TCNJ Lesson Plan

Social Studies: George Washington

Student Name: Jessica Burch School Name: Clara Barton School

Grade Level: 1st Host Teacher’s Name: Mrs. Silva

Guiding and/or Essential Questions:

1. Why is it important to have a President?
2. Why is it important to learn about George Washington (and other presidents)?

Pre-lesson Assignments and/or Student Prior Knowledge (ex. background knowledge,

possible misconceptions, prior lesson content)
Students may be aware of what a President is and what some of their jobs are, but they may not
know much about George Washington himself and his presidency. Students may also be aware
of some of the duties a President has in their position

Standards:
6.1.2.CivicsDP.3 Explain how historical symbols, monuments and holidays reflect the shared
values, principles, and beliefs of the American identity.
6.1.2.CivicsPI.3: Explain how individuals work with different levels of government to make
rules. (not sure about)

Learning Objectives and Assessments:

Learning Objectives Assessment

SWBAT Learn about the life and work of the Students will show their learning and
first President of the United States. understanding of G.W.’s life through class
discussion participation/video brainstorm.

SWBAT Recall what they learned from the Students will recall what they learned about
lesson about George Washington by writing a G.W. by writing down one of the written facts
fact they learned. taught in the BrainPop Jr. video they watched.

Materials/Resources: (List materials, include any online or book references and resources)
● Dollar worksheet
 ● Slideshow
● Brainpop video:
https://jr.brainpop.com/socialstudies/biographies/georgewashington/
● Anchor chart (with post its)

Plan for set-up/distribution/cleanup of materials:

● I will have the brainpop video set up on the computer before the lesson begins
● I will have the anchor chart at the front of the class so we can all see and to place
post-its with facts on it as we watch the video
● I will hand out the worksheets after the video plays and I am giving
instructions/sending students off to go back to their seats by carpet rows

Step by Step plan (numbered):

1. Lesson beginning: I will begin the lesson by asking students if they know why we have
off on the upcoming Monday? (2/20)
2. I will then ask students if they know what holiday is coming up next Monday: “Does
anyone know what holiday next Monday is?”
a. I will then confirm that President’s Day is the 3rd Monday of every February
3. After confirming it to be President’s Day, I will ask students, “Does anyone know what a
President is?” and then take a few hands to volunteer to answer
4. I will then bounce off their answer based on the students’ responses with a correct and
child friendly definition of President
5. I will then ask, “Does anyone know who the first President of the United States was?”
where I will then take out a dollar bill from my pocket to show the class.
6. I will then take a few hands again to try and answer, then explain that it is George
Washington, who took presidency in year 1789
7. I will then ask, “why do you think we are learning about George Washington?” where I
will say because it is President’s Day coming up and he was our first president!
8. I will then give a brief introduction about G.W., then introduce that we will be watching a
BrainPop video and that every time we hear a new interesting fact we learned, I will
pause it and we will write a post it note together for our anchor chart.
9. BrainPop Video: I will then begin the video when students are quiet and listening and
facing the board (*note: play the whole video, but start post-its at around min. 3:30)
a. I will stop at around these times during video: 1:52 to make sure that students
understand how George Washington became the first president of the United
States. What did Washington do during the revolutionary war 2:25. When was
Washington elected president 3:39. What were important things that Washington
do as president 5:48
 10. Discussion/Instructions: I will then reflect on the video by asking students, “What is
something you learned about G.W. and/or President’s Day?” “Are there any other facts
you learned about or heard that we did not seem to catch and write on our anchor chart?”
11. If there are more ideas, I will then write those on a post-it for the anchor chart as well
12. Lesson Activity: Before dismissing students to conduct this activity, I will show the class
what their worksheet looks like and what they should do to complete it
13. I will state: “You are to write one fact you learned about G.W. on this first line on the
worksheet. You may use the facts we wrote down during the video. You will then write
down something you would do if you were President, for example, make Fridays another
weekend day, etc. After that is done, draw yourself on the dollar bill!”
14. Before sending them off, I will conduct a brief brainstorm with the class of what they
could write for what they would do if they were president and write those ideas on the
board (along with reiterating that there are many G.W. facts to choose from on our G.W.
anchor chart we made)
15. When students show they are ready for the activity, I will call students by carpet row
spots to go back to their seats and get started on this activity
16. Closure: After some time of working on the written activity, I will gather the attention of
students. I will then state that we may have time for students to share what they wrote and
draw. If time allows, we will go around the room, but if not, we will have a few friends
share what they wrote and drew by holding it up for the class to see

Key Questions (that you will ask):

1. Who is George Washington?
2. Does anyone know who the first President of the United States was?
3. Does anyone know anything about George Washington?
4. Who is on the one dollar bill?
5. What is the holiday this upcoming Monday? (2/20)

Key Vocabulary (with child friendly definitions)

● George Washington – the first president of the United States in 1789
● President – the head person in charge of the government of the United States
● United States – the country we are living in right now
● Elected – voted for in office

Logistics:
Timing: Given around 30 minutes (2:25-2:55/3:00 pm)
● Intro: 5 minutes
● Video/Brainstorming: 7-10 minutes
● Discussion: 3 minutes
● Activity: 15 minutes
● Closure/Share: 3 minutes
 .
Transitions:

I will transition from the introduction to the video by asking students what they already know
about President’s Day and/or George Washington and his life.

I will transition from the video to the discussion by observing and reading off our brainstormed
list of post-its on our anchor chart to reflect on what we have learned (and what we will use to
write in our activity).

I will transition from the discussion to the activity by demonstrating that we will use the
information we took from the video and this discussion to write down what we learned about him
and what we would do if we were President just like him.

I will transition from the activity to the closure by gathering all of their attention after there has
been a good amount of time for the majority of the class to finish so multiple friends in the class
can share what they wrote and drew.

Classroom Management:

If students become too rowdy during the video, I will pause the video and explain that we cannot
do a fun activity if there is talking during the video. If there are particular students being
disruptive, I will ask them to go back to their seats. If students are not very focused on their
written activity at their desk, other teachers in the classroom, along with myself, will help guide
the student's attention and focus on what they are doing by helping them with some
brainstorming ideas if they are stuck. I will make sure to tell students that this is a quiet, low
voice activity and there should be little to no loud noises, because then we will not be able to
share at the end before packing up. I will also conduct a mystery student component during the
lesson as classroom management, where I will then reveal who that student is at the end of the
lesson and if they did well to earn a blue note.

Differentiation Notes:

*** students in mind: Henry, Evelyn, Kazi (Mrs. Tackas’ class) ***

Content (what the teacher plans to teach/what the students need to learn): Students who are
struggling with what the content they are learning, we will stop and jot some fun facts we learned
during our brainpop video to take note of it and to also provide a visual using the anchor chart to
remember while watching the video.

Process (how the students will access the information/activities students use to learn the
content): Students (more so Mrs. Tackas’ class) who have a hard time accessing the information
to complete the dollar bill worksheet activity will be able to copy one given example of a G.W.
fact that is written on the board, instead of choosing one from the anchor chart to copy from.

Product (the method students use to demonstrate learning): Students who are struggling with
the method used to demonstrate their learning can copy the G.W. fact written from off the board.
They may attempt the second half of the worksheet if they have time, but it is not mandatory.