Caitlin McFalls & Lauren Bell

Lesson Plan
Jim Crow Era
[Note: Delete all of the writing in italics as you complete each section]
[Note: All words and phrases in RED can be found in the EdTPA Glossary]

Grade Level: 4th grade Content Area: Language Arts 11/2/2017 Length of Time: 45 minutes
Number of Students: 23 Instructional Location: classroom

Context for Learning

Description of the learning environment(s) where the learning experience will take place:
Upon entering the classroom, there is a SMART board and white board located on the far-left wall. On one side
of the two boards, there is a closed off reading center and the other side there is a kidney bean shaped teacher
desk. This shape is to help with guided reading. In the center of the classroom, there are 4 students tables that
are in a U shape facing the boards. Right across the door, there is a set of 6 desktop computers. In the silent
reading area, there is a large bookshelf filled with books that appeal to the various reading levels in the class.
The walls are covered with posters and students work. There is a platform in front of the SMART board for
students to sit on if they are having trouble seeing the board.

Learner Description: Total Students 23 Males 12 Females 11

Accommodations and/or pertinent IEP

Students with special needs
Students with IEPs
English language learners
Gifted
504
Students with other learning
needs
Number of students
Objectives
3 Listen to audio recordings instead of reading text
2 Simplified written and verbal instructions with
picture help
3 Group gifted students together and give them a
higher level reading article to analyze
2 Seat these children in a group that is front and
center of the classroom, near the teacher and
away from distractions
1 One student in the class is dyslexic. The teacher
will give that student individualized instruction by
reading the article aloud to them, so they can stay
on track with their peers.
 Caitlin McFalls & Lauren Bell

Personal, Cultural, and Community Assets:

During this lesson, students personal, cultural, and community assets will be addressed by talking about how
racism still exists around them. We will do this by showing videos/photos of protests of racism in the country
during the Jim Crow Era and today. This will allow students to see the connection of past events to current
events.

Central Focus
Central Focus of Lesson: The Effect of the Jim Crow Era

Essential Literacy Strategies (or Mathematical Understandings):

One literacy strategy used in this lesson was summarization. Summarization helps students comprehend what
they read, because they recall information and write in their own words.

Related Skills:
Another literacy skill students will utilize during this lesson is analyzing texts and pointing out key details.

Reading/Writing Connections:
This lesson helps students make reading connections, because students are reading nonfiction texts about the
Jim Crow laws.

Lesson Objectives and Demands

Standard(s) Addressed:
SS4H6 Analyze the effects of Reconstruction on American life.
d. Describe the effects of Jim Crow laws and practices.

Content Objective(s) (also known as Learning Targets):

Examine segregation and discrimination through history.
Analyze newspaper articles for evidence of Jim Crow laws and their discrimination and write a short summary.
Compare and contrast the past and present treatment of people in relation to Jim Crow laws.

Identify a Language Function:

Summarize

Key Learning Task:

Students will be able to summarize Jim Crow Laws and their effects by writing a short summary from articles
 Caitlin McFalls & Lauren Bell

about the topic.

Additional Language Demands:

Vocabulary: Jim Crow, discrimination, segregation, prejudice, injustice, and race
Discourse: note-taking using articles from online

Language Supports:
For language supports, key vocabulary terms can be displayed around the room with definitions and pictures.
Students can also be given fill in the blank notes when they are note-taking using the article sources.

Utilizing Knowledge about Students to Plan and Implement Effective Instruction

Prior Academic Learning and Prerequisite Skills:
Prior to this lesson, student will need background knowledge on the Civil War and the Reconstruction Era,
because this information directly affects the Jim Crow Era.

Building on Prior Learning and Assets:

This plan will link students prior academic learning and personal/cultural/community assets to new learning by
relating the topic to current events in todays society such as Black Lives Matter and racism that still goes on
today.

Grouping Strategies:
The students will be divided into 4 groups of 5 to 6 students. We placed students with varying types of learning
needs in each group, so students will be able to assist each other.

Planned Supports (Accommodations and Differentiation Strategies):

Students with special needs will be given supports such as read alouds and sentence starters so they can
successfully meet lesson objectives.

Lesson Considerations
Materials (Teacher and Student):
Political Cartoon: https://www.awesomestories.com/images/user/d77a6b52e4.jpg
Transportation Article: http://www.autolife.umd.umich.edu/Race/R_Casestudy/R_Casestudy2.htm
Public Facilities Article: http://www.vahistorical.org/collections-and-resources/virginia-history-
explorer/civil-rights-movement-virginia/world-jim-crow
Education Article: http://abhmuseum.org/education-for-blacks-in-the-jim-crow-south/
Voting Article: http://abhmuseum.org/voting-rights-for-blacks-and-poor-whites-in-the-jim-crow-south/
 Caitlin McFalls & Lauren Bell

Chart paper
Markers

Theoretical Principles and/or Research-Based Best Practices:

The learning tasks for this lesson are appropriate for students, because they are utilizing skills such as
researching to identify key details and summarization. Lev Vygotsky is a theorist that focused on the idea of
scaffolding and learning through social interaction. While student are working in their groups, the teachers
scaffold by assisting students in developing their key details and summaries. Social interaction comes into play
when students collaboratively work with their peers. This plays a fundamental role in cognitive development.

Misconceptions:
The central focus of this lesson is the Jim Crow Era. Some may misunderstand that Jim Crow was an actual
person. This will be addressed by explaining that Jim Crow was a fictional character of a slave, and the name
became a widely used derogatory term for African Americans.

Evidence and Formative Assessment of Student Learning: How will you know whether students are making
progress toward your learning goal(s) and/or how will you assess the extent to which they have met your
goal(s)? Use the chart below to describe and justify at least 2 formal or informal assessment strategies that
occur in your detailed plan above.
Assessment Strategy #1: Alignment with Objectives:
One of of the objectives deals with examining newspaper
articles for evidence of Jim Crow laws and their
discrimination. This assessment strategy has students use
Using the articles, students will be forming a these articles to highlight key ideas that are relevant to the
simple organization of key ideas related to the Jim Crow Era.
Jim Crow Era. Adaptations:
Students with special needs can have the articles read to
them or can listen to the articles through headphones.
Evaluation Criteria (Evidence of Student Understanding):
Since this is an informal assessment strategy, students will
show understanding of the concept being taught if they
correctly identify key points of the articles.

Assessment Strategy #2:
After highlighting the key points in the articles,
students will be summarizing what they found
on chart paper as a group.
Note: Add more assessment strategy boxes here if needed.
Caitlin McFalls & Lauren Bell
Student Feedback:
Describe how you will provide feedback to students on this
assessment.
Teachers will provide feedback by going to each group to
discuss if their key points relate to the topic and making sure
each member of the group is participating.
Alignment with Objectives:
One of the objects focuses on writing a short summary
detailing the Jim Crow laws and their effects. This
assessment strategy has students using the skill of
summarizing and recalling information.
Adaptations:
If students have trouble developing a summary, they can be
given sentence starters to guide them.
Evaluation Criteria (Evidence of Student Understanding):
To find evidence of student understanding of the concept, a
rubric will be used to assess if they meet certain
requirements.
Student Feedback:
Students will be given written feedback on whether or not
they were able to use the key points to successfully
summarize.
 Caitlin McFalls & Lauren Bell

Lesson Plan Details: Write a detailed outline of your class session including instructional strategies, learning tasks, key questions, key transitions, student supports,
assessment strategies, and conclusion. Your outline should be detailed enough that another teacher could understand them well enough to use them. Include what you
will do as a teacher and what your students will be doing during each lesson phase. Include a few key time guidelines. Note: The italicized statements and scaffolding
questions are meant to guide your thinking and planning. You do not need to answer them explicitly or address each one in your plan. Delete them before typing your
lesson outline.

Co-teaching Strategies to be used:

One Teach Parallel Station Parallel Alternative/Differentiated Team

Teacher #1: Lauren Bell

Teacher #2: Caitlin McFalls

Roles/Responsibilities: Both teachers will facilitate learning by asking questions to check for comprehension.
Example questions:
Why was the Jim Crow Era an important part of history?
What hardships did African Americans experience during this time?
What type of public facilities were segregated?

Space (classroom set-up) considerations: Classroom will be set up in tables so the students are in groups.

Materials necessary and who will be responsible:

Teachers will be providing the following materials:
Political Cartoon: https://www.awesomestories.com/images/user/d77a6b52e4.jpg
Transportation Article: http://www.autolife.umd.umich.edu/Race/R_Casestudy/R_Casestudy2.htm
Public Facilities Article: http://www.vahistorical.org/collections-and-resources/virginia-history-explorer/civil-rights-movement-virginia/world-jim-crow
Education Article: http://abhmuseum.org/education-for-blacks-in-the-jim-crow-south/
Voting Article: http://abhmuseum.org/voting-rights-for-blacks-and-poor-whites-in-the-jim-crow-south/
Chart paper
Markers

Lesson Introduction - Before: Setting the stage, activate and build background knowledge, introduce and explain

In the 1890s and early 1900s Southern states imposed a series of laws to prevent African Americans from participating in society. During this time, places in the
United States were segregated. Does anyone know what segregation means? Allow students to answer. Yes, segregation is the enforced separation of different racial
groups in a country, community, or establishment. The types of places and establishments that were segregated were transportation, public facilities, and education.
 Caitlin McFalls & Lauren Bell

During the Jim Crow Era, it became difficult for African Americans to vote through poll taxes, literacy tests and the grandfather clause. Local governments and groups
like the Ku Klux Klan also used violence, including lynching, to terrorize African Americans and prevent them from voting.
Show the students the political cartoon that depicts a segregated bus.
Ask students to describe what is happening in the cartoon.
Teacher can also ask questions such as:
What do you notice about the political cartoon?
How would you feel if you had to ride a different bus than all your friends to school?
Do the buses look the same or equal? Why or why not?
To introduce strategies/skills, teachers can ask students to point out details in the cartoon and summarize what they think is going on.

Learning Activities - During: Active engagement in meaning making, explicit instruction, and practice (you should be checking for understanding throughout the
lesson)
Students will work with their group members to analyze an article that pertains to a certain aspect of the Jim Crow Era. Each group will have an article that is about
either transportation, public facilities, education, or voting for African Americans during the Jim Crow Era. Using a previous article they looked at from the lesson on
the Freedmens Bureau, the teachers will model how to go through and highlight key points. While students are working in their groups, teachers will go around and
check in to see if they need guidance or scaffold where needed. Students with special needs can have the articles read to them or can listen to the articles through
headphones. After the groups find the key points, they will write a short summary of what they learned on chart paper. If students have trouble developing a
summary, they can be given sentence starters to guide them. Those who do not successfully meet the objectives, can use a graphic organizer for their key points. This
will help them organize their thoughts and help with writing their summaries.

Closure - After: Restate teaching point, clarify key points, extend ideas, check for understanding
After students have completed their summaries on chart paper, they will present their findings to the class.
Then, teachers will ask questions to clarify key concepts such as:
Who did the Jim Crow Laws affect?
What are some places that were segregated during the Jim Crow Era?
If you lived during this time, would you follow the laws or would you stand up for the injustice?

Extension: How could you extend this lesson if time permits?

As an extension activity, students could write a journal about how the information they learned made them feel and how they would have reacted if they lived in the
Jim Crow Era.