Focus Plan
Texarkana Independent School District
GRADING
PERIOD:
writer:
1st 6 Weeks
PLAN CODE:
SS10.2.1
Bates
Course/subject:
World History
Grade(s):
10
Time allotted
for instruction:
2 days
Title:
Then There Were Three
Lesson TOPIC:
Peer grouping to research and role play contributions of Socrates, Plato
and Aristotle
TAKS Objective:
Objective 3. Demonstrate an understanding of economic and social
influences on historical issues and events.
FoCUS TEKS and
Student Expectation:
WH20 The student understands the relationship between the arts and
the times during which they were created. The student is
expected to:
(B) analyze examples of how art, architecture, literature,
music, and drama reflect the history of cultures in which
they are produced.
Supporting TEKS and
Student Expectations:
Concepts
Enduring Understandings/Generalizations/Principles
The student will understand that
Compare/contrast
comparing and contrasting provides the ability to identify how Socrates,
Plato and Aristotle’s philosophies were alike and/or different.
Main Idea
the main idea is the ability to distinguish the general idea of a passage
from its supporting details.
 Division of Curriculum and Instruction  School Improvement Department  Texarkana Independent School District
I.
Sequence of Activities (Instructional Strategies)
A.
Focus/connections/anticipatory set
The teacher will use an overhead projector to display: TAKS Daily Practice
Transparency 5.4 (The Glory that was Greece).
The teacher will instruct students to write only the correct answer for question 1. The student
will write the question and answer for question 2. They are to be recorded in the students’ History
Facts of the Day spiral notebook as number 16 and 17 respectively.
B.
Instructional activities
(demonstrations, lectures, examples, hands-on experiences, role play, active
learning experience, art, music, modeling, discussion, reading, listening, viewing,
etc.)
1. Objective: Peer groups will research the philosophies shared by Socrates, Plato and
Aristotle then prepare a skit of their respective philosopher for class
presentation.
2. Procedures: The teacher will play Prentice Hall Listening to Music CD #6: Greek
Music.
3. Modeling:
The teacher will state: “This CD introduced the two most important
patterns of notes in ancient Greek music played on a modern harp. The
sound of the harp is similar to the sound of a kithara, the foremost
instrument of ancient Greece.”
The teacher will remind students that music is one element of a society’s
culture. (review meaning of culture: way of life of a society that is
handed down from one generation to the next by learning and
experience)
According to some historians, Greek achievements in the arts
represented the height of human development in the western world.
One poet referred to it as “the glory that was Greece”. Today we will
focus on another element of culture – more specifically the philosophies
of three Greek thinkers: Socrates, Plato and Aristotle.
C.
Guided activity or strategy
The teacher will divide the class into three sections: Section 1 will research Socrates,
Section 2 will research Plato and Section 3 will research Aristotle.
The research will include:
 a brief biography
 at least one major accomplishment of the individual
 significance of the individual
D.
Accommodations/modifications
E.
Enrichment
 Division of Curriculum and Instruction  School Improvement Department  Texarkana Independent School District
II.
iii.
STUDENT PERFORMANCE
A.
Description
Students will use Handout 1 as a guideline.
B.
Accommodations/modifications
C.
Enrichment
Assessment of Activities
A.
Description
B.
Rubrics/grading criteria
See Handout 2 for the grading criteria.
C.
Accommodations/modifications
D.
Enrichment
E.
Sample discussion questions
1. What two things did the Greek thinkers or philosophers use to find causes of
what happened? (reason and observation)
2. Is logic still used today to solve problems? Why or why not?
3. How did the Athenians use rhetoric? (to advance their careers)
4. What significance did the Greek philosophers’ achievements play in Greek history?
(They set standards for future generations.)
IV.
TAKS Preparation
A.
Transition to TAKS context
The teacher will identify comparing and contrasting as skills needed to identify how different
ideas and historical figures are alike and/or different. In researching the three individuals:
Socrates, Plato and Aristotle, students will discover their likenesses and their differences. One
likeness is their nationality. They were all born in Greece. One difference is two of them wrote
books and one wrote no books.
The teacher will state, “Another critical thinking skill is identifying the main idea.” The
student is able to distinguish the general idea of a passage from its supporting details.
B.
Sample TAKS questions
The teacher will use an overhead projector to display: TAKS Daily Practice 5.4 The
Glory That Was Greece.
Question 1. TAKS 8.30(F), WH25(C) – Comparing and Contrasting
Question 2. TAKS WH25(C) Finding the Main Idea
 Division of Curriculum and Instruction  School Improvement Department  Texarkana Independent School District
V.
Key Vocabulary
logic, rhetoric, philosophers
VI.
VII.
Resources
A.
Textbook (World History Connections To Today) pages 115-119
B.
Supplementary materials
Listening to Music CD (World History Connections To Today)
Handout 1: Peer Biography Research Procedure
Handout 2: Greek Philosopher Biography Rubric
TAKS Daily Transparencies (World History Connections To Today)
Prentice Hall Presentation Pro
C.
Technology
CD player
Computer
Overhead projector
follow up activities
(reteaching, cross-curricular support, technology activities, next lesson in sequence, etc.)
Students will present skits to the class the following day.
To conclude the lesson, the teacher will insert Presentation Pro CD into a computer,
Select Lesson #5 and present the slide show (1-4) as a review of Chapter 5 – Ancient
Greece.
Item #5 will be the topic of next week’s lessons on Alexander and the Hellenistic Age.
VIII.
Teacher Notes
The teacher will preview the music CD and the slide show CD prior to class.
The teacher will also preview the color transparency to be used as the History Facts of the
Day.
 Division of Curriculum and Instruction  School Improvement Department  Texarkana Independent School District