School of Education
WRITTEN LESSON PLAN
Service *Leadership*Competence*Character
Teacher Candidate – Jennifer Simonson ____________________________________ School – ________________________________________________________________
Mentor Teacher – _________________________________________________________ University Coordinator – __________________________________________________
Grade/Subject –Fourth Grade ____ Lesson Title – Diorama of the Journey West - Fine Arts (Lesson 6) _________________________ Date – March 8, 2011 ________
Learning Targets
EALRs
EALR 2. Visual Arts: The student uses the
artistic processes of creating,
performing/presenting, and responding to
demonstrate thinking skills in dance, music,
theatre, and visual arts.
Component: 2.1 Applies a creative process to
visual arts. (Identifies, explores, gathers,
interprets, uses, implements, reflects, refines,
and presents)
Component 2.2 Applies a performance
and/or presentation process to visual arts.
(Identifies, selects, analyzes, interprets,
practices, revises, adjusts, refines, presents,
exhibits, produces, reflects, self-evaluates)
Component 2.3 Applies a responding
process to a presentation/exhibit of visual
arts. (Engages, describes, analyzes,
interprets, and evaluates)
EALR 3. Visual Arts: The student
communicates through the arts (dance,
music, theatre, and visual arts).
Component 3.1 Uses visual arts to express
feelings and present ideas.
Component 3.3 Develops personal aesthetic
criteria to communicate artistic choices in
visual arts.
GLEs
Objectives
Examine selected memorials and their components.
Recognize the physical and cultural features of a place.
Represent the significance of the land traveled by the pioneers of the Oregon Trail.
2.1.1 Applies a creative process to visual
arts.
2.2.1 Applies a performance and/or
presentation process to visual arts.
2.3.1 Applies a responding process to visual
arts.
3.1.1 Analyzes the ways that visual arts are
used to express feelings and present ideas
and applies his/her understanding when
creating artworks.
3.3.1 Analyzes how personal aesthetic
choices are influenced by and reflected in
visual artworks.
Assessment – What will students do to demonstrate
competence specific to learning?
Learning Experiences – What learning experiences are
the students engaged in to demonstrate the learning
target’s knowledge and skills?
Be sure to align all assessments with their corresponding learning experiences.
Strategies for Creating an Inclusive, Supportive Learning
Community – What strategies will be used to facilitate
effective classroom management at key points during
the lesson?
Students are seated on the carpet, in front of the classroom.
Engage:
Present to the class pictures of monuments and memorials
within the United States and globally.
Within the lesson, review the following terms:
A memorial is an object which serves as a focus for memory
of something, usually a person (who has died) or an event.
Popular forms of memorials include landmark objects or art
objects such as sculptures, statues or fountains, and even
entire parks.
Commemorate - To call to remembrance, to mark by some
ceremony or observation, to serve as a memorial of (a plaque
that commemorates the battle).
The class will discuss different memorials they have seen.
Examples include:

Gateway Memorial Arch - St. Louis, Missouri--The
nation's tallest memorial, The Gateway Arch, was
built in St. Louis, Missouri, near the place where
Lewis and Clark began their journey up the Missouri
River. Why is St. Louis a good location for this
memorial? Why is an arch appropriate symbol for
this memorial?

Mount Rushmore - Keystone, South Dakota--Four
American presidents-Washington, Jefferson,
Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt - were carved into
South Dakota's Black Hills to commemorate their
roles in the development of the United States. Why
were these men chosen for this memorial?

Oregon Trail Memorial half dollar - The Oregon Trail
half dollar commemorative coin was minted to honor
the migration of settlers to the west prior to the
California Gold Rush. The coin "commemorates the
heroism of our fathers and mothers who traversed
the Oregon Trail to the far west with great hardship,
daring, and loss of life, which not only resulted in
adding new states to the Union, but earned a well
deserved and imperishable fame for the pioneers."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oregon_Trail_Memorial_
half_dollar
Informal Assessment:
Students will respond to the engaging questions. The
teacher will silently count to five and begin calling on the
class if no one responds once the five seconds have past.
Students will be called on at random.
The class will discuss different memorials they have seen.

Are there any memorials in our city?

What do the memorials represent or
commemorate?

What materials are used in the memorials?
Explore
Students will watch The West: Episode Two - Empire Upon
the Trails. While watching the episode, they will explore the
following questions:


What kinds of physical geographic features mountains, rivers, plains - did the travelers
encounter? What features did they climb or cross?
How did they overcome the challenges these
physical features presented?
What is a diorama? The current, popular understanding of
the term “diorama” denotes a partially three-dimensional, fullsize replica or scale model of a landscape typically showing
historical events, nature scenes or cityscapes, for purposes of
education or entertainment. A diorama is a mini-world--an
entire landscape in a box, carry case, or window. You can
create your own little world of model figures that can appear
as a freeze frame of a historic event or anything else you
want to create.
Instructions of how to build a diorama:
http://www.ehow.com/how_12761_make-diorama.html
Informal Assessment:
The teacher will circulate around the classroom checking for
understanding within each trail family. If students have
questions, they will be encouraged to first use their family
members to address their questions.
Students will draw or make a diorama about one aspect of
the journey. They will build the diorama based on their
character and family. Prior to construction, students will list
what they know about the expedition through the eyes of their
character:




People (their family or other families in the wagon
train).
How did people (or their character) contribute to the
success of the journey?
Places (the physical features along the trail).
Geography, geology, wildlife, and plants that were
of importance to the journey.
Again, the diorama can depict the landscape (soil, rocks, twig
"trees"), people, wildlife (toy animals, crackers, etc), and
modes of transportation (wagons, horses). Students will be
Students return to their desks to work with their families
(cooperative table groups).
When working in their cooperative groups, students are
allowed to talk quietly.
encouraged to include a variety of people and geographic
features.
Informal Assessment:
The teacher will circulate around the classroom checking for
understanding within each trail family. If students have
questions, they will be encouraged to first use their family
members to address their questions.
Explain
Once the dioramas are complete, students will present their
art to their family. Students will share the point of view their
diorama is coming from (based on their character) as well as
the details/illustrations of their diorama.
Elaborate
Table groups will "peer edit" their dioramas. Based on peer
feedback, students will address any questions or "missing
pieces" found when presenting their diorama.
Students will title and summarize their diorama on a card
which will be attached to their diorama.
Formal Assessment:
Students will be assessed on their dioramas based on the
attached rubric.
Evaluate
Students will post dioramas around the classroom. Ask
students to consider, "How many ways have students
depicted the same event(s)?"
Formal Assessment:
All students will write a reflection based on the reflection
question. If a reflection is incomplete, students will be asked
to complete or re-write their reflection.
Extension
Within their journey journal, ask students to reflect on the
following question?

Why can the Oregon Trail journey be represented in
so many different ways?
Students will walk around the classroom, viewing the
dioramas.
Reflections are completed by each student. Students are
allowed to discuss the reflection questions prior to writing
their response (approx three min). During writing time, the
classroom is quiet.
Evaluate
Students will exhibit their diorama's during the end of unit
presentation/celebration.
Grouping of Students for Instruction
Instructional Materials, Resources and Technology
Students will work cooperatively with their pre-assigned table groups (their trail journey family) Digital presentation of memorials (including the ones listed in the lesson).
of no more than four students. When presenting information to the class, one person per
Card stock, cardboard, markers, colored pencils, glue
table will be selected to present (by choice or at random).
Shoeboxes, flat soft drink boxes, or plastic containers, soil, plants, rocks, animal crackers,
rice, beans, paint, clay, and other art supplies.
Accommodations and Modifications
Accommodations and modifications will be provided based on individual IEPs. I will
differentiate instruction as needed for students that are having difficulty with this concept or
are finding it too simplistic.
ELL students may work with an interpreter (based on their ELL level) and/or be paired with
another non-ELL student within the class.
Highly capable students may be asked to do additional research on the Expedition supplies
and how all items were gathered and stored for the journey.
Family Involvement Plan
Prior to the beginning of the Oregon Trail unit, a letter
and email were sent to parents/guardians of the class
explaining the unit and the time sequence of events.
Highly capable students may be asked to work with other students needing more direct
instruction during lesson.