CEP Lesson Plan Form

Teacher: Molly Anstett

Date: 11/28/16-12/1/16
School:
Challenger Middle School
Social Studies

Grade Level: 8th

Content Area:

Title: Articles II and III of the Constitution

Lesson #: 4 of 7

Content Standard(s) addressed by this lesson:

directly from the standard)
Students can:

(Write Content Standards

1.2.f. Analyze ideas that are critical to the understanding of American history and
give examples of the ideals involved in major events and movements. Topics to
include but not limited to representative democracy, federalism, capitalism,
abolition, temperance, nativism, and expansionism
1.1.b. Use and interpret documents and other relevant primary and secondary
sources pertaining to United States history from multiple perspectives
4.2.d. Explain the role and importance of the Constitution
4.2.e. Discuss the tensions between individual rights, state law, and national law
Inquiry Questions: (Essential questions relating knowledge at end of the unit of
instruction, select applicable questions from standard)
1. How have the meanings of American ideals remained the same and changed over
time?
2. How have various people from different eras in our nations history promoted change
in the face of opposition and what democratic principles were advanced?

Concepts and skills students master: (Understandings, Big Ideas, Unit

objectives)
Students will analyze the main ideas found in the
Constitution of the United States. Students will demonstrate understanding by
answering questions about Articles II and III, working together in pairs, and taking
notes or asking questions about these principles.
Evidence Outcomes: (Knowledge/ Skills, Lesson Objectives)
Every student will be able to: explain the roles of the Executive and Judicial
Branches of the United States. They will understand the place of the president, the
Supreme Court, and how the branches work within the government.

Assessment of Evidence Outcomes: (How will you assess the selected lesson
objectives (general explanation, you will go into more detail at the end of the lesson
plan)
I will assess these objectives through student
participation and their tickets out of the door. Questioning strategies, resulting in
student processing will also demonstrate achievement of objectives.
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CEP Lesson Plan Form

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CEP Lesson Plan Form

Planned Lesson Activities

Activity Name

Articles II and III of the Constitution

Approx. Time

How long do you expect the activity to last?

One and a half blocks (120 Minutes)

Anticipatory Set

Recap of Article I, Discussion of three branches and separation of power

Handout chapters and reading notes
Share learning target for the day

Teaching/
Presentation:

Includes: Input, Modeling and Checking for Understanding

1. Direct Instruction: Provide instructions for activity and handout
2. Cooperative Learning: After reading a chapter in the text as a clas
work together in pairs to answer questions about Articles II and III
Constitution
3. Checking for Understanding: Teacher will circulate and check in w
frequently with those partnerships of mixed abilities.
4. Review: Check student answers about separation of powers for Ar
through as many checks and balances, Article III answers, as poss
allowing.

(Select the most

appropriate teaching
model.)
-direct instruction
-presentation model
-concept teaching
-cooperative
learning
-inquiry

Teaching Strategy:
Guided Practice
&
Differentiation
Closure

Students will read aloud in class and respond to questions to demonstra

mastery and review.
Students will work in groups to go through Articles II and III, while teache
gauge student mastery as well as address other questions. Differentiatio
through shortened questions, and/or making connections between the a
knowledge
Closure provided after lesson through discussion of questions, sho
Then, students will be instructed to fill out their exit ticket, based
Articles II and III.

Materials

Apple TV, iPads, Composition Books, grouped desks, pocket Constitution

Accommodations
&

To modify: If the activity is too advanced for a child, students will have m
assignments to work on in mixed-ability pairs. Other opportunities for le

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CEP Lesson Plan Form

Modifications

classroom discussion, working in groups, or through modified questions

When facilitating the discussion, I will be checking in with students abou
make these adjustments.
To extend: If the activity is too easy for a child, I will adjust questions to
principles of the Constitution with their prior knowledge, including critica
strategies, increasing the challenge of the concepts. Additionally, studen
more in-depth questions for their exit ticket, increasing the challenge.

What accommodations will need to be implemented and for what studen

Accommodations need to be implemented for students previously identi
and 504s, as well as students who appear to be struggling as demonstra
understanding and questioning strategies. These accommodations can i
shortened questions, cloze notes, clarification, and more time to process
activities.

Post Lesson Reflection

1

To what extent were lesson objectives achieved? (Utilize

assessment data to justify your level of achievement)

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CEP Lesson Plan Form

The lesson objectives were fairly straightforward. If students were

working consistently, they were able to achieve the lesson objectives.
The exit ticket involved in this lesson asked students questions they
would not have been able to answer if they did not finish their
assignment. As they were working together, students were able to get
through the notes, but some required clarification during completion of
their exit tickets. All students were required to write an exit ticket,
which allowed me to analyze their level of achievement. The students
with a high level of mastery were intentionally paired with those
students who struggle, either with focus and attention or due to lower
skill-levels. Overall, about of all students achieved the lesson
objectives at a high level of mastery. While the remaining of
students fell into a satisfactory level of understanding.
2

What changes, omissions, or additions to the lesson would

you make if you were to teach again?
If I were to teach this lesson again, I think I would do more of a JIGSAW
format. Students struggled with timeliness and completion during the
guided practice of the lesson. To change it, I would split them up to do
two different JIGSAWs of the content. Then, I would time the two
JIGSAWs so that students would be able to go through content faster
and stay on task. I would require all students to read parts of the
chapters aloud, so that they would not be confused about something
because they werent following along. I think grouping students for a
JIGSAW would also benefit some students who dont usually
participate, if they dont have to. This way, when students dont
understand, they are required to speak up, even if they are more
introverted or quiet.

3 What do you envision for the next lesson? (Continued practice,

reteach content, etc.)
The next lesson will include finishing Article III. Most students did not
get all the way through it, which showed on their exit tickets. Then, we
will go through student answers to make sure that they have the
relevant information. That might involve reteaching some content,
depending on their understandings. Then, I think I will develop
something for them to get the main ideas of Articles IV-VII, as they
have been having trouble wading through some of the Constitutional
language on their own. When we have reached Article VII, we will do an
activity that brings all of these things together, including checks and
balances and the system working together.

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