Sample Lesson Plans
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This series of lessons introduces the document-based question to the AP European history class. We outline the type of essay, the scoring guidelines, strategies for its completion, and grade samples before trying one in the class.
This lesson plan set, and the three documents that follow are all interrelated and makeup the structure of the flipped classroom. Students received the unit plan, learning menu (from which to choose assignments that played to their strengths), and a calendar outlining the schedule they should follow to complete the unit. All of these combined illustrated to students how and when work should be completed, and I acted as facilitator of learning in the classroom throughout this two-week session.
Unit Plan - Unit 1
Learning Menu - Unit 1
Unit Calendar - Unit 1
This learning menu represents some of the evolution of the flipped classroom learning menus that have been utilized in
my classroom. To the left is the menu for unit 9 in the accelerated classroom. As you can see, the accelerated students were given more freedom to choose their course of learning for this unit, with multiple optional assignments they were expected to use to gain an understanding of the basics of the major themes of the unit, and some required assignments to assess their understanding.
my classroom. To the left is the menu for unit 9 in the accelerated classroom. As you can see, the accelerated students were given more freedom to choose their course of learning for this unit, with multiple optional assignments they were expected to use to gain an understanding of the basics of the major themes of the unit, and some required assignments to assess their understanding.
This lesson addresses the first unit of my Modern World History course - the Renaissance. This lesson introduces the unit to the students, and pre-assesses their knowledge in the Renaissance. You will also notice that this lesson corresponds to the next lesson on this page, moving further into the unit from the introductory activities found within this plan.
As stated above, this lesson continues the unit on the Renaissance from the last lesson plan. This lesson introduces basic knowledge on the Renaissance, but then moves into presenting a learning menu to the students. This learning menu allows students the choice of various projects to apply what they have learned about the Renaissance to date.
This lesson plan comes from the unit on World War I, and features end of the week assessment strategies to allow students to reflect on what they have learned for the week and how it fits into the major themes of the unit. These activities also provide me a method to assess student progress, from which I can adapt and adjust my plans in upcoming classes to differentiate based on student readiness and understanding.
This lesson plan outlines one of my favorite activities from my Intro to Law class. In this lesson, students watch video clips from television courtroom programs (Judge Judy, Judge Alex, etc.), and before seeing the judge's decision, they work out an alternate solution through a mediation session. Students work in groups of three, with one student representing each side of the case, and the third student mediating the session. Most students participate enthusiastically in this lesson, and we compare the results from court and mediation. The goal: to illustrate to students the benefits to settling disputes out of court.