Project-Based Learning Lesson Plan

Civil War PowerPoints

Standards

21st Century Skills

3. Research and Information Fluency
o Students apply digital tools to gather, evaluate, and use information.
o c. Evaluate and select information sources and digital tools based on
the appropriateness to specific tasks
Common Core Standard
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.
Description of learners

Students are eight grade Social Studies students

Materials (for instruction)

iPad, Smartboard, Social Studies textbook

Materials (for Student Project)

Laptops/Computer Lab (depending on if the students have laptop access),

Social Studies textbook, library newspaper articles/books
Materials/technology (for Presentation)

Smartboard, Google Drive (Powerpoint)/Prezi, class website

(Mrgallagher@weebly.com)
Summary of Project

Students will be placed into groups to create their own PowerPoint lesson on
a major event during the American Civil War
Timeline of Activities

Anchor
o I will teach a lesson over the course of several days on the build up to
the Civil War. When the lesson reaches the results of the 1860
Presidential election and the secession of South Carolina, I will end the
lesson and inform the students that they will now be taking over the
teaching duties for the content over the Civil War.
Task
o Students will be informed that they will divided into groups and given a
specific topic/major event on which they will create a PowerPoint or
Prezi presentation to teach the class on the events specifics (who,
 what, where, when, why, results). The presentation should cover
enough specifics of the event to give the audience (their classmates)
enough information to pass the final test over the content of the Civil
War. All questions on the test will be taken out of the presentations
created by the students. Before moving on to the directions, I will
provide a PowerPoint example for the students to work off of. Following
the example, I will divide the students into groups and give each group
their assigned topic, ranging from the events of the First Bull Run to
the Battle of Gettysburg and the Gettysburg address.
Directions
o After assigning each group the event they will be teaching to the
class, I will explain that information from both the textbook and online
resources. The presentation should last 25-30 minutes, and should be
in a chronological order, introducing all relevant information (I will
provide three to four items that MUST be included in their presentation,
the rest will need to be found on their own). Groups will be given one
week of class time to find information and place it in their presentation.
If the presentation is not complete in that time slot, they will need to
complete the rest on their own. The following week will consist of
presentations. Following the presentations, they will be posted onto the
class website (Mrgallagher@weebly.com) for students to review and
look back on. I will use the first ten minutes of class to lead up to each
event and then allow the groups to present their information for the
remainder of the class.
Student Choices
o Students will have the freedom to choose where they retrieve their
information from, and, for the most part, the information they include
in their presentation. Students will also have the choice as to how they
split up the work among their group members. Each group will also be
given the choice of what presentation mode they would like to use and
how they will present it.
Student Inquiry
o In this project, students carry out inquiry processes by researching
information on their assigned topic. This process teaches the students
how to evaluate what information is necessary and what can be left out
in an informational presentation. It also helps them evaluate which
websites are credible and which should be ignored.
Collaboration and Teamwork
o Students will work in their assigned groups of three to four members.
Group members will determine who will take over what roles and
responsibilities. They will have to team up to decide what information
to use, how to organize it, and in what way they present it and who
presents what.
Teacher Coaching and Feedback
o As the teacher, I will first inform each group on what information is
required to be included in the presentation. As the project goes on, if
students have more questions as to what they should include and if
 what they have is relevant. I will also be available to help students find
useful and reliable resources.
Student Reflection
o Students must reflect on their projects as they go along, determining
whether they have sufficient information, whether the source of their
information is credible, and if they have met all of the requirements of
the assignment. As a way to stimulate reflection, students will be
required to reflect before each class, determining whether or not they
have the who, what, when, where, why and result of their event. They
will proceed with the days work knowing what they have done and
what they still need to complete.
Public Presentation
o Following the completion of their presentations, each group will
present their information to the class. This information will be
important not only for the group presenting, as the presentation is
worth 100 points, but is also important to the remainder of the class as
information from each presentation will be included on the test over
the Civil War. The information will also be presented on the class
website so parents will be able to view their childs work.
Rubric
o Presentation answers the questions who, what, where, when, why, and
the result (40/40)
o Four or less grammatical errors (10/10)
o Information is clear and organized (15/15)
o Individual Participation (10/10)
o Presentation (25/25)
o Total (100 points)
Assessment
o Final Test including questions from each groups presentation (50
points)