UMF Unit-Wide Lesson Plan Template

Name: Haley Knowlton Program: Student Teaching Course: Sociology

Lesson Topic / Title: Religious Organizations Continued

Lesson Date: March 16th Lesson Length: 60 Minutes Grade/Age: Grades 10-12

Learning Objectives & Content Standard Alignment - Selects, creates, and sequences learning experiences and
performance tasks that support learners in reaching rigorous curriculum goals based on content standards.
Learning Objective(s) Instructional Decisions / Reasoning

● Students are able to explain the difference ● Knowing the vocabulary difference between
between a sect and cult. a sect and a cult illustrates a developing
understanding of religious concepts that we
are studying further in class. Being able to
explain the difference informs me that the
students are ready to move forward further
into more advanced concepts.
● Students can identify one example for each of ● Identifying their own examples of the five
the five dimensions of religiosity. dimensions of religiosity demonstrates
student’s understanding of the material.
● Students can provide examples of how ● Identifying how religion or religious
religious organizations can influence group organizations can influence group behavior is
behavior(s). directly tied to Sociology. Understanding this
interaction means that students understand
why we are studying religion which is more
based on blind belief in Sociology, which is a
scientific discipline.

Content Standard(s) Instructional Decisions / Reasoning

College Level Public Speaking As discussed previously, there are no content

● Is skilled at presenting information, findings, standards for Sociology, due to the fact that it is an
and supporting evidence, conveying a clear elective course. There are however related English
standards that we can use to further develop some of
and distinct perspective, such that listeners
their academic skills. As well as a standard required
can follow the line of reasoning. in World History that directly involves religion and
Grade 11 English Standard their impacts on the social system. I was careful to
● Use conventions of standard grammar and include one from each grade level that my students
usage when writing and speaking. are in. Some of the standards students may have
World History (10th Grade) already been exposed to in previous grades or
● Understands how various religions are courses so there are age/level appropriate ones for
them. This is combined with including standards that
impacting the world today.
my younger/underclassmen students will not have
○ I can analyze the ways in which seen yet but will be facing soon. This exposure to the
secular and religious belief systems higher level thinking and writing will get them to
affected political, economic and social start developing skills that they will be utilizing in
systems. the future if they are not already using them.
● The college level public speaking is
something that is offered to senior students
 at Edward Little. Selection of this standard so
that students can focus on developing their
writing/individual perspectives and
supporting it up with evidence.
● The 11th grade standard is targeted to focus
on their fluency skills in both speaking and
writing. Developing their answers into
complete sentences that are easily followed
is not just a skill that they will need through
high school but also throughout life.
● Sociology itself is the scientific study of social
structures. This 10th grade target and the
indicator listed below directly deal with how
religion can impact social systems. Through
the beginning days of this unit we have
analyzed major religions and how they
influence society, today we are looking at
more specific examples of how cult
ideologies influence people or groups.

Assessment - Uses assessment flexibly to expand and deepen understanding of learner performance and determines
best supports for continued learner growth.
Assessment Instructional Decisions / Reasoning

● Chapter 14 Section 3 Questions (Formative ● The questions at the end of chapter 14

Assessment) section 3 are completed individually as a
formative assessment. Having the students
complete them on their own illustrates their
understanding of the concepts we introduced
yesterday, March 15th.
● Understanding the Danger of Cults Questions ● Questions at the end of the article,
(Formative Assessment) Understanding the Danger of Cults are all
opinion based. There is however, a
requirement that they explain their opinions
demonstrating whether or not they grasp the
concept(s) the questions are asking about.
This section is again done independently as
homework for today’s class so that we can
base our in class discussion on the material
in the article.
● Short Answer Questions (Formative ● Students will be assigned some short answer
Assessment) questions to complete for homework after
today’s class as a final check for
understanding before the class moves
forward in the material.
● Discussion Participation (Habits of ● Student participation in the class discussion
Work/Participation) will be assessed not only for their Habits of
Work grade where they are not only assessed
on class involvement per the school rubric
but also, assessing their ability to digest
these concepts and explain them to their
 classmates. This illustrates a higher level of
thinking and understanding of the concepts.

Instructional Materials and Resources - Stays current in content knowledge and expands expertise in reviewing
instructional materials from the perspectives of both the discipline and individual learner needs.
Materials, Resources, and/or Technology Instructional Decisions / Reasoning

● Laptops ● Students will need their laptops to access

their homework assignments (Chapter 14
Section 3 Questions, Understanding the
Danger of Cults Questions/Article) which
were posted and submitted on our google
classroom page. It will also allow for them to
have digital access to the homework
assignment (The Short Answer Questions)
for the day during our designated work time.
● Zoom ● Zoom is essential in reaching the students
from home. We have cameras in the room
which connect to zoom so that the students
who are on remote learning are able to see
what is going on in the classroom, including
anything I share visually on the computer
through screen sharing or any notes that I
happen to write on the board. Our zoom call
and cameras in the room will show them in
real time what is happening so that they are
not behind in material covered.
● Chapter 14 Section 3 Reading & Questions ● The Chapter 14 Section 3 Reading is one that
we did together yesterday. For homework
they were assigned two questions which we
are using for part of our class discussion
today. So, they will need access to the
questions and their answers. This
assignment was also paired on google
classroom with the reading so that during
our discussion today they can refer back to it
if necessary. The questions were completed
individually and required them to put things
into their own words or create their own
examples so it is a chance to share their
perspectives with the class.
● Understanding the Danger of Cults Article & ● Understanding the Danger of Cults Article is
Questions also scanned on google classroom. This was a
homework assignment from yesterday,
March 15th. It will also be part of the class
discussion, there are open ended opinion
questions that were completed individually.
The discussion allows students to discuss
different perspectives that they each have on
the material in the article.
 ● Introduction to Cults Video ● Introduction to Cults Video is to provide
additional information about how cults form.
We were introduced to the concept of a cult
in a religious context yesterday in the
Chapter 14 Section 3 reading. This video
explains it in a broader sense beyond just
religion or how it can start off as being a part
of religion and break off into something
completely new. Students may not have been
previously exposed to cults in other courses
so this is mainly to provide them with more
information.
● Short Answer Questions ● The section of short answer questions will be
used to test application of vocabulary and
concepts about religion as it applies to cults.
This is to wrap up some of the larger scale
examples and functions of religion on groups
of people before we get into the specifics of it
with cults in their final summative
assessment on March 17th.

Instructional Methods: Selects, creates, and sequences learning experiences and performance tasks by using a
variety of instructional approaches, strategies, and technologies that make learning accessible to all learners and
support learners in reaching rigorous curriculum goals.
Teaching and Learning Sequence Instructional Decisions / Reasoning

● Attendance, Agenda and Check-ins (7 ● I allow for approximately seven minutes at

Minutes) the start of class for attendance and
check-ins with the students to build
connections with them. This extended time is
also where they can ask some questions
about the homework or just feel like they can
settle in before we get into covering material.
It also allows for any technological glitches,
zoom issues or tardiness to be resolved and
not interfere as much with my time covering
class material. Some remote students show
up routinely a few minutes after class starts
so it prevents a lot of recovering or
reteaching of material that we go over at the
immediate start of class.
● Chapter 14 Section 3 Reading ● Section 3 was an extremely short section
Recap/Overview of Questions and Answers within the larger scale of chapter 14. Though
(10-15 Minutes) short there are some really important
concepts present in the section. Therefore, I
am taking time after we have read the
chapter together and assigned the questions
as individual work to go over it. The aim
being to reinforce the importance of these
concepts present and providing them with a
variety of examples which will further
 develop their exposure and understanding of
the material.
● Recap/Overview of Article and Questions- ● The article, Understanding the Danger of Cults
Understanding the Danger of Cults (10-15 is an introduction to a case study of cults. It
Minutes) provides a short background about a cult
experience and also highlights essential
aspects of what goes on in cults and the
motivations of people that join them. This
article is extremely important because it
illustrates what if influencing the behaviors
of people who join cults. It is also a prelude
to a video we will be watching on March 17th
about Jim Jones and Jonestown.
● Cult Introduction Video and Quick Discussion ● Students were very briefly introduced to the
(10 Minutes) concept of cults yesterday in Sociology. This
video is going to be used to further develop
some of that introduction knowledge and
also dispel misconceptions that the students
might have about cults. I am using this as a
scaffold to connect material from the
discussions, in particular the discussion on
Understanding the Danger of Cults to their
larger summative project on cults and their
connections to sociologists observing the
behavior of individuals involved in cults.
● Short Answer Questions and Work Time (10 ● We are currently winding down our unit on
Minutes) how religion and religious organizations
influence the behavior of individuals within
society. This set of short answer questions is
used as a formative assessment/final check
for understanding of the material before the
students are introduced to their summative
assessment on March 17th.
● Clean-up and Questions (3 Minutes) ● Clean up procedures are required to be done
due to COVID-19 guidelines. As a result I allot
time for the students to pack up and sanitize
while I clean their desks and chairs. This final
section of the class is also allotted for
questions and clarifications on things we
covered in class and any homework that they
have.

Meeting students’ needs (differentiation, Instructional Decisions / Reasoning

extensions, modifications, accommodations)
● Individual Work ● There are portions of this lesson plan that
are focused around students completing
work individually. Mainly the questions from
section three as well as the questions from
the article. As indicated by my students in
their learning style surveys, as well as
summarized in my teacher work sample, this
 particular group of students has a fondness
for individual work/work time. As a result I
often incorporate responses or questions for
students to respond to individually. This is
also the basis for the class discussions where
we will be reviewing the concepts present in
the questions that they had to answer for
homework.
● Group Work/Discussions ● As mentioned above, this group of students
enjoys having independent work time. They
also however, have an interest in group
discussions and collaboration. Not only does
it get them to see one another’s perspectives
but caters to their desire of interacting with
one another on the class material. This desire
for collaboration and class discussions was
also indicated on the student’s learning
surveys as being something important or
conducive to their learning. (5 out of six
students had this highlighted)
● Cult Video Scaffolding ● There were a few students absent on 3/15
which means that they missed out on the
introduction conversation/in class reading
that we had on cults. As a result I adapted
today’s lesson to include a video explaining
cults. This is to eliminate potential
misconceptions that they may have, get
certain students caught up on the material as
well as further develop or scaffold the
knowledge of their classmates and what they
already know about cults.

Field Course Only – Post lesson

Reflection

For today’s lesson the students were required to use material introduced yesterday, responses to opinion
questions, to guide and influence the class discussion. Not all of the students participated verbally, and as a
result three of six students met the objectives through verbal participation.
Going over their written work after class and answering the opinion questions which were asked during the
discussion, all students met the objectives through their written work.

Looking at those results I would say that this class was successful. I recognize that not everyone is
comfortable with verbal discussions of their own opinions for fear of ridicule or other reasonings. This is
why I offer them the option to participate verbally. Hosting class discussions and getting everyone involved is
also something that we do not do very often. It is something that we have been working on/towards. Taking
this into consideration I feel like overall, the students did good.

A strength of this lesson was the focus on learning objectives and making sure that the discussions and work
we did aligned with those learning objectives.
If I were to teach this lesson again I would have some questions that might be less threatening, not strictly
opinion questions so that they would hopefully feel less intimidated and afraid to answer them in the more
public setting of a class discussion.

Teaching Standards and Rationale

Standard #6 Assessment: The teacher understands and uses multiple methods of assessment to engage
learners in their own growth, to document learner progress, and to guide the teacher’s on-going planning
and instruction.
Performance 6 (e): Engages learners in multiple ways of demonstrating knowledge and skill as part of the
assessment process.

For today’s lesson students not only engaged in written work but also a verbal discussion of the materials
and their written work. The verbal participation will be graded as part of their habits of work grade which is
required by administration. The second portion, the opinion questions and written work is going to be
graded as a formative assessment. I am not judging them on their opinions, just whether or not the students
put effort and took the time to answer the questions thoughtfully. This is done in order to ensure that
students have the proper channels to identify or express their learning in ways that are comfortable for
them.

Standard #8 Instructional Strategies: The teacher understands and uses a variety of instructional
strategies to encourage learners to develop deep understanding of content areas and their connections, and
to build skills to access and appropriately apply information.
Essential Knowledge Performance 8 (d): Varies his or her role in the instructional process (e.g., instructor,
facilitator, coach, audience) in relation to the content and purposes of instruction and the needs of learners.

In today’s lesson I guided the discussion, directing the students' attention to focus on one question until they
had exhausted their opinions or conversations with one another. Then I would highlight some of the key
points of their conversation and direct the next question/mediate who had the floor to talk. Today’s focus
was really about building their own opinions, having the students share their knowledge with one another.
This way they could be exposed to more than one perspective and see how other people look at some of
these issues. Then we refocused on new material in order to summarize their learning thus far with a short
video. Followed by, instructional time on explaining their homework and allowing them to ask
questions/start their assignment. Overall this lesson showcased a variety of instructional approaches best
suited to the style of activity they were connected to.