Direct Instruction Lesson Plan Template

Teacher: Subject:
Luis Maya 8th Grade Civics
Common Core State Standards:
• 8.C3.2: Examine the origins and purpose of constitutions, laws, treaties, and international agreements.
• ISTE 3b: Students evaluate the accuracy, perspective, credibility and relevance of information, media, data or
other resources.
• Workplace Employability DECA 1b: Communicates effectively in a diverse work environment

Objective (Explicit):
• Using a worksheet, students will be able to identify and define two out of the three principles adopted from
John Locke that were incorporated into the Declaration of Independence by the end of the lesson.

Evidence of Mastery (Measurable):

¨ Include a copy of the lesson assessment.
¨ Provide exemplar student responses with the level of detail you expect to see.
¨ Assign value to each portion of the response.

1. In 3-5 complete sentences, name the two principles of John Locke’s theory of Natural Rights that were used by
Thomas Jefferson in the Declaration of Independence and define what they mean.
a. The two principles of John Locke’s theory of Natural Rights that were used by Thomas Jefferson are the
right to life and the right to liberty. The right to life is pretty simple, as it simply means that humans should
be able to live and not be killed. The right to liberty means that humans should be allowed to live their life
how they want to. Both rights have been at the core of our democracy since the very beginning.

Sub-objectives, SWBAT (Sequenced from basic to complex):

¨ How will you review past learning and make connections to previous lessons?
¨ What skills and content are needed to ultimately master this lesson objective?
¨ How is this objective relevant to students, their lives, and/or the real world?
- SWBAT describe John Locke’s theory of Natural Rights
- SWBAT discuss questions relating to how John Locke influenced Thomas Jefferson with various classmates
- SWBAT understand why Locke’s theories are still important to this day

Key vocabulary: John Locke, Thomas Jefferson, Declaration Materials: PowerPoint presentation, content worksheet (to
of Independence, Natural Rights, Life, Liberty, Property, be provided by instructor)
Pursuit of Happiness

Opening (state objectives, connect to previous learning, and make relevant to real life)
¨ How will you activate student interest?
¨ How will you connect to past learning?
¨ How will you present the objective in an engaging and student-friendly way?
¨ How will you communicate its importance and make the content relevant to your students?
- Teacher will show PowerPoint slide of the first two paragraphs of the Declaration of Independence and ask if
anyone can name the document it comes from
- Teacher will encourage students to share any previous knowledge they have on the document
o Who wrote it, what it means, etc…
- Objective will be stated by the teacher to the students
- Teacher will explain why the document is important and how it applies to us today
- Teacher will go over the game plan for the day
o Brief presentation, group discussion on topic, quick worksheet, and debrief

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 Teacher Will: Student Will:
¨ How will you model/explain/demonstrate all ¨ What will students be doing to actively capture and process
knowledge/skills required of the objective? the new material?
¨ What types of visuals will you use? ¨ How will students be engaged?
¨ How will you address misunderstandings or common
student errors?
¨ How will you check for understanding?
¨ How will you explain and model behavioral
expectations?
¨ Is there enough detail in this section so that another
person could teach it?
Teacher Will: Student Will:
- Continue using PowerPoint presentation to go - Be taking notes of the material being presented
through the lesson - Be asked questions throughout the presentation to
- Introduce John Locke and his theory of ensure they are actively paying attention and
Natural Rights
Instructional Input

understanding the material

- Ask students if they had previously heard of
Locke and his ideas, and if so, where
- Reintroduce Thomas Jefferson’s first two
paragraphs of the Declaration and ask students
to keep in mind any similarities between the
works of Locke and Jefferson

Co-Teaching Strategy
¨ Which co-teaching approach will you use to maximize student achievement?

- During this time, the One Teach, One Assist method would be used. As one teacher is instructing the
classroom, the other would be walking around and answering any questions a student may have.

Differentiation Strategy
¨ What accommodations/modifications will you include for specific students?
¨ Do you anticipate any students who will need an additional challenge?

- No accommodations are required at this time

- No students are anticipated to need an additional challenge

Teacher Will: Student Will:

¨ How will you ensure that all students have multiple
opportunities to practice new content and skills?
¨ What types of questions can you ask students as you
are observing them practice?
¨ How/when will you check for understanding?
¨ How will you provide guidance to all students as they
practice?
¨ How will you explain and model behavioral
expectations?
¨ Is there enough detail in this section so that another
Guided Practice
¨ How will students practice all knowledge/skills required of
the objective, with your support, such that they continue to
internalize the sub-objectives?
¨ How will students be engaged?
¨ How will you elicit student-to-student interaction?
¨ How are students practicing in ways that align to
independent practice?

person could facilitate this practice?

Teacher Will: Student Will:
- Transition from lecturing to engaging students - Use newly taught knowledge to contribute to class
in discussion discussion
- Have students turn to a partner and discuss the - find various partners and find answers to the
question, “Why do you think John Locke questions being asked
considered life, liberty, and property to be - Use their understanding as well as their partner’s to
important rights?” better comprehend the lesson
- Bring the class back together and have students
share what they discussed
- Have students pair up with another partner and
discuss the question, “What similarities and
differences do you see between John Locke’s
Natural Rights and Thomas Jefferson’s
Declaration of Independence?”

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 - Bring the class back together and have students
share what they discussed
- Have students find one last partner and discuss
the question, “Why do you think Thomas
Jefferson added ‘pursuit of happiness’
instead of ‘property’?”
- Bring the class back together and have students
share what they discussed

Co-Teaching Strategy
¨ Which co-teaching approach will you use to maximize student achievement?

- At this time, the Team Teaching method would be used. Both teachers would be asking questions and bouncing
off of each other to ensure students are able to fully explain their answers.

Differentiation Strategy
¨ What accommodations/modifications will you include for specific students?
¨ Do you anticipate any students who will need an additional challenge?
¨ How can you utilize grouping strategies?

- No accommodations are required at this time

- No students are anticipated to need an additional challenge
- During the guided practice, students are given the freedom to select the students they wish to be paired up with

Teacher Will: Student Will:

¨ How will you plan to coach and correct during this practice?
¨ How will you provide opportunities for remediation and
extension?
¨ How will you clearly state and model academic and
behavioral expectations?
¨ Did you provide enough detail so that another person could
facilitate the practice?
¨ How will students independently practice the knowledge and skills
required by the objective?
¨ How will students be engaged?
¨ How are students practicing in ways that align to assessment?
¨ How are students using self-assessment to guide their own
learning?
¨ How are you supporting students giving feedback to one another?

Teacher Will: Student Will:

- Transition the students away from group - Silently and independently work on the worksheet
discussions and into independent practice until completed
- Hand out worksheet to each student and
Independent Practice

explain what it is comprised of

- Go over expectations
o Work silently and independently
o Allowed to use notes
- Reassure the students that the worksheet will
not be as hard as long as they were engaged
and paid attention
- Tell students to turn the page over and sit
silently once finished
- Allow students to work on the worksheet for
four minutes

Co-Teaching Strategy
¨ Which co-teaching approach will you use to maximize student achievement?

- During this time, both teachers would be roaming the classroom and answering any questions students may
have

Differentiation Strategy
¨ What accommodations/modifications will you include for specific students?
¨ Do you anticipate any students who will need an additional challenge?

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 - No accommodations are required at this time
- No students are anticipated to need an additional challenge

Closing/Student Reflection/Real-life connections:

¨ How will students summarize and state the significance of what they learned?
¨ Why will students be engaged?

- Teacher will allow time to answer any questions that may linger
- After answering questions, teacher will ask for a volunteer to share what they wrote on their worksheet
- Teacher will build upon student’s answer to highlight how influential John Locke was to Thomas Jefferson and how
his theories are still important today