Lesson Plan Template

Name: Sarah Vorreiter Class/Subject: 8th grade US History Date: February 19, 2013 Student Objectives/Student Outcomes: Understand key terms of the Reconstruction era. Debate whether or not the Reconstruction was a failure. Design a unique Reconstruction plan that would bring the North and South together. Content Standards: CC.6-8.R.H.7 Integration of Knowledge and Ideas: Integrate visual information (e.g., in charts, graphs, photographs, videos, or maps) with other information in print and digital texts. CC.6-8.W.HST.2.d Text Types and Purposes: Use precise language and domain-specific vocabulary to inform about or explain the topic. CC.8.W.2 Text Types and Purposes: Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas, concepts, and information through the selection, organization, and analysis of relevant content. Materials/Resources/Technology:
smartboard, Powerpoint (attached), handout (attached)

Teachers Goals: At the end of the lesson, students will be able to identify most important concepts in Reconstruction, with an emphasis on relationships between whites and African Americans. Students will also assess if Reconstruction was a success or failure, and then will develop their own idea for a Reconstruction plan in a writing activity. Start of Class: We introduced ourselves and the topic, and introduced the structure of the lesson. Introduction: To open our Reconstruction lesson, we organized it like David Lettermans Top 10, which contained the ten more important concepts of the chapter in the powerpoint. We passed out a graphic organizer/chart that the students used to take notes.

Lesson: Top 10 information (20 minutes) The top 10 include Reconstruction, Radical Reconstruction, Andrew Johnson, Black Codes, Civil Rights, 14th Amendment, corruption, resistance, voting privileges, and segregation, and we will talk about each for a minute or two and ask questions. Video The Failure of Reconstruction (2 minutes) and Discussion (3-5 minutes) http://www.history.com/topics/reconstruction/videos#the-failure-of-reconstruction Questions: 1. What were some of the challenges that the United States faced at this time? 2. Do you think that Reconstruction was a failure like the title of the video says? How might this video be biased, or take sides? Whatcha Gonna Do Activity (13-15 minutes) In pairs of their choosing or by themselves, students will put together what they learned about Reconstruction by answering the following prompt in a written response. We will walk around the classroom to help students individually, keep them on-task, and answer questions. Imagine that you are able to go back in time to be the President of the United States after the Civil War. There are four million former slaves, the North and South are divided, corruption was common, and there was a need to rebuild the destroyed South. You need to bring these two groups together, so whatcha gonna do? Assessment: We will read their written assignments to the Whatcha Gonna Do activity to assess if they understood the main points of the lesson. Wrap-Up: We will collect their papers. Self-Assessment: Assessment will occur following the lesson and upon the review of my evaluation sheet from my cooperating teacher.