Lesson Plan November 9th, 2016

Lesson Title: Social Studies Civics and Government

Author: Samantha Vaznis Grade: 4th
RED = Changes I have made in my lesson plan based on my student readiness profile
Learning Objective: (see below)
I can activate my schema to prepare for my assessment
This means
1 I can support my team with answers to the jeopardy questions
2 I can use my notes to support my teams answers
3 I can identify mistakes I have made on my anticipation guide and correct them

Maine Learning Results Standard and PI:

Students understand the basic ideals, purposes, principles, structures, and processes of
democratic government in Maine and the United States.
a. Explain that the study of government includes how governments are organized and how citizens
participate.

c. Explain and give examples of governmental structures including the

legislative, executive, and judicial branches and the local, State, and national
levels of government.
d. Explain how leaders are elected and how laws are made and implemented.
Students understand the basic rights, duties, responsibilities, and
roles of citizens in a democracy.
a. Identify the rights, duties, and responsibilities of citizens within the class,
school, or community.
Prior Knowledge of Students
Students have been learning about civics and government for the past four weeks, I opened this
unit of study by giving students a pre-assessment (anticipation guide) to see what my students
already know and what I would need to teach them in the weeks to come. We have spent these past
four weeks studying and learning about federal, state and local government as well as a citizens
duties and responsibilities. My students have actively engaged in many role plays and have taken
extensive notes on each level of government.
Accommodations/Modifications
N.R has a one-on-one BHP with him at all times, her name is Miss Amy. He also keeps a fidget lego
on his desk and takes frequent breaks outside of the room as needed. D.T is allowed to move freely
around the room during independent work, but needs to remain with the group during the mini lesson
as well as the group activity. For this activity he will be in charge of keeping team points (the point
master of his team.) This ensures that he is engaged fully for the course of the activity since

mathematics is something of interest to him and he thrives off of leadership roles. M.S is another
student who will be placed on a separate team and also given the responsibility to be point master.
He enjoys added responsibilities and will be given verbal praise from this teacher for raising his
hand and using kind words with his peers during group talk.

Differentiation: In order to differentiate for the activity I will strategically be placing students in
their teams, making sure there is equal competition among the four groups. I will also allow students
to use their notes from their content folders and encourage notes to be out on their desk.

Assessment:
Formative
Thumb thermometer to check for understanding
Content folder with their notes kept inside

Summative
Post assessment (anticipation guide corrected, no notes used)
Instructional Strategies:
- Thumb thermometer
- Group talk When making decisions about how to answer questions
- Teacher Modeling (expectations, how to be a good team player)
Lesson Procedure: (with time frames)
1

2
3
4

Gather students on the rug to explain that they will be playing a game of jeopardy as a
class (activator.) Let students know that this game is to prepare them for the assessment
at the end of the lesson they will be correcting. Next, review expectations for how the
game will be played as well as expected student behavior during the activity (10 minutes).
Divide students into two teams and turn on the power point (5 minutes).
Game play Have a student from each team be the point master, rotate around the teams
to answer questions out loud (25 Minutes).
Have students return back to their regular seats and hand out their anticipation guides they
took at the very beginning of the unit. Have students correct them and hand them in to
close the lesson (10 Minutes).

Materials, Equipment:
- Student content folders with notes inside
- Jeopardy game review worksheet for each student
- Post Assessments
Technology:
- Jeopardy materials for teacher: Computer (power point presentation)
paper and pencils

Other adults in the room: Sara Needleman (USM Supervisor), Miss Amy (BHP for N.R)

Lesson Reflection:
I felt todays lesson went really well. My students were actively engaged the entire time
and verbalized that they did not want the jeopardy game to come to an end. From reviewing their
post assessments it was clear to me that I met the learning targets for today. Students were able
to identify the mistakes they made on their assessments in the beginning of the unit and corrected
themselves using a different colored marker.
For the next time I would choose new groupings for students. There were two students who
were overtly off task and were seated next to one another in the same group. In the future I would
split this duo up. I would also rotate the speakers in the group. I had the same spokesperson answer
each question thinking it would be more manageable for the activity, but I noticed other students
also wanted the opportunity to speak out, so I would do this differently for next time.
Overall, I felt the jeopardy game was fun and engaging and I was proud of myself for
incorporating this use of technology into my lesson. Technology use was one of my goals for this
semester and I believe this subject really has lent itself to more of its use.

Picture Explanations:
Below are some examples of student work. The jeopardy game review worksheets that students
used to fill in answers as we were playing the game as well as their anticipation guides passed
back and corrected in a different color.

STUDENT NOTES THEY USED DURING THE GAME