Lesson Title: Famous Americans Come Alive!

Lesson Components
Virginia Standards of
Learning (VSOL)

Description
VA-SOL 3.11b: identifying the contributions of Thomas Jefferson; Abraham
Lincoln; Rosa Parks; Martin Luther King, Jr.

NCSS Themes

Time, Continuity, and Change

Civic Ideals and Practices
History

Objective (KUD)

Students will know who Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Rosa Parks,
and Martin Luther King, Jr. were and how they defended American
principles.
Students will understand that citizens have worked to defend American
principles throughout history.
Students will be able to listen to excerpts of speeches and match them to the
appropriate speaker.
Students will be able to engage in a classroom discussion about basic
principles of a democracy in response groups.

Assessment/Monitoring Pre-assessment: Listen to excerpts of speeches and and match to appropriate

speaker.
Formative assessment: Monitor student discussion during response groups
and whole class discussions, check for understanding by asking guiding
questions during discussion.
Procedures
1. Students will listen to excerpts of speeches from Thomas Jefferson,
Abraham Lincoln, Rosa Parks, and Martin Luther King, Jr. before being
told who is speaking.
2. Students will then match names of American figures to their speeches and
record most memorable parts in worksheets.
3. Collect worksheets to use as pre-assessment and assess whether students
are able to match speeches to speakers.
4. Explain to students that they will move into Response Groups and discuss
how each of these American figures defended democratic principles.
Students can find their groups written on a dry erase board in front of the
classroom.
5. Remind students of the rules for a tolerant classroom environment:
A. Treat everyone with respect.
B. Use kind words and actions towards others.
C. Do everything you can to help yourself and others learn.
6. Tell students to move into groups.
7. Provide each group with a transcript of the excerpts from the speeches
along with an iPod with pre-loaded speeches.
8. Ask groups to discuss how American figures defended democratic
principles using the following guiding questions:
What are some democratic principles?

How do the speeches we listened to reflect how these American

figures defended democratic principles?
Pretend youre living in this time period. How would you respond to
this speech?
9. Allow students to discuss the questions in their small groups for 10
minutes.
10. As students are discussing the questions, walk around and check in with
each group. If a group is struggling, ask probing questions to guide
discussion.
11. Bring class back together to facilitate a lively class discussion about
central questions.
12. Ask one group member from each response group to share two main
points they came up with, record main ideas on the board.
13. Ask questions such as Does any group have a dramatically different
answer? These two groups can discuss their differing points of view. Who
do you agree most with?
14. If students all share a similar view, argue the opposing view.
15. Throughout the discussion students should provide examples from the
speeches.
16. To conclude debrief, read aloud main points that were written on the
board during discussion.
Materials/Equipment/
Preparation

Differentiation

Materials/Equipment
Computer
Speakers
Internet
Whiteboard
Five iPods
Five headphones
Excerpts printed from speeches
Whos Speaking? Match Worksheet
Preparation: Speech Excerpts:
http://www.achievement.org/autodoc/page/par0int-1 (Rosa Parks) (0:00-1:21
& 0:00-0:28)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smEqnnklfYs (Martin Luther King, Jr.)
(1:10-3:18, 12:30-13:50)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMSHqOKHNqA (Thomas Jefferson )
(0:40-1:10)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pM3HS3rr-w0 (Abraham Lincoln) (0:321:06)
Differentiate roles according to students strengths:
-Presenter: good communication skills, comfortable speaking out in
front of a class
-Note taker: good writing skills
-Encourager: good social skills, comfortable with classmates
-Time checker: good time management,
- Materials manager: responsible, above reading level
Groupings:
Heterogeneous groupings that reflect diversity of classroom in terms

of individual student strengths, reading levels, and ELL levels

To support ELLs, we will have students at lower WIDA levels
grouped with a student who speaks the same first language but is at a
higher level of English proficiency or a student above reading level
who can provide support.

Translate speeches:
Because there are four ELL students, the speeches can be translated
into their first languages. The speech excerpts should be translated to
Spanish, Arabic, and Korean. This way, students can read the
speeches in their first language to get a better understanding of the
main ideas before listening to the audio recording.
Pairing audio with print during speeches:
As an extra support to ELL and below reading level students, they
will be provided with a printout of the speeches. Following along
with the print as they listen to the audio recording would help
students track the words and reread the speeches independently at a
later time. This method of differentiation supports students who have
difficulty with auditory learning.
During the classroom discussion, allow for multiple ways to respond:
Ask yes or no questions to students at WIDA levels 1 or 2 so that they
will be able to be a part of the classroom discussions, encourage
thumbs up or down and agree or disagree as responses.
Availability of iPods during response group time:
Each group will be given an iPod because some students may need to
listen to the speech excerpts more than one time to fully comprehend
the meaning. This method of differentiation supports students who
have difficulty with auditory learning.
Prior and/or
Foundational
Knowledge

Democratic Principles (Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are

privileges that people are born with and that cannot be taken away.)

Rationale for Lesson

Since students live in a democratic society, it is important for them to

understand the historical context and figures that have brought about
improvements in the lives of American citizens. We wanted to include
speeches to make the lesson more interactive and allow students to access the
content through multiple mediums of engagement. We chose to have students
participate in Response Groups because sharing and understanding different
points of view is essential to critical thinking and engaging in discussions.