Jennifer L.

Mollen (Jenny)
Mrs. Tonya Garber
Hugh K. Cassell Elementary School
November 8th, 2018; 10am
Submitted: November 1st, 2018

LESSON PLAN OUTLINE

JMU Elementary Education Program

A. LESSON TITLE: What Makes Veteran’s Day?

B. CONTEXT OF LESSON
In second grade, students are required to know the meaning and dates behind certain
national holidays, one of which being Veteran’s Day. Regardless of anyone’s political or
personal beliefs, it is important for us to recognize those who have fought and continue
fighting for our country and our freedom. In this lesson, it is my goal to deliver an
unbiased opinion about Veteran’s Day, and help children recognize its importance.

In order to pre-assess the students’ knowledge of Veteran’s Day, I will pull aside about
four students and simply ask questions to engage in a discussion. The following are the
questions I plan to ask and the responses I hope to get.
 What does it mean to say that our country is “free”?
o If the student responds with special people fight to keep us free, free
means we only have some rules, etc., then the student will receive a check
for this section.
 Now that Halloween is over, and it is officially November, does anyone know of
any important holidays happening this month BESIDES THANKSGIVING?
o I will expect some students to still say Thanksgiving, even though I will
emphasize that I’m looking for another holiday. I may give them a hint and
say that it is happening next week. If the student responds with “Veteran’s
Day” or something about a holiday honoring people in the military, then
they will receive a check for this question.
 Has anyone ever heard the term “veteran?” What does it mean?
o If the student responds with “yes,” then it should be followed with
something along the lines of someone who fights in war/someone in the
military (or a specific branch of the military). If all student’s answer no, we
will simply continue on (i.e. I will not tell them what a veteran is, rather
that they will find out next week).

I will have a pre-assessment log and simply have the chance to mark with a check or an
ex for each question for each student involved during the pre-assessment. A check will
indicate that the student mentioned some or all of the answers I was looking to hear,
while an ex will indicate incorrect or not answers. It is important to note that it is
possible not every student will have a mark for each question of the pre-assessment. If
they do not respond, I will not mark anything, because I would not know if they didn’t
know the answer or if they just didn’t speak up. In other words, students will receive a
check for words and ideas they say correctly, an ex for words or ideas that are incorrect,
and nothing if there is no response. Additionally, it is important to keep in mind that
students may say something that I do not anticipate, but that is absolutely correct. In this
case, I will make note of what the student said and give them a check. This pre-
Jennifer L. Mollen (Jenny)
Mrs. Tonya Garber
Hugh K. Cassell Elementary School
November 8th, 2018; 10am
Submitted: November 1st, 2018

assessment portion will take place about one week before the lesson is planned to be
executed, so I can change my plans if need be.

The introduction of my lesson will serve as getting the conversation started and further
assessing the entire group of students on their knowledge of veterans. I will provide a
series of pictures that students will be asked to identify. I want them to identify what the
image is and why it is significant. These pictures will lead into our discussion about
veterans and Veteran’s Day. Please see the procedure section of this lesson plan to
further understand the introduction/pre-assessment of my lesson.

I believe that the activities incorporated in my lesson are appropriate for the students at
this time, because they are first held to high expectations and their ability to have a
somewhat serious conversation, and then they will complete a more fun activity. This
particular group of students can have a hard time getting prepared for a serious
conversation as they lack the maturity. However, it is important to set that expectation,
because the topic at hand is something they have to learn, and it can get serious.
Additionally, this group of students enjoys completing crafty activities. Therefore, I
believe that a discussion-based part followed by a more fun flipbook creating part is a
happy medium.

While teaching this lesson, I will be incorporating aspects of whole brain teaching.
Whole brain teaching is a method of instruction that is becoming increasingly popular,
because it is said to be extremely beneficial for all types of learners. The movements
combined with student-teacher echo is very effective in helping students remember
vocabulary words, processes, and ideas. I am hoping to incorporate attention getters
(call and response) and some mirror movements into my lesson as whole brain teaching
methods. Additionally, I would like to include times for students to teach each other
about veterans and Veteran’s Day, where I will use the “teach, okay” method of whole
brain teaching. Lastly, I would like to incorporate the scoreboard for my lesson. When
the students are doing a great job staying on task, they will get class points. If they aren’t
staying on task or continuing to chatter, I will get a teacher point. At the end of the lesson
they will each earn a prize if the class has beat me on the scoreboard (the prize will
probably be stickers or pencils). Highlighted in blue are some of the methods in which I
plan to include whole brain teaching in my lesson.

Biffle, C. (2018). Whole Brain Teaching – The fastest growing education reform
movement in the world! Retrieved October 31, 2018, from
https://wholebrainteaching.com/
Jennifer L. Mollen (Jenny)
Mrs. Tonya Garber
Hugh K. Cassell Elementary School
November 8th, 2018; 10am
Submitted: November 1st, 2018
C. LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Understand
Students should begin to
develop an
understanding of why the
United States recognizes
certain national holidays,
specifically Veteran’s Day.
Students should gain
insight on why Veterans
should be respected and
recognized – because
they serve our country in
order to keep us free. By
completing this lesson,
students will gain
proficiencies to support
their social
understanding (who
Veterans are and the
difficulties/triumphs they
and their families go
through) and civic
efficacy (why it is
important for U.S. citizens
to celebrate this special
holiday).
D. ASSESSING LEARNING
In order to assess each students’ learning, they will create a flipbook all about Veteran’s
Day. I will assist the students in creating the physical flipbook, but they will be
responsible for pulling from their knowledge of what we talked about in order to write
about Veteran’s Day. Since I will be using this as my assessment of the students’ learning,
Know
Students will know that
Veteran’s Day is a holiday
celebrated on November
11th each year.
Additionally, students will
know that Veteran’s Day
is celebrated in order to
honor and respect
soldiers who have served
in the past and are
currently serving in the
United States military.
Finally, the students will
know common character
traits that can be used to
describe veterans.
Do
While completing the
lesson, students will be
asked to engage in
discussions about
Veteran’s Day. The
discussions will take
place as conversations
prompted by images
provided by the
instructor. Through these
discussions, they will
learn the designated facts
related to the holiday
while also practicing
skills involving social
understanding and civic
efficacy as they discuss
what this holiday means
to some people.
Additionally, students will
brainstorm and complete
a character trait chart to
describe veterans as a
class. This will not only
help students recognize
the importance of
veterans, but also help
with understanding
character traits. Lastly,
they will create tangible
flipbooks in order to
organize all the
information they know
about Veteran’s Day.
Jennifer L. Mollen (Jenny)
Mrs. Tonya Garber
Hugh K. Cassell Elementary School
November 8th, 2018; 10am
Submitted: November 1st, 2018

IT MUSN’T BE TOO GUIDED. If the assignment is too guided, it will simply be a reflection
and regurgitation of what I told them, not an assessment of what they gained or learned
from our discussions. Therefore, I really need to push for students to come up with their
own ideas for each flap of the flipbook. While I will provide the topic for what they need
to talk about for each flap, they will be responsible from pulling from the bank of
knowledge I have provided them with during the lesson and write their own ideas. I will
not show them an example flipbook until the end of their creation process to avoid
simply copying what I have and taking away their creativity.

Each child’s flipbook will have a flap for WHAT, WHEN, WHERE, WHO, and WHY.
Students will be expected to write a sentence for each flap regarding the buzzword
related to the things we talked about during the presentation. Below are some examples
of possible sentences that could be created:

 What – Veteran’s Day is an important national holiday.

 When – We celebrate Veteran’s Day on November 11th.
 Where – We celebrate Veteran’s Day in the United States.
 Who – Veterans are people who have served in the military.
 Why – We celebrate Veteran’s Day to honor those who have fought for our
country.

I want each one of my students to be successful. Therefore, it might be necessary to

provide accommodations for some students rather than giving them a task that is too
challenging. Please the differentiation section of my lesson plan to see how I plan to
accommodate different students’ needs.

E. RELATED VIRGINIA STANDARDS OF LEARNING

History 2.5g: The student will describe why United States citizens celebrate major
holidays, including
g) Veteran’s Day

Essential Understandings Essential Knowledge

Veteran’s Day is a day for the recognition
United States citizens celebrate major and respect for Americans who served in
holidays the military. It is observed on November
11th.

F. MATERIALS NEEDED
PowerPoint Presentation
Veteran Poster (Laminated)
Cartoon Veteran Cut-Out
Construction Paper
Sentence Frames
Jennifer L. Mollen (Jenny)
Mrs. Tonya Garber
Hugh K. Cassell Elementary School
November 8th, 2018; 10am
Submitted: November 1st, 2018

Scissors
Glue

G. PROCEDURE
Introduction – I will start with gathering the attention of my students with a simple call
and response (class class, yes yes). To begin my lesson, I will engage the students in a
discussion through a series of pictures. Each picture corresponds to the topic of
Veteran’s Day. For each image, I will ask the students a few questions and ask for quiet
hands of those who would like to answer – what is this a picture of? What does it
represent? Why is it important?
 Image 1 (American Flag): For the first image, I wanted to go basic. I will ask
students if anyone knows what it is a picture of. Hopefully, they will respond with
“the American Flag.” If so, I will continue with what does it represent and why is it
important. I will be looking for answers such as “it represents our
country/America,” and, “it is important, BECAUSE it represents our country and
our freedom.” Should the students not recognize the image of the American Flag, I
will remind them of what they say the Pledge of Allegiance to (to the flag).
 Image 2 (Soldier Saluting): For the second image, I chose a soldier saluting the
American flag, because I wanted to get the students thinking about soldiers and
why they might find the American Flag so important. Again, I will start by simply
asking, what is this a picture of? My hope is that students will recognize the man
in a uniform as a soldier. If not, I can ask what is special about his clothes to
prompt them. After that, I will continue with the idea of why he is respecting the
flag in the way he does – because he is someone who has helped fight for our
country’s freedom.
 Image 3 (Military Branch Seals): For this image, I really just want the students to
be thinking about the buzzwords for the names of the different military branches
that they may have heard before (i.e. Army, Navy, Marines, Airforce, and Coast
Guard). According to the standard of learning, the students do not actually have to
know these branches of the government. Therefore, my reasoning for including
this image is not to have the students learn the branches, rather simply to remind
them of some of those words they may have heard before and make the
connection between those words, “the military,” and “soldiers.”
 Image 4 (Family Reunion 1): In this picture, students see a young boy running to
his father, both with excited looks on their faces. I will ask the students what they
think is happening in this photo, either confirming or explaining that it is a
military family being reunited. Continuing, I will ask why they think both the man
and the little boy are so excited to see each other. We will talk about how soldiers
have to leave their families for long periods of time, and when they finally get to
see each other again, they are often overwhelmed with joy and excitement. Lastly,
I may ask the students if there is someone in their life that they don’t see that
often… how do they feel when they do get to see them?
 Image 5 (Family Reunion 2): This picture contains another family reunion;
however, the young girl is crying in the embrace of her loved one. We will discuss
Jennifer L. Mollen (Jenny)
Mrs. Tonya Garber
Hugh K. Cassell Elementary School
November 8th, 2018; 10am
Submitted: November 1st, 2018

why we think this girl is crying. Why isn’t she just as excited as the family before?
We will talk about how, likely, she is overwhelmed with excitement, but she is also
extremely happy that her loved one returned home safe. We will talk about why it
is possible for soldiers to be unsafe in the places they are serving. Do they think
that soldiers’ loved ones are constantly worried for them when they are serving?

Implementation – For the bulk of the lesson, we will be completing a number of things.
First, we will continue the PowerPoint presentation and review the facts of Veteran’s
Day. Next, we will complete a character trait activity that describes the attributes of a
veteran. Finally, we will create flipbooks to keep track of all of these facts and traits.
 First: After viewing the images, the first thing I will do with the class is review the
basic facts regarding Veteran’s Day. We will talk about what Veteran’s Day is all
about – when it is, who it is honoring, and why we celebrate it. After this quick
review, we will head into recognizing character traits of a veteran.
o Whole Brain Teaching Motions:
 *Mirror*: Veteran (salute)
 *Mirror*: Veteran’s Day is November 11th (peace signs/11’s)
 Second: Next, we will complete an activity in order to recognize character traits of
veterans. I will remind the students that character traits are things that describe a
person on the inside – their feelings and behaviors. I will have a laminated poster
with a drawing of a veteran on it. I will ask the students to think of character
traits that can describe veterans. Some of the traits I hope to hear and teach the
students are – brave, heroic, strong, courageous, dedicated, leadership, etc. After
completing this quick character trait activity, we will move onto the biggest
portion of our implementation.
 Third: The biggest chunk of our lesson will be spent on the students creating their
flipbooks, which will ultimately be their assessment of learning. I will model for
students how to create the flipbook and have them follow me step by step. Once
they have built the actual flip book, it will be their job to fill in the information. I
will show them what should be visible on the outside of each flap – WHAT, WHEN,
WHERE, WHO, and WHY. I will clearly establish the remainder of the expectations
as follows:
o Your flipbook should have a flap for each of the five main questions. WHAT,
WHEN, WHERE, WHO, and WHY should be written big and clear so that
anyone could read it!
o For each flap/question, you are to write a sentence that answers the
question. Throughout this lesson, we have talked about the answers to all
of these questions. You must come up with the answers on your own. If
you need help forming your sentences, ask a teacher. (Examples of what I
will be looking for can be found under the Assessing Learning section).
o You should cut and color a picture of a veteran to glue on the back of your
flipbook. (See example).
Jennifer L. Mollen (Jenny)
Mrs. Tonya Garber
Hugh K. Cassell Elementary School
November 8th, 2018; 10am
Submitted: November 1st, 2018

o Your work should be neat and colorful! Make sure your name is written on
the back of your project. Once you are finished, bring your flipbook to the
front to be checked.

Closure – To end the lesson, I will show the students my flipbook example. We will
review possible answers for each of the key questions (WHAT, WHEN, WHERE, WHO,
and WHY). We will talk about why we should be thankful for our veterans and why it is
important that we have a day to honor them.

H. DIFFERENTIATION
Expectations of the flipbook – Some students may have difficulty formulating their
sentences and/or writing them neatly on unlined paper. For those students having these
difficulties I may provide sentence frames for them to write their sentences on, and they
can cut and glue them to their flipbook. If students have a hard time formulating
sentence, I will provide them with sentence starters for them to finish. Additionally, I
could allow them to simply write answers rather than complete sentences for certain
flaps (WHEN – November 11th, WHERE – America, and WHO – three character traits we
discussed as a class).

Picture instructions – For students who may be visual learners or may have a hard time
grasping the instructions for the flipbook, I will have step by step pictures on the
PowerPoint for how to create their flipbook. This way, if they get lost when we are
making our flipbooks, they can refer back to the board and find where they are in the
process. Some students will still come up and ask questions/for help, but I am hoping
providing the picture instructions and pointing them out to students will limit the
number of students who ask for help after directions are given.

Advanced learners – For students who finish their flipbooks earlier than others, I will
have ready many books about veterans and Veteran’s Day for them to browse. This will
keep them engaged in the topic at hand and provide them something to do.

I. WHAT COULD GO WRONG WITH THIS LESSON AND WHAT WILL I DO

Inappropriate sharing of personal stories – The topic of veterans and soldiers could be
hot and open up the discussion of students in the class who have loved ones in the class
who are veterans. Likely if this happens, it will be something along the lines of “my
granddaddy fought in a war,” or “my aunt is in the air force,” which are great
conversations to have and could open the eyes of their classmates. However, I fear of a
student talking about a loved one dying in war or being severely injured from serving.
These are also challenging realizations that students should experience, however, I just
don’t want it to become graphic. If a student begins sharing a graphic personal story, I
will politely say we are thankful for that loved one to have served in the military and
then try to redirect the conversation. I can redirect the conversation by moving on to the
next discussion/slide.
Jennifer L. Mollen (Jenny)
Mrs. Tonya Garber
Hugh K. Cassell Elementary School
November 8th, 2018; 10am
Submitted: November 1st, 2018

Running out of time – Right after social studies, the students go to specials and the day
starts picking up speed. Therefore, my time for teaching this lesson has a limit. Similarly,
I do not want to burden my cooperating teachers by starting any earlier than social
studies would normally start. In conclusion, I will have to cognizant of my time and the
timing of each part of my lesson. I plan to schedule specific time limits for each section of
my lesson while also providing plenty of time at the end for the students to complete
their flipbooks. I will likely have my phone with me with timers in order to limit myself
and signal when I need to move on.