Heather Gillispie EDSP 355B March 21st, 2019

Lesson Plan with Accommodations for Chris

and Discussion of Accommodations

6th Grade History Lesson Plan

Lesson Objectives:
1. By the end of the lesson, students will be able to identify, color-in and label the early civilizations
of Mesopotamia, Egypt, and Kush on a modern map.
2. By the end of the lesson, students will be able to color-in and label the major river systems of the
early civilizations of Mesopotamia, Egypt, and Kush on a modern map.
3. By the end of the lesson, students will be able to describe two river system features that supported
the permanent settlement of early civilizations.
CCSS:
6.2.1 Locate and describe the major river systems and discuss the physical settings that supported
permanent settlement and early civilizations.
Lesson Relevance:

 Starts new unit (6.2) on ancient civilizations and begins with understanding the geography of the
civilizations of Kush, Egypt and Mesopotamia as well as the importance of their river systems to
long term growth.
Anticipatory Set:

 This is the start of a new standard, so we will review the previous standard about the Paleolithic
Era.
o This will be achieved with a small game of matching terms and images to their
definitions as a group. Seats will be set up in squares of 4 or 6 depending on class size. At
each table is a small bag with terms and pictures on different squares. After welcoming
the class and getting settled in their seats, they will have 3 minutes to match as many
pictures to the terms and the definitions as they can. As a group, we will go over the
answers quickly.
o Connect to real-word: If you were living in the Paleolithic era, would you want to be a
hunter or a gatherer? Call on students to explain their answer.
Input:

 Tell the students, “Today we are going to learn about the early civilizations of Mesopotamia,
Kush, and Egypt. Specifically, we are going to learn about where they were, where they would be
today, and why rivers were so important to the survival of these civilizations.”
 Agenda is on the board with clear expectations for the day’s lesson
 Rules are posted, as always, to reinforce classroom rules
Modeling:

 PowerPoint presentation about locations of Mesopotamia, Kush, and Egypt

o Pictures and names of modern and ancient locations of these civilizations
 Teacher points out Mesopotamia on the ancient map and practices pronouncing
its name with the class together
 Heather Gillispie EDSP 355B March 21st, 2019

Lesson Plan with Accommodations for Chris

and Discussion of Accommodations

 Then teacher changes slide to the ancient civilization of Mesopotamia overlaid

on a modern map. Teacher points out Mesopotamia’s borders and emphasizes
what modern countries it is a part of. Teacher practices pronouncing the modern
country names as a class.
 Repeat modeling with Kush and Egypt.
o Pictures and names of rivers that serve these civilizations
 Picture of the river that supported Mesopotamia. Teacher practices
pronunciation of river and explains how it helped Mesopotamia.
 Repeat modeling with rivers for Kush and Egypt.
o Reasons why civilizations that are founded by the river thrive
 Describe what river systems features look like and how they help these
civilizations
 This includes images of river system features so that the students can
associate the name/idea to a picture which will be used in the guided
practice portion.
o Slide with a quick, 5-minute video on the ancient civilizations to provide varied forms of
instruction.
Check for Understanding:

 Heads down, thumbs up! Ask clarifying questions and check understanding via thumbs up. It is
anonymous, as all students’ heads are down, so it should give an accurate account of their belief
of their own understanding. If there are areas where the students need reinforcement, we will go
over as a class.
Guided Practice:

 Boxes of colored pencils will be at each group of tables.

 Students will be grouped together based on varied skill level in content area and English language
as well as based on varied social interaction level.
 Students are given a graphic organizer and instructed to go to each station. They will have 3
minutes per station and will be alerted by the teacher when to move.
o Each station will have instructions within the box of colored pencils
o They will be instructed to go in numerical order, only when the teacher has told them to
move. If they hit station 5 but have not completed their graphic organizer, they will go to
station 1 and move forward from there.
 Each station has a question and an objective. They will use their graphic organizer to answer the
question and objective at each station:
o Station 1 – Write in Mesopotamia on your graphic organizer where it belongs on the map.
Color it green. What modern countries would Mesopotamia be a part of?
o Station 2 – Write in ancient Egypt on your graphic organizer where it belongs on the
map. Color it yellow. What modern countries would ancient Egypt be a part of?
o Station 3 – Write in Kush on your graphic organizer where it belongs on the map. Color it
orange. What modern countries would Kush be a part of?
o Station 4 – Find the major river for each civilization. Color them blue. Write the name of
each river.
 Heather Gillispie EDSP 355B March 21st, 2019

Lesson Plan with Accommodations for Chris

and Discussion of Accommodations

o Station 5 – Name the reasons why rivers were important to Kush, Mesopotamia, and
Egypt. Match each reason to a picture. Draw the lines in pink.
 Teacher, before the start of the activity, reminds class of the rules that are being used in this
lesson (treat all people in the classroom with respect, listen and wait for the appropriate time to
talk, work together as a group).
o This is achieved by a PowerPoint slide that is a larger and clearer image of the rules that
are posted in the classroom so that all students can see the rules but also to reinforce the
rules visually.
 Teacher walks around to provide positive feedback and answer questions or clarify instructions
as necessary.
Independent Practice:

 Homework :
o Draw and label river systems and civilizations on a modern map labeled with modern
countries
 Follow color key provided in instructions for full points
o Students can pick one of the following:
 Write a 5-sentence paragraph about two of the river systems that helped early
civilizations to thrive
 Illustrate a 4-5 panel comic about two of the river systems that helped early
civilizations to thrive
 Write a 125 word poem about two of the river systems that helped early
civilizations to thrive
Closure:

 As a class, we will go over the graphic organizer together.

 Blank graphic organizer is on a PowerPoint slide as a visual and reference
 Questions are encouraged, as this is the time for clarification before they must complete a similar
assignment for homework. The graphic organizer will be handed in for participation.

Assessment:
 Informal:
o Observation during guided practice
o Observation during closure discussion with students
o Record areas where students struggle during modeling, check for understanding, and
closure to note anything that will need expansion or review next class
 Formal
o Grade students’ assessments against rubric and note their progress against grade level
benchmarks
Sheltered Instructional Strategies:

 Relate material to real world by having students understand ancient geography on a modern map
and with modern countries
 Visual forms of input such as pictures and video
 Heather Gillispie EDSP 355B March 21st, 2019

Lesson Plan with Accommodations for Chris

and Discussion of Accommodations

 Repeated visuals to solidify understanding

 Graphic organizer as scaffolding during guided practice
 Graphic organizer image on PowerPoint during closure discussion as scaffolding and visual
 Students arranged in groups based off of level of English language and level of content
understanding
 Positive reinforcement throughout lesson
Accommodations for students and Chris:

 Varied forms of instruction that includes words written on slides, pictures associated to words,
and a video
 Goals clearly outlined on the board to encourage all students, as well as Chris, to strive for the
objectives of the day’s lesson
 Rules always clearly posted to reinforce the rules of the classroom and that all students, including
Chris, are to follow them
 Rules reinforced verbally before activity starts to remind all students, but also Chris, the rules that
might be easier to break with this group activity
 Group work that allows Chris to be placed with students that have a lower performance level in
order to encourage the his natural inclination to help and teach students
 Group work that allows Chris to attempt to socialize and to be exposed to socialization styles
from peers
 Constructive and positive feedback from teacher throughout lesson but especially while
monitoring guided practice
 Heather Gillispie EDSP 355B March 21st, 2019

Lesson Plan with Accommodations for Chris

and Discussion of Accommodations

Discussion of Accommodations for Case Study: Chris

This lesson plan is for a 6th grade lesson in ancient civilizations and the profound impact of river

systems to the early survival of Kush, Egypt, and Mesopotamia. The case study chosen for this lesson

plan was Chris. Chris displays aspects of emotional disturbance, but at earlier points in his life has been

classified as an English Language learner and eligible for special education under Speech and Language

impairment and later under specific learning disability. The case study notes that Chris is seventeen,

however for the purpose of this lesson plan, Chris is twelve.

Chris is noted to have strengths in volunteering, helping around both the classroom and the

school, and aiding classmates with disabilities. He also displays weaknesses in social interaction, issues

with behavior management, and self-injurious behavior. He is assigned an aide and often acts

aggressively to other students and the aide. For this lesson, I would accommodate for Chris’ needs, not

modify the lesson’s content.

In my lesson plan, I hope to focus on his positive behavior to encourage positive social

interaction with both the students, the aide, and the teacher, as well as to present content in varied ways to

help with his possible English Language Learner difficulties. In order to focus on Chris’ positive behavior

and not his negative behavior, I would provide positive feedback during the guided practice and the

closure discussion with the intent to encourage his use of positive actions. I would also post behind me as

a PowerPoint slide and very clearly restate the rules that might be broken in this group activity, such as

respect all people within the classroom, listen and talk when appropriate, and work together politely as a

group. Chris has previously shown a capacity and interest in being helpful to the class, the school, and

students with disabilities. To encourage this as well as encourage social interaction in the group activity, I

would place Chris in a group of students that have a lower level of English skills, a lower level of

conceptual understanding of the material, or that have disabilities. This is done in an effort to foster the

positive traits in Chris that compel him to nurture, teach, and help those around him. Hopefully, this will
 Heather Gillispie EDSP 355B March 21st, 2019

Lesson Plan with Accommodations for Chris

and Discussion of Accommodations

cut down on negative outbursts, allow him to grow his inherent positive traits, as well as expose him to

the socialization styles of different students.

As Chris was previously categorized as an English Language Learner and later a student with a

specific learning disorder, I would vary input and output for this lesson in order to accommodate both his

possible specific learning disorder and his possible English Language Learner status. This helps all

students, but can be very useful for Chris who has shown sensitivity to his differences in learning, social

understanding, and culture. By presenting material with PowerPoint slides, a video, and visuals on the

slides, I can accommodate the lesson for Chris’ specific needs. Also, in order to build his self-confidence,

I would employ the positive reinforcement already mentioned and present daily goals in the form of the

agenda. By posting the agenda on the board at the start of class for all students to see and copy down,

there are inherent lesson goals that Chris can strive for. In completing these goals and receiving positive

feedback for his accomplishments hopefully, Chris can start to gain some confidence in himself and

possibly lessen the amount of negative thoughts and instances of self-injurious activity.