9th Grade World History

Unit: _ Renaissance and Reformation______

Lesson title: Day 16: Martin Luther versus John Calvin Structured Academic Controversy Day 1_

Lesson duration: 50 minutes (1 of 2 class periods)_______

Overview/Rationale Enduring Understandings

In this Structured Academic Controversy lesson
that I created for my social studies methods
class with Dr. Abby Reisman, students will read
and analyze 6 primary and secondary source
documents relating to the work of two central
figures in the Protestant Reformation: Martin
Luther and John Calvin.
Students will have a basic
understanding of the Catholic
Church leading up to the Protestant
Reformation, and will have a solid
understanding of Martin Luthers
role in the Protestant Reformation
According to some scholars,
John Calvin advocated for a form of
constitutionalism in his writings
Luthers radical
understanding of the centrality of
faith in Christian life puts him in
the position of instigator of the
Protestant Reformation, but the
reformation takes its own form
once it begins.

Goals/Objectives Standards Materials

Students will be able to:
explain how radical the
Protestant reformers were
By: reading and analyzing
primary and secondary
source documents,
participating in class
discussion, and preparing for
their structured academic
controversy.
Standard - 8.1.W.B Structured
Evaluate the interpretation of Academic
historical events and sources, Controversy lesson
considering the use of fact materials
versus opinion, multiple Short PowerPoint
perspectives, and cause and introducing the
effect relationships. topic and Central
Historical Question

Procedures Time
Opener Intro to the lesson with a short PPT presentation reviewing 10 min.
Martin Luther and introducing John Calvin. Student will be
asked to take notes.
Body of the Ask students to read with a partner documents 15 min.
Lesson A and B, the two textbook passages on Luther and
Calvin, respectively. Students should underline parts
that they deem radical in the documents. Students will
answer the guiding questions those two documents.
Elicit 2-3 student responses to the questions. 2 min.
Explain that we need to gather more evidence
in order to answer our central historical question: who
was more radical, Martin Luther or John Calvin? Hand
out documents C and D 15 min.
Students silently read Document C and D and
then should work in pairs to answer the questions
together. 3 min.
Short class discussion: Have we answered our
CHQ yet?
Closure Wrap up and tell students to read documents E and F for 5 min.
homework tonight, and answer Guiding questions for those
documents (they will post answers on google classroom).

Accommodations Assessment/Evaluation
PPT helps visual learners and provides historical Small group work participation as well
context for the lesson. as whole class discussion participation,
as well as formative assessment of
homework answers.

Personal Reflection/Notes

Sources:

Works cited:

Beck, R., Black, L., Krieger, L., Naylor, P., Shabaka, D. (Eds.). (2010). World History: Patterns of
Interaction. Dumfries, North Carolina: Holt McDougal.

Calvin, J. (1539). Letter to Cardinal Sadoleto. In Olin, J.C. (Ed.) (2000) A reformation debate:
Sadoletos letter to the Genevans and Calvins reply. New York, NY: Fordham University Press.
(pp. 57-59).

Johnson, D.W. & Johnson, R.T. (May 1988). "Critical Thinking Through Controversy."
Educational Leadership.
Little, D. (2012). Calvins Theology of Church and Society: Modern Reception and Contemporary
Possibilities. In Billings, T. B. & Hesselink, I.J. (Eds.) Calvins Theology and its Reception
(216-240). Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press. (p. 220)

Luther, M. (1520). Freedom of a Christian, Part Two. In Thornton, J.F., & Varenne, S.B. (Eds.)
(2002) Faith and Freedom: An Invitation to the Writings of Martin Luther (3-16). New York,
NY: Vintage Spiritual Classics.

Wallace, P. (2012). The Long European Reformation, 2nd ed. New York, NY: Palgrave
Macmillan. p. 74.