April 26, 2014
Social Studies
Fifth Grade – 24 students
50 minutes
II. RATIONALE AND BACKGROUND:
The purpose of this lesson is for the students to read alternative sources about Christopher Columbus and express their opinion about whether he should be celebrated. The students will read an article about Christopher Columbus and highlight in one color the positive influence of Columbus’s life and in another color the negative influence of Columbus’s life. Then, the class will discuss the positives and negatives and the teacher will write each in columns on the board. The students will write in their own columns on a worksheet. The students will write a paragraph stating their opinion on whether we should or shouldn’t …show more content…
The students have had experience with supporting their essays from their readings. The students also have experience with writing multi-paragraph essays.
Facts about the learners:
• Talkative class.
• Several students who are in learning support. Specific, required adaptations:
• Interactive instruction will help students stay focused instead of talking. The teacher will walk around the room and observe students to ensure all students are on task.
• Students will be allowed to finish the essay at home as homework if they need more time. The teacher will be available to answer questions.
III. LESSON OBJECTIVES:
A) When given an article on Christopher Columbus, the students will be able to find and list positive and negative influences of his life.
B) When given an article on Christopher Columbus that lists positive and negative influences of his life, students will be able to write a three paragraph essay stating their opinion on whether he should be celebrated. The essay must be supported by three positives or negatives from the article. The essay should be at least 90% free of grammatical …show more content…
The teacher will then ask the class what negatives they found. The teacher will write their answers in the negative column and instruct the students to write in their negative columns as well. The teacher will continue to ask for negatives until the students can’t find more.
4. The teacher will then instruct the students to write a 3 paragraph essay stating their opinion on whether we should celebrate Christopher Columbus. The teacher will state the requirements that it must be supported with at least three negatives or positives and that the essays should be grammatically accurate.
5. The teacher will give them the rest of the class to work individually on their essays. If students finish before class ends, they can hand in their essays. If they need additional time, they can work at home and bring their essays to class the next day.
C) Lesson Closure (5-10 minutes)
1. The teacher will ask if there are any volunteers who thought we should celebrate Columbus who will read their essay. Then the teacher will ask if there are any volunteers who thought we shouldn’t celebrate Columbus who will read their essay. The teacher will ask if the students were surprised by anything that they learned today.
V.