Lesson Plans

Standards-Based Outcomes (MDE):

Social Studies:

I. Historical Perspective

Content Standard I, 2: All students will understand narratives about major eras of American and world history by identifying the people involved, describing the setting, and sequencing the events. (Comprehending the Past)

2. Use narratives and graphic data to compare the past of their local community, the state of Michigan, and other parts of the United States with present day life in those places.

III. Civic Perspective

Content Standard III, 2: All students will explain the meaning and origin of the ideas, including the core democratic values, expressed in the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and other foundational documents of the United States. (Ideals of American Democracy)

2. Interpret the meaning of specific rights guaranteed by the Constitution including religious liberty, free expression, privacy, property, due process of law, and equal protection of the law.

V. Inquiry

Content Standard V, 1: All students will acquire information from books, maps, newspapers, data sets, and other sources, organize and present the information in maps, graphs, charts, and timelines, interpret the meaning and significance of information, and use a variety of electronic technologies to assist in accessing and managing information. (Information Processing)

3. Interpret social science information about local, state, and national communities from maps, graphs, and charts.

VI. Public Discourse and Decision Making

Content Standard VI, 1: All students will state an issue clearly as a question of public policy, trace the origins of the issue, analyze various perspectives people bring to the issue, and evaluate possible ways to resolve the issue. (Identifying and Analyzing Issues)

1. Pose local, state, and national policy issues as questions.

2. Explain how a particular public issue became a problem and why people disagree about it.

3. Evaluate possible resolutions of a public issue.

Content Standard VI, 2: All students will engage their peers in constructive conversation about matters of public concern by clarifying issues, considering opposing views, applying democratic values, anticipating consequences, and working toward making decisions. (Group Discussion)

2. Engage each other in conversations which attempt to clarify and resolve issues pertaining to local, state, and national policy.

Content Standard VI, 3: All students will compose coherent written essays that express a position on a public issue and justify the position with reasoned arguments. (Persuasive Writing)

1. Compose a short essay expressing a decision on a policy issue on a local, state, or national policy issue.

Cue Set:

A public policy question is raised in class. This policy issue can involve topics such as school uniforms or curfews in cities. After the topic is introduced, the teacher leads a discussion that introduces both viewpoints of the policy issue. This question is then posed on the Internet using the school districtís web site. Parents and friends of the students are asked to choose a position and explain their reasons on the web site. The teacher then uses the results from the survey to further create interest in the topic.

Best Shot Instruction:

Two teachers and their fifth grade classes in a school district agree to debate a policy issue.
The teachers complete the cue setting activity with their respective students.
The teachers then pair up students in their classes with those holding opposing viewpoints at the other school. (i.e. student A from school 1 is paired up with student B from school 2)
All students prepare their positions in written form prior to debating with the students from the other school. This is done following the extended response format in the Social Studies MEAP.
Students are then briefed on the guidelines for debating their positions online with the other students. Students are reminded that their debates will be monitored and printed after they are completed.
Students then use the districtís networked communications to debate their positions. Students have a set amount of time to debate with their opponents. The issue is debated using the MEAP format and students present their arguments as they wrote their actual responses (using information presented in charts, using a core democratic value, etc.).
After the debates have been concluded, the students write summaries. The students are required to summarize the arguments that were presented by both sides. They then explain how this live debate affected their positions. Did they change their minds or do they believe more than ever in their positions?
Follow up letters can be sent from the students to their counterparts. They should thank each other for sharing their views concerning the issue.

Reteaching and Enrichment:

In order for students to better prepare for the MEAP examination and become better debaters, this lesson can be repeated using a different policy issue and different debating opponents.

Review and Closure:

Students present summaries of their individual debates. This allows the rest of the class to hear the arguments presented by all participants.

Assessment:

Formative Assessment:

1. The practice extended responses are correctly written in the MEAP format.

2. Completion of the debate summaries shows understanding of the issues, the differing viewpoints, and the extended response format.

Summative Assessment:

1. Students achieve passing scores on the extended response portion of the practice policy issue assignment.

2. Students write debate summaries containing an outline of the arguments presented by both participants and a reflection of how the debate affected their attitudes about the issue.

3. Students achieve passing scores (determined by the state) on the extended response portion of the actual Social Studies MEAP exam.

East Detroit Public Schools Lesson Design

East Detroit Public Schools
Lesson Design