David Rush

Dr Penny
EDT-517

UDL Lesson Plans

Plymouth

Lesson Overview
Title: Plymouth
Author: David Rush
Subject: History
Grade Level: 7th Grade

Unit Description
This lesson is a part of a series of lessons that focus on the colonial history of the United States.
In this lesson students will learn about the settling of present day Massachusetts. Topics
discussed will include: religious freedom, the Mayflower, puritans, Native Americans, and
Thanksgiving.

Class Discussion
Before class begins the teacher will write down the term “Religious Freedom” on the
whiteboard. He will then ask the class their interpretation of the term. The teacher will then make
a list of these interpretations and write them down on the whiteboard.
After this has occurred the teacher will segway into a discussion about the Puritans. He will
explain who they were and why they left England for religious freedom. He will give a brief
history and then discuss their voyage on the Mayflower, their arrival in the United States, and
their early interactions with Native Americans.

Class Activity:
The class will then begin an assignment where the objective is to create a comic strip about the
Puritans. Slides in the comic strip should include leaving England for religious freedom, riding
across the Atlantic in the Mayflower, the hardships of early colonial life, and the friendship with
Native Americans.

Class Discussion:
After the comic strip has been worked on for twenty minutes or so another discussion will take
place. The teacher will discuss the first Thanksgiving and the friendship between Native
Americans and colonists. Students will then be asked for things that they feel thankful for and a
list will be compiled on the whiteboard.

Movie​:
The class will conclude with students watching “​When is Thanksgiving? Colonizing America:
Crash Course US History #2”

Homework:
For homework students will continue working on their comic strip.

Materials:
Whiteboard
Marker
Computer that can display Youtube videos for the whole class to see
Pencils
Paper
Crayons/Colored Pencils (Optional)

Potential Barriers:
While this lesson is an attempt to align with UDL principles (offering something for everyone)
there are still some difficulties that could be faced by learners. The main issue comes in the
realms of learning styles, as well as aptitudes. For students who learn audiologically the lecture
will be a great opportunity to gain information. However, for the more visual learners, the lecture
will be problematic. The same goes for the movie and comic strip. For students who are artistic
and learn through drawing and creative outlets the comic strip will be a great learning tool.
However, for those who struggle with drawing, this could be frustrating.
By offering a lecture, drawing, and a video, the teacher of this lesson is attempting to follow
UDL standards by reaching several different learning styles and therefore servicing many
different students. The same information is being relayed through all three mediums, therefore it
is three different opportunities to share the information.
UDL Principles are to allow multiple means of engagement, representation, and action and
expression. The different mediums offer multiple means of engagement and representation.
However, the comic strip is only on means of action and expression. This is a barrier to UDL
Principles. In future, the instructor should perhaps offer the opportunity for the students to
choose between several activities such as a comic strip, writing a play or story, or even a song
about what they learned.
Jamestown

Lesson Overview
Title: Jamestown
Author: David Rush
Subject: History
Grade Level: 7th Grade

Unit Description
This lesson is a part of a series of lessons that focus on the colonial history of the United States.
This lesson focuses on Jamestown Colony. Themes that will be discussed in this lesson include
Jamestown as a settlement, John Smith, Pocahontas, John Rolfe, and cash crops.

Discussion
Class will first be asked what they know about Jamestown. Instructor will give brief history of
Jamestown. He will explain why it was founded. He will then pause to show a scene from
Disney’s “Pocahontas” showing a dramatization of voyage over.
He will then discuss the miserable conditions of Jamestown as a settlement. He will show a clip
from Terrence Malick’s “The New World” that provides a depiction of living conditions of
Jamestown. He will then discuss John Smith’s role in making Jamestown a more habitable place.
He will then ask class if they know about Pocahontas. He will discuss her alleged relationship
with Smith and eventual marriage to colonist John Rolfe. He will then discuss the discovery of
tobacco by Rolfe and its role in creating a thriving economy in the new colony.

Activity
Students will then be instructed to get into groups of five. In their groups they will work together
to make a short play about Jamestown. The subject of the play can be anything about Jamestown.
They are free to be creative and discuss anything they learned in class. The play is only meant to
be two minutes long. After twenty minutes of working together students will perform their plays
in front of the class.

Homework Assignment
A map of the thirteen colonies will be assigned at the end of class. The homework assignment
will be to label the thirteen colonies on the map in a similar fashion to the one found in their
assigned textbook.

Materials
Computer with access to Youtube
“Pocahontas” Clip
“New World” Clip
Map of Thirteen Colonies
Textbook with map of Thirteen Colonies
Paper and Pencils to write down play dialogue (Optional)

Potential Barriers
This lesson attempts to follow the principles of UDL in the fact that it provides multiple means
of engagement. Instead of just a lecture (audiological learning), it offers movie clips as visuals to
help in the learning process, as well as a play as a way to showcase and reflect on new found
knowledge. However, despite the attempts to reach multiple learners it does not offer multiple
means of expression and action. The only way for students to express what they learned is
through the play. If a student is not comfortable speaking in front of others, or does not learn by
acting out information, they will not be serviced through this experience.
The homework assignment offers an opportunity for learners who retain information through
artistic expression, but does not offer an opportunity for others. This creates barriers in trying to
stay with the principles of UDL. Future ideas are to offer multiple means of expression. Students
should be given a choice for homework that allows them to correlate to their learning style. They
could either do the map or answer questions from a reading.