Literacy-Based Lesson Plan

Content Area
(Class)/Grad
e

Social Studies/ 7th Grade

Date of Lesson

Lesson Title

Looking Deeper Into Egypt: War and Peace

Lesson
(circle/highlight one)

Standards
(CCSS and/or
Content
Standards)

7 H1.2.1; H1.2.2; H1.2.3; H1.4.1; H1.4.2; H1.4.3; G1.3.3; W2.1.4; G1.2.4

03/19/15

Independent

Co-planned

7th Grade W2.1.3; W2.1.4; G1.2.3

Common Core State Standards for Literacy in History/Social Studies: RH.6-8.1, 2, 4, 7, and 9; WHST.6-8.4 and 9.

Key Vocabulary

Texts/Visuals/Resources/Supplementary Materials

(General academic (tier 2), Subject-specific (tier 3), or Word parts

- note differentiation1)

(List, note differentiation, include as appendix or attachment or

hard copy)

Tier 2 and Tier 3

Student Handout from curriculum. Will be attached.

*********
Context

What new problems and solutions emerged from living in civilizations during Era 2?

(Essential Questions of
Inquiry Unit or if not part of
Unit, then Purpose: Why is
this important now, later?)
1 Differentiation may be the result of consideration of factors such as language, culture, gender, diverse learning processes or individual
interests.
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Objectives

Meaningful Instructional Activities

(What will students know, be

able to do?

(What will teacher and students be doing? Lesson should be

based on a model of gradually releasing responsibility to and
include focus lesson, guided instruction, productive group
work, and independent learning, though not necessarily in lockstep order.

For each objective, provide

an example of evidence of
success: If students met the
learning target, what would
they say/do?
Is the purpose of this lesson
to teach something new, to
review, or to formatively
assess (what
knowledge/skills are
students bringing and do not
need to be taught or what
should be taught at the point
of need)?
NOTE: Objectives should
build on earlier learning and
prepare for future learning)

Assessment

(For each content or language

objective, what evidence of
student learning will you collect?
These may be spot-checks,
teacher observations, and
Note that a focus lesson is not simply teacher modeling of what questioning, but it is not enough
to simply say 'observation' or
student should do in the end, though certainly there is value in
'anecdotal notes.' Describe
modeling. Rather, it is teacher explicit instruction in the form of
succinctly, attach or append to
clear explanation of tasks and demonstration using
plan tool/criteria to be used.
comprehensible input that scaffold to ensure understanding of
Include prompts to elicit deep
concepts. [I do. You watch and respond.]
thinking. Be clear if these
Guided instruction should use instructional strategies/approaches assessments are formative or
that facilitate students' use of learning strategies. Teacher moves
summative.)
should be supported by theoretical and empirical (based on
research) work. [We do together. I help and respond.]
Productive group work should provide opportunities for practice
in applying content and language knowledge developed in guided
instruction and further build knowledge and hone skills in
interaction with peers. [You do together. I watch and respond.]
Independent learning [You do independently. I watch and
respond.]

Content Objective(s)

Launch

Assessment of Student
Learning

(Introduce objectives, activate knowledge, experience, build

Student will be able to
necessary understandings)

understand how war

and peace played a vital Establish connection of how history is understood and is not a
role in early Egyptian
static/unmoving thing. As more evidence comes to light we have
civilization
to change our understanding of it.
Students will be able to

Informal assessment of
students critical thinking
and reading skills tested by
their verbal recitation of the
material
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tell how looking at

shipwrecks help us
piece together what the
past looked like

Language Objective(s)
(including vocabulary)

Students will show

critical reading skills in
identifying important
and relevant
information

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_kk5Aj85cMc

Lesson Sequence
(Steps that provide instruction and practice and application of key
concepts, language and vocabulary via speaking, listening,
reading, writing, viewing and representing visually; based on
Gradual Release of Responsibility.)

Anticipatory set (Talk by Dr. Andrews about history and how it

changes)

Look over homework from last night (station 3- War and Peace)
and work out any questions. Going over the text itself is a key
aspect of this

Introduction to the shipwreck Uluburun (station 4)

Youtube video exploring the shipwreck

Break into groups to read station 4. Students will pair up with

each other and read out loud the text to each other. They will
highlight any important things they deem important relating to
understanding history. After theyre done they need to cooperate
and come up with a summary of the text which they will verbally
tell me before theyre allowed to work on the associated
questions that go along with the text which will be homework if
not done in class. Students will be told that theyre explaining
the article to me like Ive never read it before.

Students will work on reading article and then on the questions

after they get my approval theyve summarized the reading
correctly and succulently.

Exit slip wrapping up key

ideas from the lesson (how
does history change as we
discover new items? Why is
discovering new things from
history important?)

Wrap-up
(Where will there be opportunity to review? Note that review
facilitates learning and successful responses whereas assessment
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evaluates them. Prepare to extend ideas, building on learning of

this lesson.)

Socrative exit slip (how does history change as we

discover new items? Why is discovering new things from
history important?)

Connecting this lesson to literacy-based research/literature:

(Name a literacy learning strategy/instructional approach you use in this lesson. Provide a specific example from this lesson as
evidence of your use of this approach, and present theoretical or empirical support from the literature for this approach - summarize
rather than quote the literature, and include citations below (APA format).) Highlight , bold, and cite specific approaches in the
narrative below.
Weaver (2011) says, teaching reading strategies helps readers not only engage with and understand texts, but make connections with
other texts, the world, and their own lives. Bridging the gap between the classroom and the real world is key to improving literacy because when
a student is involved and motivated then they stand a better chance of actually learning the material and making positive progress.
*Emphasis mine
Weaver, C. (2002). Teaching Comprehension Strategies and Phonics Skills. In Reading process and practice (3rd ed., pp. 326-362). Portsmouth,
NH: Heinemann.

Post-Teaching Reflection
After the Lesson, reflect in writing on the following questions
1. Sohow do you feel the lesson went and why?
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Overall, I felt like this was one of my better lessons. Having my content observer, Dr. Andrews, come in and give a talk
about the shifting ground of history and how things change as we discover new stuff really set the class off on a good
start. After that I felt like the students were very engaged throughout the lesson. The big part I enjoyed was showing the
real life footage of the shipwreck itself. The students have never been more quiet than they were then. I think it was cool
for them to actually see the shipwreck after getting a small introduction to it and then build off into looking at the details
about the shipwreck.

2. Provide evidence of the full range of student learning (i.e., students who: 1.) can do, 2.) can almost do, 3.) can do with
support) in the form of data, quotes, annotated student work (scanned, attached), your own reflections, etc.

Can do- 5 out of the 15 groups when they came to me with their verbal summarization of the text got approved on their
first try

Can almost do- 4 groups out of the 15 had to come back an additional 1-2x before I approved their summary

Can do with support- Remaining 6 groups required some heavy guidance for what they need to be looking for in terms of
their summary. I felt a little bit like a dentist pulling teeth but eventually 3 of them got their summary approved before the
end of class.

3. After identifying the full of range of student learning (see question #2 above) and the factors that may have influenced
learning, what are your (and your CTs) next steps and why?

Build off the motivation of the students into the next following days. Whenever you can get an entire class as motivated
and interested in a subject/event as what I witnessed then one of the best things you can do is to keep that momentum
rolling. The longer you can keep the ball rolling then there is a greater chance at covering more material in a deeper way
as a result of their interest and investment in the material.

4. What additional ways can (and will) you support students content-area literacy development (e.g., the ability to read,
write, and communicate for various purposes in your content area)?

Continue doing verbal check-ins. It was interesting to see some student struggle with verbalizing their thinking and I think
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that is a very important skill and one I want to put more emphasis on. That as well as being with a peer and reading a text
and critically analyzing it are vital to improving literacy. Providing checkpoints and goals for a reading is a lot better than
simply saying okay here is the text just go and read it because then the students can just skim over it and not really
improve their reading and eventual writing skills.

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