Direct Instruction Lesson Plan Template

Lesson Title: Economic Impact / Cause and Effect

Name: Alyssa Lehman
READINESS
I. Goal(s)/Objective(s)/Standard(s)
A. Goal(s)
Students will analyze cause and effect relationships.
Students will understand the effect of economic hardships and how to move on
from them.
B. Objective(s)
Using an Internet article, students will discuss and determine cause/effect
relationships.
After reading through the article and discussing cause/effect, students will draw
conclusions about the economic impact that the closing of the RCA plant had on
the community of Marion.
Students will identify ways in which those families could have overcome their
obstacle of being laid off.
C. Standard(s)
3.4.8 Gather data from a variety of resources about changes that have had an
economic impact on your community.
3.RN.2.1 Ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a text,
referring explicitly to the text as the basis for the answers.
3.W.5 Conduct short research on a topic.
NCSS: 7. Production, Distribution, and Consumption This theme provides for
the study of how people organize for the production, distribution, and
consumption of goods and services, and prepares students for the study of
domestic and global economic issues.
ISTE: Research and information fluency Students apply digital tools to gather,
evaluate, and use information.
Process skills: Literary skills - analyze cause and effect relationships
Management

Time: 35 minutes
Space: carpet for anticipatory set; desks for lesson presentation, etc.
Materials:
o When Times are Tough by Yanitzia Canetti
o Internet articles http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/fnews/1099097/posts
One for me, and printed copies for students to read along
o Cause/effect worksheet
o Large post-it paper, marker (for me)
o Sticky notes
Behavior: The students seem to like the tootsie pop management strategy I
have been using, but I will fine-tune it for this lesson. I will tell students that
they will be rewarded with one tootsie pop if they are on task, participating
in their small group activities, listening to the lesson, and being respectful of
each other, themselves, and me. However, I will have the authority to take
the tootsie pop away if this behavior is not consistent.

Direct Instruction Lesson Plan Template

II. Anticipatory Set (10 minutes)

I will read When Times are Tough to the class while they are sitting at the carpet.
III. Purpose
Today we will read an article off of the Internet about a BIG change that happened
right here in Marion about 11 years ago. From this article, we are going to make a
cause and effect chart, and then talk about the effects this change had on Marion
(and probably some of your families).
INSTRUCTION (Direct)
(Remember Modeling, check for understanding, throughout the lesson)
IV. Lesson Presentation (15 minutes)
Back before you were born, there was a big factory in Marion called the RCA plant.
It was a factory where tubes were made for TVs. The tubes were in TVs in order to
see the picture on the TV. The RCA plant was in business for 75 years, but in 2004 it
shut down. There were so many citizens of Marion who would be quickly out of a job.
I bet even some of YOUR relatives were effected by the closing of the plant. We are
going to read through this article about the closing of the RCA plant.
Once we have finished the reading, I will introduce the cause and effect chart. On
your worksheet, you have a chart that says cause on one side and effect on the
other. The cause is going to be main issues or points made in the articles about the
closing of the RCA plant, and the effect will be what happened BECAUSE OF those
causes.
V. Guided Practice (10 minutes)
I will give the first example of cause and effect. For example, this article says that
there were changes in TV technology. Because of that, the demand (or want) for
picture tube TVs declined. So in the cause column, lets write, changes in TV
technology and in the effect column, lets write, declining demand for picture
tube TVs.
An interesting thing about cause and effect is that sometimes one effect can also be
the cause of something else. Lets look at our effect here. Declining demand for
picture tube TVs. Think about what we read in this article What major change
happened because of this declining demand? I will give a little bit (app. 15 seconds)
of think time, and then call on students. Hopefully we can come to the main idea that
the effect of that cause was that RCA plants all over the country were closing,
including the Marion plant.
Now lets take that effect and make it into a cause. Somebody tell me something that
happened BECAUSE the Marion plant closed. There are many possible answers and
effects of this change, so I will take different student answers. If they dont say it
themselves, I will end this one with the fact that 990 people were laid off.

Direct Instruction Lesson Plan Template

VI. Closure (5 minutes)

I will pass out a sticky note to each student.
On your sticky note, I want you to write down 3 EFFECTS this could have had on the
community of Marion. 990 people in Marion were out of a job What did this mean for
the entire community/city?
This will be their exit slip to lunch.
VII. Independent Practice/Extending the Learning
For your homework, you will use the fact that 990 people got laid off as a writing
prompt. I want you to put yourself in the shoes of one of those people who got laid off.
You are going to write two paragraphs describing your situation that you just
recently got laid off and what you are going to do now that you are out of a job.
Use this as an opportunity to think of all the different ways someone could overcome
the devastation of being put out of a job. You can talk to your families about this and
see if they remember when the RCA plant closed down. They might be able to give
you good information to use in your writing. This will be due tomorrow.
VIII. Assessment
Formative: During Guided Practice, I will make sure the students are responding and not
looking confused about the cause/effect relationships. If I need to, I will keep guiding
them in Guided Practice until I see that they fully understand.
Summative: I will look at their exit slip and homework when they turn it in. I will be
checking to see if they understood the effect being laid off can have on a family, as well
as if they wrote how they could move past being laid off.
IX. Adaptations:
Special Needs Students: the students could possibly be in the resource room while I teach
my lesson. If not, they will still be expected to read along and participate. This is not too
difficult for them.
Remediation: If Mr. VanDosen is on board, I will reteach to a small group of students
who did not understand the material.
Enrichment: if the higher-level students seem to have mastered the material, I will have
them do more research for Independent Practice.
X. Technology Inclusion
Technology was used for me to find the article, but it will not be utilized during the
lesson.
EVALUATION
Self-Answer Questions
1. How many students achieved the objective? For those that did not, why not?
2. What were my strengths and weaknesses?
3. How should I alter this lesson?
4. How would I pace it differently?
5. Were all students actively participating? If not, why not?
6. What adjustments did I make to reach varied learning styles and ability levels?

Direct Instruction Lesson Plan Template

a. Blooms Taxonomy
b. Gardners Multiple Intelligences
7. Add other questions that relate directly to some specific aspect of the lesson.

Notes for me to help me remember main points:

Direct Instruction Lesson Plan Template

Name: ____________________________ Date: __________________

What are different resources we can use to gather information?
______________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________

Direct Instruction Lesson Plan Template

Cause
What happened?

Effect

(Economic Impact)

What was the result of the cause?