McNeese State University

Department of Education Professions

Lesson Plan Template
Course: EDTC Semester: Fall 2018
245
Name Jude Email: msu-jreiners@student.mcneese.edu
Reiners II
Primary Subject Grade Level: 12th
Area:
Assassination of
JFK
Title Of Lesson: Approximate Duration: 5 days
Who Killed JFK?
Overview of Lesson (Danielson, 1c)
At 12:30 p.m. on January 20 of 1961 one of the biggest tragedies in American History occurred in Dallas, Texas. While in
riding in a convertible in a motorcade, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated by an unknown assailant. Lee Harvey
Oswald was arrested for the assassination, but he was killed two days later by Jack Ruby before he could be put on trial.
Was the CIA behind the murder? Fidel Castro? The Mafia? The FBI? LBJ? The Russians? Martians?
Prior Knowledge Expected of Students
Students should know that John F. Kennedy was the 35th president of the United States.
Louisiana Student Standards (LSS)
B.12.1 Explain different points of view on the same subject using data gathered from various sources, such as
letters, journals, diaries, newspapers, government documents, and speeches.
B.12.2 Analyze primary and secondary sources related to a historical question to evaluate their relevance, make
comparisons, integrate new information with prior knowledge, and come to a reasoned conclusion. B.12.4 Asses
the validity of different interpretations of significant historical events.
B.12.5 Gather various types of historical evidence, including visual and quantitative data, to analyze issues of
freedom and equality, liberty and order, region and nation, individual and community, law and conscience,
diversity and civic duty; form a reasoned conclusion in light of possible other conclusions; and develop a
coherent argument in light of other possible arguments.
B.12.15 Identify a historical or contemporary event in which a person was forced to take an ethical position,
such as a decision to go to war, the impeachment of a president, or a presidential pardon, and explain the issues
involved.

Educational Technology Standard

3E
4A
4E
3H
Additional Standards
Reading, Critical thinking, Listening, Writing, Research, and Working as a Team
Interdisciplinary Connections + Standards
American History including areas of reading, critical thinking, writing, research, speaking, listening,
and working as a team.
Student Outcomes (Danielson, 1c)
During these lesson students will:
- Identify the major ‘players and characters’ in the assassination and explain their role
and importance to the incident.
- Identify the accomplishments of President Kennedy’s term as president.
- Identify the major issues in the world going on that involved the United States at the
time of his assassination.
- Explain the Warren Commission and its members.
- Identify and analyze both primary and secondary sources as well as assess the
credibility of those sources due to any bias of the author.
- Both verbally and in writing formulate and explain their own hypothesis and present
evidence that supports their hypothesis.
Lesson Procedures
Time Step By Step Lesson Procedures Pre-planned Seed
Questions

Day 1

I. ENGAGEMENT IN THE INQUIRY (10 min)

The lesson plan will begin by showing a 10 minute clip of the assassination
from the documentary JFK: 3 SHOTS THAT CHANGED AMERICA. The
clip that will be shown has the footage from the assassination as seen on the
news reporting the assassination as well as the footage from the Zapruder film.
After the video, the instructor will give a brief review of the inquiry process.

ELICIT HYPOTHESIS (25 – 30 min)

Write the question on the board, “Who shot JFK?” and hand out the
Hypothesis/Evidence Tracking Sheet. Have students generate their own
hypothesis on the question and then put them into their groups to generate
some more hypotheses. Bring the class back together to
share the different theories that each as come up with recording them on the
board and on their tracking sheets. The teacher should also record the
hypothesis on a separate sheet of paper. The groups are then given an
additional short amount of time to come up with some
unlikely or “off-the-wall” theories. These are also shared with the class and
recorded on each student’s tracking sheets and the white/smart board.

De-Brief (5 – 10 min)

Review the material covered along with they hypotheses generated. Reinforce
with the students on a job well done and give a brief explanation as to what
will be happened during the next class period. Also tell the students to have
they Hypothesis/Evidence Tracking Sheet out and be in their groups right
away.

Day 2

Start out class by reviewing the previous day’s delivered information and
hypotheses. Have the hypotheses written on the board or up on the smart
board.

II. DATA GATHERING AND REVISING HYPOTHESIS

Data Set 1 (15 min)

One copy of the first Data Set will be handed out to each group. The groups
will then discuss among themselves what hypothesis the data supports or
refutes. The groups should mark on their tracking sheets with a +/- for each
hypothesis that the data supports or refutes.

Revising/New Hypothesis (5 min)

The groups will then come together as a class and discuss the same thing with
one student marking the hypothesis on the board that is supported by the
evidence with a plus (+) and the hypothesis that is refuted with a minus (-) as
well as adding any new hypothesis that the students may have generated. This
will be repeated with all of the data sets.

Data Set 2 (15 min)

One copy of the second Data Set will be handed out to each group. The groups
will then discuss among themselves what hypothesis the data supports or
refutes. The groups should mark on their tracking sheets with a +/- for each
hypothesis that the data supports or refutes.

Revising/New Hypothesis (5 min)

The groups will then come together as a class and discuss the same thing with
one student marking the hypothesis on the board that is supported by the
evidence with a plus (+) and the hypothesis that is refuted with a minus (-) as
well as adding any new hypothesis that the
students may have generated.

Debrief

Review the material presented in class and go over the hypotheses on the
board. Ask if any of the hypotheses have enough evidence to be proven that
there is no way that it could be true. If there are any, cross them off and have
the students do the same on their tracking sheets. Let the students know how
well they are doing and give them suggestions for anything that they may be
struggling with.

Day 3

Start out class by reviewing the previous day’s delivered information and
hypotheses. Have the hypotheses written on the board or up on the smart board

Data Set 3 (15 min)

One copy of the third Data Set will be handed out to each group. The groups
will then discuss among themselves what hypothesis the data supports or
refutes. The groups should mark on their tracking sheets with a +/- for each
hypothesis that the data supports or refutes.

Revising/New Hypothesis (5 min)

The groups will then come together as a class and discuss the same thing with
one student marking the hypothesis on the board that is supported by the
evidence with a plus (+) and the hypothesis that is refuted with a minus (-) as
well as adding any new hypothesis that the students may have generated.

Data Set 4 (15 min)

One copy of the fourth Data Set will be handed out to each group. The groups
will then discuss among themselves what hypothesis the data supports or
refutes. The groups should mark on their tracking sheets with a +/- for each
hypothesis that the data supports or refutes.

Revising/New Hypothesis (5 min)

The groups will then come together as a class and discuss the same thing with
one student marking the hypothesis on the board that is supported by the
evidence with a plus (+) and the hypothesis that is refuted with a minus (-) as
well as adding any new hypothesis that the students may have generated.

Debrief

Review the material presented in class and go over the hypotheses on the
board. Ask if any of the hypotheses have enough evidence to be proven that
there is no way that it could be true. If there are any, cross them off and have
the students do the same on their tracking sheets. Give the class an update on
how well they are going and explain to them that even historians sometimes
struggle with this process. If needed, give them some more suggestions as to
how they can make the process easier for themselves.

Day 4

Start out class by reviewing the previous day’s delivered information and
hypotheses. Have the hypotheses written on the board or up on the smart board

Data Set 5 (15 min)

One copy of the fifth Data Set will be handed out to each group. The groups
will then discuss among themselves what hypothesis the data supports or
refutes. The groups should mark on their tracking sheets with a +/- for each
hypothesis that the data supports or refutes.

Revising/New Hypothesis (5 min)

The groups will then come together as a class and discuss the same thing with
one student marking the hypothesis on the board that is supported by the
evidence with a plus (+) and the hypothesis that is refuted with a minus (-) as
well as adding any new hypothesis that the students may have generated.

Data Set 6 (20 min)

Show a couple if the two minute clips from the documentary JFK: 3 SHOTS
THAT CHANGED AMERICA that explore some of the different theories
about who killed JFK.

Revising/New Hypothesis (5 min)

The groups will then come together as a class and discuss the same thing with
one student marking the hypothesis on the board that is supported by the
evidence with a plus (+) and the hypothesis that is refuted with a minus (-) as
well as adding any new hypothesis that the students may have generated.

Debrief

Review the material presented in class and go over the hypotheses on the
board. Ask if any of the hypotheses have enough evidence to be proven that
there is no way that it could be true. If there are any, cross them off and have
the students do the same on their tracking sheets. Let the students know how
they have been doing on this task and explain to them what will be happening
during the next class.

Day 5

Review the information presented in the previous class and go through the
hypotheses that are left and have no evidence that refutes them.

Data Set 7 (20 min)

One copy of the final Data Set will be handed out to each group. The groups
will then discuss among themselves what hypothesis the data supports or
refutes. The groups should
mark on their tracking sheets with a +/- for each hypothesis that the data
supports or refutes.

Revising/New Hypothesis (5 min)

The groups will then come together as a class and discuss the same thing with
one student marking the hypothesis on the board that is supported by the
evidence with a plus (+) and the hypothesis that is refuted with a minus (-) as
well as adding any new hypothesis that the students may have generated.

New Hypothesis (5 min)

This is the time for the students to come up with any more hypotheses that
may not yet have been presented. The new hypothesis can then be discussed as
to if any of the presented evidence either supports or refutes the new
hypothesis.

III. CONCLUSION

Then ask the students to individually pick the hypothesis that they most agree
with and write a two or three page essay stating their hypothesis and the
evidence that they think supports it best. The essay will be due at the
 beginning of the next class period.

IV. ASSESSMENT

The instructor will assess both formally and informally. Informally, the
students will be assessed by the number of responses when generating
hypothesis as well as their participation in the classroom discussions. The short
essay will be handed in and will be formally assessed by the instructor.

Teacher Materials Student Materials Technology Resources References

TV, Promethium Data Collection Sheets, Computer with internet connection, file:///C:/Users/Jude/
Board, DVD player, Hypothesis and Promethium Board, TV, DVD Downloads/Inquiry%
Data Collection information sheets Player 20Lesson%20Plan%
Worksheets, 20%20WHO%20SH
Whiteboard, 3 Shots OT%20PRESIDENT
that Changed America %20JOHN%20F.%2
DVD, Copies of 0KENNEDY.pdf
Hypothesis and
information sheets,
Relevance / Rationale
This lesson will aid students in understanding a defining and highly questioned historical event; it will help
students to be able to think critically, research information with focus for factual information, write essays, and
create an understanding of teamwork for future work.
Exploration / Extension / Supplemental
In order to add on to this lesson the students will be assigned to find one theory through online research for
educational cited work at home and bring back to class. For students who need additional assistance they will be
able to come to teacher with concerns for additional help in the areas they are struggling or the teacher will see
in class work where a student’s weakness is and address it with further explanation. For early finishers we will
continue to work with other classmates in order to promote teamwork and help fellow students who may not
have a full understanding of what is required.
Assessment Criteria For Success
The instructor will assess both formally and informally. Informally, the students will be assessed by the number
of responses when generating hypothesis as well as their participation in the classroom discussions. The short
essay will be handed in and will be formally assessed by the instructor.

Differentiation (Danielson, 1c, 3e )

Accommodations for students with disabilities will be handled accordingly to the type of disability and the
material or process required for full participation and understanding of the material provided.
Post Lesson Reflection
Students will have used critical thought with research to form a hypothesis of how JFK was assonated and why
he was assonated. Students will be aware of the many theories that surround JFK’s assignation and will learn
how to use factual information in order to form an educated hypothesis.