Amy Moeller

Fall 2007

Fifth Grade

Title: The Bill of Rights

Time allotted: 45 min

Lesson Overview:

This lesson aims to teach the students about the first five amendments in the Bill of Rights

of the Constitution of the United States of America. The concept of the Bill of Right and

the first five amendments will be taught for the first time, that’s why the Behavioral Model

and the Direct Instruction Strategy will be used for this lesson.

Goal:

Students will learn the basic characteristics of the first five amendments in the Bill of

Rights of the United States Constitution.

Standards:

National Standards Grades 5-8

National Standard NSS-C.5-8.2 Foundations of the Political System

What are the Foundations of the American Political System?

• What is the American idea of constitutional government?

• What are the distinctive characteristics of American society?

• What is American political culture?

• What values and principles are basic to American constitutional democracy?

National Standard NSS-C.5-8.4 Principles of a Democracy

How Does the Government Established by the Constitution Embody the Purposes, Values,

and Principles of American Democracy?

• How are power and responsibility distributed, shared, and limited in the

government established by the United States Constitution?

• What does the national government do?

• How are state and local governments organized and what do they do?

• Who represents you in local, state, and national governments?

• What is the place of law in the American constitutional system?

• How does the American political system provide for choice and opportunities for

participation?

New York State Standards

Standard SS1: History of the United States and New York

Students will use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their understanding of

major ideas, eras, themes, developments, and turning points in the history of the United

States and New York.

Key Idea SS1.1: The study of New York State and United States history requires an

analysis of the development of American culture, its diversity and multicultural context,

and the ways people are unified by many values, practices, and traditions

Performance Indicator

SS1.I.1B: Students interpret the ideas, values and beliefs contained in the Declaration of

Independence and the New York State Constitution and United States Constitution, Bill

of Rights, and other important historical documents.

Objective

Given a blank graphic organizer titled “The First Five Amendments of the Bill of

Rights” the student will identify by inserting in the graph at least two characteristics of

the first five amendments of the Bill of Rights.

Materials

Graphic organizer titled “The First Five Amendments of the Bill of Rights

Pieces of oak tag that have true and false statements on them

Technology

Smartboard and markers that accompany the board

Smartboard Presentation, “The First Five Amendments of the Bill of Rights.”

Anticipatory Set (5 minutes)

Once the class is settled in their seats I will clap twice and wait for there claps in return.

Once I have students’ attention, I will ask them to take out a blank sheet of paper. I

will ask the students to write on the sheet of paper any freedoms or rights they have and

which of those rights they like having the most. I will allow two minutes for the

students to write their ideas down. To re-focus their attention on me, I will turn the

lights off and then back on. I will ask the students to share their ideas and let them

know that there is no wrong or right answer. As the students share their ideas I will

write them on the first slide of the Smart Board presentation (see below). While the

students share their ideas, I will encourage all responses. I will then let the students

know what and why they are learning. I will tell them they are learning about the first

five amendment of the Bill of Rights in the United States Constitution. I will do this by

saying, “The United States of America is a wonderful place to live. It would not be so

nice if there were no rights and freedoms for the citizens. The Bill of Rights in the

Constitution allows us to live in a nation that gives us specific rights. This is why I will

be teaching you about the first five amendments of the Bill of Rights.

Anticipatory set slide one

Development

The instructional model used for this lesson will be the Behavioral model and the

strategy will be Direct Instruction. I will apply the presentation method for the

instruction by using a Smart Board presentation combined with a lecture.

I Do It

Slide Two Slide Three

Slide Four Slide Five

Slide Six Slide Seven

Slide Eight Slide Nine

Slide Ten

Checking for Understanding

Throughout the “I Do It” section of development I will check for Understanding by

repeating key information from the slides making my tone of voice more excitable when

I read these key points. The presentation “chunks” information and after each “chunk”

is presented I will ask questions to ensure that the students are able to comprehend the

information. I will check for understating by asking questions throughout lecture.

Guided Practice “We Do It.”

Activities One, Two, and Three: Slides eleven, twelve and thirteen of the Smartboard

presentation (see below) will be used for these three activities. The slides allow the

students to answer questions about the first five amendments. These questions are to be

answered as a class. I will ask the students to help me answer the questions and allow

them to interact with the Smartboard. We will do all three activity slides twice.

Slide Eleven Slide Twelve

Slide Thirteen

Activity Five: “Thumbs up Thumbs Down” will be the fourth activity. I will show the

students the oak tag sheets. These sheets will have both true and false statements about

the material presented in the “I do it” section. The oak tag sheets will be presented in

random order. I will ask the students to give me thumbs up if they think the statement

is true and thumbs down when they think it is false.

Activity Six: First, I will place the definitions of the first five amendments on a blank

slide of the Smartboard, draw a line down the middle and label the column with the

definitions, “definitions” and the other column amendments. The students will be asked

to fold a piece of paper in half and draw a line down the middle, on the crease of the

paper. I will ask the students to label one column amendments and the other

definitions. Next, they will be asked to copy the definitions on the board in the definition

column. I will then define the amendments with the class. I will say all the correct

answers and then ask someone to repeat each correct answer. I will then ask them to

write down their understanding of the amendments. The students will be given five

minutes to write down their understanding of the amendments. After they are done

they I will ask them to share their ideas with the class. As the students are working on

defining the amendments, I will walk around helping students to complete the activity

correctly. I will encourage the correct answers and ideas. All students will be

encouraged to contribute something to the discussion.

Accommodations:

Any students that have speaking problems, I will ensure an aide or speech specialist is

present and assistive technology that is needed will be provided. For any students are

visual impaired, I will create the Smartboard presentation in a larger font and will use

preferential seating. If I have a hearing impaired student, I will speak louder, clearer and

make it possible to read my lips, if necessary. Assistive technology will also be provided.

For those students who are learning at a higher level, I will provide them with a copy of the

Bill of Right, ask them to highlight all the parts that we discussed in the lesson, and ask

them to formulate three questions about this document. If I have identified lower level

learners or any students who do not respond well in the checking for understanding, I will

provide them with a copy of the Smartboard presentation to assist them in the guided and

independent practice portions of the lesson. I will also give as much attention and

reinforcement to these students throughout the lesson as soon as they are identified.

Closure

To close the lesson I will go around the room and ask each student to say one thing that

they have learned in the lesson. If someone is hesitant or apprehensive about answering I

will give them a clue. I will then write all their ideas on the board. Once everyone has

contributed, I will ask a volunteer to read over all the ideas on the board. I will ask more

didactic questions. If I feel there is any misunderstanding in any areas I will review those

area by bring up that particular slide in the Smartboard presentation and go over it.

Independent practice

The students will be provided with a blank graphic organizer (see attached) titled “The

first five amendments of the Bill of Rights.” I will tell the students they need to

independently fill in the graphic organizer by identifying the characteristics and concepts

that were presented in the lecture.

Evaluations

Diagnostic – The student prior knowledge of the first five amendments will be assessed

during the Anticipatory Set through brainstorming ideas that they write on their sheets

about the rights and freedoms they have as citizens.

Formative - Didactic questioning will be used in the Anticipatory set and Development

stage of the lesson plan. I will also use a check lists through out the lesson plan to evaluate

the strengths and weakness of the students.

Summative – The student’s graphic organizers that will be completed in independent

practice will be used to assess the student’s knowledge and determine whether or not they

have met the lesson’s objective.

Reflection

1. Did the lesson overview contain the What, How and Why of the topic?

2. Is my Objective measurable?

3. Are my Goals & Objectives aligned with the Behavioral Model and the Direct

Instruction Strategy?

4. Did the Anticipatory set intrigue my students and grasp their attention so that they

could recall prior knowledge?

5. Was my introduction appealing and encouraging?

6. Was my development inclusive and engaging?

7. Was my development aligned with my objective?

8. Did the lecture and demonstration help students in acknowledging and

comprehending the concepts?

9. Did the activities match the Goals, Objectives and Standards?

10. Are the activities appropriately designed for Direct Instruction?

11. Did I create enough practice and Guided Practice in the lesson and did it help

students understand the concepts?

12. Did I create appropriate accommodations and differentiate the Instruction

accordingly to students needs?

13. Was the closure to brief?

14. Did the independent practice allow students to achieve the objective?

15. Did I have assessment examples that covered Formative, Diagnostic and

Summative evaluations?

16. Can a substitute teacher perform this lesson plan clearly the same way I intend it to

be taught?

Independent Practice Graphic organizer

Name: ________________________________ Date: __________________

The First Five Amendments of the Bill of Rights

5

4 3

2

1

The First

Five

Amendments

of the Bill of

Rights