Edtpa Lesson Plans Robert Williams
Edtpa Lesson Plans Robert Williams
Edtpa Lesson Plans Robert Williams
The Content
1. Previous Learning- Unit 5 covers post-WWII America in the 1950s, and then transitions into
segregation and the Civil Rights movements of the 1950s-1970s. This covers the entire range of
the movement, from Martin Luther King, Jr and nonviolence to Stokeley Carmichael and the
Black Power movement. It also covers the JFK administration and assassination. We began our
Vietnam unit with notes on Vietnam’s colonial past, America’s early involvement, Cold War
containment policy towards communism, the “domino theory” that all of Asia would become
communist if Vietnam did, and an overview of the counterculture.
2. Future Learning- We will continue to learn about the Vietnam War, focusing on the impacts that
the Tet Offensive had on both the war and the American public. We’ll spend a day covering other
important events in 1968, and then transition into Nixon’s election as President, his Vietnam
policies, and then the end of the war.
The Environment
3. The desks are set up in rows, with 4x2 seat desk rows facing the Smartboard in front of the class.
There are also 2x5 seat rows that face inward toward the middle rows. This set-up is unorthodox
but allows all of the students to see the Smartboard. There is also good space between rows that
allows me to circulate with ease. Providing students with copies of all the sources that I have
allows my students to annotate as they please and makes it easier to read (they have their own
copies in front of them to read off of, instead of trying to read the sources on the board.
The Lesson
1. Unit 6/10th Grade/U.S. History/January 4th, 2019
2. Performance Objective
Students will be able to articulate an argument about President Lyndon Johnson’s role in escalating the
Vietnam War. Students will also be able to support that argument with evidence from primary sources.
4. Assessment Strategy
My assessment plan is to collect a document (single sheet of paper) where students record their thoughts
on Johnson’s role in escalating the Vietnam War. They will answer the following question: “Did Lyndon
Johnson alone force America into the Vietnam War? Why or why not?” The second time I ask the
question, I will add the following caveat: “Cite at least primary source from class in your answer.”
Initially, students will record a couple sentences based on a textbook-driven lecture. After we look at
primary sources and at the end of class, I will ask students to answer the same question, but this time they
will write a paragraph length answer citing some of the sources that we covered in class. This is how I
will obtain evidence of student growth with regards to the content standards in my Rationale (Section 3).
When assessing the student responses, I am looking for the students to take a position on a historical
issue, which is the degree to which President Johnson is responsible for forcing America into the Vietnam
War. I am also looking for those students to develop that position into a persuasive argument by citing
information from the sources we read in class. This assessment is a formative, written assessment of the
students’ ability to construct a valid argument based on information from historical sources.
7. Grouping Strategy
My grouping strategy uses small groups of 4-5, which allows the students to have several different minds
at work processing a source at the same time. Thus, the students will get 3-4 other perspectives on the
source in front of them, which helps them process and reflect on their own ideas. It also allows for
students to bounce questions off one another and create a collaborative, collective understanding of the
source material. I chose the “mock draft” format for multiple reasons. First, a “draft” fits in well with the
Vietnam unit that I am teaching. Second, it allows for me shake up the usual social groupings in my
classes, which forces the students to work with peers who do not necessarily hold the same worldview as
them. Thus, the grouping strategy will challenge my students’ beliefs and help them grow as thinkers and
people.
8. Materials
Computer
Smartboard
Lesson PowerPoint, based on the class textbook.
LBJ modified primary sources (from SHEG; https://sheg.stanford.edu/history-lessons/gulf-
tonkin-resolution)
SHEG Guided Questions for Sources B and D (see above URL)
LBJ argument handouts (to be collected as evidence at the end of the lesson)
History Alive! Textbook (serves as basis for the PowerPoint)
9. Enactment
Hook (20 min total)
Bell Work (10 min)- See PowerPoint slides.
Current Event (5-10 min)- Done after the bell-work is finished.
Student Aim (said during the end of the hook after current event)
Today, we will be learning about how the United States officially entered the war. We will also attempt to
determine the role that President Johnson played in getting the US to enter Vietnam by testing the
textbook against primary sources.
What examples of the domino theory do you see in these sources? (Also: what examples of
containment do you see in these sources?)
According to this document, what did the North Vietnamese do?
Why did the United States feel compelled to respond at this point?
According to this document, was the U.S. planning to go to war in Vietnam before August 1964?
Explain your answer. (Use this as an example to model what an source supported argument looks
like)
Culmination (5 min)
Students will write a paragraph, citing information from at least one primary source, about the degree of
President Johnson’s responsibility for the United States entering into Vietnam. This will take the place of
me telling them what Johnson’s role was. Students will be responsible for summarizing and synthesizing
that information themselves.
Leap (5 min)
During the last five minutes of class, I will frame US entry into Vietnam in light of the information that
we learned about the counterculture yesterday. This also serves as a leap into upcoming lessons next week
where I talk about the roles and impacts of the antiwar movement on American society.
edTPA Lesson Plan 2 of 3
The Content
4. Previous Learning- Unit 5 covers post-WWII America in the 1950s, and then transitions into
segregation and the Civil Rights movements of the 1950s-1970s. This covers the entire range of
the movement, from Martin Luther King, Jr and nonviolence to Stokeley Carmichael and the
Black Power movement. I also did a lesson on other minority groups that sought to gain their own
civil rights during the 1960s and 1970s. It also covers the JFK administration and assassination.
After testing on Unit 5, we did some background on the counterculture and the origins of
American involvement in Vietnam. We also examined primary sources and created arguments,
supported by evidence, about the degree to which President Johnson forced the United States into
the Vietnam War.
5. Future Learning- We will continue to learn about the Vietnam War, focusing on the impacts that
the Tet Offensive had on both the war and the American public. We’ll spend a day covering other
important events in 1968, and then transition into Nixon’s election as President, his Vietnam
policies, and then the end of the war.
The Environment
6. The desks are set up in rows, with 4x2 seat desk rows facing the Smartboard in front of the class.
There are also 2x5 seat rows that face inward toward the middle rows. This set-up is unorthodox
but allows all of the students to see the Smartboard. There is also good space between rows that
allows me to circulate with ease. Providing students with copies of all the sources that I have
allows my students to annotate as they please and makes it easier to read (they have their own
copies in front of them to read off of, instead of trying to read the sources on the board.
The Lesson
1. Unit 6/10th Grade/U.S. History/January 7th, 2019
2. Performance Objective
Students will be able to differentiate between the pro-war “hawks” and pro-peace “doves” and explain the
positions of the two sides. Students will analyze songs from the 1965 and connect the lyrics to a pro-war
or anti-war political stance.
4. Assessment Strategy
My assessment plan is to collect an exit slip where each of the students answer the following question:
“Out of the two songs that we listened to in class today, which do you think was more popular? Explain
your reasoning in 2-3 sentences.” This question allows me to, first and foremost, see if my students were
able to make any connections between the songs that I had them listen to and the actual social studies
content. The question also serves as an opportunity for the students to apply their historical thinking skills
to a real-life scenario. Both of those two songs were chosen as finalists for the most popular song of 1965,
and the “Ballad of the Green Berets” ended up winning. So, when the students answer the question, they
need to use the content that I delivered to them to make an educated guess about which song was more
popular. As long as they base their hypothesis on historical evidence, the students do not need to guess
the correct song. The purpose of this assessment is to get students to support a position with evidence.
This assessment is formative, but less rigorous than the previous assessment I did in Lesson #1. I am still
assessing students’ ability to create a stance and argue it with evidence, but for this assessment I only
need some reference to material learned in class and in the song. It can be a direct citation or a passing
mention; so long as the connection is present, I know that the students learned and retained the concepts
that I taught in this lesson. I projected the question onto the Smart Board at the end of my PowerPoint
presentation and then had the students answer that question on a half-sheet of paper.
7. Grouping Strategy
My grouping strategy is a modified think-pair-share. I keep the individual split of the “think”, but have
the students answer my comprehension and analysis questions instead. The students then “pair” up and
try to answer the questions cooperatively. Finally, the whole class “shares” when I pose the questions
from my worksheet to the group and pick volunteers to answer the questions so that everyone hears what
the correct answer.
8. Materials
Computer
Smartboard
Lesson PowerPoint, based on the class textbook.
Song analysis handouts
Half sheets of paper for exit slips
YouTube lyric videos for both “Ballad of the Green Berets” (https://youtu.be/UEDYLcSLHoI)
and “Eve of Destruction” (https://youtu.be/I98KeKV_F9g)
Gallup poll data (https://news.gallup.com/vault/191828/gallup-vault-hawks-doves-vietnam.aspx)
Whiteboard
Markers
9. Enactment
Hook (20 min total)
Bell Work (10 min)
Current Event (5-10 min)
Student Aim
Today, we be examining pro- and anti-war sentiments in the United States during the early stages
of the war, via an analysis of two popular songs from 1965.
Development (50 min)
15 min: Lecture notes, interspersed with think-pair-shares.
5 min: Look at Vietnam War support graph over time, jot down class observations on the board.
15 min: Listen to Song #1 “The Ballad of the Green Berets” and complete worksheet. Modified think-
pair-share (complete WS individually, share with partner, discuss as class).
Culmination (5 min)
Discuss the following questions:
Leap (5 min)
Students will complete the exit slip, as I tell them which song was voted most popular in 1965. I will use
the “Green Beret” oriented lyrics as a bridge into the type of warfighting that I will be talking about
tomorrow, and looking at how that impacts Americans’ views of the Vietnam War.
edTPA Lesson Plan 3 of 3
The Content
7. Previous Learning- Unit 5 covers post-WWII America in the 1950s, and then transitions
into segregation and the Civil Rights movements of the 1950s-1970s. This covers the
entire range of the movement, from Martin Luther King, Jr and nonviolence to Stokeley
Carmichael and the Black Power movement. I also did a lesson on other minority groups
that sought to gain their own civil rights during the 1960s and 1970s. It also covers the
JFK administration and assassination. After testing on Unit 5, we did some background
on the counterculture and the origins of American involvement in Vietnam. We spent one
class period (Lesson Plan #1) practicing inquiry skills with primary sources related to the
Gulf of Tonkin Incident. Lesson Plan #2 focused on the divisions of America during the
early war period (1965-1968 pre-Tet Offensive).
8. Future Learning- We will continue to learn about the Vietnam War, focusing on
important developments after the Tet Offensive. We’ll spend a day covering other
important events in 1968, such as the 1968 Democratic National Convention. After that, I
will transition into Nixon’s election as President, his Vietnam policies, and then the end
of the war.
The Environment
9. The desks are set up in rows, with 4x2 seat desk rows facing the Smartboard in front of
the class. There are also 2x5 seat rows that face inward toward the middle rows. This set-
up is unorthodox but allows all of the students to see the Smartboard. There is also good
space between rows that allows me to circulate with ease. Providing students with copies
of all the sources that I have allows my students to annotate as they please and makes it
easier to read (they have their own copies in front of them to read off of, instead of trying
to read the sources on the board.
The Lesson
1. Unit 6/10th Grade/U.S. History/January 8th, 2019
2. Performance Objective
Students will be able to explain what the Tet Offensive was and identify two important impacts
that the Tet Offensive had on America and its war in Vietnam.
3. Rationale
My lesson relates to Illinois State Standard SS.H.2.9-12. Analyze change and continuity within
and across historical eras. The Tet Offensive, despite being a military defeat for communist
forces in Vietnam, played a huge impact on how America viewed both the Vietnam War and the
American government waging it. As such, it warrants study as an important milestone in the
Vietnam era of American history. On the one hand, the military saw Tet as a success because of
the battlefield victories that they won against communists. Containment appeared to be working,
and the military sought to continue existing policy. However, everyday Americans did not see
things that way. They saw the carnage of the war broadcast into their living rooms, and many
people began to question the way the war was waged, or even the war itself. Thus, the Tet
Offensive served as a catalyst for change among Americans domestically in 1968. In order to
understand American disillusionment with Vietnam, the Tet Offensive is a vital event that must
be studied in detail.
4. Assessment Strategy
My assessment plan is to collect an exit slip where each of the students answer the following
question: “Why are Americans becoming less supportive of the Vietnam War? Answer on a half
sheet of paper in 2-3 sentences.” This assessment question directly determines the degree to
which my students achieved or failed to achieve my performance objective for this lesson. In my
PowerPoint, I gave them two specific reasons for why Americans started to trust the government
less after the Tet Offensive: the credibility gap and media coverage. This assessment is designed
to show me if the students are able to identify those two concepts at the end of my lesson, as well
as their ability to explain those two concepts in a brief manner. That is why I ask the students to
respond in 2-3 sentences: they can write one sentence for media coverage and one sentence for
the credibility gap. If explained well, this exit slips allows the students to demonstrate what they
learned during my lesson. This question is a formative assessment, but also an important
comprehension check. I projected the question onto the Smart Board at the end of my
PowerPoint presentation and then had the students answer that question on a half-sheet of paper.
5. Accommodations for Exceptional Learners
I’m lucky enough to have a special education teacher, Mr. Lyons, attached to my class. So, he
can pull out students with IEPs and give them the individualized support that they need. On my
end, I have my students split into small groups, where they can work with their peers to answer
the questions that go along with each source. This lesson also connects to Howard Gardner’s
multiple intelligences theory, which states that there are many different modalities that students
learn through. Since many of my PowerPoint slides for this lesson are punctuated with video
clips, students who are visual-spatial learners get to see the actual events of the Tet Offensive
transpiring. The shocking nature of seeing things like Agent Orange sprayed on jungle also
provides a stark image that remains in the minds of many students. The video’s use of interviews
and voiceovers from soldiers who fought in Vietnam also provides an opportunity for
interpersonal learners to connect with the content material. They see that actual people actually
lived through these events. The think-pair-share opportunity is also an accommodation for my
students with behavioral issues because it provides an opportunity to reflect and regulate
emotions. It also gives me a chance to check in with these students and make sure that they are
still engaged in the class material and in an otherwise positive state of mind. Students who need
to annotate PowerPoint notes get printed copies of my PowerPoint, and students whose
accommodations call for them to take notes on their Chrome Book are also allowed to do so. My
final exit slip questions adheres to UDL guidelines by manifesting itself in multiple formats:
visually presented on the Smart Board and verbally presented through my instructions.
6. Supporting Content Development through Language
a. Language Function: Describe. Students will be able to describe what the Tet Offensive was,
and how it impacted both the Vietnam War and American public opinion of the war.
b. Learning Task: My students perform the language function when they fill out the exit slip at
the end of class. I ask the students to provide 2-3 sentences of supporting information that
answer the question: “Why are Americans becoming less supportive of the Vietnam War?” They
answer this question on a half sheet of paper that I provide. The question is also projected onto
the Smart Board for the whole class to see.
c. Additional Language Demand: Discourse. Students will need to know what the terms “media
coverage” and “credibility gap” mean in order to answer my question and properly explain why
public support for the war in America began to fall after the Tet Offensive.
d. Language Supports: I define the terms “media coverage” and “credibility gap” for the students
in my PowerPoint, so every student has the opportunity to know what those terms mean and
record them so that they can apply those definitions in my exit slip.
7. Grouping Strategy
My grouping strategy is a think-pair-share. The students individually think about the video clip
that they just watched, collecting their thoughts and making preliminary connections to the
PowerPoint content material. The students then “pair” up and continue to reflect and connect the
video clip to the content as a pair. Finally, the whole class “shares” when I pose the questions
breaking down the video clip to the group. This discussion allows me to give the students some
closure on what they saw and give an explicit explanation of how the video clip connects to the
content that I am teaching.
8. Materials
Computer
Smartboard
Lesson PowerPoint (time stamps of the video clip to be shown in conjunction with my
PowerPoint slides are contained in the notes section of the pertinent slides). Based on the
class textbook.
Half sheets of paper for exit slips
Whiteboard
Markers
Vietnam in HD Tet Episode: https://youtu.be/d9PnqsbsWJk
9. Enactment
Hook (15 min total)
Bell Work (10 min)
Current Event (5 min)
Student Aim
Today, we will learn about the Tet Offensive, specifically what this battle was and the ways in
which it impacted America, both in its war efforts in Vietnam as well as domestically.
Development (60 min)
5 min: PowerPoint notes slide 3.
10 min: Vietnam in HD video with reaction time (think-pair-share).
5 min: PowerPoint notes with napalm clip from Vietnam in HD.
15 min: PowerPoint Slide 8, then Vietnam in HD video.
5 min: PowerPoint Slide 9, then short Vietnam in HD clip.
5 min: Think-pair-share about the short Tet clip.
5 min: PowerPoint remaining slides (10-12).
10 min: Last Vietnam in HD clip and de-brief discussion of the clip.
Culmination (5 min)
Students answer the exit slip question: “Why are Americans becoming less supportive of the
Vietnam War? Answer on a half sheet of paper in 2-3 sentences.”
Leap (5 min; concurrent with culmination)
As the students fill out their exit slips, I will tell them that the anti-war movement will start to
gather steam and cause a lot of domestic turbulence as the war continues, which is what the
following day’s lesson will cover (the 1968 Democratic National Convention).