EGP 335.

535 Lesson Plan

Lesson Plan Details
Mid-Atlantic Historical People, Number 6, Michelle Smith
Expected Duration: Two 45 minute social studies class periods
Social Sciences: History, Civics
Concepts: Founding fathers
Vocabulary
o Historical Figures: Famous person who made a large impact in history.
o Contributions: The part played by the person in order to make them
famous.
o Constitution: A body of fundamental principles.
Skills: Students will be working on timelines and practicing researching which
will help them in future years.
Goals of Lesson: Students will understand the contributions that important people
have made in the Mid-Atlantic region and why they are important to history.
Integration of Learning Outcomes/Objectives
Students will be able to distinguish at least 3 facts about four specific Middle
Atlantic region historical figures.
Standards PA Civics, History, Economics, Geography & NCSS Themes I - X with
subthemes
PA Standards:
Standard - 5.2.4.C Describe the roles of leadership and public service in school,
community, state, and nation.
Standard - 8.2.4.C Explain how continuity and change in Pennsylvania history
have influenced personal development and identity.
Standard - 8.3.4.B Locate historical documents, artifacts, and places critical to
United States history.
NCSS Themes:
NCSS.1.3 THEME THREE -- People, Places, and Environment: Social Studies
teachers should possess the knowledge, capabilities, and dispositions to organize
and provide instruction at the appropriate school level for the study of People,
Places, and Environment. Teachers of social studies at all school levels should
provide developmentally appropriate experiences as they guide learners in the
study of people, places and environments.

o NCSS.1.3.f ...ask learners to describe how people create places that reflect
culture, human needs, current values and ideals, and government policies
NCSS.1.5 THEME FIVE -- Individuals, Groups and Institutions: Social Studies
teachers should possess the knowledge, capabilities, and dispositions to organize
and provide instruction at the appropriate school level for the study of Individuals,
Groups, and Institutions. Teachers of social studies at all school levels should

provide developmentally appropriate experiences as they guide learners in the

study of interactions among Individuals, Groups, and Institutions.
o NCSS.1.5.a ...help learners understand the concepts of role, status, and
social class and use them in describing the connections and interactions of
individuals, groups, and institutions in society
Anticipatory Set
1. Teacher will ask students, Who in your lives play an important role to you? Who
has helped to shape your lives?
2. As students are called on to give their answers, teacher will write their answers up
on the board.
3. The teacher will then tell students that they are now going to be focusing on four
important figures (people) that have helped to shape the Middle Atlantic region.
Teacher will remind students that they have already been learning about the MidAtlantic and ask who can remind us of the states that are included in this
region?
4. Next the teacher will draw a timeline on the board, while letting the students
know exactly what she is creating. The teacher will place a picture of Henry
Hudson atop of the date 1565. Then, place a picture of William Penn above the
date 1644. Benjamin Franklin next to the date 1706 and lastly, place a picture of
Thomas Jefferson above the date 1743 on the timeline. The teacher will then ask
the class if they have heard of any of these men and what they already know about
them.
Procedures
1. The teacher will split the classroom into four areas by creating clusters of desks in
four different areas of the room. One group will be designated for Henry Hudson,
another for William Penn, another for Benjamin Franklin, and the last area for
Thomas Jefferson.
2. The teacher will then split the class into four groups and inform each group who
they will be specifically researching.
3. The teacher will explain to students that once they are in their groups and their
designated location, they will be researching their specific person. At each cluster
of desks there will be books about their person and 1-2 IPads which they can use
to watch videos about their person or research their person. Teacher will remind
students to be responsible and share the IPads and do not misuse them or they will
lose their IPad privileges. The teacher will have recommended sites for the
students to go to.
4. Teacher will then explain that everyone will receive a packet containing all four
historical people. They are to fill out the page for their specific person. They will
then use that information and any other fun or important facts they learn while
researching to create a poster and a story about the their historical persons life as
a group.
5. Each group will be supplied with the poster board and magazines (to cut out
letters or images for their poster) after their research is complete. They are

6.
7.

8.

9.

allowed to use any other supplies in the classroom (markers, scissors, colored
paper, glue, etc).
Teacher will explain that the students may either write their story and incorporate
it on their poster, make a skit to tell their story, create a timeline on their poster, or
any other creative way they can think of that is okayed by the teacher.
Students, as a group, will then present their stories and research to the class.
Students must incorporate the information on their worksheet into their
presentation, so that the rest of the class can fill out their packets on the other 3
historical people.
Students will be given a few minutes after each presentation to fill out the facts in
their packets on whomever the students just presented about. The poster board
will be left upfront for reference, and the teacher will note that if they cannot
remember everything it is okay because they will be going over it at the end.
After each group presents their research, teacher will go over the packets page by
page in order to review and be sure students have filled in any areas that they
might have missed during the presentations.

Differentiation
Extension: Students will be given the option to work alone on the project or write an
essay about their historical person and present it to the class.
Enrichment: Students will be given a specific topic to research about their person rather
than having to find everything first. This will allow more time to focus on something
specific and not feel rushed.
Closure
The teacher will draw the original timeline back on the board again and mark the four
dates 1565, 1644, 1706, and 1743. The teacher will then ask the class who belongs
above each date? As the teacher calls on students for the answers, she will place the
photos (from the anticipatory set) next to each date they belong with. The teacher will
then start with Henry Hudson and ask what students found most interesting about him.
The teacher will continue to ask the same question for each historical figure they studied.
To conclude, the teacher will have each student write down on blank notebook paper
-with their names- three facts they learned about Henry Hudson, William Penn, Benjamin
Franklin, and Thomas Jefferson.
Formative/Summative Assessment of Students (P-12)
Formative Assessment:
As students work in their groups, the teacher will be walking around
observing each students participation and their work.
The teacher will also be observing who participates during whole class
discussions; making sure that each student at least answers once
Summative Assessment:
Group research presentations

Middle Atlantic Historical People packet submission: Each student

will hand in their packets at the completion of the lesson to be checked
for completion.
Submission of three facts for each historical person: This will ensure
that that students are meeting the lesson objective.

Materials/Equipment
4 Tri-open poster boards
Magazines
Colored paper
Markers
Glue
Scissors
Large printed pictures of each historical person with magnets for timeline
Large printed pictures of each historical person for students posters
6-8 IPads
White board with dry ease marker
Books (for groups):
The Amazing Life of Benjamin Franklin by James Cross Giblin
Who Was Ben Franklin? by Dennis Fradin
The Remarkable Benjamin Franklin by Cheryl Harness (National Geographic for
kids)
Explore With Henry Hudson by Tim Cooke
Henry Hudson by Kristin Petrie
Who Was Thomas Jefferson? By Dennis Fradin
Thomas Jefferson Life Liberty and the Pursuit of Everything by Maria Kalman
Meet Thomas Jefferson by Marvin Barrett
Who Was William Penn?: And Other Questions About the Founding of
Pennsylvania by Marty Rhodes Figley
The Story of William Penn by Aliki
William Penn: Founder of Pennsylvania by Steven Kroll
Technology
IPads will be used during this lesson in order for students to research and watch videos
about their specific person.
Reflection on Planning
As I began developing my lesson plan, I thought that it would be best to focus
specifically on a small amount of important figures. For that reason, I chose to narrow it
down to the four people that began or impacted areas within the Mid-Atlantic region the
most. I wanted to incorporate student interaction within the lesson, which is when I
decided to include projects somehow into the lesson. Then I thought that it would be a
good idea for fourth graders to begin practicing independent researching. Since this was

my first social studies lesson plan, I did find it to be a little difficult and am unsure if it is
a too independent for the students.
Images of the four historical people used throughout the lesson:
Henry Hudson

Benjamin Franklin

William Penn

Thomas Jefferson

Name: ________________________
Middle Atlantic Region Historical Figures:
Use this packet to help you create your poster and story about your historical
persons life.

Henry Hudson
Date of birth: ____________________________________________________________
Place of birth: ____________________________________________________________
About his family or early life: _______________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
Did Hudson attend school? If so, where and what for? ____________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
What is this Henry Hudson famous for?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
How many voyages (trips) did he take?
_______________________________________________________________________

What were the names of Henrys ships? _______________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

Other contributions and interesting facts you found about Henry Hudson:
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

William Penn:
Date of birth: ____________________________________________________________
Place of birth: ____________________________________________________________
About his family: _________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
Did Penn attend school? If so, where and what for? ______________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
What is this William Penn famous for? ________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
What is a Quaker? ________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
What did William Penn name Pennsylvania before Kind Charles changed it?
________________________________________________________________________
Where is there a statue of William Penn, today?
________________________________________________________________________

Other contributions and interesting facts you found about William Penn:
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

Benjamin Franklin:
Date of birth: ____________________________________________________________
Place of birth: ____________________________________________________________
About his family: _________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
Did Ben attend school? If so, where and what for? _______________________________
________________________________________________________________________
What is Benjamin Franklin most famous for? ___________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
What are some of Benjamins inventions? _____________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
What important U.S. document did Benjamin Franklin help with? __________________
_______________________________________________________________________

Other contributions and interesting facts you found about William Penn:
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________

Thomas Jefferson:
Date of birth: ____________________________________________________________
Place of birth: ____________________________________________________________
About his family: _________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
Did Jefferson attend school? If so, where and what for? ___________________________
________________________________________________________________________
What is Thomas Jefferson famous for? ________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
What important U.S. document did Thomas Jefferson write? _______________________
________________________________________________________________________
Why is this document important? ____________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
What number president was Thomas Jefferson and how long was he president? _______
________________________________________________________________________
Other contributions and interesting facts you found about William Penn:
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

Current Event Global Connections:

TimeforKids Merkels Moment by Zachary Humenik
Article Link: http://www.timeforkids.com/news/merkels-moment/326056
Location: Germany
The focus of lesson 6 in the Middle Atlantic region unit plan is historical or
important figures. For that reason, we will be reading Time For Kids article
Merkels Moment. It is specifically about Angela Merkel being named TIME
Magazines 2015 Person of the Year. Angela Merkel is an intelligent and
successful German chancellor, who also happens to be the fourth female to ever
receive TIME Magazines Person of the Year award. At the completion of the
lesson, students will be knowledgeable about the people that have significantly
impacted the region in which they live in. This article will be a great way for
students to then connect what they have recently learned with other important
figures around the world.

Teacher Notes:
Key concept: founding fathers / important documents
History & civics
Henry Hudson
English Explorers supposedly born in 1565 in England
1607 he received sponsors so that he could sail from England to Asia. He was in
search of an ice-free passage way into China.
Hudson made 2 unsuccessful voyages in search for the easy trade route
In 1609, Hudson joined the Dutch East India Company as a commander. He took
charge of the Half Moon with the objective of discovering a northern route to Asia
by heading north of Russia, but again ran into more ice, stopping them.
This time, instead of going back to England, Hudson began to sail west.
He crossed the Atlantic Ocean and set ashore what is no called Nova Scotia. He
continued to travel down the North American coast reaching as south as the
Chesapeake bay.
He decided to turn around and explore New York Harbor and then traveled the
river that would later be called the Hudson River, traveling into what we know
today as Albany NY
On the way back to the Netherlands, Hudson was stopped in the English port of
Dartmouth. The English authorities seized the ship and the Englishmen among the
crew. So Hudson found English investors to fund his next and final journey.
He set sail on the Discovery, leaving England in April 1610. He and his crew,
which again included his son John and Robert Juet, made their way across the
Atlantic Ocean. After skirting the southern tip of Greenland, they entered what
became known as the Hudson Strait. The exploration then reached another of his
namesakes, the Hudson Bay. Traveling south, Hudson ventured into James Bay
and discovered that he'd come to a dead end.
They found themselves trapped in the ice and low on supplies. When they were
forced to spend the winter there, tensions formed between Hudson and his crew.
By June 1611, conditions had improved enough for the ship to set sail once again.
Hudson, however, didn't make the trip back home. Shortly after their departure,
several members of the crew, including Juet, took over the ship and decided to
cast out Hudson, his son and a few other crew members. Mutineers put Hudson
and the others in a small boat and set them adrift. It is believed that Hudson and
the others died of exposure sometime later, in or near the Hudson Bay.
After that, more European explorers and settlers followed Hudson's lead, making
their way to North America. The Dutch started a new colony, called New
Amsterdam, at the mouth of the Hudson River in 1625. They also developed trade
posts along the nearby coasts.

Although, Hudson didnt ever find the water route to Asia he was looking for, his
efforts did help drive European interest into North America.

William Penn
(born in London, October 14, 1644July 30, 1718) founded the Province of
Pennsylvania, the British North American colony that became the U.S. state of
Pennsylvania
William Penn was born in London, England, on October 14, 1644. His father, Sir
William Penn, was an admiral and landowner who had been knighted by Charles
II; his mother, Margaret Jasper Vanderschuren, was the daughter of a merchant.
He studied Theology and then briefly studied law
Penn traveled to Ireland to manage some of his father's property, and it was there
that he came into contact with Quaker preachers who inspired him to join their
faith.
In 1677, William Penn was among a group of Quakers that received the colonial
province of West New Jersey.
During that same year, 200 settlers from the towns of Chorleywood and
Rickmansworth in Hertfordshire and other towns in nearby Buckinghamshire
arrived, and founded the town of Burlington. William Penn was involved in the
project but remained in England at the time, and drafted a charter of liberties for
the settlement. This guaranteed free and air trial by jury, freedom of religion,
freedom from unjust imprisonment, and free elections.
King Charles II of England granted a large area west and south of New Jersey to
Penn on March 4, 1681. William Penn called this area Sylvania, which is Latin for
woods. King Charles then changed it to Pennsylvania in honor of Penn.
Although Penn's authority over the colony was officially subject only to that of
the king, through his Frame of Government he implemented a democratic system
with full freedom of religion, fair trials, elected representatives of the people in
power, and a separation of powers again ideas that would later form the basis
of the American constitution. The freedom of religion in Pennsylvania (complete
freedom of religion for everybody who believed in God) brought not only
English, Welsh, German and Dutch Quakers to the colony, but also Huguenots
(French Protestants), Mennonites, Amish, and Lutherans from Catholic German
states.
William Penn marketed the colony throughout Europe in various languages which
resulted in settlers flocking to Pennsylvania.
Penn had hoped that Pennsylvania would bring profit for himself and his family,
but despite Pennsylvania's rapid growth and diversity, the colony never turned a
profit for Penn or his family. In fact, Penn would later be imprisoned in England
for debt and, at the time of his death in 1718, he was penniless.
On November 28, 1984 Ronald Reagan, upon an Act of Congress by Presidential
Proclamation 5284 declared William Penn and his second wife, Hannah
Callowhill Penn, each to be an Honorary Citizen of the United States.

Today, there is a statue of William Penn atop the City Hall building of
Philadelphia, built by Alexander Milne Calder.

Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin was born in Boston on January 17, 1706.
Benjamins brother started the New England Currant which was the first
newspaper in Boston when Benjamin was 15 years old. Ben loved to read and
write and wanted to be a writer for the paper but his brother would not allow it, so
Ben began to write letters and signed them with a fictional widows name, Silence
Dogood. All of his writings were a hit in the paper and everyone wanted to know
who Silence Dogood was.
After 16 letters, Ben confessed to his brother who was then very jealous. James,
Bens brother, was thrown in jail for his views on a matter realateed to the chicken
pox, so Ben was left to run the paper for several issues. James was not grateful for
Ben continuing the paper and harassed him and administered beating. Ben
decided to run away in 1723.
Running away was illegal. In early America, people all had to have a place in
society and runaways did not fit in anywhere. Regardless Ben took a boat to New
York where he hoped to find work as a printer. He didn't, and walked across New
Jersey, finally arriving in Philadelphia via a boat ride.
Franklin found work as an apprentice printer. He did so well that the governor of
Pennsylvania promised to set him up in business for himself if young Franklin
would just go to London to buy fonts and printing equipment. Franklin did go to
London, but the governor reneged on his promise and Benjamin was forced to
spend several months in England doing print work
Upon returning to Philadelphia, Franklin tried his hand at helping to run a shop,
but soon went back to being a printer's helper. Franklin was a better printer than
the man he was working for, so he borrowed some money and set himself up in
the printing business.
Soon he began getting the contract to do government jobs and started thriving in
business.
In 1728, Benjamin fathered a child named William. The mother of William is not
known. However, in 1730 Benjamin married his childhood sweetheart, Deborah
Read. Deborah's husband had run off, and now she was able to marry.
In addition to running a print shop, the Franklins also ran their own store at this
time, with Deborah selling everything from soap to fabric. Ben also ran a book
store. They were quite enterprising.
In 1729, Benjamin Franklin bought a newspaper, the Pennsylvania Gazette.
Franklin not only printed the paper, but often contributed pieces to the paper
under aliases. His newspaper soon became the most successful in the colonies
But Franklin thrived on work. In 1733 he started publishing Poor Richard's
Almanack. Almanacs of the era were printed annually, and contained things like
weather reports, recipes, predictions and homilies. Franklin published his almanac

under the guise of a man named Richard Saunders, a poor man who needed
money to take care of his carping wife.
Franklin's printing business was thriving in this 1730s and 1740s. He also started
setting up franchise printing partnerships in other cities. By 1749 he retired from
business and started concentrating on science, experiments, and inventions.
In 1743 he invented a heat efficient stove called the Franklin stove which
efficiently warmed houses
He also invented the swim fins
In the early 1750's he turned to the study of electricity. His observations,
including his kite experiment which verified the nature of electricity and lightning
brought Franklin international fame.
Franklin was elected to the Second Continental Congress and worked on a
committee of five that helped to draft the Declaration of Independence. Though
much of the writing is Thomas Jefferson's, much of the contribution is Franklin's.
In 1776 Franklin signed the Declaration, and afterward sailed to France as an
ambassador to the Court of Louis XVI.
Now a man in his late seventies, Franklin returned to America. He became
President of the Executive Council of Pennsylvania. He served as a delegate to the
Constitutional Convention and signed the Constitution. One of his last public acts
was writing an anti-slavery treatise in 1789.
Franklin died on April 17, 1790 at the age of 84. 20,000 people attended the
funeral of the man who was called, "the harmonious human multitude."

Thomas Jefferson:
Thomas Jefferson was born on April 13, 1743, in Shadwell, Virginia.
In 1760, having learned all he could from Maury, Jefferson left home to attend the
College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia's capital.
After three years at William and Mary, Jefferson decided to read law under
Wythe, one of the preeminent lawyers of the American colonies. There were no
law schools at this time; instead aspiring attorneys "read law" under the
supervision of an established lawyer before being examined by the bar. Wythe
guided Jefferson through an extraordinarily rigorous five-year course of study
(more than double the typical duration); by the time Jefferson won admission to
the Virginia bar in 1767, he was already one of the most learned lawyers in
America.
In June 1776, the Congress appointed a five-man committee (Jefferson, John
Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman and Robert Livingston) to draft a
Declaration of Independence.
Thomas was the main author and over the next 17 days, Jefferson drafted one of
the most beautiful and powerful testaments to liberty and equality in world
history.
In 1777, Jefferson wrote the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, which
established freedom of religion and the separation of church and state. Although

the document was not adopted as Virginia state law for another nine years, it was
one of Jefferson's proudest life accomplishments.
Thomas Jefferson was the United States third president beginning in 1800
Although Jefferson easily won re-election in 1804, his second term in office
proved much more difficult and less productive than his first.
Jefferson died on July 4, 1826

Resources:
http://www.ushistory.org/penn/bio.htm
http://www.biography.com/people/william-penn-9436869#founding-of-pennsylvania
http://www.ushistory.org/franklin/info/
http://www.biography.com/people/thomas-jefferson-9353715
More kid friendly resources:
http://www.mrsrenz.net/tptbiog/benfranklin.htm
http://www.ducksters.com/history/colonial_america/william_penn.php
Goal: children will understand the contributions that important people have made in the
mid-Atlantic region
Objective: Children will be able to distinguish 3 facts or contributions that specific
important people have in made in the mid-Atlantic region