Download Unit Planning Matrix – History/SS Exemplar

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History-Social Science Exemplar
Student & Family
Knowledge
Big Ideas
Skills & Standards
What are the enduring
understandings/
essential questions to be
addressed?
What important
skills/standards will
students learn, practice,
or apply?
How will you draw on
students’ ideas, interests
and experiences to
connect students to the
big ideas?
How do changes in
thinking change views
on government and
society?
SWBAT:
Specific to Unit
Brainstorm definitions:
students list everything
that comes to mind about
the term “govern”
Is the Enlightenment
still important to us
today?
Define and comprehend
vocabulary
Content Standards:
10.2.1 Compare the
major ideas of
philosophers and their
effects on the
democratic revolutions
in England, the United
States, France, and
Latin America
SWBAT:
1. Interpret and compare
Enlightenment
philosophical ideas on
government
2. Compare
Enlightenment ideas to
Medieval views of
society.
3. Predict (with
justification)
enlightenment factors
that influenced the
American Revolution
10.2.2 List the
principles of the
Magna Carta, the
Link root word: light =
brightening. Turn the
lights off in classroom;
show students that turning
on lights brightens the
room much like the ideas
would brighten society.
Classroom analogy: what
enlightened ideas would
look like if they existed in
the class.
Relation to pets: do they
want a pet to have
something to take care of
or to have something to
entertain them?
KWL chart on American
Revolution
Throughout Year
Ice breaker: having
students introduce
themselves to me, sharing
their interests.
Assessment
(Formative &
Summative)
What is meaningful
evidence that students
have understood the big
ideas and reached
proficiency on the
skills/standards?
Formative Assessment
Lesson One:
1. Vocabulary note
cards: look over note
cards that were to be
completed for
homework. Are
students using terms
correctly
2. Group activity:
students have rough
draft checked by you
before working on
poster.
Lesson Two:
1. Informal: have
students volunteer
what each idea
would look like as a
class.
2. Collect graphic
organizer on
Medieval (review)
vs. Enlightenment
Lesson Three:
1. Informal: have
students relate their
answers to what type
Instructional Components
Resources &
Materials
What instructional practices and
strategies will support students to meet
the standards and grasp the big ideas?
What resources will best
convey the big ideas and
concepts to support skill
attainment?
Lesson One:
1. Vocabulary note cards – define,
give examples, and illustrate
different terms on the
Enlightenment.
2. Brainstorm the word “govern”
3. Mini-lecture on Enlightenment: go
over meaning of “enlighten” and
how scientific ideas will apply to
society
4. Group Activity: Jigsaw- group
becomes expert on a philosopher
and their views on the purpose of
government. Group also prepares a
poster to share to the class.
Materials

White board and dry
erase markers

Butcher paper and
markers

Graphic organizer on
philosophers,
medieval vs.
enlightenment

Note cards
Lesson Two:
1. Students present posters to class
while classmates fill out information
on a graphic organizer chart.
2. As a class, go over what each idea
would look like in the government
of the class.
3. Students complete graphic organizer
comparing medieval and
enlightenment (right to govern,
government powers)
Standards
 CA Social Science
standards
Texts
 McDougal Littell.
(1999) Modern
World History:
Patterns of
Interaction
 Short biographies on
philosophers
Lesson Three:
1. Mini-lecture on spread of
enlightenment
1
English Bill of Rights
(1689), the American
Declaration of
Independence (1776)
and the US Bill of
Rights.
SWBAT:
1. Correlate components
of Dec of Ind. and
Const. to enlightenment
ideas.
of despots were
enlightened
Lesson Four
1. Vocabulary Note
Cards
2. KWL
3. Quick write, predict
which enlightenment
ideas will influence
the American
revolution.
Lesson Five
1. Collect responses to
identifying ideas
Summative
Exam: multiple choice
?’s and short responses.
 What were the
enlightenment ideas
 How did they change
society
KWL – completed with
what they have learned.
2.
Have students describe their relation
to pets. Do they serve their pet or
does their pet serve them? Write
students input on question on the
board, separating reasons that relate
to medieval despots vs. enlightened
depots. Since the students have not
identified which one is which, have
them decide which view is
enlightened and which is not.
Lesson Four:
1. Vocabulary note cards
2. KWL chart on American Revolution
3. Mini lecture on hostilities between
England and its American colonies.
4. Using their GO on enlightened
philosophers, have students write a
short response as to which
Enlightenment views are going to be
called into question as a result of
tension.
Lesson Five:
1.
2.
Select a number of quotes from Dec. of
Independence, Constitution, and Bill of
Rights that represent enlightened views.
Have students individually identify the
enlightened view that corresponds to the
quote.
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Rationale of Unit
The essential questions used in this unit prepare students to engage in learning about the
Enlightenment. They reflect most, if not all of Wiggins’ requirements for essential questions.
First, they are open ended. All though the lessons in this unit may guide students to one
particular answer, the question is still open enough that there is not one answer. The second
question is very open ended in that students will have the final say as to whether the
enlightenment is important or not. On that same note, the second question is also a higher order
question. It will require students to synthesize what they have learned and apply it to their
understanding of their lives. These questions are also effective in that they recur. Although the
first question may not recur in its exact form, the concept of ideas changing society is a constant
theme of history. Also, over the next few units, Enlightenment ideas will constantly resurface
and thus students will evaluate its contributions to society and to themselves. Finally, both of
these questions link fairly well to each other. They can also be easily linked to previous essential
questions (i.e. Greek and Roman ideas) and future essential questions (i.e. enlightenment and its
effect on the revolutions).
The skills and standards addressed in this unit also help support students’ learning. The
content standards are fairly clear as to what the students are expected to do. Both standards
covered in this unit are stated as measurable objectives. Many of the objectives covered in this
unit are useful for students. Considering that many of the ideas of the Enlightenment are still
present in our society and government, it is important to understand these ideas in order to be
critical of them now and as adults. This also implies that the learning will be durable, assuming
the students will become active citizens in society. Also, some of the objectives have students
comparing and contrasting topics. In life, this skill will constantly resurface. Thus, any
experience in comparing they obtain now can hopefully be transferred to other disciplines or
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activities. The skills also have a broad range on Bloom’s levels. Students are expected to
understand basic definitions of concepts covered. In addition, they are then expected to compare
topics, apply different view points, and predict possible results. Covering these goals also helps
students address the essential questions. For example, students should witness certain changes in
government as a result of the Enlightenment. Thus, these changes can be used as evidence in
answering the essential question.
Being that this unit is intended for a SDAIE world history class, it is quite important that
I fully understand the students for whom it is intended. Being that most have recently immigrated
to the US, they possess a different set of cultural knowledge from the mainstream. Their
difficulties in using the English language are not the only obstacle I have to consider as a teacher.
They also come in with a different set of prior knowledge. Thus, I cannot relate the content to
mainstream topics and expect students to completely understand the relevance to history. That is
why I take several steps to ensure I know the best methods to help each student learn. For
example, many of the standards ask students to cover concepts such as government. By this
level, one can expect most students to understand what it means to govern. However, SDAIE
students might simply have heard of the word, but not really grasped the concept. That is why I
usually have students brainstorm the meaning of words. Through this, we work with what they
know about the vocabulary and build meaning into the term. I also have the students build
meaning by modeling words. The example in this unit is the word “enlightenment”. Although
some students can understand a textbook definition of the term, they still might not really grasp
the full meaning of the word. Thus, to counter confusion, I have the students identify the root of
the word (light). By turning the lights in the room on and off, the students witness that light
improves our condition in the room. This is then used to show that enlightenment ideas improve
the condition of society. Being that the students come from very different backgrounds, there are
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few situations in their lives I can use as an analogy. Thus, I use something they are all most
likely familiar with, school rules. Through this, I have students understand the notion of who is
in control under different situations. I also use the experience of owning (or wanting to own) a
pet to compare to ruling over people as a despot. Finally, since most have not been in the country
for long, it is very unlikely that they have been exposed to US history and the American
Revolution. Thus, through a KWL chart, I can assess what they know and what interests they
have on the topic.
In determining whether students understand the content, students will complete several
different types of assessments. Most of the unit is laced with formative assessments. For
example, I plan on constantly assessing students informally. On two occasions, I will especially
focus on assessing them informally by listening to their input during class discussions. This is
helpful because it provides quick feedback for the students and me. If they are having difficulty
answering questions, then they realize that they need to work more to grasp concepts and I
realize that I need to help them more. Unfortunately, these assessments are not very reliable. For
one, I will not be able to test everyone’s abilities to cover all the concepts covered in the
assessment. Thus, I risk overlooking someone who may understand one concept and provide a
decent example of it while not grasping other terms or concepts. Other formative assessments are
more formal. For example, students submit vocabulary note cards that demonstrate their
understanding of vocabulary. If it appears that the student does not understand the terms, I mark
which terms need revisions and allow the student to revise. If the student is still unable to define
term, I then scaffold by using examples or analogies. This assessment also helps me determine if
I should proceed further into the lesson or if I need to spend more time on vocabulary. Another
way to use assessments to plan learning is by checking the rough drafts. Since I expect students
to inform the rest of the class about their particular philosopher, I must ensure they fully
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understand the philosopher. Thus, by reviewing a rough draft of the information they wish to
present, I am able to see if the students could adequately perform the task of reading the
biographies and determining their views on government. If not, I provide guiding questions to
help students better summarize their philosopher. Students are also assessed on their abilities to
compare topics using a graphic organizer. These assessments are usually directly representative
of the objectives and help students address them. Also, the graphic organizers seem adequately
valid, standardized, and practical. However, reliability becomes a concern if students have
difficulty recalling information about the medieval period. In general, validity becomes a
concern in a few assessments. For instance, the poster presentation may only show students
abilities to find answers in text and copy down what they are told to copy from the presentations.
Also, the informal assessments might not be valid in that students may understand the analogy
but not the content it is intended to describe.
In order to measure what students have learned throughout the unit, I also intend on using
two summative assessments. Of course, I will use a typical pen and paper unit test consisting of
multiple choice questions and short responses. The different objectives will be addressed by both
types of questions. One reason for including multiple choice questions is to eliminate complete
subjectivity of my grading. The results is that the multiple choice section of the test is reliable as
the variety of responses are limited. Validity in this type of assessment might be negatively
affected in the short response section. Since the students are at different levels in terms of their
English abilities, some may have difficulty responding to questions because they may not fully
understand what the question is asking or cannot adequately provide short answer responses
(language difficulty). Instead of testing their history abilities, I have tested their abilities to read,
which they may fail. If I notice a huge discrepancy between correct responses in the multiple
choice section and the short answer section, I will probably have to reevaluate to score given to
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the student. My other choice for a summative assessment is to have students complete the KWL
chart. This assessment is practical in that I only have to read their responses. However, it is not
really valid in that students may not be motivated to provide extensive summaries as to what they
learned and thus leave me thinking that they learned very little.
In order to perform on the assessments, I have prepared several tasks to aid students. One
important task that will help students perform is completing the graphic organizers. Since this
unit and standards covers a lot of information, it is important to help students organize the
information. Due to difficulties in language, the GO’s can also help structure responses to
assessments. Most of these activities also provide situations to assess the students. This is crucial
when dealing with SDAIE students. As mentioned before, if they do not grasp initial activities,
subsequent activities will be pointless.
Finally, the unit is definitely guided by the curriculum I use. However, some factors in
this curriculum inhibit the ability for the students to learn. For example, these students are
expected to meet the content standards by the end of the tenth grade. However, the content
standards assume that the students have acquired the skills and knowledge of previous years of
schooling in California. Considering that SDAIE students have recently immigrated to the US,
there is a small chance that they have not been taught the previous years’ standards. Another
problem in the curriculum is the textbook they are expected to read as its reading level is far
above the abilities of the students. Fortunately, to combat this problem, I was able to collect
biographies on enlightened thinkers written at lower reading levels.
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