Erin Ouellette

Joan Keeley, Spotswood Elementary School

Second Grade
Monday, March 21, 2016
Thursday, March 3, 2016
POWERFUL SOCIAL STUDIES LESSON PLAN OUTLINE
JMU Elementary Education Program: ELED 434 ALL SECTIONS
A. TITLE OF LESSON: The Peanut Man!
B. CONTEXT OF LESSON
The students have already been introduced to George Washington Carver, so this lesson will be a review several weeks after the original lesson.
At the beginning of this lesson I will pre-assess the students through a short Turn and Talk activity. I will say to the students Do you
remember who George Washington Carver is? Turn to a partner and try to remember one fact about him. After students have had a minute to
think and talk, we will discuss their answers as a class. I will create a poster to record students answers. As a whole group, I will read the
Americas Greatest Farmer poem. For the main part of the lesson, students will be creating biographies about George Washington Carver.
One station, students will have the opportunity to draw/paint a portrait of GWC or an illustration of something he did. A second station will
have students writing short biographies using different texts provided. A third station is the inventor/life application table where students will
look at different plants and products GWC worked with. They will write about a way they use one of GWCs products or create a new product.
After students have finished with their profiles we will revisit our poster and students can add anything new they learned. At this age, students
are beginning to develop their writing skills, which can very greatly in one class. Students also are still in a stage where kinesthetic learning is
appropriate and engaging. This lesson plan will challenge students to continue developing their writing skills while getting a hands-on
experience.
C. LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Understand
The student will understand how the
contributions of George Washington
Carver changed the lives of
Americans.

Know
The student will learn:
1. GWC was a scientist,
inventor, botanist, and
painter.
2. GWC revolutionized
Southern farming by
advocating crop rotation.
3. GWC invented hundreds of
different uses for peanuts,
sweet potatoes, soybeans,
and pecans.

Do
The student will:
1. Create a biography of GWC.
2. Draw an illustration of GWC
or something he did.
3. Write about one way he/she
uses one of GWCs products
in their daily life or can
invent a new product/use
themselves.

Erin Ouellette
Joan Keeley, Spotswood Elementary School
Second Grade
Monday, March 21, 2016
Thursday, March 3, 2016
D. ASSESSING LEARNING:
Task:

Creating a biography of
George Washington Carver.
Draw illustration of GWC or
something he did.
Write one way to use GWC
inventions or create a new
product.

Diagnostic features:

Students mention at least one of

GWC jobs (botanist, inventor,
scientist, painter)
Students will have a creative and
accurate illustration of GWC or
something he did.
Students will mention something
that GWC did that has impacted
their lives today.
Students will mention that GWC
helped the farming industry (with
crop rotation).
Students will mention GWC use of
peanuts, sweet potatoes,
soybeans, and/or pecans.

Support:
I will create an Observation

Checklist that is look at students

ability to complete tasks, work in
groups, share, utilize resources, and
respect others.
I will have a rubric for the products
the students are creating. It will
include categories for creativity,
neatness, completion, and value of
content written. Specific categories
will exist for the diagnostic features
listed.
I will be referring back to these
checklists and rubrics to help guide
students when they are working.

E. RELATED VIRGINIA STANDARDS OF LEARNING (and NATIONAL STANDARDS if required)

History and Social Science VA SOL 2.4 The student will describe how the contributions of selected individuals changed the lives of
Americans, with emphasis on
a) Christopher Columbus;
b) Benjamin Franklin;
c) Abraham Lincoln;
d) George Washington Carver;
e) Helen Keller;
f) Thurgood Marshall;
g) Rosa Parks;

Erin Ouellette
Joan Keeley, Spotswood Elementary School
Second Grade
Monday, March 21, 2016
Thursday, March 3, 2016
h) Jackie Robinson;
i) Cesar Chavez; and
j) Martin Luther King, Jr.
F. MATERIALS NEEDED
Texts:
Kids Poem, George Washington Carver - Black History Month | Classroom Jr. (n.d.). Retrieved February 28, 2016, from http://www.classroomjr.com/kids-
poems-for-black-history-month/carver-black-history-poem/

Adler, D. A., & Brown, D. (1999). A picture book of George Washington Carver. New York: Holiday House.

A. (1965). A weed is a flower: The life of George Washington Carver. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

Driscoll, L., & Weber, J. (2003). George Washington Carver: The peanut wizard. New York: Grosset & Dunlap.
Photography: portraits of George Washington Carver, paintings by GWC
Worksheets: biography framework and inventor worksheet
Art Supplies: construction paper, paint brushes, kids paint, markers, crayons, color pencils, pencils, rulers
Supports: Americas Greatest Farmer poem poster, poster of class pre-assessment, word wall with key concepts
Products: sweet potato, peanuts/peanut products, plastics, pecans and soybeans in baggies

I will be responsible for securing the text, photography, worksheets, supports, and product items. My teacher already has plenty of art supplies in her
classroom, so I will be relying on her for those materials. The books I will be purchasing for my future classroom library anyway. I will be checking to
see if the school has an extra set in their library so multiple children can use the resources.
G. PROCEDURE
Activity Element
& Time (in minutes)

Procedures and management

Introduction
Turn & Talk- 5

I will ask the students, How many of

you remember learning about George

Students

Students will raise their hands if they

remember.

Academic, physical, social &

linguistic differentiation,
resources, and support

Allowing the students to

talk in pairs before I ask

Erin Ouellette
Joan Keeley, Spotswood Elementary School
Second Grade
Monday, March 21, 2016
Thursday, March 3, 2016
minutes

Event 1
Poem Reading- 2
minutes

Transition

Event 2
Station Time- 30
minutes = 10
min/station

Washington Carver?
Then I will say, Turn to a person sitting
next to you and come up with one thing
you remember about GWC.
I will call on students to share their
responses and record them on a poster.

I will read the Americas Greatest

Farmer poem to my students.

I will assign students to their groups.

Main point is to have students creating

profiles of GWC. These profiles will
include a biography, illustration, and
application portion.
I will float between the stations helping
students as needed.
Students may need support for the
biography writing portion. I could ask
questions like, What was one of GWC
jobs? What did he do to help farmers
with their crops? Do you remember
what plants he worked with?
At the third table, I will ask questions
like Where have you seen this before?
How could you use____?

Students will listen to the poem as a

whole group.

Students will turn to a friend and talk

with them.
Students will share their responses
and listen to each other.

Students will get in their groups and

go to their assigned tables.
Students will be working with the
different materials at their tables to
draw pictures, write biographies, and
filling in diagrams.
Students may be reading the texts at
this time.
They could also be looking at the
pictures provided at the painter
station.
They could be picking up the
different plant products as they think
about them.

for responses lets every

student have an answer
prepared.
I could pre-pair up
students that way the
pairings are helpful for
every student.

.I will project a copy of the

poem on the Smart Board
or I will write it on a
poster so if students need
to refer back to the poem
as I read then they can.

I will provide a variety of

art materials for students

to work with.
The students will have
photographs that they
can reference for their
paintings.
I will give students
biography template with
sentence frameworks to
use.
I will provide a word wall
of key concepts students
can use in their
biographies.
The students will be given
a framework for the

Erin Ouellette
Joan Keeley, Spotswood Elementary School
Second Grade
Monday, March 21, 2016
Thursday, March 3, 2016
application portion as
well that they can fill in.
Transition

Event 3
Debrief- 3 minutes

Conclusion:

I will tell students that we are going to

meet back in front of the Smart Board.
They will need to make a circle on the
floor.
I will ask students, Whats something
new that you learned about GWC that
we can add to our poster?
Recap of the Know portion of my
lesson and thank the students for
creating profiles about GWC.

Students will be cleaning up their

materials and making their way to
the Smart Board. Once there they will
sit in a circle.
Students will raise their hands and
give a response.

Students will listen and continue

sitting in a circle as I debrief.

H. DIFFERENTIATION:
At the beginning of my lesson I plan to allow the students to talk in pairs before I ask for responses. I know that there are a few students that
always raise their hand to answer questions. Doing a Turn & Talk will ensure that more students will have answers and will have the ability
to share those responses. For that activity, I could foresee some of the pairs having many answers and other pairs not even understanding what
to talk about. I think by pre-pairing at least a few students, I will be able to help all the students be engaged. Furthermore, this activity could be
beneficial for my ESL students because they can talk to each other in their native language. For the next part of the lesson, I think that provided
a physical copy of the poem will help students follow along. While reading the poem, I can point to the words so all students will understand
what we are reading. Also I will provide a word wall of important concepts for students to reference throughout their stations.
I also thought of a few other strategies for students who may struggle with my objectives. I plan to support the main part of the lesson in a few
different ways. I will provide photographs and texts for students to reference as they create their GWC profiles. I could create an example set of
my own that students can also reference. At the illustration station it would be best for these students to draw a picture of GWC rather than an
more abstract illustration of something he did. If they do a picture of GWC, then they will be able to follow the examples closely. I will be
providing worksheet templates for students to use. These templates will have sentence frameworks to help guide students thinking. This will be
helpful for students who may struggle creatively because it provides them with examples and guiding statements. At the inventor/application
station I will write questions for students to think about on a poster.
For my students who find the content only minimally challenging there are a few strategies that I have for them as well. At the illustration
station, I will encourage these students to draw an illustration of something GWC did. This while require them to think a little bit deeper about
GWC actions and impact. At the biography station, I will provide these students with biography templates. However, these templates will have

Erin Ouellette
Joan Keeley, Spotswood Elementary School
Second Grade
Monday, March 21, 2016
Thursday, March 3, 2016
questions instead of sentence frameworks. This will challenge students to choose what they think is most important. I will still be providing all
the same reference photographs and texts for these students.
I.

RATIONALE:

I believe George Washington Carver is a powerful historical figure to study because he faced many trials on his path to success. Firstly, he was born into
slavery and into a political unstable country. At the time of his birth the Civil War was beginning and there were polarized views of slavery throughout the
country. He was not allowed to go to school until he was older and even then it was an all African American school. When he entered college, he was the first
African American student at Iowa State. Yet after being racially discriminated and segregated, George Washington Carver was able to give back to society. He
revolutionized Southern farming by proposing a crop rotation system, which he then taught white and African American farmers about. His methods benefitted
the Southern farming economy because farmers were able to have healthy, more efficient crops. He never collected any revenue from his products or findings;
he contributed all of his knowledge to society. George Washington Carvers story is relatable, especially students in my current practicum setting. Many of my
students come from ethnically and racially diverse homes where their parents might not have gone to school or college. It is important for students to realize
that regardless of your race you can accomplish great things. Students can learn that they have something to contribute to society even when it may seem
society is against them. As part of the Harrisonburg community, it is important for students to realize they are the future of this city. By pursuing an education,
like George Washington Carver, they will be equipped with knowledge to share with others. Part of being a personally responsible citizen is embracing
valuable characteristics such as integrity, compassion, and self-discipline. George Washington Carver was an honorable and humble man because he did not
desire credit for his accomplishments. He wanted only to share his knowledge to help others, which also illustrates his compassion for society. George Washing
Carver wanted to help his community by showing them how to make themselves and environment healthier. He demonstrated self-discipline through years of
study and research that led to many trials. By learning George Washington Carvers story, students will have a tangible example of what it means to be a

Erin Ouellette
Joan Keeley, Spotswood Elementary School
Second Grade
Monday, March 21, 2016
Thursday, March 3, 2016
personally responsible citizen. I believe it is important for students to learn that our purpose is to promote the welfare of humanity and the survival of our
environment. George Washington Carver was passionate about both of those things and the students can be too.
J. WHAT COULD GO WRONG WITH THIS LESSON AND WHAT WILL YOU DO ABOUT IT?
One potential problem is at the very beginning of my lesson. If students do not remember anything about George Washington Carver, then the
Turn & Talk exercise will not work out. Furthermore, our class discussion during the introduction will not be sufficient if there are no
responses given. If this happens then I plan to either replay a Brain Pop video that my CT showed a few weeks ago or I will go straight into the
poetry reading. I will say to the students that, Its okay if you do not remember all that much. Lets do _____to refresh our brains! Another
problem I could have in my lesson is at the illustration station. Since we will be working with a variety of art materials, it could get messy in
the classroom. I will provide newspaper or a tablecloth for students to work on top of so that cleanup will go smoothly. A third problem I
foresee occurring in my lesson plan is at the biography station. I understand that my students are at varying writing levels, and that this part of
the lesson may be difficult for some students, especially my ESL students. For this reason, I said I would provide sentence frameworks and a
word wall for students to use. These frameworks will guide their thinking, and they will be able to refer to the word wall if they need an idea.
Lastly, I think time is my biggest problem I face. I have roughly 40 minutes to complete the whole lesson, so I will need to be efficient with my
time. I think if I am running short on time, I will cut out the poetry reading at the beginning of the lesson. That will give me a few more
minutes to spare.

Erin Ouellette
Joan Keeley, Spotswood Elementary School
Second Grade
Monday, March 21, 2016
Thursday, March 3, 2016

Lesson Implementation Reflection

As soon as possible after teaching your lesson, think about the experience. Use the questions/prompts below to guide your thinking. Be thorough in your
reflection and use specific examples to support your insights.
I. How did your actual teaching of the lesson differ from your plans? Describe the changes and explain why you made them.
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?
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.
IV. Based on the assessment data you collected, what would you do/teach next if you were the classroom teacher?
V. As a result of planning and teaching this lesson, what have you learned or had reinforced about young children as learners?
VI. As a result of planning and teaching this lesson, what have you learned or had reinforced about teaching?
VII. As a result of planning and teaching this lesson, what have you learned or had reinforced about yourself?