Tim Brown

4/29/19
Observation 2

Brief class description: This class contains 29 students and is my largest class. In terms of
academic achievement, this class is our most advanced in terms of writing ability and reading
ability. The class contains no IEPs or 504 plans. One of the only detriments of this class is that
they can quickly get off task by asking questions that snowball off topic. Timers and limiting
questions is necessary for pacing. Discussion based activities are most successful with this class
and the answers are indicative of their higher ability.

UNIT: Rome LESSON TOPIC: Rise of PRIOR KNOWLEDGE: The past few
the Empire class periods have built up the rise of
Octavian Augustus. We have covered
him in depth and students have
extensive knowledge on the subject
based on notes and prior activities.

Standard Objective Assessment

Content: History Standard Objective: Students will Final writing piece that will summarize
INDICATOR be able to analyze all the day’s content. Will be collected
primary sources from the and graded
1. Analyze the growth
time of the Roman
and the development of
Empire in order to
nations in the
answer the question:
contemporary world
“What kind of leader was
Writing: CC. 6-8.W.8 – Augustus?”
Gather relevant information
from multiple print and Activities: Drill question, Reading like a historian, final writing
digital sources, assess the piece
credibility and accuracy of
each source, and integrate
the information while
Materials Needed: Reading like a historian document sheet class
avoiding plagiarism
set, graphic organizer from note sheet, final writing piece
Reading: CC. 6-8.R.1 –
Read closely to determine
what the text says explicitly Adaptations: Having two sets of directions, one on the board and
and to make logical the other on the document camera, modeling all directions and
inferences from it; cite
specific textual evidence writing answers
when writing or speaking to
support conclusions drawn
from the text
Procedure
x
Opening Activity
 Drill Question – What are some questions we ask ourselves when sourcing?
 Answers
 Who wrote this?
 Why was it written?
 When was it written?
 Where was it written?
 Is it reliable?
 This questions serves to introduce the theme of the class for the day
 Students have not engaged in sourcing in some weeks so this refresher will be necessary
 After reviewing the drill question, ask students what else they remember about sourcing
 Have students remove everything from their desks and review the objective for the day
 Time Allotted: 5-10 minutes
 Adaptations: Directions posted on power point
Activity 1 – Reading like a historian
 Before starting this lesson fully, go over a refresher slide with the students
 In the slide, mention essential information about Octavian Augustus and his rise to
power as well as the legacy he left behind
 Review the slide about perspective
 Review the definition of perspective with the class
 Emphasize how important it is to consider the author’s point of view
 Emphasize that students should question the motives of the author of the source
 Review the definition of motives if necessary
 Pass out graphic organizer worksheet
 Read students the topic question at hand: “What kind of leader was Augustus?”
 Review sources A and B with the class
 Review each source one at a time
 Source A is a map showing the increase in territory of the Roman Empire during
Augustus’ reign
 Source B is a coin that depicts Augustus as a conqueror of Egypt
 When analyzing source A, ask students a series of scripted questions that require them
to analyze the map
 What does this map show?
 When is this map from?
 How does this prove the point of the question at hand?
 Fill in the boxes for source A as a class on the document camera
 Activity 1 (cont.)
Ss Move on to Source B
 Unlike Source A, Source B incudes a context sentence that gives students an idea of
what is in the source
 Review the context sentence with class using either the document camera or the power
point slide
 After analyzing the source, have students fill out the boxes on the graphic organizer
 After reviewing sources A and B as a class, move on to Source C
 Have class work with their elbow partners to analyze and annotate Source C
 Give them 5 minutes to read the source and fill out the boxes for Source C with their
elbow partners
 After time is up, reconvene as a class and review the graphic organizer under the
document camera
 The final source, Source D, will be done independently
 Instruct students to turn to source D and give them another 5 minutes to analyze source
D and fill in the boxes of the graphic organizer for said source
 Review final source and fill in the graphic organizer as a class using the document
camera
 Explain to the class what a claim entails
 Review the definition
 Model a sample response for the topic question
 Have students flip over their paper and finish the writing prompt on the back
 Time Allotted: 30-35 minutes
 Adaptations: Model responses using the document camera and include directions on the
power point slides, provide physical copies of the sources
Activity 2 – Writing
 Review the question that the students will be tasked with answering
 “Octavian Augustus Caesar was Rome’s first emperor and led the Roman Empire from 27
BC until his death in 14 AD. During his reign, Rome fought a series of brutal conquests that
expanded their territory further than ever before. Following the conquests of Augustus,
Rome entered a time of peace known as the Pax Romana that would continue almost 200
years after his death. After analyzing documents A through D, do you think that Augustus
was a good or bad leader? In order to get full credit, you must include your claim, evidence
from at least two sources and a conclusion sentence. You will not be able to get full credit
with under SIX sentences.”
 Ensure students understand the necessary components in order to receive full credit
 Claim
 Evidence from at least 2 sources
 Conclusion
 At least 6 sentences
 Collect and grade their responses
 Time Allotted:15-20 minutes
 Adaptations: question will be reviewed as a class, important words will be italicized,
underlined and bolded
Closure
 Ask students to turn to their elbow partners and tell them one thing they can tell their
parents if they ask what they learned today
 Give students several minutes to discuss
 Cold call on three students and ask them what their elbow partner said
 Time Allotted: 5 minutes