Guidelines  for Social Studies Lesson Plans, ELE3340 J. Barford Curriculum Designers: Lesson plans will be evaluated according to the following elements for a total of 40 points. Check your plans against this list before submitting.

1. Title your plan – a good title can be a question which you will explore during the lesson.

2. Broad goals: at least one for the cognitive domain and at least one for the affective domain. The cognitive goal will state what the students will understand and the affective goal will state what the students will begin to value and care about.

3. Standards: Give source (NCSS or ISBE) and number  ex: 16.D.2.b.) and specific wording for at least one standard from the National Council for the Social Studies and one standard for Illinois State Board of Education which the lesson plan addresses.

4. Lesson objective. This will tell what you will have the students do to show you that they have understood what you have taught. The objective tells specifically what the product of the plan will be. The objective is fulfilled in the response activity (#10 below) and usually will result in a product such as creative writing, a labeled illustration, a completed facts page, a timeline, an element of an ABC chart, map work, etc., etc.,

5. List materials needed to teach, such as colored paper, Xeroxed copies, pipe-cleaners, bucket of ice, etc.

6. List resources from which you, the teacher, have developed the materials. Include full bibliographic data for adult and children’s literature in APA format. Include full URLs for websites plus the title of the website. Show BOTH books and URL’s for each lesson. If you are using a specific book for the whole semester, be sure to include that book in each plan with page numbers pertaining to the plan.  The resources are copyrighted publications written by experts. URLs should be from authoritative sources. Note: Sample pages from these resources will be attached at the end of the lesson plan. (#12 below)

7. Script a focusing activity (a ‘hook’) to set the stage, and raise students’ interest in the days activities. For the first lesson, include what the children recall from the team skit. For subsequent lessons, review what was learned during the previous team meeting. Find out what the children know and want to know. In writing your plan, use no generalities such as “we will discuss….” “we will list…” “I will explain…” Give the details. Script the actual words you will use in your discussion, give the elements of the list you will generate with the students, write out the specifics of your explanation, etc.

8. State (and enable the students to state) the purpose and importance of the lesson you are about to undertake. This element  tells  why what you are going to teach is valuable and worthwhile. 

9. ***Provide substantial instruction in new and interesting ideas which you have carefully researched. This is the heart of the lesson, a treasure chest of new and interesting ideas. You, the teacher offer rich knowledge and understanding based on your extensive research which you have adapted for your team. The students see their teacher as a model learner. Teach with excitement and enthusiasm, to the challenge level of the children so that they know they are “getting smarter!” Design your presentation for high interest, student thoughtfulness and involvement. Your writing can be scripted with the questions you’re going to put out to the children followed by (in parentheses) the answers you anticipate they will give to you. Weave in higher order/ problem posing questions to be sure the students are with you and are thinking toward the concepts you wish them to grasp. As above (#6.) use no generalities. Write out all specifics. Provide highlights in the resource xeroxes which you will attach to the lesson to show what facts and ideas you have incorporated into your instruction (#12.)

Whenever you are working from children’s literature, be sure to draw students’ attention to passages and the pictures on the pages which convey the main ideas.

Do not include procedures and directions in your instructional input that overwhelm the new and interesting content knowledge.

10. Response Activity. For this social studies plan, this is what the children will do to further bring home their new learnings and give evidence to you that they have learned what you have taught. This section is where you write directions for what you want the children to do. Explain the response activity. Provide a model of the response activity which you have made or written yourself. You can show this to the children and tell them how you did it, how you followed the directions, rubric, etc. The response activity which the children will do is a chief component of guided practice. By undertaking the guided practice, the children can demonstrate that they have learned what you have taught in the instructional input.

Create a teacher model of the response activity. Model ‘A’ level, high quality student work.

11. Conclude the lesson by enabling students to share their work or otherwise state the major concepts so that they can indicate to you and to each other that they have learned and have fulfilled the purpose of the lesson. Restate the purpose of the lesson and its value base.

12. Attach xeroxes of pertinent resources (encyclopedia articles, web print-outs), highlighted to show how/what you learned and how you used the sources for the lesson, especially for the instructional input.

13. If you want to resubmit your plan to earn more points, be sure to include the first draft and the evaluation page filled out by the instructor. If the first submission of your plan earns 25 or more points, you may resubmit for full credit. If your first submission earns less that 25 points, the resubmission can add ½ the difference between original points earned and full credit (40 points) for section 1.

14. Please do not use plastic sheet covers except to hold objects (such as your teacher model of a origami paper crane or a set of cards to sequence).