Geneva College

Beaver Falls, PA

Lesson Plan Template

Name: _______Lydia Ofalt________________________________Date: ___9/23, 27-30/2021__________

Subject: __World Cultures and Geography________________________ Grade Level: 11th grade________________

I. Topic
Cultural Geography of the US
II. PA or Common Core Standards
Standard - 7.3.U.A
Analyze the human characteristics of places and regions using the following criteria:

Population
Culture
Settlement
Economic activities
Political activities
III. Learning Objectives: Objectives must be written using observable verbs
Students will be able to describe how immigration has affected the culture of the United States
Students will be able to describe American Culture in their own words

IV. Materials
USA Vs. Canada
White Board
Power Point
American Ethnicities Worksheet
What does it mean to be American? worksheet
V. Lesson Development
A. Introduction
Day 1:
Day one will serve as an introduction into the cultural geography of the United States. Since the previous week has
been spent on the political and physical geography of the United States, The teacher will give the students class time
to work on the USA vs. Canada worksheet. This worksheet compares different aspect of the human and cultural
geography of the US with those of Canada.

B. Lesson development (activities, procedures)

Day 1:
Day one will serve as an introduction into the cultural geography of the United States. Since the previous week has been
spent on the political and physical geography of the United States, The teacher will give the students class time to work
on the USA vs. Canada worksheet. This worksheet compares different aspect of the human and cultural geography of the
US with those of Canada.
The last 15 minute of class will be used to play a review game of the map test that will happen the next day.
Day 2:
This class period will be a discussion based lesson on the cultural influences In the United States.
The teacher will ask these questions and write the students answers on the board in front of the class.
What types of people make up the United States? These answers will be written on the board and ranked for top 5.
What things do you feel are distinctly “American?”
How are we connected or disconnected to other continents?
Is the US a melting pot or salad bowl?
Could the US be considered a culturally European country? Why or why not?
The students will then be given the American ethnicities worksheet and have the remainder of the class to complete it.

Day 3: This lecture class will be focused on the history and founding of the United States. The teacher will lecture on the
course of History of the United States, starting with the first European Settlers up until present day. The teacher will
create a timeline on the front white board included major events impacting the culture of the United States.

Day 4: Independent exploration of the United States

Students will be given a document with four clickable links on it. Students will be instructed to follow these links to
pages that tell of different aspects of American Culture. Students are to write a response of at least 2 sentences for each
page visited. At the end of class, there will be a class discussion on what the students found most interested about each
page.

C. Evidence of differentiated instruction (content, process, product, or learning environment)

Content: The content of this lesson will be differentiated through group discussion, additional videos, and independent
exploration
Process: The process of this lesson will be differentiated by the students having the ability to explore American culture
independently
Product: the product of this lesson will be differentiated by the assessment being in essay form.
Learning environment: The learning environment will be differentiated by using group discussions as well as
independent study.

D. Closure (summary)
This lesson will be summed up by the teacher asking the students if they feel the US is a salad bowl or a melting pot.
Asking the students if they changed their mind since the discussion on day 1 and why?

VI. Assessment/evaluation
The assessment for this lesson will be an essay written about American culture and Canadian culture after the
next lesson on Canadian culture
VII. Modifications or accommodations
There are no IEP’s in this class

VIII. Self-evaluation
I believe this lesson went very well. The discussion on American culture on day 2 was especially exciting and fun for the
class, as the students participated a lot. The power went out for the entire class when I had the independent exploration
planned, so we discussed culture more and played some fun games. I definitely need to be better prepared with
activities that don’t require Wi-Fi next time.
Cooperating Teacher Approval ________________________________________ Date ___________________