COMPREHENSIVE LESSON PLAN TEMPLATE
Date Submitted:
6/1/14
Instructor Name: Abe Spokes
Class Location: Wild and Wonderful West Virginia
LESSON BASICS
Meaningful Topic:
Relevancy of the Bill of
Rights
Student Types/Group:
☒ABE ☐College Prep ☐ESL
☐SPOKES ☐Computer Lit
☐Other:
Length of Lesson:
2 hours
Standard(s):
Depth of Knowledge:
RL.4.2 Determine the main idea of a text and explain how it ☒1. Recall and Reproduction
☒2. Skills and Concepts
is supported by key details; summarize the text.
RI 9-10.9 Analyze seminal U.S. documents of historical and ☒3. Short-term Strategic
Thinking
literacy significance.
☐4. Extended Thinking
RI/RL.4.1 – RI/RL.9-10 Cite textual evidence to support
analysis of what a text says, both explicitly and using
inference.
Essential Question:
Is the Bill of Rights still important?
Objective(s):
Students will interpret the amendments in the Bill of Rights and determine its application
to current events.
Required Materials/Equipment/Technology/Community Resources:
Computers with Internet Access; Printer; Smart Board; Copies of the Bill of Rights from
icivics.org; Graphic Organizers
Prior Knowledge/
Required Vocabulary:
Instructional Methods:
☒Large Group
Connections:
Amendment
Abridge
Historical Background on
☒Small Group
Prohibit
☒Cooperative Learning
the Bill of Rights
Infringed
☒Project-based
Seizure
☒Independent Study
Warrant
☒Computer-assisted
Jeopardy
☐One-on-One Tutorial
Deprived
☐Individualized
Compensation
☐Guest Speaker
Prosecution
☐Field Trip
Accused
☐Other:
Excessive
Enumeration
Disparage
ACTIVITY PLAN
1. Warm-up/Review/Connections:
Ask students what rights they have as United States citizens. Write the list on the
board or chart paper. Discuss how they exercise those rights.
2. Introduction to Content/Explanation:
Give students a copy of the Bill of Rights from icivics.org which contains an annotated
vocabulary list. Explain that students will be summarizing the amendments in the Bill
of Rights.
3. Presentation/Model the Learning Process:
I Do: Write the text of the 1st Amendment on the board. Pull out the important ideas
from the Amendment and rewrite them in “plain” English on the Sum It Up graphic
organizer. Use the ideas to write a summary of the rights in the 1 st Amendment.
4. Scaffolded/Guided Concrete Practice:
We Do: Write the text of the 2nd Amendment on the board. Ask students for the
important ideas in the amendment and write them on the graphic organizer. Ask
students to use those ideas to create a summary of the 2nd Amendment. Write the
summary on the board.
5. Communicative Concrete Practice and Grouping Strategies:
Divide students into pairs or small groups; pairs select from an envelope one of the
remaining Amendments to interpret/summarize. Ask students to record their
summaries on Sum It Up. Give a copy of each pairs’ graphic organizer to each
student; ask them to match the summary on the graphic organizer with the appropriate
amendment from the Bill of Rights.
6. Independent Concrete Practice/Application:
You Do: Direct students to go to the usatoday.com website. Ask students to find
articles on the site that relate to at least three of the amendments in the Bill of Rights.
Provide students with a graphic organizer that has three columns—Title of Article, Bill
of Rights Amendment, Connection. In the Connection column, ask students to explain
how the article is related to the Amendment.
7. Assessment:
Students share their “Bill of Rights in the News” results with the entire class.
8. Wrap-up/Concluding Activity:
Revisit the rights students listed in the warm-up activity. Ask students to match each of
those rights with an Amendment.
9. Instructor Reflection:
What went well?
What did not go as planned?
What should change?
What should be addressed in future lessons?