Indiana Wesleyan University

Elementary Education Lesson Plan Template (DIRECT INSTRUCTION)

Social Studies--2007 ACEI Standards

Student: Elena Check School: Eastbrook South Elementary

IWU Supervisor: Earl Gloria Co-op Teacher: Mrs. Holt
Teaching Date: April 11th, 2018 Grade Level: 6th

READINESS
I. Goal(s)/Objective(s)/Standard(s)
A. Goal– The students will be aware of the cause and effects of the Black Death.

B. Objective(s) – The students will be able to state the cause of The Black Death and how it affected the
medieval society by completing their comic strip.

Condition:
The Black Death: a plague that spread to and through Europe that began in 1348
Plague: a contagious disease
Cause: a condition to an event or thing
Effect: a change in a result due to an action or cause

C. Standard(s) –

IAS: 6.1.7—Describe how the Black Death, along with economic, environmental and social factors led to the
decline of medieval society.
NCSS: Time, Continuity, and Change

ISTE: 2a. Students cultivate and manage their digital identity and reputation and are aware of the permanence of
their actions in the digital world.

II. Materials & Management:

A. Materials: The Black Death, computers, paper, writing utensil, crayons/markers

B. Time: 1 hour
C. Space: 6th grade classroom—front of the room and the students’ seats
D. Behavior: I will be using the light method as well as the finger on the chin method. For the light
method, I will use this when the students are working together and by themselves…there are 3 light
switches in the room and if they are too loud I turn off one, if they continue to be loud I will turn off
another one and then finally, if they turn of the 3rd they will be given a consequence. If they are talking
while I am teaching, I will put my finger on my chin and they will all follow and do the same while
shutting off their voices.
E. Technology: Computer—Google Classroom

III. Anticipatory Set— 10 minutes

- Talk about a mime, practice being a mime, have them become a mime
- There will be music playing in the background for mood
“I would like you guys to listen to this story. When you hear your name, I would like you to do as I say. Make
sure that you are not talking, if I say that is what you are doing in the story just pretend.
 One sunny afternoon, Mrs. Holt’s class was walking… WALKING… around the classroom. Kelsey and
Cassidy went over to the lunch menu to see what was for lunch tomorrow while Gabby was tying her shoe. All
of the boys seemed to be on one side of the room where the couch was, while the girls started doing each
other’s hair on the other side only using one hand. Aiden, Trevor, and Brent started jumping up and down
because of the 3 cups of coffee that just kicked in and Levi started dancing. This was a normal day. All of the
sudden, Sirenity chokes and passes away. She lays on the ground, still. Ty rushes over to her to try and save her
but half way there, he trips and hits his head so hard on the table that he passes away too. Next thing you know,
Ian, Logan Miller, Marlene, and Kady drop like flies (meaning that you guys passed away as well). Everyone is
now confused and is fast walking, panicking, and not stepping on those who have died. Savanna huddles in a
corner to stay away from death and her younger brother, Gavin, follows her. He passes away next to her. Cole
and Skyler go say a prayer in the front of the classroom, but mid prayer, Cole dies. Everyone is confused, not
knowing how to feel. How are all of these people dying? Logan Myers starts to crawl because he can no longer
stand, and just as he tries to cry out for Rigin, he becomes paralyzed from the neck down, which means he has
in fact passed away as well. The living people remaining start to smell rotting human flesh so they decide they
need to move everyone who is scattered on the floor dead. Paige and Claire really couldn’t take the smell so
they passed away as well They moved them, GENTLY (the dead people sort of could move suddenly just so the
alive people don’t have to literally drag them), to the front of the room and the alive people returned to their
seats.

There are about half of you remaining. Imagine having your family members, friends, and community dying
suddenly and there was nothing you could do about it.”

State purpose statement.

IV. Purpose: “Today we are going to be learning about The Black Death, look for the cause of this disease, and
how it affected Europe.”

PLAN FOR INSTRUCTION

V. Adaptation: (ACEI 3.2)

A. Remediation – I will go over the important parts of their reading (time, place, cause, effects, and
solution).
B. Enrichment –
a. I will use higher vocabulary while reiterating what they learned in their reading and videos.
b. I will provide context clues to help them understand the meaning of any words.
C. ELL – N/A
D. Exceptional Needs- Students will work individually but then collaborate with their peers, if they do not
understand the material, they can be helped easily.

VI. Lesson Presentation:

“Log on to Google Classroom and open the reading on “The Black Death.” We will be reading this together—I
will begin and then I will ask if anyone else would like to read. On some of the questions that I ask, I would like
you to talk with your group about the answer and then I will call on a student from a table to answer, so make
sure that you are participating and ready. On other questions, I will just call on whoever’s hand is raised. After
we get through these questions, I will play a short video for you to watch.”

- Read the pages and throughout the reading ask:

Questions:

*provide wait time for the students to answer, answers provided if they did not provide the right answer or it
needs reiterated.

“Where is this taking place?”

“This is taking place in Europe. A boat came over from Messina and there were these diseased fleas on rats that
got everywhere and half of the people coming over on the boat got sick and passed away.”

“How do you think this disease spread so fast?”

“Because the disease, Yersinia, was on fleas and they got on everything. Fleas multiply very fast and get
everywhere. Back then, they did not know that the best thing to do was quarantine those who were sick,
meaning keeping the sick away from the healthy.”

“What do you think was going through the citizens’ head when this first started?”

“How many people died?”

“How did this plague help decline the medieval society?”

*re-read the passage in the book that explains this*

- Show the video

“Now you all are going to work with your table to perform a small play on The Black Death. The play has to be
at least 2 minutes long and everyone has to participate. You are free to be creative with your play. By this, I
mean that you can have a modern twist to it. You have to include the cause of The Black Death, at least 3
effects it had on society, and a conclusion in your presentation. You have about 10 minutes to come up with a
script and then you will present.”

- Have the students present

A. INPUT:

Input Modeling/Modeled Practice – 20 minutes

- The students will log on to their computer and google drive—in there will be pages posted from their
book so that they can follow along (because there is not enough to go around). We will read them
together as a class. I will read at first and then ask if anyone else would like to volunteer. While reading,
I will stop and reiterate important information such as time, place, cause, and effects. After reading, I
will then show the students a 3 minute and 27 second video.
o https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vk88JUozP6c (3:27)

Checking Understanding –

- While we are reading, I will ask questions and discuss them. When I ask a question, I will also give the
students time to talk at their tables about the answer and call on one person from a group to provide the
answer so I know that they are all participating and collaborating with their peers understanding the
material.
Guided Practice – 10 minutes

- After the students and I go over the reading and video(s), I will explain to them that they are going to
roleplay what they just learned.

“Now you all are going to work with your table to put on a small play on The Black Death. This has to be at
least 2 minutes long and everyone has to participate. You are free to be creative with it. By this, I mean that you
can have a modern twist to it. You have to include the cause of The Black Death, at least 3 effects it had, and a
conclusion in your presentation. You have about 10 minutes to come up with a script and then you will
present.”

OUTPUT: (ACEI 2.4 & ACEI 3.3)

Independent Practice – 25 minutes

After the students give their presentation, they will create their own comic strip. Students will work individually
for the first 15 minutes and then they can discuss and collaborate with their table, sharing their comic strip, for
the following 10 minutes. This will be due by the end of the class period.

- Students’ comic strip must provide the cause and at least 2 effects The Black Death had on Europe.
- Students should use effort and apply color to their comic.
- Students should have a conclusion in their comic strip.

Closure – 5 minutes

- Once the last group performs and sits down I will go to the front of the room and ask the students to get
out a half sheet of paper (share/split one with a neighbor). I will then ask the students to write down the
cause of The Black Death and at least 2 effects The Black Death had on Europe on one side of the paper.
On the other side of the paper, I will have the students write one thing they enjoyed about the lesson (it
can also be something interesting that they learned) and one thing they did not enjoy as much.

PLAN FOR ASSESSMENT (ACEI 4.0)

Formative:

The students will do an exit slip, and on this exit-slip they will write the cause and 2 effects of The Black Death
and turn it in so they are able to leave.

Summative:

The students will make a comic strip and roleplay how they interpreted the Black Death—it can be modern,
have a twist, or done in the 1300s (just like The Black Death).

In both the comic strip and roleplay:

- The students must provide the cause of the Black Death.
- The students must show at least 2 effects that it had on Europe.
- The students must have a conclusion.

REFLECTION AND POST-LESSON ANALYSIS

1. How many students achieved the lesson objective(s)? For those who 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?
a. Bloom’s Taxonomy
b. Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences
7. Could the students relate to this well? Did they stay engaged?
8. Was the assessment too vague? Too hard?