LESSON PLAN

Name: Morgan Showalter Date: 4/18/2024 Lesson Start and End Time: 12:11 to
12:57 (45 minutes)

Academic Area: American Grade Level: 8 Co-op initials with date:

History
Pre-Instruction Planning
Topic The Reconstruction Amendments
PA Anchor/Standard or PA History Standards
Eligible Content 8.3.8.A
Examine the role groups and individuals played in the social,
political, cultural, and economic development of the United
States.

8.3.8.B
Evaluate the importance of historical documents, artifacts, and
places critical to United States History.

8.3.8.C
Summarize how continuity and change have impacted U.S.
history.
- Belief systems and religions
- Commerce and industry
- Technology
- Politics and government
- Physical and human geography
- Social organizations

8.3.8.D
Examine how conflict and cooperation among groups and
organizations have impacted the growth and development of the
U.S.
- Ethnicity and race
- Working conditions
- Immigration
- Military conflict
- Economic stability
Lesson Objectives 1) The student will be able to (TSWBAT) distinguish
between the ratification, purpose, and impact of the 13th,
14th, and 15th amendments.

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 2) The student will be able to (TSWBAT) explain which of
the Reconstruction Amendments (13, 14, or 15) they feel
is most important and why.
Materials Teacher Materials:
- Reconstruction PowerPoint
C:\Users\Morgan Showalter\OneDrive - Geneva College\
Student Teaching\Central Valley\Week 5\MShowalter -
Reconstruction.pptx
- Quizizz Link
Reconstruction | Quizizz

Student Materials:
- Card sorting activity
13th, 14th, and 15th Amendment - A4 (Landscape) (canva.com)
- Pencil
- Reconstruction Amendment Paper
13 14 15 amendments worksheet.pdf
Planning for Learners Differentiation:
Process/Learning Environment: Students will be working in
groups in a hands-on activity in order to distinguish between the
Reconstruction Amendments.

Product: Students will be able to choose which amendment

they feel is the most important and explain their choice

Modifications/Accommodations:
Accommodation of Process: For students with IEPs, their main
non-testing accommodation is progress monitoring. So, for these
students, the teacher will monitor their work throughout the
class period and provide extra support/scaffolding when
necessary to help them with the learning task.
Lesson Presentation
Introduction 1) Ask students, “What time period have we been
discussing for the past two days?”
[Reconstruction]
“Why do we give this time in American history this
title?”
[We as a nation needed to find a way to rebuild after the
Civil War because of the destruction it left in its wake
and the social changes that had occurred]

“Yesterday, we looked at three different plans for

Reconstruction: President Lincoln’s, Andrew Johnson
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 (who became president after Lincoln’s assassination),
and the Radical Republicans. Parts of their plans
involved the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments, which we
are going to discuss in further detail today. First, we are
going to play a Quizizz to review what we have learned
about Reconstruction so far.”

2) Display Quizizz QR code, and have students join the

game. Students will answer the questions individually.
Sequence of activities 3) To introduce the amendments further, the teacher will
including assessments show students pictures/information on a slideshow to
introduce students to each of the Reconstruction
Amendments. Each of the following will be discussed in
further detail:

- 13th Amendment
- 14th Amendment
- 15th Amendment
- Effects/impacts of each

4) Pass out graphic organizers to students. Explain that they

will be completing a sorting activity, similar to the
activity they completed for the North and South
advantages/disadvantages. Once explaining their task,
pass out the sorting cards to each group/set of students
and have them sort the cards.

5) As each group finishes, the teacher will check to make

sure that they have sorted the cards correctly. Once the
teacher verifies that the group has the correct answers,
those students will copy their answers onto their graphic
organizer.

Informal Assessment of Objective 1 when the teacher checks

over students’ card sorts to see if they were able to distinguish
between the ratification, purpose, and impact of the 13th, 14th,
and 15th amendment.

6) Once students have completed their sort and filled in

their graphic organizer, they will answer the questions
beneath their chart:

Which of the above amendments do you feel is the most

important? Why? Write a strong paragraph explaining your
reasoning.

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Lesson Wrap-up 7) Take a class vote to see who said which amendment they
felt was the most important: the 13th, 14th, or 15th. The
teacher will collect the students’ worksheets.

Informal Assessment of Objective 2 when the teacher looks

over students’ paragraphs to see if they were able to explain
which of the Reconstruction Amendments (13, 14, or 15) they
feel is most important and why.

8) If time permits, play the Guess the Amendment game

with students. The teacher will display a scenario on the
board, and the students will have to read it and decide
which amendment it is referring to: the 13th, 14th, or 15th
amendment.

Self-Evaluation I thought this lesson went very well! The students completed the
sorting activity and the repetition of the Reconstruction
Amendments helped students grasp the content. The one thing
that presented a challenge throughout the day was different
groups finishing at different times. The opinion paragraph
helped some, but there was still some disparity. I adapted and
tried to use the Guess the Amendment game or a discussion
about what they thought the most important Reconstruction
Amendment was. I think that this helped to bridge the gap,
especially the discussion. Using the keywords for each
amendment also helped students remember what each
amendment was.

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