Department of Elementary Education

Spring 15 Lesson Plan

Candidate
Caitlin Adams

Grade
4th

Content Area
Social Studies

CENTRAL FOCUS Part A: CURRICULUM ANALYSIS

1. Learning Standard(s)
Standard 1: History of the United States and New York
Use both number and text when citing
Students will use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate
standards
their understanding of major ideas, eras, themes, developments,
and turning points in the history of the United States and New
York.
2. Content Overview
Slavery was one of the major contributions to the rift between the
(Use the discourse of your discipline to
North and the South during the Civil War. Abolitionists like,
explain your content.)What content are you
Fredrick Douglass, Sojourner Truth, Harriet Tubman, and
teaching? Explain purpose for learning:
Harriet Beecher Stowe, all played vital roles in the eventual
How will this make students college- and
abolishment of slavery. These ideas are essential to the
career-ready?
students understanding not only to grasp how our nation was
established but also to understand the essence of debate.
Conflict and varied opinions are something we come across
consistently throughout our lives. Whether that be through a
college or career path, our students will need to understand both
sides of an argument in order to form their own opinions.
Content lesson complete 5; Literacy lesson complete 3 &4; Content lesson that includes literacy complete 3,4, & 5

3. Literacy - Essential Strategy

Describe

(consult edTPA literacy specific glossary &

Making Good Choices p. 30)

(consult edTPA literacy specific glossary &

Making Good Choices p. 30)

print concepts
decoding/phonic
s
phonological
awareness
language
conventions

5. Math/SS/Science Subject Specific Components

Conceptual understanding in relation to how the actions of

famous historical figures have shaped the course of our nation.

4. Literacy Requisite (ongoing

foundational) Skills
Circle one or more that directly support
your students to develop or refine the
literacy strategy

text structure features

miscue self-correction

word analysis
word recognition

syllabic or morphological
analysis
vocabulary meanings in
context

fluency
OTHER:

conceptual understanding /procedural

fluency/ reasoning/ problem-solving
skills

6. Prior Assessment Used to Inform

this Lesson

N/A

(Student teaching only)

CENTRAL FOCUS Part B : MEASURABLE OBJECTIVE AND ITS ASSESSMENT

7. Objective
Condition:
Behavioral Verb:
Criteria:
Must include condition, behavioral verb,
Using
teacher Students will:
1. The major
& criteria (See article by Kizlik).
selected materials
contributions of
1. identify
one abolitionists
2. discuss
that influenced the

3. highlight

8. Method(s) of Assessment &

Evaluation Criteria
How will you capture information to
analyze what each student has learned
about the objective?
Attach answer key, checklist, rubric, etc.
(see assessment & evaluation
criteria in edTPA glossary)

9. Prerequisite Skills and/or

Knowledge Needed in Order to
Meet the Objective
If students do not have this
skill/knowledge, you must differentiate
in lesson.

10. Next Instructional Step in the

Learning Sequence:
If all students were to achieve the
objective, what is the next lesson in this
learning sequence?

abolishment
of
slavery
2.
How
their
actions influenced
the abolishment of
slavery
3. To the rest of
the class, using a
fictional
newspaper article
they created, the
importance of this
individual

Assessment:
Fictional Newspaper Article Celebrating the Anniversary of the
Abolition of Slavery
Evaluation Criteria:
Teacher uses a rubric to evaluate the accuracy of the information
within the newspaper article presented by each group as well as
the quality of student writing (See attached rubric). Teacher
ensures that the image illustrated by the group is applicable to the
individual that they needed to research and has an appropriate
caption included.
Students need to understand basic information regarding
the Civil War and how slavery was one of its causes.
This information should be presented in previous lessons
within the unit.
Students should be able to read at a 4th grade level in
order to understand the information texts presented
within the lesson (Lower level text will be provided
amongst the groups where students need them due to
individual reading levels).
The following lessons will be whole group instruction and focus
on the Abolitionists actions individually and cover them in more
detail, forming them in multiple timelines. Then there will be a
final lesson that demonstrates how all of these timelines come
together and lead to the abolition of slavery.

KNOWING YOUR LEARNERS

Number of Students
22
11. Assets of Student(s) for this
75% of the students are bilingual and can speak English
lesson
as well as Spanish.
- What do you your students already
50% of the class is on grade level for reading, 25% are
know academically and what can they
higher than grade level
do academically?
All students independently read daily, however, they all
-What do you know about your students
appreciate having a story read to them. Some even
everyday experiences, cultural
comprehend the overall story better when having it read
backgrounds and practices, and
interests?
to them as opposed to reading it on their own.
(see assets in edTPA glossary)

12. Needs of students for this

lesson
What are they still learning to do?
(see #4 & #9 above)

13. Differentiation of Assessment

and Evaluation Criteria
Indicate how you will differentiate the
assessment and/or evaluation criteria
for the needs identified in the box 8.
(see assessment & evaluation criteria
in edTPA glossary)

Each of the students brings their own culture and

experience to the table, making discussions about prior
knowledge and personal experience engaging and eye
opening.
5 English Language Learners that struggle with reading.
25% of the class is lower than grade level in reading
Many students will need to be reminded about what
figurative language is and how the author uses it.
Some students will need help with the vocabulary in the
picture book in order to comprehend the text overall.
Several students have issues facilitating their ideas onto
paper. They will need assistance in wording their
thoughts in a way that they make sense conventionally
and to the student themselves.
Differentiation of Assessment:
Each group will be provided with a word bank that addresses the
higher level of vocabulary that ties in with this unit. Each word
will be defined for the groups. This is intended to specifically
cater to the language needs of the ELL students within this
setting. All of the groups will be expected to include the
vocabulary within their articles.
Differentiation of Evaluation Criteria:
A section will be added to the rubric that assesses the small
groups ability to include the vocabulary words accurately into
their writing.

ACADEMIC LANGUAGE DEMANDS OF THIS LESSON

14. Language Function
analyze
compare/contrast
describe
(See glossary under academic
language and Task 1, What Do I Need
To Write)

15. Key Vocabulary Word/Phrases

Critical for Achievement of
Objective
(see Making Good Choices p. 14)

16. Academic Syntax and/or

Discourse

interpret

argue

summarize

explain

infer

predict

categorize

justify

other:

15a. Multiple meaning words

that have subject-specific
meaning in this lesson that differ
from everyday life
15b. Cross-discipline general
academic vocabulary (see
Coxhead, 2000)
15c. Subject-specific words used
in this discipline

Imprisonment
Labor
Injustice

Summarize
Communicate
Research

Abolition
Slavery
Underground Railroad
Fredrick Douglass
Sojourner Truth
Harriet Tubman
Harriet Beecher Stowe
Syntax: Informational texts in the form of picture books and early
chapter books, that covers the biography of the abolitionist being

What structures of written and/or oral

language need to be explicitly taught for
achievement of the objective? (see
Making Good Choices p. 14)

17. Research and/or Theory

Guiding this Lesson Plan
In 1-2 sentences cite and justify evidence
that supports your identification of these
specific language demands.

studied. These books contain dialogue, question and answer set

up, and diagrams/images with captions.
Discourse: 4th lesson taught in a unit on The Civil War
Conceptual knowledge of: freedom, change, conflict, and
interdependence.
In their article Academic Conversations: Reasons to
Converse in School, Zwiers and Crawford address the idea that
facilitating discussion with their peers about a topic can lead to a
greater clarity on the topic and an increased ability to summarize
what is going on. They say explicitly that, Conversation helps
students to refine and enrich their knowledgeWhen two or
more people converse, their ideas mix and interact to create new
knowledge. Talkers walk away from the conversation with much
more than they could have thought up on their own (18). This is
precisely what is intended to occur in the small groups creating
articles together.

LESSON STRUCTURE
18. Total Time Allotted
for Lesson
19. Instructional Model

1 Hour
Guided Release of Responsibility

-Guided Release Of
Responsibility
-Direct Instruction
-Launch, Explore, Summarize
-Early Childhood Emergent
Model
OTHER:

20.Learning Arrangement
Whole class, small group,
pairs, centers, and/or
individual
21. (ECE ONLY) Role of
Teacher
22. Materials

Small Group

N/A
22a Teacher Materials
&
Resources/Technology

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.

Smartboard
Projector
Laptop with PowerPoint
Newspaper article template with space
for illustration (22 copies)
Checklist of criteria needed in the
newspaper articles (4 copies)
Why We Fought: Key People of the Civil
War by Lori McManus (4 copies)
If You Lived When There Was Slavery in
America by Anne Kamma (4 copies)
A Picture Book of Fredrick Douglass by
David A. Adler
Who Was Fredrick Douglass? By April
Jones Prince
A Picture Book of Sojourner Truth by

22b. Student
Materials &
Resources/Technology
23. Research and/or
Theory Guiding this
Lesson Plan
In 1-2 sentences cite and
explain evidence that
justifies these instructional
decisions.

24. Timeframe:
How long is the
introduction?
25.Transition:
What will you say/do to help
students transition into the
introduction

David A. Adler,
11. Who Was Sojourner Truth? by Yona
Zeldis McDonough
12. Which Way to Freedom: And Other
Questions about The Underground
Railroad by Mary Kay Carson (2
copies)
13. A Picture Book of Harriet Tubman by
David A. Adler
14. Who Was Harriet Tubman? by Yona
Zeldis McDonough
15. A Picture Book of Harriet Beecher
Stowe by David A. Adler
16. Who Was Harriet Beecher Stowe? by
Dana Meachen Rau
17. Real life images of Fredrick Douglass,
Sojourner Truth, Harriet Tubman, and
Harriet Beecher Stowe.
18. Credible online biographies on Fredrick
Douglass, Sojourner Truth, Harriet
Tubman, and Harriet Beecher Stowe (if
necessary)
None

In her article entitled Gradually Releasing Responsibility to Students

Writing Pervasive Text, Sylvia Read discusses the importance of the guided
release of responsibility model. Demonstrating the importance that despite
the student performing tasks on their own such as independent writing or
the sharing of that writing, that it is imperative to make it clear to them that
they always have teacher and peer support. She states explicitly,
through shared writing, students are provided a safe space in which to try
out the elements that are new to them, knowing that the teacher is still
there as a guide and support during independent writing, most of the
responsibility is released to the individual student, but the teacher and
peers can still provide support and scaffolding (470).

LESSON PROCEDURE: INTRODUCTION

5-10 minutes
Please stop your work and begin putting your materials away. Then direct
your attention to the smartboard and begin thinking about the images you
see projected.

26. Introduction
Teacher Actions, Strategies, and Questions:
Teacher Actions:

Introduction
Student Tasks and Strategies:
Student Actions:

A series of images related to slavery are displayed

on the projector for all of the students to see. The
teacher asks the class to Take a minute and write
down some of the things that these images remind
you of based on what weve learned about slavery

Students take a few moments to look at the images

and brainstorm the things that they remind them of
the information they learned in previous lessons
about slavery.

Teacher asks: Would someone like to share one of

the things that the images reminded them of?

Some students share the answers they wrote down.

Some might include: whites used blacks for
labor, blacks received no payment for work,
blacks could be beaten and even killed by whites
without there being a consequence, etc.

Teacher says, Those are great ideas! Im glad that

some of the information that weve been talking
about has resonated with you. Today we are going
to expand our knowledge on slavery a little bit
more by talking about some of the people that
made this injustice end. Teacher clicks to the next
slide on the PowerPoint, which is filled with
picture of Fredrick Douglass, Sojourner Truth,
Harriet Tubman, and Harriet Beecher Stowe These
people played an integral role in why slavery
ended, they are what we now call abolitionists.
Thumbs up if anyone has ever heard that word used
before

Students listen attentively to the teacher

introducing a new topic to them. They raise their
thumbs if they have ever heard of what an
abolitionist was before.

Would anyone who has their thumb raised like to

tell me what they know about abolitionists?

Students share what they know/have heard about

what abolitionists are.
Some answers might
include: they were against slavery, they tried to
help free slaves, they helped build the
Underground Railroad, etc.

All of those things are absolutely right,

Abolitionists were people who were vocal about
their disagreement with slavery. They not only
were against it, but they also risked their lives to
help free those who were enslaved. A great
example of this is Harriet Tubman and her building
of the Underground Railroad. Harriet built a tunnel
that ran from the South to the North and allowed
slaves to escape to freedom in the middle of the
night. All of these abolitionists on the board:
Fredrick Douglass, Sojourner Truth, Harriet
Tubman, and Harriet Beecher Stowe (pointing to
each picture as she says their name) performed

Students listen attentively.

actions that helped lead to the equality we see

today. Today, in our small table groups, we are
going to learn about those actions and how they
contributed to the abolition or ending of slavery.
27. Introduction Differentiation ELL- Key vocabulary provided on the board in their native language
How will you accommodate
as well as English.
students individual needs based
Struggling Learners- The brainstorm portion will be provided in a
on answer to #9 above (see
sentence frame structure, to help them organize their thoughts.
differentiation toolbox for ideas)
Advance Learners- Will be asked to provide more specific details
from things that we have discussed in previous lessons.
28. Formative Assessment
Asking them to brainstorm based on their prior knowledge of slavery
Strategies
in the beginning of the activity. Asking them to put their thumb up if
How will you know if all students are they have heard of abolitionists and sharing that experience with
learning what you think you are
their classmates.
teaching DURING the introduction?
(see formative assessment in edTPA
glossary & toolbox for ideas)

LESSON PROCEDURE: DEVELOPMENT

29. Timeframe:
40-45 minutes
How long is the development?
30. Transition:
Now that we have gone over what an abolitionist is, we are going to
What will you say/do to help
break off into the small groups at our table and look into individual
students transition into the
abolitionists in those groups. Lets get started!
development?
31. DEVELOPMENT
Teacher Actions, Strategies, and Questions:

DEVELOPMENT
Student Tasks and Strategies:

Teacher assigns an abolitionist to each of the table Students come up and collect the materials that are
groups (2 groups of 5 and 2 groups of 6). Then she associated with the abolitionist that their group will
asks for one person from each group to come up be looking at.
and retrieve the materials for the abolitionist
theyve been assigned: Fredrick Douglass,
Sojourner Truth, Harriet Tubman, and Harriet
Beecher Stowe. Materials for each group include:
Fredrick Douglass:
Why We Fought: Key People of the Civil War by
Lori McManus, If You Lived When There Was
Slavery in America by Anne Kamma, A Picture
Book of Fredrick Douglass by David A. Adler,
Who Was Fredrick Douglass? By April Jones
Prince (specific excerpts provided for reference
from this book considering it is a chapter book),
real life images of Fredrick Douglass, the places he
lived, situations he found himself in, online
biographies from credible websites.
Sojourner Truth:
Why We Fought: Key People of the Civil War by
Lori McManus, If You Lived When There Was
Slavery in America by Anne Kamma, A Picture

Book of Sojourner Truth by David A. Adler, Who

Was Sojourner Truth? by Yona Zeldis McDonough
(specific excerpts provided for reference from this
book considering it is a chapter book), real life
images of Sojourner Truth, the places she lived,
situations she found herself in, online biographies
from credible websites.
Harriet Tubman:
Why We Fought: Key People of the Civil War by
Lori McManus, If You Lived When There Was
Slavery in America by Anne Kamma, Which Way
to Freedom: And Other Questions about The
Underground Railroad by Mary Kay Carson, A
Picture Book of Harriet Tubman by David A.
Adler, Who Was Harriet Tubman? by Yona Zeldis
McDonough (specific excerpts provided for
reference from this book considering it is a chapter
book), real life images of Harriet Tubman, the
places she lived, situations she found herself in,
online biographies from credible websites.
Harriet Beecher Stowe:
Why We Fought: Key People of the Civil War by
Lori McManus, If You Lived When There Was
Slavery in America by Anne Kamma, Which Way
to Freedom: And Other Questions about The
Underground Railroad by Mary Kay Carson, A
Picture Book of Harriet Beecher Stowe by David
A. Adler, Who Was Harriet Beecher Stowe? by
Dana Meachen Rau (specific excerpts provided for
reference from this book considering it is a chapter
book), real life images of Harriet Beecher Stowe,
the places she lived, situations she found herself in,
online biographies from credible websites.
Teacher says: Using the materials that your group
now has, you are going to be making a newspaper
article that provides a biography or retelling of
your abolitionists life. In this newspaper article
you will need to include, the persons full name,
their date of birth, where they were born, what their
childhood looked like (if they were a slave
themselves or not), and two actions that they
performed that helped lead to the ending of slavery.
You will also need to provide an illustration of
some kind of the abolitionists themselves or of
them performing one of the actions you described
in your article. I will write these things on the
board so that you will be able to look at them when
you are working with your group as well as provide
each group with a checklist of these things so you
are sure not to forget anything. Does anyone have

Students listen attentively to the instruction of the

assignment and ask any questions they may have
regarding what is expected.

any questions about what is expected?

Alright! Lets get started, Im going to be making
my way around to each group answering any
questions that you may have

Students work together on finding information in

the informational texts provided for each group.
Using that information they begin to write the
newspaper article, making sure to include: the
persons full name, their date of birth, where they
were born, what their childhood looked like (if they
were a slave themselves or not), and two actions
that they performed that helped lead to the ending
of slavery, as well as an illustration depicting the
abolitionist themselves or an action that they
performed. They ask the teacher any questions
they have on the assignment.

Teacher makes her way around to each group

ensuring that they understand the concept of the
entire assignment. Additionally, she should make
sure that they are extracting the correct information
from the provided texts as well as interpreting that
information correctly.
32. Development
ELL- Key vocabulary specific to their groups texts will be provided in
Differentiation
their native language as well as English
How will you accommodate
Struggling Learners- Provide leveled informational texts for those
students individual needs based
who are on a reading level lower than 4th grade.
on answer to #9 above (see
Advanced Leaners- Provide leveled informational texts for those who
differentiation toolbox for ideas)
are on a reading level above 4th grade.
33. Formative Assessment
Student checklist that ensures each group is hitting on each component
Strategies
expected to be present in the newspaper article.
How will you know if all students
are learning what you think you
are teaching DURING the
development?
(see toolbox for ideas)

34. Timeframe:

LESSON PROCEDURE: CLOSING

10 minutes

How long is the closing?

35. Transition:
What will you say/do to help
students transition into the
closing?

Now that we have had time to finish our newspaper articles and
illustrations, we are going to share them. Please join me on the carpet.

36. CLOSING
Teacher Actions, Strategies, and Questions:

CLOSING
Student Tasks and Strategies:

Teacher says, We are going to go on a short

gallery walk or our classmates newspaper articles.
Each of you will get a post it so that you can write
one fact on and stick it around the newspaper
article where you found that fact. After we will

Students begin a gallery walk of their classmates

work. Making sure to write one fact on their post-it
and stick it around the newspaper article they found
it in.

discuss some of the information that we found out

based on these articles and illustrations. Lets get
started!
After a few minutes, teacher asks the students to sit
back down so that they can have a discussion about
the articles.

Students sit down, prepared to talk about what they

read in their classmates work.

Teacher says, Can someone tell me a little bit

about what theyve learned about Fredrick
Douglass or what they wrote on their post-it?

Students share some information that they learned

about Fredrick Douglass. Some answers may be:
He was an author, He wrote an autobiography
called The Narrative of the Life of Fredrick
Douglass to inform people about the treatment of
slaves, etc.

Teacher says, Can someone tell me a little bit

about what theyve learned about Sojourner Truth
or what they wrote on their post-it?

Students share some information that they learned

about Sojourner Truth. Some answers may be:
She was born into slavery in Ulster County and
we live there!, She escaped slavery, She helped
recruit people to join the army, etc.

Teacher says, Can someone tell me a little bit

about what theyve learned about Harriet Tubman
or what they wrote on their post-it?

Students share some information that they learned

about Harriet Tubman. Some answers may be: A
major contributor of the Underground Railroad,
Helped about 70 of her family and friends escape
slavery, Was a spy for the Union, etc.

Teacher says, Can someone tell me a little bit

about what theyve learned about Harriet Beecher
Stowe or what they wrote on their post-it?

Students share some information that they learned

about Harriet Beecher Stowe. Some answers may
be: She was the author of Uncle Toms Cabin, a
book that informed people about the life of a
slave, This book helped people fight harder
against slavery, etc.

Teacher says, These are excellent facts! Im glad Students listen attentively
that you learned so much from these books and
pictures, keep these facts in mind because were
going to be learning more about these abolitionists
later in the week.
37. Differentiation
ELL- Allow students to use their vocabulary list for reference during
How will you accommodate
the discussion
students individual needs based
Struggling Learners- Allow students to verbalize their ideas first and
on answer to #9 above (see
then write
differentiation toolbox for ideas)
Advanced Learners- Ask students to be experts on their abolitionist
and provide specific details about that person in the class discussion.
38. Formative Assessment
Those post-its can be collected to ensure that the facts are accurate; if
Strategies How will you know if
they are not then you can tell who had a harder time understanding the
all students are learning what you information.
think you are teaching DURING
the closing?
(see toolbox for ideas)

39. Transition to next

instructional activity

Amazing work! Now lets return to our seats, take out our math
binders, and get ready to turn our math brains on.

What will you say/do to help

students transition to the next
activity that occurs after this
lesson?
Developed By T. Lewis & I. Watts-Politza, 2015