Christopher DeGonia
Ancient India Lesson Plan
Subject: Social Studies Date: 1/12/03
Grade: 6th
I. Organizing and maintaining effective environment
1. I engaged students by having each of them read a paragraph out of the text, they were not required to if they did not want to read. After reading I had them help me in brainstorming ideas on how to compare Corona and Mohenjo-Daro in the eyes of an archeologist.
2. I tried to create a climate of fairness and respect, by trying to let every student who wanted to, to read. Then gave students the opportunity to respond to the brainstorming activity.
3. Classroom procedure was set, by me picking students in specific rows and going around the room in an orderly fashion, allowing those students to read. I also only called on students that were sitting in their seats and raising their hands to give me an answer for the brainstorming activity.
4. These procedures helped with the reading, because I did not have to pick any students or have them yell out that they wanted to read next. The time went along smoothly.
5. Standards of student behavior were set, however it became difficult at times to maintain control. The students had been restricted to the classroom for three days due to rain and I am sure that had something to do with some of the behavior problems. I told them that if I had to write their names down that they would have to write a letter stating why they did not abide by the classroom rules. I had quiet after six students had their name on the board. I told them that they could get their name off the board if they did their work and remained quiet. If they had a question that they were to ask me by raising their hand.
6. Other techniques that I could have used, was to give students positive rewards for doing their work.
7. In this case there was no group work it was all individual work. The master teacher decided that the students could not handle doing group work or partner work so they had to do work individually.
II. Planning and designing instruction
8. I felt that the instructional objectives were set a grade level based on state standards and curriculum. I felt that the students should have been able to write a comparative essay in the sixth grade. I gave extra help to the students that were second language learners and RSP.
9. Materials I felt were appropriately sequenced, I took the material and changed it around so that the students knew what they were going to do at the beginning of the lesson, then I went over what we were going to do with the words that we were brainstorming, and finally I told them that what we were doing after we had brainstormed the words for the lesson.
10. I used brainstorming, and writing the ideas that we were comparing and contrasting on the board for the students to use.
11. The lesson was part of my long-term goals for my student teaching. I had researched my topic and developed the lesson from a suggested lesson in the teachers guide; I used the city that they lived in to use to compare, so that students could build on their background knowledge.
III. Understanding and organizing subject matter
12. I felt by researching the lesson and going over it I was able to help students answer questions that they had during the lesson. I tried to have the students use their own background knowledge to help them with the paper that they were writing.
13. I used students to build a graphic organizer to tell about the city that we were writing about from the readings. I should have built another graphic organizer for the school, but I wanted the students to be able to use any area that they were familiar with to compare and contrast it to. They also were able to use their books to look up information.
14. Some of the RSP students did not understand what we were doing and I had to explain it to them. Second language learners I explained it to some of them also on a 1-1 basis.
15. I felt that the graphic organizer to help the students get started was helpful in starting their paper, and the students using a place that they knew also built on prior knowledge.
16. I was able to integrate language arts into the social studies lesson.
IV. Engaging and supporting all students in learning
17. I felt by giving the students to compare and contrast the city with any place it was building on prior knowledge. I think maybe by giving the students an example of archaeologist finding the school in 5000 years, what would they find? Having the students brainstorm ideas.
18. I felt that I used several techniques that allowed students to read, and get ideas for the writing. I felt that these strategies helped in developing ideas for their own writing.
19. Higher order thinking was used in the lesson because they were to use information that they knew and the information in the book and to put it together into a comparative essay.
20. I felt that by going around to students that had limited English and learning problems and explaining the lesson a little better for them.
21. The opportunity for student to interact with each other was not given in this activity. Students were allowed to make a decision about what city or area that they would be comparing and contrasting in their essay.
V. Assessing student learning
22. I collected and read the students work, and used the writing rubric for the sixth grade as a basis of the score for writing. I felt that using the writing rubric was fair for the students in the class, because that is how their writing is based for the grade level. Accommodations were made for RSP students based on their IEP’s.
23. I did not give the students the opportunity to assess their learning.
24. I will use the assessment results in aid me in writing lessons for a comparative and contrast essay and how the students organize their information and relay that information.
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