WEST CHESTER UNIVERSITY LESSON PLAN TEMPLATE

Lesson Topic Fairness (Justice)

Grade Level 4th grade
Teacher Miss. Caroline Evans
Duration 55 minutes
 

How will this lesson support the learning goal? Students will be able to demonstrate what fairness looks
(1c: Setting Instructional Outcomes) like in our democratic republic and why it is an important
 
disposition and virtue.
 

PA Standards and Other Appropriate Professional

5.1.CC - Evaluate the application of the principles and
Standards
(1c: Setting Instructional Outcomes) ideals in contemporary civic life.
 

http://www.pdesas.org/Standard/view or ·  Liberty / Freedom

https://www.pdesas.org/Page?pageId=11 ·  Democracy
 

List the Pennsylvania Standard(s) relevant for this lesson ·  Justice

 
·  Equality
 
5.2.C.D - Evaluate and demonstrate what makes
competent and responsible citizens.
 
5.2.C.B - Analyze strategies used to resolve conflicts in
society and government.
 
CC.1.5.4.A - Engage effectively in a range of
collaborative discussions on grade-level topics and texts,
building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly.
 
NCSS Theme #10: Civic Ideals and Practices - Through
an understanding of both ideals and practices, it becomes
possible to identify gaps between them, and study efforts to
close the gaps in our democratic republic and worldwide.
 
NCSS Theme #6: Power, Authority, and Governance -
Learners in the early grades explore their natural and
developing sense of fairness and order as they experience
relationships with others. They develop an increasingly
comprehensive awareness of rights and responsibilities in
specific contexts.
 

Objective(s) · Students will perform a skit provided to

(1c: Setting Instructional Outcomes) them that shows what fairness is and is not.
 
· Students will write down characteristics and
Taking into consideration the learning goal, what is the
objective(s)
of this lesson that will support the progress toward the
learning goal?
The statement should be directly observable (use verbs
that can be measured).
Academic Language
(1a: Demonstrating Knowledge of Content and Pedagogy)
What language will students be expected to utilize by the
end of the lesson? Consider Language function and
language demands (see Lesson Plan User Guide).
What key terms are essential?
What key terms are essential to develop and extend
students’ academic language?
What opportunities will you provide for students to
practice the new language and develop fluency, both
written and oral?
 
Materials/Resources
(1d: Demonstrating Knowledge of Resources)
What texts, digital resources, & materials will be used in
this lesson? How do the materials align with the learning
objective/outcomes? If appropriate, what educational
technology will be used to support the learning outcomes
of this lesson? How do the resources support the learning
objectives?
Cite publications and any web resources.
 
Anticipatory Set
(1a: Demonstrating Knowledge of Content and Pedagogy)
5 minutes
How will you set the purpose and help students learn why
today’s lesson is important to them as learners?
How will you pique the interest or curiosity regarding the
lesson topic?
observations of fairness while watching the other
group present their skit.
· Students will discuss what fairness is and
why it is an important part of citizenship.
Citizenship
o   Being a member of and supporting one’s
community and country.
Fairness (Justice)
o   Treating others, the way you would want to be
treated in a given situation
 
Citizenship dispositions and virtues
o   Routinely exhibiting moral values including
responsibility, civility, fairness, honesty, courage,
and being lawful.
Responsibility
o Taking accountability for your actions, being
dependable, and making good choices for yourself
and your community.
·  Skits for both groups
·  Pencils
·  Lined paper
T: Raise your hand if you remember when we learned
about dispositions and virtues? (students will then raise
their hands) Wonderful! Today we will continue to learn
about another virtue called fairness/justice. I am sure that
these are familiar words, can anyone raise their hand and
tell me what exactly these things are?
 
The teacher will record student answers on a whiteboard.
How will you build on students’ prior knowledge?
How will you introduce and explain the strategy/concept
or skill?
Provide detailed steps
 
Instructional Activities
(1a: Demonstrating Knowledge of Content and Pedagogy;
1e: Designing Coherent Instruction)
39 minutes
Exploration (Model): How will students explore the new
concepts? How will you model or provide explicit
instruction?
Guided Practice: How will you provide support to
students as they apply the new concept? How will you
allow them to practice (with teacher support)?
Independent practice: How will students review and
solidify these concepts to be able to use this new
knowledge? How will you monitor and provide feedback?
 
Provide detailed steps.
After students have responded, the teacher will move into
the instructional activities.
·  T: Today we will be learning about what
fairness is, what it looks like, and why it is
important in a community and country.
·  T: In order to do so, I will be breaking the
class into four groups, and each group will be
presenting a skit to the class. The skits are going to
be scenarios that will show either fairness or
unfairness, and the audience will help to decide
which they think it is.
·  The teacher will then divide the class into
four groups and hand them their skits, one for each
student. Two groups will have skits about fairness,
and the remaining two will have skits about
unfairness.
·  T: Each group has 10 minutes to practice;
your audience and I will be looking for your acting
skills!
·  The teacher will rotate to each group to
ensure they are practicing their skits and reading
with enthusiasm.
·  (After the 10 minutes are up) T: Alright, that
was a great practice! Do I have any volunteers to
go first? (The teacher will pick the first group that
raises their hand, otherwise the teacher will
randomly pick a group). Okay we have our first
group! Group 1 you can come up front and get
ready, the rest of you can have a seat at your desk
and get out a piece of paper and a pencil.
·  T: For my friends that are sitting at their
desks, I am going to have you take your piece of
paper and fold it twice (the teacher will
demonstrate), and you are going to write a 1,2,3
and 4 in each box for each group. While each
group is presenting, you are going to write any
observations you see that will help you determine
if their skit is about fairness or unfairness.
· Each group will then present, with a round
of applause for each group.
·  (After the groups have presented) T: Great
job friends! I am going to give you one minute to
write down any last observations you have, and

 
Closure
(1e: Designing Coherent Instruction)
5 minutes
How will students share or show what they have learned
in this lesson?
How will you restate the teaching point and clarify key
concepts?
How will you provide opportunities to extend ideas and
check for understanding?
How will this lesson lead to the next lesson?
 
 
Differentiation
(1e: Designing Coherent Instruction)
What differentiated support will you provide for students
whose academic development is below or above the
current grade level?
What specific differentiation of content, process, products,
and/or learning environment do you plan to employ to
meet the needs of all of your students?
How does your lesson support student differences with
regard to linguistic, academic, and cultural diversity?
How will your lesson actively build upon the resources
that linguistically and culturally diverse students bring to
the experience?  that the high-level students are able to help the low-level
you can also fill in the box for your group as well.
·  T: Now that all of the groups have
presented, we are going to discuss what groups we
think had which topic, and why. On the back of
your paper I would like you to write down what
we discuss, because we will be talking about why
fairness is so important.
·  The teacher will then facilitate a discussion
with the students, making sure that at least every
student contributes something to the conversation.
The teacher will make sure to go over the fact that
without having fairness in our communities and
countries, we would be living in chaos. The
teacher will also make sure to go over what
fairness is and how it can be seen in a classroom,
community, and country.
T: You all did a great job with your skits and your
discussion! I am going to read to you some events that
have been happening in the world, and I would like you to
raise your hand if you think in that situation people are
being fair or unfair and why.
The teacher will read three current events and listen to
student responses. 
T: Great job today 4th grade. Today we learned that
fairness is treating people the way that you would want to
be treated in a certain situation and what that looks like, as
well as what unfairness can look like. We also learned that
fairness is an important part of being a citizen and without
it, we would be living in chaos. 
In order to differentiate for more logical or mathematical
learners, I can have them be a discussion leader, where
they can either ask questions to students or the teacher, or
they can share the information they found and observed
first. They can also help the teacher to facilitate the
discussion.
For more bodily-kinesthetic learners, they will be able to
stand up during the discussion and move around the room
if needed, students will not be required to sit at their
desks, as they will already be sitting at their desks while
they are watching the skits.
I will try to group students, so the low-level reading
students are paired with higher level reading students so
How will your lesson will be supportive for all students,
including English Language Learners, and build upon the
linguistic, cultural, and experiential resources that they
bring to their learning? 
How will your lesson be designed to promote creative and
critical thinking and inventiveness?
 
Accommodations
(1e: Designing Coherent Instruction)
What classroom accommodations do you plan to employ
to increase curriculum access for students identified with
special education needs or 504?
Describe how these accommodations align with the
current Individualized Education Plan (IEP) for each
student as applicable (avoid using actual names of
students).
 
Modifications
(1e: Designing Coherent Instruction)
What curricular modifications and/or changes in
performance standards, if any, do you plan to employ to
facilitate the participation of students identified with
special education needs?
 
Assessment (Formal or Informal).
(1f: Assessing Student Learning)
How will you and the students assess where the learning
objectives, listed above, were met?
Each formal or informal assessment should describe how
it is aligned to the above objective(s).
 
students when reading the scripts.
For students with an IEP regarding writing, they will not
be required to write as much as other students. The teacher
will also be available to assist them with writing while
they are writing observations from skits.
For students with an IEP regarding reading, students will
have simpler lines in their skits so that they are reading at
their independent level.
One modification for students who struggle with writing is
that they will not receive points off for writing less
regarding their observations. They will only need to write
the key concepts that the teacher will be specifically
addressing and not focus on writing observations.
 
One modification for high-achieving students is to have
them do an extra skit if time allows. They will be either in
a group with other high-achieving students or students that
are on the cusp. This skit will be more advanced regarding
reading.
Students will hand in the papers that they wrote on during
the skits. The teacher will examine what the students
wrote and determine whether the students understood
fairness vs. unfairness and why it is important. The
teacher will leave a note for each student on the paper and
hand it back to them. These papers will be used later in the
portfolio that students will be creating.
The teacher will also be observing students during the
discussion to gage if they are understanding the concept.
 References
 
Parker, W., & Beck, T. (2017). Social Studies in Elementary Education (15th ed.). Pearson.

SAMPLE SCRIPT 1

Student 1: Hey, who wants to come play with me at recess?

Student 2: I do!

Student 3: Me too!

Student 4: I want too!

Student 1: Well (student 4’s name), you can’t play with us because you don’t sit with us at lunch.

Student 3: Yeah, they’re right, you can’t play with us.

Student 4: But our class rules say you can’t exclude people!

Student 2: That doesn’t mean anything, we can do whatever we want.

SAMPLE SCRIPT 2 (short version)

Student 1: Can I sit with you guys at lunch?

Student 2: I don’t know, you said some things that weren’t very nice about (student 4’s name).

Student 3: Yeah, I don’t know if we can let you sit with us.

Student 4: He/she can sit with us, I will give them a second chance, maybe they were just
having a bad day.

SAMPLE SCRIPT 3 (short version)

Student 1: I wonder why (student 3’s name) has to do this project by themselves?
Student 2: I know, it’s very confusing because everyone else is doing the project with someone
else.

Student 4: Maybe they got in trouble? 

Student 3: (sits my themselves making sad faces)