Lesson Planning Tool

PRE-PLANNING STEPS

Lesson Standards / Essential Questions

Teacher: Emily Scott
Grade: 6
Content Area: U.S. and World History (The Great Depression)
EL’s English Language Proficiency Level: Level 3 — Expanding
Cultural background: The English Language Learner arrived from India less than a year ago.
He attended an international school in Delhi where he was taught English. His English-speaking
ability is strong, but he struggles with writing, listening and understanding assignments and
directions.
WIDA ELD Standard 5 Language for Social Studies (ELD-SS 6-8 Explain Interpretive):
Multilingual learners will be able to interpret social studies explanations by:
-Determining multiple points of view in sources for answer compelling and supporting questions
about phenomena or events
-Analyzing sources for logical relationships among contributing factors or causes
-Evaluating experts’ points of agreement, along with strengths and weaknesses
WIDA ELD Standard 5 Language for Social Studies (ELD-SS 6-8 Explain Expressive):
Multilingual learners will be able to construct social studies explanations that:
-Introduce and contextualize phenomena or events
-Establish perspective for communicating outcomes, consequences or documentation
-Develop reasoning, sequences with linear and nonlinear relationships, evidence, and details,
acknowledging strengths and weaknesses.
Standard - 8.3.6.A: Explain the social, political, cultural, and economic contributions of
individuals and groups to United States history.
Standard - 8.3.6.C: Explain how continuity and change have impacted U.S. history:
-Belief systems and religions
-Commerce and industry
-Technology
-Politics and government
-Physical and human geography
-Social organizations
Standard - 8.3.6.D: Explain how conflict and cooperation among groups and organizations have
impacted the history and development of the U.S:
-Ethnicity and race
-Working conditions
-Immigration
-Military conflict
-Economic stability
Lesson Learning Goals and Objectives

After one-class period lesson, students will be able to define the Great Depression, explain its
implications for the United States, identify programs developed to help citizens, and define key
vocabulary related to the Great Depression by answering comprehension questions correctly 90%
of the time using open notes.
ELL Language Objective: After a one-class period lesson, the ELL student will be able to
discuss the main idea of an article on The Great Depression that we listen to through a shared
reading as a class.

Materials (Including technology infusion if appropriate)

Article on The Great Depression: https://www.scholastic.com/teachdearamerica/depression.htm

Video on The Great Depression: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqx2E5qIV9s

The teacher will use the Smartboard in the classroom for showcasing materials and directions.

The teacher will provide flashcards on the Great Depression for English Language Learners as
well as the rest of the class (PDF attached at the end of lesson plan)

Great Depression comprehension questions (PDF attached at the end of lesson plan)

Great Depression photos: https://www.shorpy.com/dorothea-lange-photographs

Great Depression Photography worksheet (PDF attached at the end of lesson plan)

Great Depression Quiz (PDF attached at the end of lesson plan)

INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES (BDA)

Before Instructional Strategies (Introduction) Time Needed: 15

minutes

Tell students to imagine that tomorrow the banks will stop giving out money to every person in
Philadelphia. Ask: What do you think it would be like if Philadelphians couldn’t access any
money? What about the entire country? Allow for responses and discussion. Do you believe this
has ever happened in the history of the United States? How do you think this could have
happened? Allow for responses and discussion.

To accommodate the needs of English Language Learners, the teacher will speak slowly and
clearly, using expression and body language while asking students engaging questions and giving
them directions.

Students will watch a video (with captions for ELLs and students hard of hearing) that explains
the history of the Great Depression and helps students learn about its causes, along with the
impact it had on the world-wide economy. They will take notes about their biggest takeaways and
what sticks out to them about the Great Depression in their class notebooks. They will also write
down what questions they still have about the Great Depression. Students will then engage in
Think-Pair-Share with the person sitting next to them.

While giving directions, the teacher will use shorter sentences with simpler syntax and use more
pauses between phrases for English Language Learners.
The teacher will also review the differences between an economic depression and recession, and
ensure students understand what the word economy means. The teacher will pause here to explain
to English Language Learners that depression is a cognate in many languages. Although its
normally talked about in the context of someone feeling sad, it also refers to the slowdown in the
activity or quality of something — in this case, the slowdown of the United States economy,
which is the country’s wealth and resources.

The teacher will create flashcards that include Great Depression, recession, and economy to assist
English Language Learners as they are learning and participating in class.
During Instructional Strategies Time Needed: 25
minutes
Distribute articles on the Great Depression that discuss the stock market crash, the Dust Bowl,
everyday life during the Great Depression, the New Deal and the overall ripple effects of this time
period. Call on students to read aloud each paragraph. During the reading, ask students to
compare life today with those during the Depression. What is the same? What has changed? Have
them write this down on a piece of paper and then have students Think-Pair-Share with the
classmate next to them.

As students read, the teacher will interrupt when appropriate to stress and review high-frequency
vocabulary.

The teacher distributes a class activity worksheet. Students will work with a partner and look at
famous photographs from the Great Depression. Together, the students will answer questions
unique to the photo, which will require them to infer meaning from the images.
The teacher will display the directions using graphics, visualizations, realia and more on the
Smartboard for ELLs explaining the meaning behind unfamiliar words like aerial, candid, and
posed in the context of the pictures. The teacher will walk around the room to watch carefully for
comprehension and will be ready to repeat to clarify meaning whenever necessary.
Once completed, the pairs of students share the responses with the class. The teacher then
distributes a plain white sheet of paper and asks students to answer independently one last
question based on the photos. “If you could go back in time today, what things could you do to
help the people in the photos during the Great Depression?” Have students write their responses
on a plain white sheet of paper and have them decorate it with colored pencils. Encourage a
conversation about how we can help people who are struggling today, such as people
experiencing homelessness. Collect the responses and hang them up in the classroom.

After Instructional Strategies (Closing & Additional Reinforcement/Practice) Time Needed: 10

minutes
In closing ask students, “Do you believe there could ever be another Great Depression in
America? Why or why not?” Allow for responses and discussion. Ask students to be specific
about the things that would need to happen for the start of another Great Depression. Again,
reiterate the differences between a depression and a recession.

Accommodations or Modifications needed for students with disabilities or ESOL

English Language Learners will have extended time to complete the test during the school day.
Students will also be able to use a bilingual word-to-word dictionary to assist them with the class
activity worksheet and for any other relevant items.
Differentiation
From the perspective of teaching for English Language Learners, the hope and goal of this lesson
is to help students reach language acquisition and comprehensible input of Social Studies
academic concepts. The National Council for Social Studies has said the purpose of teaching this
subject is to help young people “develop the ability to make informed and reasoned decisions for
the public good as citizens of a culturally diverse democratic society in an interdependent world.”
That’s why it’s important that teachers work hard to make the material understandable and build
the foundation for ELLs to take on more challenging material.

Thinking about differentiated instruction for our diverse learners is important and so it’s a
challenge to consider how specifically I would align my objectives to students of varying learning
abilities with many different needs. However, in thinking more broadly, I would ensure that the
video presented in class had closed captions for students with hearing difficulties.

For students who struggle with fluency and comprehension, I would modify the homework and
classroom activity and homework sheets to match the amount of time it would take other students
in the class to complete the assignments. This may mean removing some of the more challenging
questions. For students with literacy challenges, the teacher will also provide support by reading
the questions aloud to the students.
ASSESSMENT OF GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

How will you assess student learning in each phase? How will you provide feedback to students?

Throughout each phase of the lesson, the teacher will check in with students as they are working
independently or with partners, prompting them with backpocket questions, like “How did the
Great Depression affect different people, such as farmers, bankers, and families?

Students will also answer comprehension questions based on the Scholastic Article reading.

Students will also take a quiz that asks them to answer multiple choice and true-false questions
about the Great Depression. The quiz is open note, so they can use any of the articles and videos
we have used in the lesson to assist them. The teacher will support ELLs by guiding them for
questions they may have difficulty understanding upon first read, by restating the questions using
simpler language. ELLs can also use their flashcards to help them.