Date: 3/7 Teacher Name & CMT: Carleigh Olive and Stacy Bales Class: ED 327

Grade Level: 6th Unit Name/Topic: Causes of WWI Lesson Number: 1 Length: 45 min

Stage 1: Desired Results

Students will engage with the activities and learn about the interconnectivity and ripple-like precursors to WWI
and their continued impact on the war by reading and interpreting primary sources.

Description
At the start of class, there will be a warm-up that asks the students to answer the question, “What would you do if
you were a leader of a country that is allied with another that is going to war? Would you side with them and
declare war too? Would you remain neutral? why?” in their journals. After, they will do a gallery walk (with or
without a partner) of primary documents to fill out a MAIN graphic organizer, and then discuss their findings as a
class. Before the end of the period, they will be asked to write two things they learned and one thing they still
have questions about as an exit ticket. If there is extra time, they can make a physical or digital poster/infographic
about MAIN/MANIA.

Academic Content Standard(s):

6.H.16 Identify issues related to an historical event in Europe or the Americas, giving basic arguments for and
against that issue utilizing the perspectives, interests, and values of those involved. – focusing on causes of WWI

Enduring Understandings / Goals (Why): Essential Questions:

- By the end of this lesson students will understand the - What are the causes of WWI?
causes of WWI and that these causes are not isolated
events
- Students will understand that primary sources are biased
and should not be taken at face value

Student (SMART) Objectives(s):

Outcome(s) students will be able to demonstrate . . .
- Students will be able to identify the meaning behind the acronym MAIN when dissecting primary
documents
- Students will have at least two pieces of evidence per letter in the acronym MAIN filled out in the
graphic organizer by the end of the period
- Students will be able to analyze the provided primary documents and understand that they will be biased
but still highly valuable
- Students will synthesize the provided information to create a “big picture” of the causes of WWI
- Students will practice their cooperation and respectful communication skills during the gallery walk

Historically Responsive Literacy (HRL)

Identity: Asking student opinion/perspectives, time to practice the skills historians use, student interests (some
students really like WWI era weapons/economy)
Skills: cooperation, communication, analysis, synthesis
Intellect: Causes of WWI
Criticality: interconnectivity of global political-economic system, considering the real-life effects of the decisions
political leaders make

Stage 2: Evidence of Learning (Assessments)

Performance Task(s) tied to: Other Evidence

- Students will show their learning by writing the warm in Formative:
their journals - Exit ticket (turned in)
- showing they are critically thinking about the - Graphic organizer (turned in,
potential consequences of their actions in the but will observe students
hypothetical scenario during the process either
- Students will show their learning by filling out the graphic way)
organizer
- If optional assignment is
- Student will show their learning by filling out the exit
done can be used to check
ticket
for understanding as well

Evaluative Criteria:
Summative (if any beyond the
Student success looks like students engaging in the activities, performance task): N/A
thinking critically about the questions they are asked and the text
they read, and respectfully interacting with one another.

Stage 3: Learning Plan

General Methods for Instruction:

(Highlight all that apply)
Group Discussion Guided Practice Question/Answer Teacher Modeling Problem-based Simulation

Cooperative Learning Lab Learning Stations Writing to Learn Inquiry Learning

Independent Learning Small Group Direct Instruction Workshop Role Play Game

Other:

Where will this lesson take place? General Education Classroom Resource Room or Other:
Targeted Support(s) for Diverse Learners Technology Integration (purpose):

Specific Support and Who will provide that - Computer –for wamp-up/instruction
Why? What’s the intention
- Presentation link
Needed (Special support?
Education Support (support be provided? and/or
accommodations and modifications):
Other Materials:
- Provided a mix of text, pictures, and political
cartoons so that students could still understand - Primary sources papers
the primary sources even if they couldn’t fully - MAIN graphic organizer (30ish copies)
understand the text - Exit ticket (30ish copies)
- If needed, students can fill out the graphic - Students’ Journals
organizer on their personal computers Optional activity
- - Printer paper
- Students have the option to work with a - Students’ personal Chromebooks
partner for the gallery walk - Color pencils– or other coloring materials
- Can intentionally pair up students for - Direction sheet
extra support
- If any students require a text-to-speech option
all primary docs can be scanned to be
screen-reader friendly

Intentional Co-Teaching or
Grouping Strategies:

❏ 1 Teach 1 Observe
(gather specific data)
❏ 1 Teach 1 Assist (float to support
and engage)
❏ Parallel Teaching (same
material/smaller groupings)
❏ Station Teaching (divide content,
repeat to groups)
❏ Alternative Teaching (grouping
specialized attention)
❏ Team Teaching (delivering lesson
together)

Lesson Agenda with Discipline-Specific Learning Activities

Time: Teacher Will Be (Planned Students Will Be Rationale:

Supports tied to objectives & build in (Learning Tasks connect to prior (Based on
checks for understanding) knowledge & assets): Research/theory)
 9:10-9:15 Setting up gallery walk and organizing NA Being prepared
papers for students is
always a good
idea

~9:15-9:25 The teacher will actively providing instruction
and observing students as they answer the
warm-up question. After there is a visible slow
in number of students writing in their journals,
they will then open the floor for discussion.
During this discussion, if conversation dies
down they will provide guiding questions.
The students will think critically about HRL (identity/criticalitty)
the question and write their answers
to the question in their journals.
Afterwards, they will engage in
discussion about what they wrote and
why they believe these choices are
difficult to make.

~9:25-9:55 The teacher will explain the instructions and
observe the students as engage in the gallery
walk. If questions arise, they will be available
to provide clarification and support. After the
gallery walk, the teacher will lead a discussion
about what they learned and the
interconnectivity of MAIN.
The students will engage with the Debrief
gallery walk by reading each primary Cooperative learning
source and filling out the provided HRL
graphic organizer. They will also work
cooperatively and respectfully with
others. After, students will engage in
discussion and add notes to their
graphic organizer as needed.

~ 9:55-10:00 The teacher will pass out the exit ticket and
ask students to answer the question. They will
also make sure to empahisize that all
students put their name and date on the
paper as well.
The students will reflect on their Formative assessment
learning and write down two things
they learned and one thing they have
a question about. They will turn it in
with their name and date on the paper

Data-Driven Reflection and Decisions

Based on the specific objective(s), Performance Task(s), and Evaluative Criteria set for today’s lesson,
what was the result? How well did the class do collectively on meeting the objective at the level you
expected? Were there any patterns, collective misconceptions/gaps? Who needs specific
support/reteach? Now, justify your next step in planning. What will you do next? Why (research-based)?
What do you anticipate the result to be?

There was an unexpected 5th/6th-grade celebration (dodgeball) for all students who got enough
eagle cash that took place during homeroom. I did not know about it so I did not have time to set
up any of the papers beforehand and the students were pretty riled up when they got back to
class, which I fully expected. Luckily, they were able to calm down very quickly by themselves and
some prompting by me telling them to get their journals for the warm-up. Since I wasn’t able to
have any of the primary sources posted around the room beforehand or have the graphic
organizer passed around, I felt like the start of the lesson was a bit rocky and I didn’t do as good
of a job explaining the activity as I could have. Other than that, I think the lesson went really well,
and the students seemed to not just learn a lot from the activities but enjoy them as well. After
observing and looking through the turned-in assignments, I think the class did achieve the
objectives and evaluated criteria. I noticed during the gallery walk many students were discussing
with their classmates whether certain primary sources were one attribute or another, but through
these conversations, they were able to work out that they could contain multiple attributes.
Specifically, most students realized that the line between nationalism and militarism or
industrialization was blurred and not as distinct as they previously thought.

I do not think there is any need for reteach, nor did there appear to be any students who needed
extra support. There were some who needed to be reminded to stay on task, but that only
happened twice, and given the celebration earlier not all that surprising. For my next lesson, I
want to work on explaining directions more clearly and more actively walk around the class to
address questions/confusion as they occur. I felt like my instruction was not explicit enough, which
caused a few students to ask for clarification. I want to make sure that next time there is no
confusion and the best way to do so is through explicit instruction. I also was somewhat glued to
one side of the classroom and was not as intentional with how I used space as I normally am. For
an activity like a gallery walk it is really important that I am visible and moving around so it is
easier for students to come up to me and so I can observe better. Intentional use of proximity
would have likely helped with on-task behavior as well. If I were to do these two things, I anticipate
that I will have better observational data, less off-task behaviors will manifest, and student
understanding will increase.