B.

Baca
Spring 2017 VHS Social Studies Government and Politics

Pre-Observation Questions:
1. To which part of your curriculum does this lesson relate?
The lesson follows the AP College Board Curriculum standards for Government/Politics
II. Political Beliefs and Behaviors: The nature, sources an consequences of public opinion.

These concepts have the 20 to 40% percent chance possibility of occurring as multiple choice
questions on the AP exam, and are otherwise integral to the mastery of the overall course
curriculum.

2. How does this learning “fit” in the sequence of learning for this class?
At this point we are exploring political ideology and the political socialization process. Public
opinion is understood to be an aggregation of various political ideologies which themselves are a
product of political socialization. We discussed what public opinion is and how it can be
measured. In this specific lesson we are discovering the many ways that public opinion is shaped
and influenced. From here we can begin discussing more specifically, the role of the media in
shaping public opinion.

3. Briefly describe the students in this class, including those with special needs.
Brilliant 12th grade, AP level social studies students. Most students are taking more than one AP
course, a large majority are active and involved as athletes, musicians, agriculturalists and varied
other socio-cultural activities. The learning community consists also of several gifted students as
well as several ELL students. Students are constantly encouraged to be expressive, creative,
imaginative and critical, but are fully aware that intellectual liberty necessitates a high level of
respect and responsibility. This concept provides the foundation for classroom management
which hinges on the relationship that is built upon a mutual understanding of this concept.

4. What are your learning outcomes for this lesson? What do you want the students to
understand?
The students should be clear on the three main factors that shape public opinion: The media, the
government, and private interest groups. Because we have studied the role of the media in
shaping democratic values, the students can extrapolate this concept to the role the media plays
in public opinion. We need to focus specifically on interest groups and the governments own role
in shaping public opinion. This will allow us to achieve our target learning goal for this lesson: to
be able to coherently analyze the nature and consequences of public opinion. This understanding
will be assessed via video response questions, an applied article analysis, as well as several other
forms of informal and formal assessments modes depending on student need and comprehension.
B.Baca
Spring 2017 VHS Social Studies Government and Politics

5. How will you engage the students in the learning? What will you do? What will the
students do? Will the students work in groups, or individually, or as a large group?
Provide any worksheets or other materials the students will be using.
Students will start class with a bellwork writing exercise containing a public opinion
graph. They will then be asked different higher order questions to properly interpret and analyze
the information. We will then transition to another vocabulary assessment using the platform
Kahoot!. The assessment will also contain lead-in questions that will foreshadow the concepts
being covered in the lesson for that day. We will then watch a video “crash course Government,
which is specifically aligned with AP college board standards. The students will be looking for
the three factors that shape public opinion, and write these factors in their notes which will be
used for assessment and expression of understanding moving forward. While they do this
students will be given a reading assignment with a written response portion which serves as part
of a guided reading exercise as per the AVID comprehension strategy WICOR. If any time
remains students will begin their vocabulary homework.

6. How will you differentiate instruction for different individuals or groups of students in
the class?
Germaine vocabulary words are given to the students via the Remind app which allows
students to build literacy in language and content mastery. Two different articles will be
available for the reading assignment depending student need. In addition, the Kahoot! assessment
platform provides a technological mode for gifted, symbolic and visual learners which in practice
has been extremely valuable for providing assessment data and engaging the class in competitive
knowledge expression.

7. How and when will you know whether the students have learned what you intend?
The day’s class work including everything from notes to vocabulary, to response
questions, and the article analysis as well as any other pertinent concepts or ideas discussed or
addressed will be in the students notebooks which they will need for further tests, and quizzes.
Particular to this lesson as well as the assessment process in my pedagogy in general, the Kahoot
quiz indicates whether or not the students studied and understood the vocabulary, the previous
class lesson, and how much they know about the concepts contained in the current day’s class
lesson; all in one cleverly designed assessment!! The students are given an opportunity to review
this data as we gauge our understanding as self-aware intrinsically motivated learners. The
students can express their level of understanding by indicating their own perceived level of
understanding. (Thumbs up if you know the concepts, thumbs down if you’re not getting it etc.)
The response questions to the primary source analysis will indicate if the students are able to
apply the concepts addressed in the lesson which is of most significance here. (applied
understanding vs rote)

8. Is there anything that you would like me to specifically observe during the lesson?
B.Baca
Spring 2017 VHS Social Studies Government and Politics

The use of technology is a crucial and glorified aspect of our learning community thus
any opportunity to use technology for teaching, learning or otherwise advancing the collective
knowledge of the group is always encouraged and appreciated. Students are encouraged to share
what they have found, read, heard or seen but must remain mindful of intellectual integrity and
distraction. Additionally, the student’s contributions to the classroom environment are
exceptionally noteworthy. It is worth noting here that the original lesson contained an additional
assessment via the Plickers app however due to technical difficulties the lesson was altered to
include a video and questions instead. Technology can do great things in our classrooms but only
if it works!