Second/ Third Semester

Lesson Plan Template: Universal Design for Learning

Author Apostolos Gatzas      Date: 12/05/2020      Subject: Social Studies     
School-Site Samuel Clemens      Course: United States History      Grade Level: 11th      
Supervisor:
School John F. Kennedy High School     

Preparation to Teach
Unit Theme Contemporary life in the United States and how citizens can be active participants in their community. This would take place after a direct
(Where in the unit is lesson and cooperative lesson on different types of maps on demographics, population, and statistics from city’s authorities at the end of the
your lesson) unit.

Content Standard(s): 11.11.6:​ Analyze the persistence of poverty and how different analyses of this issue influence
welfare reform, health insurance reform, and other social policies.
ELD Standards: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.6-8.1​: Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.6-8.2​: Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate
summary of the source distinct from prior knowledge or opinions.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.6-8.3​: Identify key steps in a text's description of a process related to history/social studies (e.g., how a bill
becomes law, how interest rates are raised or lowered).
Learning Goal(s) or Students will be able to read and critically analyse demographic maps to find solutions as a team for problems facing the community.
Objective(s):
Universal Design for 3.1​: Activate or supply background knowledge
Learning Guidelines 6.2​: Support planning and strategy development
or Checkpoints (at
least 3) 7.1​: Optimize individual choice and autonomy
7.2​: Optimize relevance, value, and authenticity
8.3​: Foster collaboration and community
Materials: Students will need classroom journals, word walls, demographic maps, computers, paper, and writing utensils. The instructor will need a
computer.
Technology Teacher: Google Slides of warm-up question and instructions for the project.
Integration: Student: Computers, group jobs list, and map demographics.

Class Background
List three things you have learned about your students that will assist you in planning and implementing this lesson.
What you learned: Many of the students learn differently and respond differently to the material being presented.

How it will influence your lesson: Being sure to place students in groups that are balanced both for skill level and cohesion. By
placing students in these groups, the hope is that each students’ strengths will be maximised and weaknesses are minimized. The
opinion of how groups present their argument is chosen by those groups giving them both self-efficacy and allows for multiple
means of engagement.
What you learned: Many of the students are in drama or some sort of sports team.

How it will influence your lesson: The cohesion while working in groups due to the students’ background in team or group
performances meant groups were an easy fit. The added self-efficacy in how the final project would look, meant students, like
those in drama, could create a skit or scene to act out to help their argument.
What you learned: Students have lots of energy that can lead to distractions if seated for too long.

How it will influence your lesson: Students will have multiple opportunities to move about, whether getting into groups or while
in their groups researching.
 Adaptations
​English Learner
Student Description Native Spanish speaker is able to communicate well verbally, but still struggles with writing
more complex sentences and lacks the confidence in their own English comprehension.
Instructional adaptation(s) based Students will be working in groups, have an academic word wall, and be allowed to take notes in bullet
on the strengths and needs of the points.
student

Rationale for adaptation(s) Groups, word walls, and bullet point notes were chosen to help lower the students’ affected filter while
allowing students to express ideas and opinions on the topic.

Student who presents a different instructional challenge or from an underserved population

Student Description The student shows signs of being on the neurodiverse spectrum leaning toward ADHD with their
activity level in class. The student is constantly moving around in their seat, limited attention
span, and often has off topic conversations and questions. Has easier time staying on task with
their preselected group partners.
Instructional adaptation(s) based Preselected groups and group jobs are designed to help this student stay focused on the task at
on the strengths and needs of the hand.
student

Rationale for adaptation(s) The preselected group will help this student stay on task as well as the mode of the research will
require movement throughout the class keeping them from staying in one area for too long. The
group jobs are meant to help give the student a task or job to focus on so they can more easily
complete the assignment.

Instructional Plan
Activating Background Knowledge

Instructional Strategies Students will follow the established classroom routine of entering the class and copying down the learning objective in their classroom
journals and begin answering the warm-up question that will be projected on the board. Students will then transition into a whole class
discussion about the warm-up question, following the established routines for classroom discussions in the class’s “Our Bill of Rights”.
The student assistant will pass out instructions for the research project, while the instructor explains what the project requires. The
instructor will remind students to look to their word walls for clarification on academic vocabulary in the material. Students will then
follow the established routine of breaking into groups and picking up the needed material from the research station.    
Informal Assessment The warm-up question and whole class discussion will serve as an informal assessment, where the instructor will take bullet point notes
on the discussion. The notes will be used to check for understanding and areas that need further explanations, while the instructor listens
for student engagement and understanding during the discussion.      
Rationale for Decisions The choice in having students follow established routines is to help foster an environment of learning and regularity in a lesson that
(​refer to UDL here) requires a lot of effort while lowering their cognitive load. Students writing the learning objective in their classroom journals helps
students have personal understanding of what they should be able to do by the end of the lesson and gives them a goal to reach. The
warm-up question and class discussion is an attempt to activate background knowledge and front load students for the upcoming research
project. The word walls will help students understand the material, give them practice using academic vocabulary, and encourages the use
of those discipline specific academic vocabulary in their work.
Reflection (Completed
after the lesson)

Instructional Input

Instructional Strategies In groups students will review demographic maps of their local community, looking for problems facing their community using the word
walls when needed. Once students have found a problem they want to address, students are to brainstorm possible solutions to those
problems, pulling from past lessons and knowledge to come up with solutions. Students will finally design a presentation to present their
problem and solution to a mock city council. Presentations can be a slide show, documentary, skit/assembly, podcast, or any approved
idea proposed by a group.    
Informal Assessment The informal assessment will be bullet point notes taken by the instructor during the research and presentation preparation phase. The
instructor will be walking figure eights around the classroom checking for understanding and clarifying any confusion. The notes will be
based on student engagement, listening for student voices, and self-regulation; to inform future lesson designs.
Rationale for Decisions The group research project was chosen to foster collaboration and relationship building in the classroom. Community demographic maps,
(​refer to UDL here) problem solving, and mock city council were chosen to bridge classroom learning to the real world, bringing a sense of relevance to the
 work being done, and to optimize relevance, value, and authenticity. The choices in what problem to solve and how groups present their
research is purposely varied to have the most individual choice and autonomy; allowing students to play into their strengths and interests.
To support planning, development, and self-efficacy, students are to assign themselves group jobs, like artist, note taker, etc…, as well as
given a unit word wall for more advanced academic vocabulary.
Reflection (Completed
after the lesson)
Closure
Instructional Strategies Students will follow the established routine of presenting by following the guidelines illustrated in the classrooms “Our Bill of Rights”.
For this lesson, students not presenting will take the place of the mock city council and be responsible for voting for or against each
group's proposal with a one paragraph explanation for their vote. After every group presents their proposal, each student will turn in their
vote, which will be counted and the results shared (Only if it passed or failed to clear the city council). Each group will then fill out an
“After Action Reflection” to share what they learned from the lesson.      
Formal Assessment The group presentations and the “After Action Reflection” will make up the formal assessment.      

Rationale for Decisions The guidelines for presenting are meant to ensure every student is engaged and respectful to those presenting in a classroom appropriate
(refer to UDL here) manner. Adding to the engagement of students not presenting, they are made a part of each groups’ presentation by becoming a city
council member with the power to vote yes or no on the proposal before them. This involves everyone in each group's presentation and
helps build a learning community. The paragraph explanation of each vote creates a sense of agency and encourages active listening. The
“After Action Reflection” is used to reflect on and reinforce what they learned throughout the lesson.
Reflection (Completed
after the lesson)

Rationale
1. Explain how your lesson The lesson holds students accountable to higher expectations for learning by including group
holds all students accountable jobs, mock city council vote paragraphs, and the “After Action Reflection” report. Students
to high expectations for having group jobs hold students responsible to their group for doing a task and taking part in the
learning. learning process. The mock city council voting paragraphs is meant to engage students in others
presentations and hold them accountable to their fellow classmates. The “After Action
Reflection” is designed to hold themselves accountable for what they learn and the learning
process. Having students reflect on what they learn is also a great way to reinforce what was
learned both good and bad without judgement.
2. Explain how the lesson Students are engaged in content specific higher order thinking by analyzing demographic maps
engages students in content of their community, evaluating the different problems (homelessness, poverty, education, etc…),
specific higher order thinking and synthesising solutions for those problems found.
(analysis, synthesis,
evaluation, interpretation,
transfer).
3. Explain how the lesson plan The lesson connects with the social and emotional needs of the students by having students work
connects to the social and in groups, analyze their own community, and by following the established classroom routines
emotional needs of the throughout. By working in groups students are able to build a sense of community within the
students to create a positive classroom. Analyzing their own community creates relevance to the material while connecting
learning environment them to the society that they live in. The use of established classroom routines is important in
building stability in their learning environment allowing them to more freely focus on the
learning taking place.
4. Explain how the students’ use Students will use computers and library resources to research their topics and design their
of educational technology presentations. Other technologies might be used like a camera, voice recorder, or slideshow,
supported the learning goals depending on how each group decides to present their research.
and student engagement.
5. How are you going to know During the lesson the instructor will be walking around the classroom checking for
that students are actively understanding. Each group will have a group jobs list that will be turned into the instructor to
engaged and are ensure students know what they are responsible for and the instructor can more easily gage
understanding the content? students' engagement in the instructors figure eight walks around the classroom. The
presentations will serve as an assessment tool as well as a way for the instructor to gage students’
understanding of the material.
6. Describe how the lesson Addressing support for students’ academic language development to learn the content is the word
supported students’ content walls for this unit. The word walls would be completed by this end of the unit project which will
learning and academic help support the understanding and use of discipline specific academic vocabulary. The word
language development to walls are student created to help promote self-efficacy and a personal connection with the terms.
learn/ access the content. List
the specific terms you
introduced and the strategies
you used.
7. Describe the ways in which As the instructor walks figure eights around the classroom, checking for understanding they will
you are providing content provide feedback to students as they work on their research and presentations.
specific feedback to students
throughout your lesson.
8. How did you specifically 3.1: Activate or supply background knowledge, will be primarily from the warm-up questions on
incorporate UDL into this the board, but will also be heavily involved in their project. Their projects are about the
lesson? Discuss each of the community that they live in and have most of their life experiences happen in the areas being
guidelines or checkpoints you studied. This personal connection to the project may in courage and empower student
included. engagement in local politics and be active members of their future community. This also
promotes the understanding of the world around them rather than some distinct land or figure in a
time long ago.
6.2: Support planning and strategy development is done by adding word walls and group jobs
These two strategies help support students to stay task oriented and strategize a presentation as a
group.
7.1: Optimize individual choice and autonomy is done by allowing for as much choice as
possible in how students/groups present their research project. Students can present in a number
of listed ways, like documentary or podcast, but also are given the opportunity to come up with
their own idea for presenting. This idea only needs to be cleared by the instructor to ensure
appropriate and relevant presentation strategy is being used by students/groups.
7.2: Optimize relevance, value, and authenticity was at the core of the idea for this lesson.
Having students look at their own community for problems to solve not only makes the issues
being discussed personally connected to most of the students, but also demonstrates how the
world around them works while they critically think about how to solve the problems facing
them and their neighbors.
8.3: Foster collaboration and community is throughout this lesson. Tackling the problems facing
the community that students live in aside, students are working together on this group project.
The introduction of group jobs helps hold individual students responsible for their work. Giving
choice in how students present also creates an opportunity for students to lean on their creative
strengths in the pursuit of solving a complex problem that may be personal to some of the
students in the class. Making the problem being solved a local issue helps students connect with
the world around them and find how they can engage with that world as they enter into
adulthood.