Geneva College

Beaver Falls, PA

Lesson Plan Format

Name: __Ryan Marchione _____________________Date: ___Sept 23rd & 24th_________

Subject: __Honors Law_____________________Grade Level: ____12th_______________

I. Topic and General Goal

America’s Foundation

The students will be able to explain how several English documents helped to form America’s
democracy.

II. Reference to PA or Common Core Standards

P.A. Content

Standard - 5.1.12.B Employ historical examples and political philosophy to evaluate the
major arguments advanced for the necessity of government.

Common Core

Standard - CC.8.5.11-12.B Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or

secondary source; provide an accurate summary that makes clear the relationships
among the key details and ideas.

III. Lesson Objectives - Objectives must be written using observable verbs

TSWBAT explain how historical English documents have influenced the development of the
U.S. system of democracy.

IV. Materials

School issued Chromebooks, access to Google Meet , Access to Schoology, English

documents chart handout

V. A. Introduction
I will introduce the lesson by activating the students prior knowledge of class discussion
regarding Hobbes, Locke, and Rousseau.

B. Lesson Development (Activities, Procedures)

1. I will introduce the lesson by activating the students prior knowledge of class discussion
regarding Hobbes, Locke, and Rousseau.
2. I will then go over a brief PowerPoint discussing the early structure of the American
Colonies and the beginnings of its democracy.
3. Following that, I will have the students bring up their chart of the historical English
documents.
4. We will do the first one together so that the students know my expectations, then I will
use the Gradual Release of Responsibility (GRR) model to let the students complete the
rest of the chart on their own.
5. I will explain to the students that they can work with each other, and that the chart must
be completed by the next class period, and that we will discuss it the next day.
6. I will be available during the rest of the class period in case any student has a question.

END DAY ONE

1. On the second day of the lesson, I will remind the students of what they were supposed
to complete for the day.
2. I will have students volunteer their answers about each document until I feel that all the
students have a good grasp of the material I want them to learn.
3. I will wrap up the lesson by giving a brief recap of everything that was discussed in
class, and asking the students to make connections between the English documents we
analyzed and how they paved the way to American Democracy. I will also remind the
students that their current event is due the next day for discussion.

C. Evidence of Differentiated Instruction (Content, process, Products, or

Learning Environment)

Content- The content will be presented in multiple ways such as students reading the material,
discussing the material, seeing it visually on PowerPoint, and by filling out the accompanying
chart.

Process- The students will have a chart to fill out which will help them to analyze the documents
by summarizing, comparing, and contrasting.

Products- The students will be able to demonstrate their knowledge of the topic by filling out the
chart and discussing their answers.

Learning Environment- The learning environment will be virtual through Google Meet and
Schoology.

D. Closure (Summary)
I will wrap up the lesson by giving a brief recap of everything that was discussed in class, and
by asking the students to make connections between the early English documents and
American democracy. Students will also complete a discussion board on Schoology, which will
serve as an exit ticket.

VI. Assessment/Evaluation

Students will be assessed informally based on the quality of their in class discussion and
formally through their completion of the English documents chart.

VII. Modifications and/or Accommodations

Students who struggle with reading comprehension will receive a set of documents with the
main concepts and key ideas highlighted for them. Students with learning disabilities will receive
a decreased workload when filling out the chart.

VIII. Self-Evaluation

I feel that this lesson also had some strengths and weaknesses. I feel that my delivery was
better for this lesson, and I concentrated on slowing down some, providing more examples, and
asking more questions throughout the lesson in order to gauge the students' understanding. I
also think that using a chart to organize the information about each of the four documents was a
good idea because I think it helped the students to be able to analyze and compare the
documents better. I also think that by having the students answer the discussion board
question, it gave them another opportunity to make connections between the early English
documents and the founding American documents.

The biggest weakness in this lesson was the attention to detail. When I gave the students the
chart to fill out, I did not realize that the website was at the bottom of the page, and that students
could easily go on the website and find the answer key. From what I could see, only one student
took advantage of this, but I know now that I have to be more careful when using outside
sources. Also, I think I have to be more clear when giving directions because in each of the first
two lessons, I have had a few students look over the material, but not actually complete the
assignment. As a result the quality of the discussion was not as good as I expected it to be. In
the future, I will have to be sure that I make my expectations clear enough so that all the
students understand them, instead of just a few.

Cooperating Teacher Approval _________________________________________________