Lesson Plan : Harriet Tubman's Life
Teacher Name: | Ms. Malkiewicz |
Grade: | Grade 2 |
Subject: | Social Studies |
Topic: | Sequencing the events of Harriet Tubman's life |
Content: | Sequencing activity from Chapter 11 Thinking Skills Structure of Cooperative Learning by Dr. Spencer Kagan Rationale: The purpose for using cooperative learning to develop the students thinking skills is to broaden experiences, foster communication and social skills, and provide opportunities for higher-level thinking. I chose to sequence events from an entire trade book after they had finished reading because the whole group would be familiar with the content, which would allow equal participation. When considering content is secondary and thinking is primary, the thinking skills structure allows students to explore how one piece of information is related to another. Vocabulary: (content related) slavery, Underground Railroad, plantation, passenger, master, North, South, war (sequence related) before, after, during, first, next, last, finally |
Goals: | The students will sequence ten pictures taken from the trade book, Harriet Tubman by Catherine Nichols cooperatively in a group. Once the group agrees that the events are in the correct order, they will continue to work in the group to match sentences to the pictures. After the sentences are matched to the pictures, the students will present the order of events to the teacher. TEKS: Language Arts Grade 2 |
Objectives: | The students will be able to accurately sequence and match sentences in the content area of Harriet Tubman. The students will also be able to work cooperatively in a group while sequencing events and matching sentences. |
Materials: | Harriet Tubman by Catherine Nichols 10 reproduced pictures representing main events (laminated) 10 sentences explaining the pictures (laminated) |
Introduction: | The students would have already completed reading the book Harriet Tubman by Catherine Nichols. Therefore, the teacher asking the students to recall events from the book will introduce the lesson. While the students are sharing ideas the teacher will record their responses on the board. |
Development: | Once all the information is shared the teacher will ask, �Which of these events happened first?�, �What happened next?� This will continue until the last event from the list generated by the students is determined. The teacher will then present the laminated pictures and sentences taken from the book and explain the steps to the lesson - (in the �Practice� section). |
Practice: | The students will be given only the laminated pictures from the book. They will face the pictures down and �shuffle� them. The students will all draw a picture card from the pile. This will continue until all the cards are taken. The students will then describe their picture as best as they can to the rest of the group. The group will then decide which student has the picture that comes first and face it down. This will continue with all ten pictures. When the group agrees that a picture comes next it must be faced down in a horizontal line to represent that there is agreement on the order of the picture. Once all pictures are faced down, they can then be turned over and viewed to determine that the pictures are sequenced correctly. When the group finally determines that the sequencing is accurate, they will call the teacher over and present the timeline. When the teacher determines that the group is ready to move forward, she will give them the laminated sentences - (See �Check for Understanding�). The above procedure will be repeated with the sentences. |
Accommodations: | : Since the lesson will be taught in a special education setting, expectations of how to work cooperatively in a group will be discussed. This may include a role-play or �make-believe� scenario to provide students with examples of appropriate actions to take when working together. Another adaptation to the lesson will include permission to use the book during the activity to aid in comprehension of previously learned material � (See Language Arts TEKS 9D above). |
Checking For Understanding: | The teacher will observe the group interactions to determine that the students are grasping the concept that has been asked of them. The teacher will also determine student understanding when looking over the sequencing of the pictures before she gives them the sentences - (See �Practice�). |
Closure: | After the sentences are matched to the pictures, the students will present the finished timeline to the teacher. During this time each student will take ownership of a �piece� of the timeline and orally present and discuss it with the teacher. |
Evaluation: | The teacher will know that the students worked cooperatively in a group by listening and observing interactions. The teacher will determine accuracy of sequencing in a group by the closing presentation of the timeline. Individual performance will be determined after the students have completed the skill sheets � (See �Independent Practice�). |
Teacher Reflections: | Overall, the lesson was a complete success. At first, I was a little nervous to be teaching a cooperative lesson at Starpoint because cooperative learning is so unfamiliar to them. At the same time, having my own trade book group was a benefit because during readings and other activities leading up to this lesson I was able to �introduce� the students to the idea of cooperative learning. I did this by letting them �pair up� at times. Whenever I saw opportunities for collaboration to take place, I took it even if it was just for five minutes! I am glad that I made the adaptation of setting up expectations of how to work cooperatively in a group before the lesson because there were a few minor instances during the lesson that redirection was necessary. The students did not require the use of the book to sequence the events in the correct order as I thought they would. This was surprising to me due to the fact that the students at Starpoint primarily receive special education services for reading disabilities. In short, all students were able to work cooperatively and sequence the events with one hundred percent accuracy both in a group and independently! |
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