the student will be able to define and provide three examples of constitutionalism without the aid of references.
2) After completing the lesson, the student will be able to define and provide three examples of limited government in the U.S. Constitution without the aid of references.
4. LIST OF RESOURCES: Advanced organizers, overhead projector, educational links.
5. BACKGROUND READING: The following links offer supportive background information of presenting this lesson.
http://www.usconstitution.net/glossary.html,
http://www.usconstitution.net/constkids.html,
http://www.usconstitution.net/constquick.html
6. CONCEPTS: The most important broad learning elements or concepts include the learning and application of the terms constitutionalism and limited government in relation to the people and their government.
7. PROCEDURES:
A. Introduction and Motivation
Based on the students’ prior experiences and knowledge, the teacher will pose two questions to the class:
1) What is the purpose for having a written constitution?
2) How does the constitution limit in what the government can do?
The teacher will record the answers on an overhead transparency. The students will be told that no answers will be given at this time. The students will revisit these responses at the end of the lesson and see if their answers change to these questions.
B. Lesson Body
1. Describe in sequence the experiences used to develop the lesson. Each experience should relate to the lesson objective.
1) Presentation of the Advance Organizer of the concepts of the Unit.
http://screencast.com/t/ZTc3NTE3MjQ
2) The terms of constitutionalism and limited government will be defined by the teacher and examples given.
http://screencast.com/t/Y2U1ZjA0ZmMt
3) The essential features of the Advance Organizer will be explained and examples given,
4) The teacher will remind students of how these two concepts fit into the U.S. Constitution and our governmental system.
5) The teacher will ask for a summary of the major attributes of these two terms (in the students’ own words.
6) Repeat precise definitions.
7) The teacher will ask the students how these two concepts are expressed in the U.S. Constitution.
2. List the higher level questions that will be used.
1) What questions would you ask of the Founding Fathers in why they created the constitution the way that they did?
2) What aspects of the constitution would you change if you could?
3) Using the concept of separation of powers, do you think that the constitution would be written the same way today?
3. Include plans for students who need adapted instructional plans; that is, student needing re-teaching and students needing enrichment.
Recognition: represent information in multiple formats and media.
a. Support background knowledge
• Web pages with links to related information
b. Highlight critical features
• Visual Concept Maps (Inspiration software)
c. Multiple examples
C. LESSON CLOSURE: The two questions that were asked in the introduction will be posed again. The students’ answers that they gave at that time will be put back up on the overhead. The teacher will ask if any of the students would like to change any of their answers that they gave during the introduction and explain why.
8. EVALUATION:
1) Formative Assessment: For a written homework assignment, the students will define the terms U.S. Contitutionalism and Limited Government in their own words. They will give three examples of each. The terms will be reviewed during the next lesson. This assignment will be repeated throughout the entire unit with all the terms and concepts that are covered to better understand the lingo associated with this subject. This exercise will be part of their ongoing journal assignment.
A Jeopardy style game will be used to review for the summative assessment over the unit using developed from the students own journal assignment. This will be a group exercise a few days before the test over the unit.
2) Summative Assessment: There will be a performance project at the end of the unit. The students will create their own constitution. This will be a group project in which the students will create a “new” constitution.
There will be a multiple choice/true false pencil and paper test over the entire unit.
February 15th, 2010 at 1:40 pm
Hi Randy!
Thanks for sharing your lesson plan with us! It is always helpful to view classmates’ work
History is one of my favorite topics! I thought you did an excellent job with your evaluation procedures. I like the fact that you included a creative outlet by requiring the students to do a performance project! I think it is so important to encourage students to think outside of the box!! However, students have to know the facts—and you covered that aspect with the homework assignment
You might want to consider going into more detail in regards to your procedure. I thought some of the steps were vague. If you email me your lesson plan… I will give you specific feedback.
Sabrina
March 1st, 2010 at 9:10 pm
Randy,
Will you provide the Jeopardy style game you mentioned? Maybe you already have in tech toolbox and I just haven’t gotten to it yet.
Since you are working with 12th graders (who will be able to vote very soon if not already!), I think it would be relevant to discuss how “limited government” is used in political discourse today. Is the current use of the terms consistent with the founding fathers’ intentions? Should it be? What changes should impact our interpretation of these terms or should our interpretations be rigid?
I agree with Sabrina that parts of your lesson are vague. I’d like to see some examples (questions you’d use to prompt discussion, the websites you mention, possible definitions or examples of the key terms) before you finalize your submission.