Essential Lesson Planning Tools: Pacing Guides & Item Specs

1. Essential Lesson Planning Tools:Pacing Guides & Item Specs • Pacing guides for all grade levels can be found at the Social Sciences district website at: http://socialsciences.dadeschools.net on the main page, under title: Pacing Guides / Lessons • Pacing guides are divided into the four nine week grading periods. • Pacing guides are the driving force of our instruction and our lesson planning. • In Civics & U.S. History, the item specs is another essential tool to use when planning. • US History: http://www.fldoe.org/core/fileparse.php/5662/urlt/0077550-fl09sp_us_history.pdf • Civics: http://www.fldoe.org/core/fileparse.php/5662/urlt/0077548-fl12spiscivicswtr2g.pdf

2. What do I write on my lesson plans? The Essentials: 1. Benchmarks (from pacing guide or item specs) Example: SS.912.A.2.1: Review causes and consequences of the Civil War. 2. Learning objectives( from standards/benchmarks) and Essential Questions to guide and assess learning. 3. Essential Content (topics/subtopics and key vocabulary) 4. Materials / Instructional Tools (Technology, Stimuli, text resources, etc… What tools will you use to deliver instruction?) 5. Detailed steps for delivering instruction It is better to overplan!!! ?

3. 1. Benchmarks(from pacing guide or item specs) • NGSSS-SS Benchmarks Content Benchmarks: (Example) SS.912.A.2.1: Review causes and consequences of the Civil War. • Note that sometimes your lesson will be based on only one benchmark, while other times it will be based on multiple benchmarks. • Some benchmarks might need to be broken down into multiple objectives (consider the example above).

4. 2. Learning Objectives & Essential Questions (from standards/benchmarks) • Look in the pacing guide (or item specs - Civics & U.S. History). • Standards and benchmarks should guide your instruction. • The OBJECTIVE needs to be the goal for student learning. • For example: • SS.912.A.2.1 Review the causes and consequences of the Civil War. (Benchmark) • Students will be able to identify and explain the causes of the Civil War. (Objective) • Essential Questions should be used to foster inquiry, direct student learning, and assess understanding.

5. 3. Essential Topics/Subtopics (your covered content) • For example: • Causes of the Civil War: • Compromise of 1850, Dred Scott decision, Freeport Doctrine, Kansas-Nebraska Act, states’ rights (My students need to know these related CONTENT FOCUS terms as per the item specs) • Other relevant content that my students need to know (taken from the pacing guide): Missouri Compromise, Fugitive Slave Law, popular sovereignty, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Free Soil movement, “Bleeding Kansas”, Republican Party, Lincoln-Douglas Debates, John Brown, Fort Sumter

6. 4. Materials / Instructional Tools • Which resources will best enable students to master benchmarks and reach lesson objectives? • What primary sources will I use? What types of stimuli? • Tools to Consider: • Reading – Textbook, written documents, etc. • Types of stimuli – Photographs, maps, political cartoons, primary source documents, graphs, etc. • Internet resources – Discovery Ed video clips, NBC Learn video clips, Kahoot, Socrative, iCivics games, etc. • Other – graphic organizers, chart paper, powerpoint/Prezi, etc.

7. 5. Detailed Steps to Deliver Instruction (Example time breakdown based on 90 min Block) • Steps to Deliver Instruction • Do Now / Bell Work / Hook – 10 min • Direct/Whole Group Instruction (“I do”) – 20 min • Cooperative Learning (“We do”) – 25 min • Individual Learning (“You do”) – 20 min • Closure – 15 min

10. How do our students retain knowledge?

11. BEING PREPARED… PACING GUIDE + ITEM SPECS (in EOC subjects) + INSTRUCTIONAL PLANNING = SUCCESS!