EDUC 205

LESSON PLAN TEMPLATE

** TEACH IT, PRACTICE IT, TEST IT! **

Teacher Candidate: Aadel Bussinger

Course: Learning Theory and Portfolio

Development

LESSON PREPARATION [before the lesson]

Topic: Medieval Europe- Charlemagne

Concept: Biography and Research

Subject: Social Studies

Grade: 6th

Primary Objective:
Students will understand the importance Charlemagne played in synthesizing Roman, Christian, and
European culture during a crucial time in history. Students will be introduced to key concepts of the rise
of the Franks and the significance of Charlemagne. Students will demonstrate analysis of a primary and
secondary source. Students will then conduct research on the life of Charlemagne in groups of no more
than 5; interpreting primary and/or secondary sources and presenting the information to the class in
written, oral, or visual forms.
Kansas State Standards for Social Studies (Grade 6, Benchmark 3)- The student uses a working
knowledge and understanding of individuals, groups, ideas, eras, developments, and turning points in the
history of the world from 700-1400.
Duration: 4 class periods
Classroom Diversity and Differentiated Instruction: During the introduction and presentation of the
lesson, several sources will be used to engage the students. A PowerPoint outline will provide visual
clues to key concepts and ideas. Discussion and research will be conducted in groups of 5 students with
varying ethnic backgrounds and academic ability to promote collaboration and exchange of ideas.
Students will be given the opportunity to present information learned in a variety of forms to
accommodate strengths and weaknesses.
Materials/Equipment:
PowerPoint lesson Charlemagne and the Franks http://middleages.pppst.com/charlemagne.html
Medieval Sourcebook- Einhard: Life of Charlemagne
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/einhard1.html
Riese, Alan W. and La Salle, Herbert J. The Story of Western Civilization: Book 3, The Middle
Ages. Cambridge: Educators Publishing Service, 1990. Chapter 3- Charlemagne
Notebooking pages http://www.hslaunch.com/mypage/file/2540
Technology Integration:
The lesson will be introduced with a PowerPoint presentation, followed by group research using the
Internet. Audio podcasts will be available of public domain history texts:
Audio podcast episodes #6-9 The Story of the Middle Ages http://librivox.org/the-story-of-themiddle-ages-by-samuel-b-harding/
Episode #11 Famous Men of the Middle Ages http://librivox.org/famous-men-of-the-middle-agesby-john-h-haaren-and-a-b-poland/
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Episodes #14-15 The Discovery of New Worlds http://librivox.org/the-discovery-of-new-worldsby-m-b-synge/

Research groups will have the option of using Glogster or a similar production to present their
information for assessment. http://edu.glogster.com/
LESSON PRESENTATION [during the lesson] The following steps are designed to prepare students to
be successful in the summative evaluation at the end of the lesson.

Set
The class will be introduced to the Franks and Charlemagne with the PowerPoint presentation and by
reading chapter 3 of the text The Story of Western Civilization and highlighting key notes.
Teacher Instruction:
PowerPoint presentation will be shown and explained. Then students will read the text independently,
followed by a class discussion.
Guided Discussion Questions:
1) Why was Charlemagne an important figure in history?
2) What was the significance of his coronation as Emperor? How did that affect Rome? The
Church? The Franks?
3) What qualities as a leader did Charlemagne possess?
4) How was Early Medieval Europe like a melting pot?
5) What significant changes occurred in the culture of Europe during the time of the Carolingian
Empire?
6) How could we find out more about Charlemagne and some deeper answers to these questions?
Teacher Modeling:
Teacher will pass out notebooking pages and copies of an excerpt from Life of Charlemagne. Teacher
will give the definition of a primary source:
a document or physical object that was created during the time period being studied.

Teacher will then demonstrate how to analyze a primary source by reading the excerpt and
showing visual notes on the whiteboard. Teacher will also define secondary source:
accounts of the past created by people writing about events sometime after they
happened.
Guided Student Practice
Students will be directed to several other resources including websites, library books, and audio podcasts.
Students will then divide up into groups of 5 or less. Teacher will go to each group and ask them to
indicate a primary and secondary source from the available resources.
Independent Student Practice
Students will conduct discussion and research in groups. One class period will be given to conduct
research and discussion.
Closure
A class period will be allotted for the creation of a media presentation answering one of the guided
discussion questions presented in class. Groups can choose a visual, oral, or written form of presentation.
A group must have a list of sources that were used and a list of individual contributions to the project.
(Example: John took notes, Marla typed the source list, Greg edited)
Presentations may come in the form of oral reports, Glogster pages, visual aids such as maps, written or
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typed essays, video or audio created media, lapbooks, notebooking pages, etc.
Summative Assessment
The group presentations, source list, and contribution list will serve as the assessment for this lesson.

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