Date: January 23, 2014 Strengths of the class: Work well in groups and accustomed to following a set routine/procedures.

Unique needs of the class: English Language Learners need extra reading and writing support. Subject: U.S. History Curriculum Standards: Standard 5: Students will understand the importance of the American Revolution in the development of the United States. o Objective 1: Analyze what ideas and events led to the Revolutionary Movement Explain the major ideas expressed in the Declaration of Independence

Lesson Topic: The Declaration of Independence Homework (if any) from the previous day: no Content Objectives for the lesson: SWBAT identify the purpose of the Declaration of Independence

Learning Objectives for students: SWBAT identify the meaning and structure of the Declaration of Independence by completing an outline booklet individually. SWBAT explain reasons the colonists wanted to declare their independence by reading and discussing the various grievances listed in the Declaration of Independence as a class. SWBAT recall five of the grievances by listing them individually in a short quiz following the class reading and discussion

Language objectives for students: SWBAT identify key points of meaning and structure in a primary source document by participating in a class read and discussion.

Starter: Students write on their starter paper for about 5 minutes everything they know about the Declaration of Independence and/or the Revolutionary War. Invite students to share answers and discuss as a class. Class procedures: Students collect starter paper on their way in the classroom. After starter students turn it in 2-3 rows at a time and come up to get the days handout/assignment. Class work (questions/activities): Questions:

How was the Declaration of Independence organized? Why was the Declaration of Independence written? What were reasons were listed in the D of I of why the colonists wanted to separate from Great Britain

Activities: Class Introduction: (5 minutes) Introduce myself more and talk about my expectations as a teacher Declaration of Independence booklet: (25 minutes) using pages 146-149 students write about the meaning of different sections of the Declaration of Independence including the Preamble, List of Grievances and Signers of the Declaration. Students also use the pages to write the definition to a list of key vocabulary words and identify words that they do not know. The final section of the booklet is for students to list 15 of the signers of the Declaration of Independence so that they can get an idea of how many people supported the idea. The assignment is done individually. Class read and discussion: (25 minutes) as a class we will read portions of the Declaration of Independence focusing on the purpose explained in the Preamble and the List of Grievances. Students will be able to take turns reading out loud and we will pause to discuss meaning and vocabulary regularly throughout the reading. Students can follow along and read from their textbooks on pages 146-149) Quiz on causes of the Revolution (10 minutes)

Plans for assessment: Quiz on the reasons the colonists wanted to declare their independence. Students will put their books and any notes away and will work individually to list 5 of the reasons that are mentioned in the Declaration of Independence. This also serves as an assessment on previous lessons they have had on the events leading up the Revolutionary War. Homework: none Plans for enrichment (for those who complete the assignment early): Students who finish early can get another piece of paper and write the meaning of the other two sections of the Declaration of Independence that are identified in their textbook. Plans for remediation (for those who need additional support): These students can write fewer names of signers and fewer words that they dont know so that they can focus more of their time on the first section of the booklet which explains the meaning of the different sections and identifies key vocabulary words. The meaning and vocabulary sections are clearly identified in the textbook so that they are easy to decipher. We can also do an oral review as a class before the quiz is given. Plans for English Language Learners: The vocabulary section and class discussion are added in the lesson for the benefit of English Language Learners as well as all other students. Reading a primary source document is difficult and that is why we are doing a preview activity first and will discuss what we read as a class.

Reflection: I taught this same lesson today in second period and fifth period and it went so much smoother in fifth period than in second period. I think the reason for this is because of the different strategies I used in each period. During second period I decided to try my lesson as a presentation/class read in which they did not need to take any notes. I wanted to see how well they would do on a quiz after learning the information through reading and discussing the answers. I found that it was very difficult to keep their attention as we read the Declaration of Independence even as we stopped to explain what each different section meant. I thought it would be sufficient to use the booklet as a way to preview the document and help them understand the vocabulary but it didnt seem to help that much. However, there were still some students who were excited about answering questions and frequently volunteered to read but others either seemed silently confuse or distracted all together. At the end in which we were going to give the quiz we did an oral review as a class and upon finding out that only a few of them knew answers I relented and decided to let the use the Declaration of Independence to help them answer the question on their quiz. This still meant that they needed to remember where to find the answers but it didnt fully assess how well they could remember the material on their own. Second period was also interrupted by students claiming that they wanted to watch a video and how they missed their regular teacher. I had a talk with them and calmly let them know how I understand that it is difficult to suddenly have a new teacher after having the same one all year and after our chat things got better. I think I will need to slowly transition them into new methods so that it is not an entire shock to their systems. Toward the end of second period one of the students asked how come I wasnt having them write down the information. At the end of the period I talked with him and asked if he felt that it would be more helpful if I had had the class write down the information in their notes and confirmed that he thought it would be. For 5th period I decided to try my students feedback and made up some note questions during my prep period that I could have them answer in writing during our discussion. In 5th period the students responded so much better to the discussion and were engaged more since they had something to do (answer questions in their notes) while we had our class discussion. I also was able to get more student input and answers to the questions since they could use their own answers. I used a combination of oral presentation and notes during the lesson and I feel that I reached a happy balance between the two strategies. The only thing that I had them copy in their Cornell notes were questions and as we read the Declaration of Independence together I pointed out where they could find the answers to those questions which they were able to write in their notes. At the end of the period I was able to give them some time to review their notes and then had them take the quiz without any notes and with no help from the book. As I observed the students take the quiz I noticed that they were able to retain much of the information and it helped that we had an oral review and an independent review. It helped the students remain engaged better when they were held accountable for the information that was given to them in more ways than one (the notes and the quiz). I will strive for this balance in future lessons that involve lecture/class discussions.