STEPP Lesson Plan Form

Teacher: Morgan Perkins

Date: 12/10/14

Grade Level: 6

Content Area: US History

Content Standard(s) addressed by this lesson:

Evaluate a historical source for point of view and historical context

Understanding:

Primary sources can be analyzed and interpreted to gain insight of events and feelings in any
historical period.

Inquiry Question:

How can primary sources be analyzed and used to gain insight into a historical period?

Evidence Outcomes:
Every student will be able to: See the value in primary sources for gaining insight into events, emotions,
and ideas.
I can: Read, analyze, and be critical of the I Have a Dream speech.

This means: Filling out a worksheet that describes the main ideas of the speech, the purpose of the
speech, the goals of the speech, and the issues in America at that time.
List of Assessments:

Worksheet

Colorado State University College of Health and Human Sciences

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STEPP Lesson Plan Form

Planned Lesson Activities

Name and Purpose of Lesson
Approx. Time and Materials
Anticipatory Set

Procedures

Closure
Assessment

The purpose of this lesson plan is for students to learn how to read, be critical, analyze,
and find the value in primary sources. I am using the I Have a Dream speech because
we are in a unit on the Civil Rights Movement.
Time: 45 Minutes
Materials: I Have a Dream speech, worksheet
Show students different Jim Crow laws from this era. Ask students: What is wrong with
these laws? Do they seem fair? What if they applied to you? The purpose of this is to
have students see why the Civil Rights Movement occurred and what people were
fighting for. Also, they are primary sources, but on a smaller scale, so this will act as an
introduction into primary sources before the main activity.
1) Hand out to each student a copy of the I Have a Dream speech.
2) Each student will read the speech alone
3) I will then read the speech to the classroom, one paragraph at a time
4) While I read the speech, I will ask students to raise their hand if they hear
something that sounds important. We will analyze any parts that they believe
are important
5) We will use the APPARTS method to analyze this speech
6) We will fill out the APPARTS worksheet as a class. This is the crucial part of this
activity. We will learn how to critically read and analyze a primary source!
Quick Write: What did you learn about analyzing and using primary sources in history?
The ticket out the door will be a formative assessment. I will use this to see if learning
how to analyze a primary source as a class was helpful for them.

Colorado State University College of Health and Human Sciences

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STEPP Lesson Plan Form

APPARTS
AUTHOR Who created the source? What do you know about the author?
What is the authors point of view?
PLACE AND TIME Where and when was the source produced? How might
this affect the meaning of the source?
PRIOR KNOWLEDGE Beyond information about the author and the
context of its creation, what do you know that would help you further
understand the primary source? For example, do you recognize any symbols
and recall what they represent?
AUDIENCE For whom was the source created and how might this affect the
reliability of the source?
REASON Why was this source created at the time it was produced?
THE MAIN IDEA What point is the source trying to convey?
SIGNIFICANCE Why is this source important? What inferences can you
draw from this document? Ask yourself, So what? in relation to the
question asked.

Colorado State University College of Health and Human Sciences

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STEPP Lesson Plan Form

APPARTS WORKSHEET
Document/Source: _____________________________________________
Author: ______________________________________________________
Place and Time: ________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
Prior Knowledge: ______________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
Audience: ____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
Reason: ______________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
The Main Idea: ________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
Significance: __________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________

Colorado State University College of Health and Human Sciences

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