Direct Instruction Lesson Plan Template

Grade Level/Subject:
Central Focus: The Bill of Rights (5th 6th and 8th
5th
amendments)
Interpreting Complex Text
Essential Standard/Common Core Objective:
5. C&G. 1.2 Summarize the organizational structures and
powers of the United States government (legislative, judicial
and executive branches of government)
Date submitted:
Date
taught:
CCSS. ELA-Literacy. RL. 5.2. Determine two or more main
ideas of a text and explain how they are supported by key
details: summarize the text
Daily Lesson Objective: Students will be able to identify the main ideas of the 5th 6th and 8th
amendments by working in groups of two to complete a Whats the Big Idea? chart using 3
pieces of evidence from the text for each amendment with 90% accuracy. Students will then
independently write a short essay on ways they think the amendment will change in the future.
21st Century Skills:
Academic Language Demand (Language Function and
Reason effectively: students will
Vocabulary):
need to be able to have reasoning
skills to show how their evidence
Bill of Rights-the collective name for the first ten
supports the Main Idea of the text.
amendments to the United States Constitution.
Amendment-an article added to the US Constitution.
Work Independently: Students will
Due Process-fair treatment through the normal judicial system,
need to be able to work
especially as a citizen's entitlement.
independently when completing
Prejudice-give rise to prejudice in (someone); make biased
the writing portion of the lesson.
Main Idea- important information that tells more about the overall
idea of a paragraph or section of a text.
Evidence-the available body of facts or information indicating
whether a belief or proposition is true or valid.
Non-Fiction- prose writing that is based on facts, real events, and
real people, such as biography or history.

Prior Knowledge: Students will need to know that the Bill of Rights is derived from the
constitution and that the amendments were created to protect the citizens of Americas rights.
Students should also know how to find the Main Idea and how to cite evidence from a Non-fiction
text.
Activity
1. Focus and Review

Description of Activities and Setting

We have been learning about the Bill of Rights and how to find
the Main Idea of a text by using supporting evidence.
Yesterday we learned about the 4th amendment which is the
right against unreasonable search and seizure. We located the
main Idea of the amendment and decided as a class that the

Time

2. Statement of
Objective
for Student

3. Teacher Input

4. Guided Practice

main idea can usually be found in the first paragraph. We then

found supporting evidence from the text to support the main
Idea. Can anybody tell me the Main Idea of the other
Amendments that we have covered so far? Can anybody tell
me the evidence they have found from the text to support the
Main Idea?
Today we are going to look at the 5th 6th and 8th
amendment. We will determine the main Idea of these
amendments and then we will support the main idea by
providing evidence from the text to support our answer.
Remember 3 pieces of evidence are needed to support your
answer. When done with the main idea. Students will also
complete a short paragraph on how they see the amendments
changing in the future.
Take out your reading notebook and open to the next blank
page. I am going to show you how to find the main idea of the
text using the 5th amendment. First I am going to read the
entire passage and then look for the most important piece of
information in the text. This will be called the main Idea. As I
read I want you to be listening to what the Main Idea of the
5th amendment might be. ( Read the Amendment aloud) I
am now going to go back to the beginning of the paragraph
and I see here that the 5th amendment protects the right of
Americans suspected of a crime. I think this is the main Idea
of the passage but just to be sure Im going to look for
evidence in the text just to make sure. It says here that the
5th amendment protects against double jeopardy, police must
give Miranda rights, and government cannot punish people
without due process. Due Process means that you as a citizen
have the right to be tried fairly. Has anyone watched cops?
The Miranda rights is your right to remain silent. These are all
supporting details or evidence provided in the passage that
leads me to believe this is the main idea (Allow students to
write these down as you go over them together and add other
evidences if any.) I Am now going to describe how I think that
the 2nd amendment will change in the future. I think that
the gun laws will become stricter and that certain people will
be required to have a mental exam before being allowed to
own a gun. I have come to this conclusion because of the
violence that is going on in todays society. I think that
changing this will make things better overall.
Now lets do this one together. We are going to do the 6 th
amendment as a class. So I need everyone to draw a chart

5. Independent
Practice

6. Assessment
Methods of
all
objectives/skills:

7. Closure

and underneath write main idea and evidence. (Give

students appropriate amount of time to draw chart.) I need
five readers to read this amendment to me. (Call on student.
Have them rotate boy, girl to make things interesting). Now
who can tell me the main Idea of the amendment? Remember
what we just went over and look back to the beginning. (Allow
students to answer. Expected answers are its the right to a
fair trial.) Write their response on the board. Now that we
know the main idea we need to have some evidence to
support the main idea. Who can tell me three pieces of
evidence that support the main idea of this amendment?
(Write down the three key ideas. Allow for multiple students to
give their answer) Now that we know how to find the main
Idea and evidence I want you to do the 8 th amendment on
your own.
For individual practice, students will complete the 8 th
amendment in groups of two or three. Students will read the
8th amendment in their groups and complete the main idea
chart. This will be a formative assessment that we will go over
as a class. Students should complete the task with 70 percent
accuracy. After the students have completed the chart. We will
discuss the 8th amendment as a whole class.
I will assess the students based off of their 8 th amendment jots. The
students will receive mastery if they have a main idea and three
supporting details. Students will receive partial mastery if they have the
main idea and at least two supporting details from the text. Students will
receive non mastery if they have a main idea but no supporting details
from the text.
I Need volunteers to tell me what they have as the main idea
of the 8th amendment. Students should give the main idea
and afterwards supporting details as to why their answer is
the main idea. (allow students to ask questions that they may
have about any of the amendments) Now that we know our
rights as citizens of the united states I would like you to write
a short paragraph telling me about how you see amendments
changing in the future. Have students turn these paragraphs
in to hang up in the class.
My students did very well. All of the students in my second block
received mastery on their jots and were able to come up with fantastic
questions to ask about the amendments.

8. Assessment
Results of
all
objectives/skills:
Targeted Students
Modifications/Accommodations:
My students were the TD Class so for

Student/Small Group
Modifications/Accommodations:
If students are struggling will assist them by

modifications I asked them to write a piece

at the end about how they saw
amendments changing in the future.
Materials/Technology:

looking back in the book and asking them

questions to prompt the correct answer.

(Include any instructional materials (e.g., worksheets, assessments PowerPoint/Smart Board slides, etc.) needed to implement the lesson at
the end of the lesson plan.)

Spiral social studies notebook, pencil, paper, social studies textbook

References:
Ms. Lussier Example lesson plan. Social studies Alive Textbook
Reflection on lesson:
I think that my lesson was executed fairly well. The students were very responsive to me and had
several questions. I taught the TD class which is the advanced class for language arts and Social
Studies. They challenged my knowledge in a good way. These students kept me on my toes and
were eager to soak up all of the information that I was giving them. I am learning that it is ok to
say I dont know and that I will look it up at a later time. I need to work on relaxing and realizing
that these students do not know as much as myself and that being a man in this profession is a
benefit that I need to take advantage of. Things I can work on besides relaxing would be allowing
adequate time for students to do things. Meaning allow them to get quite and listen before
giving instructions about the next task. Overall I really enjoyed teaching this lesson and the
students seemed to enjoy it as well.