CEP Lesson Plan Form

Teacher: Natalie Pearce Date: 10/2/2018

School: Kinard Core Knowledge Grade Level: 7 Content Area: Social Studies

Title: Historical Investigation: Causes of the Spanish American War Lesson #:1__ of 1__

Lesson Idea/Topic and Students will be using primary sources to answer 3 questions related to the United States’ decision to declare
Rational/Relevance: war against the Spanish Empire. They will then discuss and answer a final question related to the medias’
influence in this event and other events through history. This is a relevant lesson to have during their Spanish
American War unit because it allows them to view multiple perspectives related to the sinking of the USS Maine
and investigate whether they believe different perspectives. The lesson becomes relevant to students today
because they can understand the growing and changing influence of the media overtime and relate yellow
journalism to the “fake news” of today.

Student Profile: This lesson is created for an Honors section of 7th Grade Social Studies. This means most students are reading at
an advanced level and need to be challenged more than the traditional level. This activity focuses on their ability
to read and analyze sources and use critical thinking skills to make inferences and connections to today’s society.
This specific class period is highly motivated and easy to manage. Behavior disruptions are rare and easy to
diffuse. The class has a high ability to grasp new concepts, therefore extra explanations are not usually
necessary.

Content Standard(s) addressed by this lesson: (Write Content Standards directly from the standard)

Seek and evaluate multiple historical sources with different points of view to investigate a historical question and to formulate and defend a
thesis with evidence

Understandings: (Big Ideas)

Historical thinkers can use primary sources to answer questions about the past.

Inquiry Questions: (Essential questions relating knowledge at end of the unit of instruction, select applicable questions from standard)

How can primary sources increase understandings of events?

What role did the media (specifically yellow journalism) play in the Spanish American War?
How does the media influence political events?

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Evidence Outcomes: (Learning Targets)

Every student will be able to: Complete a worksheet by using 3 different primary sources and connect the information gathered to situations encountered today

I can: understand why the United States declared war on Spain in 1898 following the sinking of the USS Maine and evaluate different perspectives on this
decision.

This means: I can analyze primary sources to answer the inquiry questions and explore multiple perspectives.

List of Assessments: (Write the number of the learning targets associated with each assessment)

There is one formal assessment during the length of the lesson. Students will complete a worksheet related to the primary sources they read at different stations.
There will be informal assessments during stations to see if students need more time to complete the questions. The final assessment will take place in the form
of an exit ticket that summarizes the big understandings of the lesson.

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Planned Lesson Activities
Name and Purpose of Lesson
Co-Teaching
Will co-teaching models be utilized in this lesson?
Yes ___ No __X_
Approx. Time and Materials
Anticipatory Set
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Historical Investigation: The Causes of the Spanish American War
Purpose: To investigate how different perspectives on the sinking of the USS Maine
influenced President McKinley’s decision to declare war on Spain.
Which model(s) will be used?
Close reading, discussion, and collaboration. A partial co-teaching method is used here.
One teaches, one observes. I taught the lesson, and Mrs. Darrow stepped in for
classroom management occasionally.
Why did you choose this model(s) and what are the teachers’ roles?
I chose this model because close reading of primary sources is necessary for students to
be able to interpret the meaning. Discussion is important because students may have
different ideas on the meanings of the texts so they can work together to reach the major
understanding.
The teachers’ roles are to scan the room and ensure positive discussion is taking place
around each of the sources and to help with time management. If it is observed that the
groups are finished before the allowed time, I will switch the groups early.
35 minutes, 12 copies of each primary source (6 at each station), 36 copies of the
worksheet
The strategy I intend to use is: Drawing on Prior Knowledge – What do the students know
about the sinking of the USS Maine?
After-lesson edit: This prior knowledge did not draw the students into the activity
enough because they were just focused on moving into the assignment and what points
they could receive on the worksheet. If I were to teach this again, I would show a short
YouTube video about the media reports on the sinking of the USS Maine to get their
attention in a more engaging way.
I am using this strategy here because: The students need to think about this event in US
history before analyzing the primary sources that were published after the event.
Although it may seem obvious to students that the sinking of the USS Maine caused the
United States to declare war on the Spanish Empire, they will be exposed to different
perspectives on whether the sinking was intentional or not. This will cause them to
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question the motives behind the war and understand what the main goal of the war was
for the United States. Students will also be able to recognize the important role media
can play in a war as they analyze the different sources printed after the sinking of the USS
Maine and before the official declaration of war.

Procedures The strategy I intend to use is: Collaboration

I am using this strategy here because: I believe it is important for students to work in
groups to discuss ideas and understandings. Discussing the information they’ve read
helps them to gain a deeper comprehension which can then be applied to the worksheet.

Teacher Actions Student Actions Data Collected

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(3 min Hook – Direct -Participate in class -Students will be

Instruction and Guided discussion and pull from completing a worksheet
Discussion): Draw on prior knowledge to relate to that will draw on prior
students’ prior knowledge the new activity knowledge, and assess their
of primary sources. Set the -Understand the understandings of the
scene for the primary importance of the sinking of primary sources
sources used in the activity the ship
– directly following the -Close reading in a group to
sinking of the USS Maine answer each question at
but before the declaration the stations
of war. -Practice analyzing skills to
(1 min): Divide into 6 summarize understanding
groups and hand materials in the final question
to each group. -Participate in full-class
(5 min Group Work): Station discussion
1 begins, monitor student
progress.
(30 seconds): All students
rotate to next station.
(5 min Group Work): Station
2 begins, monitor student
progress.
(30 seconds): All students
rotate to final station.
(5 min Group Work): Station
3 begins, monitor student
progress.
(1 min Teacher Instruction):
Students return to original
seats, introduce the exit
ticket. Call on students for
ideas.
(3 min Individual Thinking):
Instruct students to
individually answer the final
question.
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CEP Lesson Plan Form

Closure The strategy I intend to use is: Exit Ticket and Full-class discussion
I am using this strategy here because: The final question on the worksheet summarizes
the topics covered in the primary sources and guides students into thinking about how
the media can influence events. A full-class discussion of this is necessary because it is
likely students will have different ideas on how the media influences their own lives.

Differentiation Content Process Product Environment

Modifications: Provide more Measure Close small- Informal and
context for student group quick
students who understanding discussion of discussion to
do not have as during the background get them where
much hook, identify information. they need to be
background students who to complete the
knowledge. are lacking. assignment.

Extensions: (if What other Students will A deeper Individual work

students finish reasons might flip over their understanding time while
early) the US have for completed of the different other groups
declaring war worksheet and perspectives are completing
against Spain? brainstorm provided in the the worksheets.
ideas. primary
sources.
Assessment (see attached worksheet example and primary sources)

Informal assessments throughout the lesson to see if students need time adjustments
during the stations, as well as answer any questions they may have about the assignment.

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CEP Lesson Plan Form

Post Lesson Reflection

1. To what extent were lesson objectives achieved? (Utilize assessment data to justify
your level of achievement)
My students seemed to have grasped the content of the lesson successfully. There were
some students who did not fully complete the questions in the time allowed in the
stations, but most of them were able to do so. Some students were a bit confused on
the wording of the questions and this is proven by their lack of evidence in their
worksheets. Many students were able to connect the readings to the influence of
media today which shows they processed the big ideas of the lesson.

2. What changes, omissions, or additions to the lesson would you make if you were to
teach again?
Some of the students finished much faster than others, but I did not have something
prepared for them besides further brainstorming. Each document took a different
amount of time for students to analyze in the stations, so groups finished at different
times. I think it would be helpful to include more questions related to the documents
students were finishing faster. Students also seemed to struggle when they were
analyzing the song primary source because of the way the question was worded. I
would add clarification to the worksheet to help students understand what I am looking
for. Once I explained the question to them in a different way, they were able to grasp it
fully. I also need to include a more engaging hook, which I laid out in the anticipatory
set after I taught this lesson.

3. What do you envision for the next lesson? (Continued practice, reteach content, etc.)
Because this lesson focused on the media’s influence at the start of the war, I would like
to continue this topic through the remainder of the war. The Spanish American War is
known for “yellow journalism” so this lesson served as an introduction. I would find
more examples of this kind of journalism as well as show clips of the first video footage
of the war so students can visualize the role the media played in the war and continue to
relate it to the media today. I would likely have a compare and contrast class discussion
about how the media has changed.

4. If you used co-teaching, would you use the same co-teaching strategy for this lesson if
you were to teach it again? Were there additional co-teaching strategies used during
the lesson not planned for initially? Please explain.
I did not use co-teaching for this lesson, but I think it would be useful to co-teach during
the full class discussion to show the class different ideas and perspectives related to the
media today. However, Mrs. Darrow did step in for classroom management purposes
when the class was off-task.

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DOCUMENT A Source: Excerpt from New York Journal and Advertiser, February 17, 1898

DOCUMENT B: Source: New York Times, February 17, 1898.

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Name:_____________________________

Historical Investigation Worksheet

Directions: Read each document carefully. Then, as a group, answer the following questions in complete
sentences.

1. What do the authors of Document A believe about the sinking of the USS Maine? How is this different
than the beliefs expressed in Document B?

2. What is the message in Document C? How do you think this influenced the way Americans felt about
the sinking of the USS Maine?

3. According to Document D, why does President McKinley want to declare war against Spain?

4. How do you think Document A, Document B, and Document C influenced President McKinley in his
speech to Congress? Further Thinking: How can the media influence the way we think about current
events? (This is your exit ticket for this activity, you must complete this before moving on!)

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