EDU 155/255 Social Studies and the Arts

Opportunity Task #1: Social Studies and Arts Lesson Plans

Goal:
Your task is to create two lesson plans that will be learning experiences in the
instructional unit you have been designing. These lessons should demonstrate your knowledge of
state-adopted content area curriculum in History/Social Science and the Visual and Performing
Arts.

Role:
You are a valued member of an elementary school faculty and the lead teacher for your
grade level.

Audience:
Your target audience is your colleagues that teach at this grade level.
Situation:
You have been asked to develop and demonstrate a model unit for social studies content
integrating the arts. These two lessons will be representative of the type of learning experiences
you have planned for students in this unit of study.

Product:
You will create a lesson that addresses History/Social Science and a second lesson that
addresses Visual and Performing Arts Content Standards of the California Department of
Education for your selected grade level. The lessons must include all elements of the Mount St.
Mary’s College Lesson Plan format.

Standards and Criteria for Success:

Your product must meet the following standards:
1. Two lesson plans that are effective and engaging.
● Students will know where they are going, why, and what is required of them.
(goals, reason for learning, performance requirements and evaluative criteria)
● Students will be hooked – engaged.
● Plan will provide adequate opportunities to explore/experience big ideas and
instruction to equip students with knowledge and skills required.
● Students will have sufficient opportunities to rethink, rehearse, revise and/or
refine their work based upon timely feedback.
● Students will have an opportunity to self-evaluate their work, reflect on their
learning and set future goals.
● Plan is tailored and flexible to address the interests and learning styles of all
students.
● Plan is organized and sequenced to maximize engagement and effectiveness.
2. You will teach one of these lessons in class
 Lesson Plan Format for
Specially Designed Academic Instruction in English (SDAIE)
with SIOP Elements

Grade/Class/Subject: (For what class is this lesson designed?) Teacher: Natalie Garcia
2nd grade/ Social Studies
Time/Duration of the lesson: (i.e. 9:15-10:00 or 45 minutes)
45 minutes
English Language Proficiency of Students: (Before classroom instruction, teachers must understand their
students’ English language proficiency, and the language demands of the lesson’s instructional materials.)
- SL.2.1, 6; L.2.1, 3, 6
- SL.2.1–3; L.2.3
- RL.2.1–7, 9–10; RI.2.1–7, 9–10; SL.2.2–3; L.2.3, 4, 6
- SL.2.4–6; L.2.1, 3, 6
- W.2.1–3, 5; SL.2.4, 6; L.2.1, 3, 6
- W.2.1, 4, 10; SL.2.4, 6; L.2.1–3, 6
Standards:
(Which standards do you plan to focus on for this lesson?)
- HSS 2.5 Students understand the importance of individual action and character and
explain how heroes from long ago and the recent past have made a difference in others’
lives (e.g., from biographies of Abraham Lincoln, Louis Pasteur, Sitting
Bull, George Washington Carver, Marie Curie, Albert Einstein, Golda Meir,
Jackie Robinson, Sally Ride).

Unit/Theme:
(Place this lesson in context: What is the broad topic students have been studying? Where does this lesson fit in
sequentially?)
- Important Mexican women from the past and present

Lesson Topic:
(What big idea/concept do you want to teach in this lesson? Or What is a focusing question for this lesson?)
- Heroes can make a difference
-
Objectives: You must include content objectives and language objectives as indicated below.
(What will students be able to do at the end of the lesson?)

Content:
- Students will learn about the life of Dolores Huerta
- Students will learn that we need change to make a difference
- Students will learn that we need to stand up for our rights
Language:

- Students will be able to identify what is an activist

-

Assessment:
(How will you know if all students learned both the content and the language objectives? What informal and/or
formal methods will you use to gather evidence?)
 - I will assess the students throughout the entirety of the lesson. I will listen to the student's
responses when asking them both at the beginning and at the end of the class. I will also
be collecting the students' work samples such as the bubble map and their journals and
evaluate whether the students understand the concepts that we learned based on the
content of the assignment. I will also be walking around to see how the groups/pairs work
together and what they discuss while working on the assignment. Essentially, I would
mainly assess the student’s understandings of what an activist is and how heroes can
make a difference. I would like to hear the student’s ideas and see their own personal
beliefs as well as what they learned through today’s lesson about Dolores Huerta.
Key Vocabulary:
- Change
- Activist
- Rights
- Dolores Huerta (Who is she? What about her life?)

Supplementary Materials:
(What resources, “realia”, visuals, documents, or manipulatives will you use?)
- Books about Dolores Huerta (I would use the book Dolores Huerta: A Hero to Migrant Workers by Sarah
E. Warren)
- Printed out Mind maps
- Printed out story/journal outlines with prompts
- Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBt5au1caD0 (2:56 min, Dolores Huerta) *
- Markers
- Pencils
- Paper
- Crayons
- Butcher paper
- Glue
- Glitter
- Stickers

Technology in Support of Learning:

(What type of technology would you and the students use in this lesson? Remember to explain how it will be used
with in your plan.)
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YzMepBzH3pM (10 min, Dolores Huerta Documentary)
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBt5au1caD0 (2:56 min, Dolores Huerta) *
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Unzr9kiFScQ (2:16 min, DOLORES Official Theatrical Trailer)

Anticipated Misunderstandings/Difficulties:
(What areas of confusion or difficulty do you anticipate students might encounter with this material? How will you
address them?)
- Students may have trouble understanding the concept behind this lesson
- Students may not remember some of the facts that they learned about Dolores Huerta and her life
- Students may have trouble writing their journals or working on the bubble maps
- I will address the misunderstanding about the concept by trying to interject the purpose of the lesson
throughout the lessons’ entirety
- I will try to encourage student participation by asking the disinterested student what they need or why they
may not want to work on the activity
 - For a good chunk of the activities students will be working together in groups/pairs for their assignments
which will be helpful because, in most cases, two heads are better than one.
Element
Describe what will happen.
Introduce the Lesson:
(Clearly identify the objectives for the lesson. Also,
how will you ensure students are engaged and can
access the content? -How will you link information
to student’s lives? What will you do to teach
unknown vocabulary?)
- I would start off the lesson by first asking
the students what is change and how they
would define it. I would go around the
room and listen to their responses. I would
then ask the students what changes they
would like to see in the classroom or in
their homes and/or their communities. I
would then write the responses up on the
board and explain to the students that if we
want to see change in our world we have to
speak up and fight for our rights and the
rights of others.
- I would then tell the students that we will
be learning about Dolores Huerta. I would
then read aloud the book Dolores Huerta:
A Hero to Migrant Workers by Sarah E.
Warren.
- I would pass out bubble maps to the
students and have them work in pairs to fill
them out. Each bubble map would have a
prompt that says something along the lines
of," Dolores Huerta helped change
farmworkers’ lives. In each bubble write
something that she did that helped improve
their lives. "
-
Develop Understandings (Instruction):
(How will you make input comprehensible – scaffold the
content-, convey information to be learned, and integrate the
concept and language objectives?)
- After learning about Dolores Huerta and
her life as an activist, I would show a short
video about Dolores Huerta.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBt5au1caD0
(2:56 min, Dolores Huerta)
Rationale
Why did you choose to do it this way?
- I would start off the lesson like
this because I would like to gauge
the student’s pre-existing
knowledge on the content and try
to expand on it and/ or inform the
students about the content.
- Reading is always a good tool for
all grade levels and it would be
nice to show the students who
Dolores Huerta is through story
telling. This book is an interesting
resource to use since it will
present students with facts about
the important figure that they are
learning about, but in a different
way instead of just learning
through a typical autobiography;
the students will be able to learn
about Dolores through pictures
and hearing her life story in a
condensed, but still powerful
storybook. The bubble map is a
beneficial resource in the sense
that it will help students
remember the important facts that
they learned when actively
listening to the book, it would
also work a tool for later
discussion.
- I would also show the video to
help cement the information that
they learned about Dolores
Huerta and to give them more
ideas/ information for later
activities.
- I would ask the students different
questions about the video and
 - I would then begin to ask the students what
they learned from watching the video. I
would have the students talk to their
partner and then we will later regroup as a
class and I will ask the entire class to share
their answers. I would also write the
student's answers on the board.
Practice/Application:
(What activities will help students grasp and practice
concepts/skills? How will students be grouped?)
- I would have the students get into their
table groups and work together to make a
poster about Dolores Huerta and what she
did as an activist to change her community
and the world. I would also have them
write about what they can do to change the
world.
- I would also have the students present their
posters to the class once they are done with
them.
Wrap-up:
(Review objectives and have students assess progress.)
- Each student will write their thoughts in a
journal entry. The students will be able to write
down their thoughts, questions, or feelings that
they had about what they learned about
Dolores Huerta and about making changes.
There is also a section for pictures that will
allow students to draw a representation of what
they learned today. I will then collect the
journals and put them in their journal book
even about the book since it is
still fresh in their mind. I would
want them to discuss with their
partners first because it is less
intimidating than talking with the
whole class. I would then have
volunteers to talk about what they
liked about the video and more
specifically what they learned
from watching the video or
reading the book. I would write
the student's responses on the
board so that they will remember
what they said and what their
classmates said for the later
activities that they will be doing.
- I would have students work
together to collaborate on the
poster and discuss what should go
on the poster based on everything
that they learned about Dolores
Huerta and why changing the
world is important. Making the
posters will help encourage the
student's creativities in different
retrospect such as writing wise,
speaking wise and art wise.
- It would be beneficial to the
students to listen to what their
peers have to say and see how
their interpretation of the
material/lesson came to be. It
would also be useful to the
teacher to assess.
- I would check student
understanding by going around
and checking each of the student's
journals. The student's journals
will also act as an assessment tool
that I will be able to evaluate and
see if the students were able to
grasp the concept.
- I would have a discussion with
the students and assess their
responses to see what they got out
 collection that we have been writing in for our
six-week unit.
- We would then regroup as a class and go over
how the lesson went and what they learned
about Dolores Huerta and about being an
activist for change. I would pass out sticky
notes before the discussion.
Extension:
(How might this lesson be extended into future lessons or
other content areas?)
- I would have the students try to go out into
their communities or their homes and try to
implement the changes that we talked
about at the beginning of class. I would
have the students document their progress
by writing journals about how it was going
and what the results were.
- I would have students interview a family
member or a member from their
community asking them about the theme of
change and I would have them talk about
Dolores Huerta.
- Writing letters to Dolores Huerta
Differentiating Instruction for EL focus student:
(Describe the challenges and ELD goals of this EL student.
What will you do specifically support this student for this
lesson?)
- I would like the student to be able to
participate and understand the concept of
the lesson.
- Pairing the student with a fellow peer that
has a higher English proficiency.
- I would use different types of visuals to
help the EL student understand what we
are doing.
- I have supplementary videos for the student
that has different images, music, voices,
and words for the student.
of the lesson and see how they
contribute to the discussion. I
would make sure to go table by
table and if we did not have
enough time for everyone to
respond or I some students are a
little shyer, then they will put
their responses onto the sticky
notes that I passed out for them.
- This would be beneficial to the
students because they will be able
to put what they learned into
practice and have a meaningful
learning experience.
- The interview would also be good
practice for students so that they
can build their social and writing
skills. This assignment also has
the students applying what they
learned in the classroom to
another aspect of their lives.
- I would have the students write
letters to Dolores Huerta telling
her about what they learned about
her and what they liked learning
about. I think this would be a
good assignment to do since it
also has students apply what they
learned in the lesson, but also
shows support to Dolores Huerta.
(How do your choices support this student?)
- Pairing the student with a fellow
student that has a higher English
proficiency is useful since it will
give the EL student a chance to
practice their language skills will
also understanding the concept of
the lesson through their peer’s
guidance and they will hopefully
have an easier time asking their
peer for help then going directly
to the teacher since it can be a
little intimidating for some
students. The different types of
visuals are useful since it gives
meaning to what we are doing
 - For the discussion, I would the questions
on the board and even include sentence
starters.
- If need be, depending on the student’s
language proficiency, I would find some
resources that are translated into their
native language.
Differentiating Instruction for a focus student with
Special Needs:
(Describe student(s) special need and relevant IEP goals.
What will you do specifically to support this student for this
lesson?)
- Having different types of videos for the student
would also be useful.
- Having their responses on the board
- Having the questions on the board
- Having the bubble map
- Sentence starters
- Printed out directions
- Working with a partner
(What will you do for those students who already "get it"
and need to be challenged in different ways?)
- I would ask them to help their fellow peers
- Give another journal/writing task
and learning. The video can be
useful to help connect the
material to the activity that we
will be doing and the discussion.
The reminder on the board would
be useful when doing the
discussion, so the student is able
to reference what we are focusing
on. Having translated resources
would be useful to have the
student feel more comfortable
with what they are learning,
having different videos with
different languages prepared as
supplementary materials would
be useful as well.
(How do your choices support this student?)
- Videos are a fun way of
presenting facts and history to
students. It also presents the
material in a different manner
that the student may prefer.
Having these reminders and
sentence starters on the board
would be useful since it will give
the student a reference point for
the discussion and will remind
students to stay on task. Having
the bubble map in front of the
students would also be an aid for
them when working on their
assignments because they will
have their own answers and
hopefully they will have written
down or remember an opinion
that stood out for them from their
classmates. Having the directions
printed out/written out will also
help the student stay on task or
feel at ease having the directions
listed out for them just in case.
Working with a partner would be
useful if the student is having
trouble with the activity at hand
and would like a peer to help
guide them through it or as an
example.
- For the students who already
understand the concept, I would
have them help the students who
may have a harder time with the
assignments.
- If there was more time, I would
give them another journal writing
assignment that they could later
add to their portfolio/ journal
collection.