CORI Lesson Plan

Name: Sara Kash-Brown, Tessa Daugherty

Grade Level: 2nd Grade
Content Area: Social Studies
Conceptual Theme: We the History Makers
Date: February 18, 2015 - March 4, 2015
District/State Objective:
2.3.3: Community change is impacted by people.
Purpose:
Students will identify the contributions of individuals prominent in US history. The
students will also understand that one person can make a difference in shaping a
communitys history.
One problem that may occur in the lesson is that the students have a hard time
understanding what their History Maker did that was important and made a difference in
history. Another problem that might occur is the students having trouble reading the
biographies about their History Maker. The second phase will probably be the most
difficult for the students to complete.
Rationale for Conceptual Theme:
Our CORI unit falls under Social Studies, specifically the We the History Makers unit. All
2nd graders need to go through this unit and learn about how communities and
individuals can make a difference. This unit is taught because it is a district-wide
requirement. The We the History Makers unit is the beginning of students experiences
with history and specific events that occurred because of individuals. The enduring
understanding for this CORI unit is for students to identify contributions of individuals
prominent in US history. More generally, we want the students to understand that one
person can make a difference in shaping a communitys history in the past and in the
present.
Classroom Activity Sequence: Phase 1: Observe & Personalize
By doing an introductory presentation of the History Makers we are going to focus on,
we are getting the students to recall any information they already know about the
individuals. To start out, we will tell the students that they are going to get to become
experts on one of the History Makers throughout this unit. This activity is a way for the
students to start thinking about important individuals they may have heard about.
Throughout this phase, we are formally introducing the students to the subject of History
for the first time in their lives.
Materials:
-Blank KWL Charts (30 copies)

-PowerPoint about 6 History Makers

-Pencils
1) Explain what the students are going to be doing.
a) Acting as investigators to become experts on their History Maker
2) Show KWL chart to class and explain what each section of the chart is.
3) KWL charts will be handed out (History Makers names are written on the charts).
a) Have students fill out the K section of their KWL chart.
4) PowerPoint is presented
a) We will ask students if they can tell us anything they know about each
person in the presentation
b) As we move through the presentation, we will tell the students which
person they are going to become an expert of.
5) We will have a discussion about what information the students want to find.
a) Through this discussion, we will give the students a little guidance on a
few facts we want them to definitely find.
b) The students will find out when their History Maker was born, what
important action or event occurred that made their person a History
Maker, an interesting fact about their History Maker, how their History
Maker is still affecting us, and answer a question they came up in the W
section of their chart.
6) At the end of this stage, the students will have their KWL charts partly filled out
and have a few subtopics they need to find information on.
Classroom Activity Sequence: Phase 2: Search & Retrieve
In this phase, students are going to work on finding out information on their assigned
History Maker. Students have already done a research project on nature, so they will
have an idea of how they can find the needed information. The students are divided into
groups of three or four, so they can each have a question to research about or find out
the needed information as a group.
Booklist/texts for instruction (must have enough books for each student in the class):
Presidents By Jerry Aten
Frederick Douglass By Margo McLoone
A Picture Book of Frederick Douglass By David A. Adler
Journey to Freedom: Frederick Douglass By John Passaro
Magic Tree House Fact Tracker: Abraham Lincoln by Mary Pope Osborne and Natalie
Pope Boyce
Who was Abraham Lincoln? By Janet B. Pascal
Honest Abe by Edith Kunhardt
Anne Frank by Rachel Epstein
Anne Frank: Hope in the Shadows of the Holocaust by Spring Hermann
A Picture Book of Anne Frank by David A. Adler
Anne Frank by Yona Zeldis McDonough

Encyclopedia of Presidents: Theodore Roosevelt by Zachary Kent

Theodore Roosevelt by Michael A. Schuman
Theodore Roosevelt by Sean McCollum
Cesar Chavez by Lucile Davis
Cesar Chavez by Susan Zannos
Cesar Chavez by Suzanne Slade
Free at Last! The Story of Martin Luther King, Jr. by Angela Bull
Martin Luther King Jr. by Kathy Feeney
If You Lived at the Time of Martin Luther King by Ellen Levine
Martin Luther King Jr.: Civil Rights Leader and Nobel Prize Winner by Andrew Santella
Information Sheets on each History Maker by Sara Kash-Brown and Tessa Daugherty
Materials:
-KWL Charts
-Pencils
-Research Materials
-Blank Paper
1) Ask the students about Text Features.
a) Have a class discussion on how they can find the key information.
2) Have the students take a blank piece of paper and write down what information
they need to find.
a) Name of History Maker; Born on; Why is History Maker Important;
Interesting Fact; Question from W section of KWL Chart
3) Students will divide into their groups.
a) They can move to any part of the classroom.
4) We will disperse the books we found for each History Maker.
a) After every group has books and other research materials, we will go
around and look through the books with the students.
b) We will ask them who is going to find what information and how they might
accomplish that.
5) The students will begin looking through the research materials for the needed
information.
6) When they have finished finding information, they will fill in the L section of their
chart.
Classroom Activity Sequence: Phase 3: Comprehend & Integrate
Once students have completed Phase 2, they will now need to create an informational
poster or poem to present to the class. The students will use this final product as part of
their expert presentation on their History Maker. We will present an example of our
History Maker to show the students one way they can show what they learned about
their History Maker.
Materials:

-Poster boards
-Crayons
-Pencils
-Completed KWL Charts
-Blank Paper
1) Show the students the poster we made for our History Maker.
a) Answer any questions they have.
2) The students will draw out a rough draft on a blank sheet of paper.
3) When they have finished the rough draft, the students will ask for a poster board
and will begin working on their final product.
4) If students have extra time after completing their final product, they can practice
how they are going to present their History Maker to the class.
Classroom Activity Sequence: Phase 4: Communicate to others
During this phase, students will be the experts on their History Makers and present what
they learned to the rest of the class. They will use their informational posters or poems
to help guide them. After each group has presented their History Maker, we will give the
students a few minutes to write down what they learned, specifically why each individual
is a History Maker. This will help us determine if the students have learned that one
person can made such a difference in a community and in history.
Materials:
-Reading Notebooks
-Pencils
-Informational Posters/Poems
1) A group of students will present their History Maker to the rest of the class.
a) Their peers will listen and watch their presentation.
2) Once the presentation is completed, the class will write down what they learned
about that History Maker and why that individual is a History Maker.
3) Repeat Steps 1 and 2 until all groups have presented their History Makers.
4) We will have a class discussion on the differences that each History Maker has
made. We will work to get the students to reach the enduring understanding of
this lesson: One person can make a difference in shaping a communitys history.
Differentiated Instruction:
If some students are having trouble finding information, we will be walking around during
work time on the days that we are in the classroom and helping them through the
research process. Since the students are working in groups, we would also see if they
can ask their peers for assistance.
Reflection to the CORI Lesson:
Saras Reflection:

Overall, I believe that our CORI lessons went well. The students really enjoyed
the activities and having the freedom to discover new information on their own.
Throughout the phases in this unit, the students were put into groups of three or four.
We had the students all work independently during phase one, partially-independently
during phase two, and dependently during phase three and four. When the students
were working together, we had them decide who does what and gave them some
assistance if they were having trouble getting started on the activity for each phase. Our
phase one activity went smoothly. The students did not have much information to put in
the K section of their KWL chart since this was their first experience with important
people in History. However, they were able to come up with some pretty good questions.
Phase two was when we had a little trouble. We picked out all of the books we
could find in the school library and some from the public library that related to our History
Makers. Some of the book had more complex language than most of the children had
encountered. After the first day, we decided to create some informational sheets about
each History Maker. The next day that we worked on our CORI lesson with our students,
we did a short lesson about how to find information in nonfiction text. After that, we
talked about the informational sheets we created and handed them out. The students
were able to find more information on their own about their History Maker. Since we had
a very accommodating CT, we were able to extend our lesson for a little longer each day
we had and extend the amount of days we could do our CORI unit.
Phase three and phase four went smoother than phase two. Since this was the
first time the students were going to do a presentation, we created a sample poster for
them to look at when they were working on theirs. The students really got into creating
their posters. As we walked around the room, we encouraged everyone in each group to
add information to their poster. We were happy to see that everyone in each group
participated in creating their groups poster. Once all the posters were done, we had a
discussion about what to do during a presentation. This was a short review session
because earlier that week the students learned about how to give a presentation. Then
we had the students talk amongst their group about who would say what and we told
them that everyone needed to be a part of the presentation. Once every group had
finished their discussion, we began the presentations. The students did very well and
enjoyed teaching their peers about their History Maker.
Even though we finished the CORI unit weeks ago, the students are still asking if
we are going to do something like that again. It makes me so happy and excited that
they really enjoyed our CORI unit and interested in History. Throughout the unit, Tessa
and I got together and discussed what we were going to do next activity-wise and if
anything needed to be altered. When I have my own classroom, I am going to use these
lessons. Before I do use them, I will look through the activities and see if anything needs
to be taught before my students can do these activities semi-independently. There were
some difficult parts during the activities. We had to come up with additional parts to the
activities to help our students do well during the activities. We had not realized that they
had not had much interaction with looking for information in text. That was why we had
created new informational sheets on their History Makers and incorporated more

discussions about how they could find information on their History Maker. Through this
CORI unit, I saw our students become more confident in finding information
independently and interested in History. This has been such a rewarding experience for
our students and for myself. Seeing the students become excited for the end of the day
when Tessa and I worked on our CORI unit with them was such a good sight to see. It
was a very special experience and one of the first lessons that I was able to create and
implement in a classroom.

Sara Kash-Brown
Dr. Stephanie Wessels
TEAC 416B, Section 001
March 11, 2015
Overall CORI Reflection
CORI is a great way for teachers to give their students opportunities to interact with
nonfiction text. Whenever a new topic arises, particularly within social studies and science
curriculums, CORI is a great way to introduce the students to the topic. It is a way to get the
students engaged in the topic and wanting to learn more before teaching about the topic. This
way students are able to find out information that they are curious about instead of just listening
to the information the teacher is giving them. It is a great instructional tool that allows the
students to interact with a topic, such as a preview to what they will be learning about.
There are many opportunities to use the CORI strategy in a classroom. I believe that the
CORI strategy would work best with topics that relate to science or social studies. This strategy
is a way for students to personalize their learning. They get to choose what information they
learn and what books they can use to get the information. During my CORI unit, we had the
students learn about History Makers and then present the information they learned to their
peers. There are so many kinds of activities you can do with the CORI strategy. For example,
a worm unit could involve actual worms; a 5 senses unit could involve students using their 5
senses; and a History Maker unit could involve students acting like their History Maker. The
complexity of activities particularly relies on the amount of time you want to set aside for the
CORI unit. It is possible to use the CORI strategy in multiple subjects for the same unit. During
reading, students could be working on finding information; and during science, they could be
working on the hands-on activities. There is a way to use writing, reading, science, and/or
social studies together in the same CORI unit.
I believe the CORI strategy can be used with students of all ages. The younger the
students are, the simpler the activities will be; but they will still be able to become engaged with
the topic. It can be hard to use CORI since not all curriculums allow for much time for science
and social studies; but it can be done, with shorter or simpler activities. Some students may
need more assistance to complete the activities; but while you are creating the CORI unit, keep
their needs in mind and incorporate accommodations for them.
Students are engaged during each phase of the CORI strategy. During phase one, students are
compiling the information they know; possibly in the form of a chart, a class graph, a class
discussion, etc.; and coming up with questions about the topic they want answers to. The
students have to be engaged with the topic in order to add what information they have already
learned concerning the topic. Sometimes the topic will be brand-new for students, so they will
not have much information to give. When this situation occurs, you could read a book about the
topic or do a short, interactive presentation about the topic. During phase two, the students are
looking through nonfiction text to find answers to questions that they want answered. The
students are engaged in this phase by looking through the books, since this is all that they are
doing. During phase three, the students are compiling their answers and creating a final
product, such as a poster, a page for a class book, a presentation, etc. The students are
engaged with topic by creating the product they will be showing their peers. During phase four,
students are showing what they learned about the topic with their peers. They can do this by

showing their poster, giving their presentation, reading their page in the class book, etc.
Students are engaged in this phase by doing the actual presentation. They are interacting with
the information they learned by giving the information to their peers. Students learn more when
they are engaged with a topic, and through the CORI strategy, students are engaged. They
also gain confidence in being independent learners and having the skills to find information on
their own. When I have my own classroom, I am going to use CORI because it gives students
opportunities to interact with information and find information that interests them. I will use
CORI as often as I can during science and social studies units. This is primarily because of the
great experience I had when I was implementing our CORI unit. The students loved it and I
want to get my students as interested in the activities and learning as them.