Unit Plan: John C.

Fremont School
Lesson Plan for: Friday
Grade: 1
st
grade
Social Studies Strand: Civics
Submitted By: Katheryn Brown





B. Summary of the Lesson Plan:
This social studies lesson is designed for 1
st
grade students; to teach students the name of
their present school (John C. Fremont) and why the school was named after a hero.
This lesson uses the Houghton Mifflin Social Studies textbook School and Family (p. 250).

Lesson Plan #4 - Civics submitted by: Katheryn Brown

Nevada State College EDEL 453 - Spring 2014 Karen Powell- Instructor page 2
C. Basic Information:
Grade Level: first grade
Time to Complete this Lesson: 50 minutes
Groupings:
Whole group discussions, questions and answers
Whole group reading, pages 250
Whole group read aloud, book chapter: John C. Fremont
Small group, poster
I ndependent for assessment, worksheet

D. Materials:
Houghton Mifflin Social Studies: School and Family, Grade 1,
Teacher's Edition; Core Lesson 2; pages 38, 39





Book: John C. Fremont by William Sanford and Carl Green




1 worksheet per student
(www.pinterest.com)


Materials cont.:

poster sheet, markers and 1 pencil for each small group


Lesson Plan #4 - Civics submitted by: Katheryn Brown

Nevada State College EDEL 453 - Spring 2014 Karen Powell- Instructor page 3
E. Objectives:
o NV State Social Studies Standards
C16.1.1 name their school
o Student-Friendly Standards
C13.1.4 I will learn the name of my school
I will learn that John C. Fremont was a war hero.
Key Themes:
Identifying titles
Making observations
Identifying heroes

F. Vocabulary
Hero: someone who has done something brave to help other people
G. Procedure:
1. Refer to notes on Core Lesson 2, Teachers Edition, pages 250 & 251

Explain:
a) what character traits are and background information on some American heroes

Read together: Heroes in our country pages 250

Introduce the key vocabulary words:
1) Hero 2) Traits

Ask:
a) What is the name of our school?
b) What do you want to know about John C. Fremont?


Read: the highlighted section in the John C. Fremont book that starts with: During the Civil War,
Frmont was promoted to Major General and Commander of the Department of the West on July 1,
1861 by President Abraham Lincoln.




Lesson Plan #4 - Civics submitted by: Katheryn Brown

Nevada State College EDEL 453 - Spring 2014 Karen Powell- Instructor page 4
Ask students the following questions:

1) Did John C. Fremont help President Abraham Lincoln?
2) What did he do during the Civil War?
3) Did he help people?
4) Was he brave?


Group discussion asking the students to describe what they think John C. Fremont looked like.

Smartboard Work:
View pictures of John C. Fremont, Fremont school, and other heroes mentioned in School &
Family.

Divide students into 4 groups. Each group will work together to create a hero poster. Each poster
must describe what a hero is, name John C. Fremont, and draw a picture of our school.


H. Assessment:
What will you use to measure student understanding?
Group discussion:
Each group will give the class a presentation about their poster. Each group will be given one of
the four following questions to answer during their presentation:
1) What is the name of our school?
2) Why was John C. Fremont a hero?
3) What is a hero?
4) John C. Fremont school is in what city?
Bonus question: What is a character trait?
Independent assessment:
Each student will complete the provided worksheet.

Explain how you will know students understand the concepts from the lesson.
Using the worksheet will show if the students are able to identify what they know, what they
want to know and what theyve learned.

Lesson Plan #4 - Civics submitted by: Katheryn Brown

Nevada State College EDEL 453 - Spring 2014 Karen Powell- Instructor page 5
I. Closure:
Review/Assess Houghton Mifflin Social Studies textbook School and Family (page 250)
Posters will be displayed on the outside hallway bulletin board.
J. Reflection:
1. Which part of the lesson do you think will be the easiest for you to teach?
The easiest part of this lesson will be the group discussion on their school.
2. Which part will be most challenging for you to teach?
The most challenging part of this lesson will be explaining why John C. Fremont is a hero
and why Carson City School District named the school after him.
3. How will you follow up or extend this lesson?
Using the school library, we will continue identifying sources of information on the walls,
using the computers, and presentations from the school librarian.
4. What can you do for students who dont grasp the concepts?
I will extend the study to include realistic visuals our school and Smartboard presentations.
5. Which part of the lesson, if any, do you think might need to change?
This lessons standard was small, but incorporating a lesson on heroes made it easier for the
students to comprehend why schools are named after people.
6. When you were writing this lesson plan, what was the most difficult part?
The most difficult part of writing this lesson is making sure my young students will
understand why our school isnt just John C. Fremont, but that he was a chosen hero to be
honored.


Lesson Plan #4 - Civics submitted by: Katheryn Brown

Nevada State College EDEL 453 - Spring 2014 Karen Powell- Instructor page 6