LESSON PLAN OUTLINE

JMU Elementary Education Program

● Quinn Albo
● Social Studies
● Grade: 4

A. TITLE/TYPE OF LESSON: Jim Crow Laws (Effects and Significance)

B. CONTEXT OF LESSON
Students have just begun their unit on Reconstruction and the events following this period. They spent
last week discussing the problems caused by the Civil War and solutions to these lasting issues. This
includes the relationships between African Americans, Native Americans, and white Americans during
these time periods, and how the laws reflected these dynamics. The day before this lesson, students will
have learned about segregation and prejudice, as well as touched upon Jim Crow laws and their
significance. My lesson on Jim Crow laws follows this by extending their knowledge of Jim Crow laws,
and beginning the discussion of the Civil Rights movement.

C. LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Understand ​- What are the Know ​- What are the facts, rules, specific Do ​- What are the specific
broad generalizations the data the students will gain through this thinking behaviors students
students should begin to lesson? will be able to do through this
develop? lesson?

Students will understand Students will know that:
that: - After Reconstruction, gains were lost
- The freedoms and when “Jim Crow” laws were passed
rights that had been by southern states.
promised to African - “Jim Crow” laws legally established
Americans were segregation, or separation of the
slowly taken away races, and reinforced prejudices held
after Reconstruction, by whites.
and it would take - Effects of Jim Crow laws included:
years to win them - Unfair poll taxes and voting tests
back. were established to keep African
American men from voting.
African Americans found it very
difficult to vote or hold public
office.
- African Americans were forced to
use separate, poor-quality facilities
and services, such as drinking
fountains, restrooms, and
restaurants.
Students will be able to:
- Explain what a Jim Crow
law is
- Explain the origin of Jim
Crow laws
- Identify specific Jim
Crow laws and various
purposes/kinds of Jim
Crow laws (voting laws,
segregation laws, etc.)
- Explain the cause and
effect relationships of
Jim Crow laws on the
lives of the American
people
- Explain the historical
significance of these laws
 - African-American and white
children attended separate schools.
- “Jim Crow” laws had an effect on
American Indians.

D. ASSESSING LEARNING

Student can: Define Jim Crow laws, Identify different Jim Crow List effects of Jim Crow
including origin and events laws and their laws on the lives of
leading up to this period purposes/intended effects Americans

Student A

Student B

Student C

E. RELATED VIRGINIA STANDARDS OF LEARNING

VS.8 The student will demonstrate knowledge of the reconstruction of Virginia following the Civil War by
b) identifying the effects of segregation and “Jim Crow” on life in Virginia for whites, African
Americans, and American Indians.

F. MATERIALS NEEDED
- Note sheets (22 copies)
- Video link
- Highlighters, pens, glue sticks
- Virginia Studies notebooks
- Printouts of various stories on life after reconstruction (4 copies of a story/table, 5 different
stories)

G. PROCEDURE
I will begin the lesson with a review of the prior day’s learning. Students should be able to clearly
define segregation and prejudice, as well as have an introductory understanding of Jim Crow laws. If any
of these elements seem unclear in students, I will take time to reteach them. These concepts are necessary
for students to understand before we continue on with the lesson today. If students demonstrate a
thorough understanding of these concepts, I will continue with the planned lesson.
I will then ask students to glue the note pages into their Virginia Studies notebooks, reminding
them to do so efficiently and quickly. Once this is completed, we will read the notes as a class, while I
highlight important points and ask students questions to extend the relevance of information. Students
will follow along on their own note sheets and highlight the same points. After we reviewed the notes, I
will show them the video about Jim Crow laws and their origins. This video contains some more serious
themes, as does this lesson, so I will be sure to discuss the contents of the video and make sure the
students are comfortable with the information and its significance.
 After watching and discussing the video, the students will break up into their table groups. Each
student at a table will have a copy of the same story from life in the Jim Crow south. Each table will read
a different story. I will give the directions to students, also explaining to them what they will be doing
with the texts. Students will be sharing the important ideas with the whole class after reading. After
reading these narratives in their table groups, the students will discuss the important ideas from the text
and decide what is most important to be shared. They will be the experts on the person they read about,
and can share the information they learned with the class, concentrating specifically on how this person’s
life was affected by Jim Crow laws and how they fought against these laws.
After reading, each table will share their individual’s story and we will discuss each story as a
whole group, asking questions to extend knowledge into the significance of Jim Crow laws. Once each
group has shared, we will review the learning as a class and conclude the lesson.

H. DIFFERENTIATION
I believe the segment of the lesson that will need the most differentiation will be the individual group
work of reading the story of life in the Jim Crow Era. Each table group is diverse in terms of reading
levels, so I expect that students will help each other. I will suggest that students read the story aloud
together, taking turns to switch after each paragraph, to allow lower readers to hear it read aloud and
therefore have a clearer understanding of its contents. Additionally, I will bring a guide for the students
for each different table text that includes questions to guide them, definitions of important vocabulary,
and connections to make to the content knowledge. To differentiate the rest of the lesson, I will read the
notes aloud and have students highlight the same important points as I. Similarly, I will guide students to
write notes in the margins to help them reflect on what they have read. During the discussion of the
table-group stories, I will ask questions to guide students to make the connections to the content we have
learned. Finally, the students will be teaching each other about their articles, allowing lower readers to
learn from their peers’ voices as opposed to a text written by an adult. This will help them make
connections because they will be assisted by their peers. This also differentiates for higher-level learners,
as they can extend their learning by making deeper connections between stories, between stories and
notes, and through other lessons and units.

I. WHAT COULD GO WRONG WITH THIS LESSON?

My main concern is time, a frequent problem in the classroom. I will analyze the best plan as we review
the learning from yesterday. If the concepts from yesterday are unclear to students and I spend time
reteaching them, I will lose time for the rest of the lesson. If this occurs, I will eliminate the video I
planned on showing, to save more time for the reading and discussion of the stories of individuals during
the Jim Crow Era. The most important information from this video surrounds the reason that Jim Crow
laws were implemented by the white population and where the origin of the name Jim Crow comes from.
If review runs long, I will remove the video from the plan and simply verbally explain these concepts.
Additionally, if the students struggle with the readings they do at their table groups, I will come prepared
with a guide to help them. This guide will include questions to develop their understanding, and
definitions for important vocabulary.