Mini-Lesson

Teacher(s)
Name

Robert Tharpe

Grade Level(s)

9th

Content Area

United States Government

Standards
SSCG7 The student will describe how thoughtful and effective participation in civic life is characterized by obeying the
law, paying taxes, serving on a jury, participating in the political process, performing public service, registering for
military duty, being informed about current issues, and respecting differing opinions.

Content Standards
(GPS)

NETS*S (ISTE)
Standards:

2. Communication and collaboration , 3. Research information fluency, 4. Critical Thinking

Design and develop digital age learning experiences and assessments.

Overview: Provide a short summary of the lesson or unit including topic, assignment or
expected/possible products.

This GPS standard is a thematic standard in which students are expected to understand the
importance of maintaining active in civic participation throughout their lives. In order for
students to successfully do this, they must know and understand all of the components of
civic duties listed in the GPS standard. Due to the thematic nature of this standard, it will
be taught in tandem with other material. For example, in order for students to understand
the concept of being informed about current events I would have them review articles and
videos that have a direct relation to not only things that are occurring currently, but also
are related to the content of the course. This could be done by having students read and
review articles dealing with the current case being brought before the Supreme Court
regarding a challenge to Affirmative Action. In this way, students are remaining informed
about a key piece of legislation in American history while also learning the steps in the
judicial process. Students could also review the current events regarding the terrorist
group, ISIS and debate what policies the President should pursue to better protect
American interests. Both of the aforementioned examples help students to not only be
better informed, but also inspires them to be active participants in all stages of
governments by inciting them to vote and having them critique perspectives and agendas

provided by the media as well as the policies of legislatures. Students will also learn the
importance of paying taxes as they explore what all taxes are used for .

Resources: How does the LMS (e.g., Edmodo) you chose support student learning? Give some
specific ideas using particular features of the LMS.

The website Edmodo is a key component to the overall success of teaching a standard such
as the current one. This website, which operates like a social media website allows me to
quickly and easily provide students with reading materials, videos, etc. that students can
review and then collaborate in an online discussion board. This is advantageous
particularly for students who miss class, as they can log in at any time within a given time
period and review material they may have missed as well as the class discussions. This
website is also useful for students with poor penmanship as they can type their responses
rather than handwrite them. Students are also more likely to participate due to the
similarities of the website to those found with the popular social media site Facebook.
Rather than having to try to keep students directed and on task, rather than talking and
disrupting the class discussion, students can respond on their own. This also provides the
teacher with immediate feedback as to who is actively contributing to the class discussion
as the teacher can review the comments and postings. Edmodo also provides various apps
to help facilitate student learning , such as vocabulary development, citation assistance, text
to speech while also providing resources for the teacher to utilize such as rubric
development.

Instruction and Activities: What learning activities will students complete and how will they
complete them (e.g., online discussion in Edmodo)? How will you differentiate content and
process to accommodate various learning styles and abilities?
To teach this standard, I would use Edmodos posting capabilities to post articles, videos, and
probing questions for students to review. Students could then participate in online discussions
and debates to determine the merit of the article, video, etc. After students participate in the online
discussion, I would create a poll in which students could vote for. The nature of this poll would
vary based upon the situation. For instance, the poll may ask students if they believe the source
that they had reviewed to be credible or it may ask them to make a decision on who they think
should be elected into office or whos policy is the best for solving a particular issue. Either way,
students are able to decide for themselves. Due to the ease of posting articles and the freedom
from having to print material out, I can post multiple resources from which students could choose
to review. Students can also make use of the various tools provided by Edmodo such as text-tospeech.

Assessment: How will you assess how students are progressing and what they produce/do (e.g.,
a quiz in Edmodo)?

I would assess student learning by monitoring and reviewing students posts to various articles
and other resources. For those who are reluctant to participate, I can make it a requirement for
students to review a certain number of resources and respond a certain number of times. If there
are particular concepts or ideas I want students to take from the article, I can assign quizzes or
upload assignments (even tests) to the platform and assign them, even prescribing a time limit
should I so desire. I can also pose open ended questions for students to respond to in order to
ensure that students are thinking on a higher level. Finally, I can use the tools provided by the
website to quickly and easily review student achievement on content related assignments, such
as quizzes, as Edmodo compiles the results into charts and data reports that can be accessed and
reviewed as students complete activities.