POWERFUL SOCIAL STUDIES LESSON PLAN OUTLINE

JMU Elementary Education Program: ELED 434 ALL SECTIONS

The following information should be included in the header of the lesson plan:
 Alexis Padgett
 Mr. Guengrich at Plains Elementary School
 Fifth Grade
 November 14th at 2 pm
 November 7th
(Plan must be initialed and dated by the teacher when it is reviewed—at least one week in advance.)

A. TITLE OF LESSON: Be creative!

The Civil War, Who’s Who

B. CONTEXT OF LESSON

The students in my practicum classroom are in fifth grade. At this point in their education of social studies, they are learning
Virginia history. A huge part of their curriculum is the civil war and how the war developed. I will be teaching the events leading
up to the civil war based on notable people including Nat Turner, Abraham Lincoln, Harriet Tubman, and John Brown. This
lesson is coming after the students have become familiar with these figures in history, specifically the events leading to the Civil
War. Because of this, the students will be prepared for the lesson. They have had the ability to learn the material through their
Social Studies interactive notebook. When it comes to the events leading to the Civil War, the students are familiar with the
differences between the north and south, but some confuse the economy they had, such as the south being agricultural and the
north being industrial. I was able to form this preassessment by observing the students while they were filling out their interactive
notebooks and the information they shared with the class as a group. Many of the students were forthcoming with the information
they were giving while others were quiet. One of the biggest misconceptions I was able to see had to deal with Harriet Tubman.
When asked if they knew who formed the underground railroad two students raised their hands. Although this is true none of the
students knew that there was no actual railroad for a train. When I teach this lesson, I will have been with the students for over two
months and because of this I have come to realize the methods they prefer when learning. The students really like to create and be
hands-on with the material that they are learning this is why I believe my lesson will be very beneficial for all of the students. At
their age the students are able to accurately work independently on their work after instructions have been given. With the use of
electronics, the students will become eager to create something on their own. Based on philosopher, John Dewey, whose theory
“describes a constructionist and interactionist view of development.” (Mai 9) Through this lesson, the students will construct a
 voice recording about historical figures while interacting with other students and various resources. The students will have the
ability to be as creative as they feel comfortable with all while learning about historical figures.

Mai, Robert P. (2014) John Dewey, Jean Piaget, and the theoretical foundations of open education. University of Massachusetts
Amherst. Web. Retrieved 13 November 2018.

C. RATIONALE:

This lesson gives the students the opportunity to examine the lives of notable figures in our history. This will give the students

the concept of a person in history including their culture, background, how they impacted the Civil War, and their stance on the events

that were occurring in the United States at that time in history. The students who will be performing this lesson are in 5th and will be

able to work independently finding the material that is asked of them. During this lesson the students will be assuming the role of the

historical figure that they are given, stating their life’s events in first person. Through this, many of the students will be able to form a

deeper understanding of their assigned historical figure in the events leading to the Civil War. The notable figures that they will have

the opportunity to research include, Nat Turner, Harriet Tubman, John Brown, or Abraham Lincoln. Students are able to relate to the

information they will be finding because it is the history that led them to be where they are today and the reason the United States

works the way it does today. This is a piece of history that affects their everyday lives. Because of this, the students are at the point

when they are ready to learn individual people and how they contributed to the beginning of the Civil War and why they are so notable

in our history. The people they will be researching, were everyday people like themselves. The everyday lives of the students in the

classroom differ greatly and because of this they will be able to learn more about how different their lives are compared to others.

Throughout this lesson, students will learn to accept the views of others and carefully digest information of other people and their
lives. In doing so, they are able to make connections to their own lives. They are becoming aware of the differences that they have

from one another and this lesson will further the development of this from history and their everyday lives through the various

communities they are a part of in their everyday life.

D. RELATED VIRGINIA STANDARDS OF LEARNING (and related NATIONAL STANDARDS)

 VS.7 The student will demonstrate an understanding of the issues that divided our nation and led to the Civil War by
a) explaining the major events and the differences between northern and southern states that divided Virginians and led
to secession, war, and the creation of West Virginia
b) describing the roles of American Indians, whites, enslaved African Americans, and free African Americans.
 D2.Civ.6.3-5 Describe ways in which people benefit from and are challenged by working together, including through
government, workplaces, voluntary organizations, and families
 D2.Civ.4.3-5 Explain how groups of people make rules to create responsibilities and protect freedoms.

E. LEARNING OBJECTIVES

Understand – what are the broad
generalizations the students should begin
to develop? (These can be difficult to
assess in one lesson.)
Know – what are the facts, rules, specific
data the students will gain through this
lesson? (These “knows” must be assessed
in your lesson.)
Do – what are the specific thinking
behaviors students will be able to do
or practice as a result of this lesson?
(These will also be assessed in your
lesson.)
 I understand that there were several
events that led to the start of the Civil
War to connect the history to my own
part in society.
F. ASSESSING LEARNING:
Task:
 The students are to complete the “I
AM…” script with relevant information
on their assigned historical figure; Nat
Turner, Harriet Tubman, John Brown, or
Abraham Lincoln. They will do so using
resources such as notes and one other
online source of their choosing. I will be
assessing their learning based on the
final product they will post to seesaw.
Being that they are doing their own on
one of the notable figures, after they turn
in their Chatterpix, they will be able to
watch other students work. After, I will
ask questions on all the figure to wrap up
and gage the knowledge all of the
I know the events leading up to the Civil
War involving John Brown.
I know the events leading up to the Civil
War involving Harriet Tubman.
I know the events leading up to the Civil
War involving Abraham Lincoln.
I know the events leading up to the Civil
War involving Nat Turner.
Diagnostic features: Support:
 Based on their task I will  I will be sure that all students receive
be looking for accuracy
in the information they
are provide based on
their provided historical
figure.
 I will look to see that the
students include the
major events that each
historical figure was a
part of such as Harpers
Farey, underground
railroad, presidency, and
rebellions.
I can demonstrate my knowledge of
notable people of the Civil War Era
and their contributions within society.
I can explain events that occurred
leading up to the Civil War.
support during this lesson. When the
students are working on their scripts, I
will be walking around and
communicating with all of the students
gaging where they are in the learning
process. I will give all the students the
one on one attention, so they are able to
communicate with me their knowledge
and hesitations on the information they
are finding. A way, if students need an
adaption on the script, would be to
provide sentence starters and have a script
where the students have to fill in one
word rather than a whole sentence.
 students acquired on all the notable
figures.

G. MATERIALS NEEDED

iPad – ChatterPix app – School

Chrome Books – Students
I AM… worksheet – Me
Photographs – Me
Notes from previous lesson – students
Document camera - Classroom

H. PROCEDURE

Introduction –  I will introduce to topic of the lesson
Lesson lasting from 1:30 being the notable historical figures in
– 2:15 the events leading to the Civil War.
Event 1  I will be reviewing the information
(7 Min) the students have already learned
including the historical figures,
definitions, events that occurred, and
the differences between the north and
the south through questions. The
answers to the questions will be
recorded.
Questions:
 Students will be listening.
 Students will raise their hands
answering the questions that will be
asked.
Answers:
 Northern States, Southern states,
and Western Territories.
 The Northern States. Ex. MN,WI,
IA, IL, IN, OH, PA, NY, VT,
NH, ME, MA KS, CA, OR, etc.
 I will be sure be sure
all of the students are
familiar with the
names that will be the
focus of the lesson.
 Students will be able
to use their notes when
trying to find the
answers if that is
needed. I will also be
writing the
information down to
allow the children to
listen and then read the
answer. Some students
  What were the three different
groups the United States were
divided into?
 What states were considered to be
free states, and could you give
some examples?
 What states were considered to be
slave states, and could you give
some examples?
 Why were some states considered
territories?
 What was the main difference
between the north and the south.
 Which economy was in the north
and what was their main focus?
 What was the main economy in
the south and what was their main
focus?
 What were their different stances
on slavery?
 What does it mean to be an
abolitionist?
 What does it mean to secede?
 The Southern States. Ex. MO, learn better with
TN, KY, VA, NC, SC, GA, AL, having both
AR, LA, FL, and TX. representations of
 They were the sections of land in information.
the western area of the United
states that had not been carved
out as individual states yet.
 Their economies.
 Industrial. They turned raw
material into products in
factories.
 Agricultural. They made money
through farming, mainly on
plantations where slaves did a lot
of the work.
 Northern states believed slavery
should be abolished and every
new state should be a free state
while the southern states wanted
all new states to be slave states.
 This is a person who wanted to
put an end to slavery and believed
that slavery was immoral.
 This means to formally withdraw
or break away from a union or
group.

Transition  I will introduce the historical figures
(5 min) that will be the focus of the lesson,
Nat Turner, Harriet Tubman, John
Brown, or Abraham Lincoln.
Event 2  At this point, I will introduce the
(15 min) historical figures; Nat Turner, Harriet
Tubman, John Brown, and Abraham
Lincoln. Without giving information
that they will need to find on their
 Students will be giving me their full
attention.
 Students will share their knowledge
of the historical figures from past
lessons within the unit. The students
will also be giving me their full
attention. The students will then be
 I will show the
pictures of the figure
as I say their names.
 This will appeal to all
of the students and
their interests because
of their ability to find
the information in the
 own, I will explain that they are given time to work on the script manner that works best
important because of their individually in the manner of their for them. I will also be
involvement in slavery. I will then choosing. coming around to all
explain what I will be expecting of of the student to see
them during this lesson. I will first their progress and help
show the student a blank copy of the answer any questions
“I AM…” worksheet. I will then they may have.
explain that they will be assign one of
the historical figures. Based on the
figure they are given, they will need
to find relevant information. I will
then explain what they will need to do
using the script after the students have
completed the sheet.
 Resources –
 Abraham Lincoln -
https://www.history.com/topics/u
s-presidents/abraham-lincoln
https://www.battlefields.org/learn/bio
graphies/abraham-lincoln
Nat Turner -
https://www.history.com/topics/black
-history/nat-turner
https://www.biography.com/people/n
at-turner-9512211
http://www.facts-
about.org.uk/famous-people-facts-
starting-with-n/nat-turner.htm
Harriet Tubman -
https://www.history.com/topics/black
-history/harriet-tubman
https://www.battlefields.org/learn/bio
graphies/harriet-tubman
John Brown –
https://www.history.com/topics/abolo
tionist-movement/john-brown
 https://www.battlefields.org/learn/bio
graphies/john-brown
All –
http://www.pbs.org/kenburns/civil-
war/war/bios/#/
https://www.ducksters.com/history/ci
vil_war.php
Transition  I will be coming around with bag with 
(5 min) the names of the possible historical
figures the students will be finding
information on.
Event 3  After the students have had the ability 
(10 min) to research their assign historical
figure, I will introduce the app
ChatterPix. I will explain that they
will need to take a picture of their
assigned historical figure. Once they
have taken a picture, they will then
need to draw a mouth which will be
the part that move while they are
voice recording their script. To help
them understand what I am asking of
them, I will do one in front of them,
using my phone, so they will know all
the steps they will need to follow to
complete their own.
Transition  The students will be asked to submit
(2 min) their creations to seesaw.
Event 4  Once all of the students have posted
(6 min) their creations to seesaw, they will
have the opportunity to share
The student will pick a name out of a
bag when it is their turn.
Students will be working on their own
making their Chatterpix. In doing so
they will be putting themselves in the
shoes of the historical figures,
speaking in first person. They will be
using the script to follow what they
are supposed to say and mention
when they are doing their voice
recording. They will be able to add
their own flare to the recoding such as
decorating the picture.
 Students will submit their Chatterpix
of their assigned historical figure to
the class seesaw.
 Students will have the opportunity to
share what they created and the
 All students will have
the same likeliness to
get an individual
historical figure.
 The children will be
able to see how they
are to perform the
tasks on Chatterpix
through the displaying
step by step using the
document camera. The
children will also be
able to move around
and find the spot they
feel comfortable when
doing work. I will be
coming around talking
to all of the students to
see their progress and
answer any questions
that
 All of the students will
have to opportunity to
post their creations.
 Students will be able
to see various ways the
students interpreted
 information they found about their information they were able to find on the project and
historical figure. I will be looking for their historical figure. different ways to
students to share that all have display the
different people, so all of the students information of the
are able to hear information about all historical figures.
of the assigned historical figures.
Conclusion:  I will ask the students what they  The students will give their feedback  Several different
(5 min) learned during to process of the on the lesson and what they learned perspectives will be
lesson. during the time of the lesson. given.

I. DIFFERENTIATION:
i. Student will have the opportunity to use notes and other recourses they are comfortable with.
1. This will help the students locate the information easier, all in one location. Being that all of the information is in
a similar location.
2. The other resources can provide students with different forms of information that they may better understand.
ii. Students will receive extra attention with the aid being in the classroom.
1. The aid stays in class with two students during science and social studies. She is around to help the students with
various assignments and to make sure they stay on task and answer any questions they may have.
iii. If it is needed the students could receive extra time to complete their voice recording if the 30 secs timeframe doesn’t
allow them to complete the reading.
1. Allowing the students to make an additional recording, so they can include all of the information they believe to
be important. This allows the students to realize that this is a project based on what they believe is important and
worth adding to their project.
iv. Students will have the ability to extend their learning by including their own part to the script.
1. This will extend the students learning because they are including what they believe to be important to the learner.
This also allows the students to learn new information they may not have otherwise found out by just following
the script.
v. Students that finished the video early and submitted it to seesaw, will be able to help other students.
1. This will allow the students to communicate with each other and collaborate. When students work together and
use vocabulary that is easily understood, some students will better be able to understand the information.

J. WHAT COULD GO WRONG WITH THIS LESSON AND WHAT WILL YOU DO ABOUT IT?
 vi. Student will not be able to use the iPads that have the app on them.
1. If this happens, I will have the student work with extended construction paper and art materials. Using this poster,
they will use the information they found about their historical figure using the “I AM…” worksheet writing the
information in first person. They will then be able to share the information they were able to find to the class by
bringing the poster to the front of the class and even using the document camera.
vii. The students are unsure where they can find information.
1. The students will have access to their social studies binders to find the information they previously recorded.
viii. Students will not be able to submit their project to seesaw.
1. They will be able to bring their iPad to the front of the class and it can be placed under the document camera.
ix. Students will be too noisy when working right next to each other.
1. I will give them the opportunity to spread out around the classroom and form their own personal space to work.
 I AM….

Instructions: Fill in the script with information about the person you have been assigned. Your
person can either be Nat Turner, Harriet Tubman, John Brown, or Abraham
Lincoln. Please fill out the information correctly and accurately. You are able to use
your notes along with other resources.

My name is __________________________. Leading up to the Civil War I was a/an (Slave or Abolitionist)

____________________________ in (general location) ______________________. I am taught in schools today because of my

involvement in the events of the Civil War. I am known for

_____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________. As a result,

____________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________. Some fun facts about me include,

________________________________________________

______________________________________________. For these reasons, I am a big part of history.

(This worksheet will be in portrait format)

 Nat Turner

http://www.socialstudiesforkids.com/articles/ushistory/natturner.htm
 Abraham Lincoln

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Lincoln
 Harriet Tubman

https://www.nationalparks.org/connect/blog/beacon-resilience-and-love-harriet-tubman
 John Brown

https://www.thoughtco.com/john-brown-1773641
Lesson Implementation Reflection
I. How did your actual teaching of the lesson differ from your plans? Describe the changes and explain why you made them.

One thing that changed was the introduction of the lesson. My CT decided to teach some social studies earlier in the day and went
over the questions that I was going to ask in my introduction. Being so, I was able to mover past that part of the introduction to give
them more time to work on their own individual projects. Although I didn’t ask those specific questions, I asked the student what they
knew about the historical figures. With this I was able to see their knowledge before and after the project. Another element of the
lesson that changed was the research aspect of the lesson. Here, the students were able to use the websites that were provided to find
the fun fact about their historical figure. This part of the lesson distracted many of the student from completing the script in a timely
manner. They were getting off topic and some of the students didn’t want to read to find the information. This resulted in some
students not completing the script in the time they were given. When I realized that using the computers were a distraction, I then told
the students that they had 5 more minutes with the computers, after they will just use their notes to find the information. I based my
script on the notes, so I knew they would be able to find all of the information they would need minus the fun fact. In the time that the
students did get to use the computers, most were able to find a fun fact but if they didn’t, it was a piece they were able to leave out.
Overall, for the most part, the lesson stayed the same minus a few details.

II. Based on the assessment you created, what can you conclude about your impact on student learning? Did they learn? Who learned?
What did they learn? What evidence can you offer that your conclusions are valid?

The assessment I created was through their final product of their project. I believe out of all of the historical figures; the students were
able to learn the most about their own figures than all of them. This I believe is due to running out of time and not being able to show
all of the videos. I was able to see that all of the students learned about their figures because of the final product of their individual
projects. While doing their project they were able to learn multiple aspects of their historical figure such as, who they were during the
events leading up to the civil war, what their goal was, what major event were they apart of, and the effects of that event. They were
able to show their information on the script they were provided and through the video that they made. I believe, that to some extent the
noise level did take away from some of the individual learning however they are all able to complete a final product.

III. Describe at least one way you could incorporate developmentally appropriate practice in a better or more thorough way if you were to
teach this lesson again.

If I was to teach this lesson again, I would be sure to do so once the students have learned to research. I believe this was a difficult part
of the lesson because to students didn’t really know where to search to find information because it wasn’t laid all out for them. A way
that I could also make this easier for them to find information would be through printing off different passages of the website to help
to students concentrate on the specific elements of the website rather than giving them the whole website to work with which can be
overwhelming.
IV. Based on the assessment data you collected, what would you do/teach next if you were the classroom teacher?

If I was to continue on this topic then I would like to move to another group of historical figures during the war. I believe that if the
students know the historical figures, they will learn about the different elements of history those figures were apart of. The first thing I
would like to do if I was to continue this lesson would be the watch other final projects that were posted to seesaw. This will help the
students learn about the other figures better.

V. As a result of planning and teaching this lesson, what have you learned or had reinforced about young children as learners?

With young learner it is important to find engaging lessons. Being so, it is important to know the class you are teaching and make sure
the lesson is something the children are able to do. It is also important to keep the students on task. It some cases, it is harder than
other, but it is important to keep them on task. Overall, I think that giving the student to find their own information and complete a
project, could give them more of an appreciation for the content and therefore learn.

VI. As a result of planning and teaching this lesson, what have you learned or had reinforced about teaching?

The most important thing I learned was the importance of keeping the students on task. It is so easy for students start talking about
other thing when working on a project where they are able to work on their own time. There are many different ways that you can do
this in a classroom. This can be through call and responses, the flexibility of allowing the students to find their own area to complete
their work, and separating students that are doing their work. I never had to separate students but that is always an option if it comes to
it. As the teacher, it is your responsibility to engage the students and create their willingness and want, to do the project.

VII. As a result of planning and teaching this lesson, what have you learned or had reinforced about yourself?

As a result of this lesson, I have learned that no matter how one believes the lesson is going, it could turn out better than expected.
Throughout the lesson, based on the noise level, I was unsure of the students were actually learning. It wasn’t until I was walking
around and seeing the children’s progress, I realized that there were several students that were excited about the project and wanted to
learn. I really liked the end product and the information that the students found. This lesson reinforced that this is something I really
enjoy implementing ways to help students learn and seeing the final product showing what they have learned.