Teacher Candidate Name: Devin Ray 1

Individual Daily Lesson Plan Title: Alexander the Great: Hero or Villain?
Date: 11/19/19

Part 1: Pre-planning

ACOS standards (unit, learning segment, or lesson standards):

4 ) Identify cultural contributions of Classical Greece, including politics, intellectual life, arts, literature,
architecture, and science.

5 ) Describe the role of Alexander the Great in the Hellenistic world.

• Defining boundaries of Alexander the Great's empire and its economic impact
• Identifying reasons for the separation of Alexander the Great's empire into successor kingdoms
• Evaluating major contributions of Hellenistic art, philosophy, science, and political thought

Describe the context for learning:

 Out of 28 students in the class, 12 have exceptionalities consisting of:
o 9 students with Specific Learning Disabilities
o 2 students with Other Health Impairments
o 1 student with Autism
o 11 of these students read below a 7th grade level, the lowest being 2.7
 This lesson will take place in the Classical Greece unit during the Fall semester and is preceded by a
introduction lesson on the rise of Macedonia and Phillip II of Macedonia and will be followed by more
lessons about Alexander the Great and the expansion of his empire
 The following lesson is placed towards the end of the unit because the fall of Alexander the Great’s
empire marks the end of the Hellenistic Era. This primary sources will be used to help students to
form a conclusion as to whether Alexander the Great was a hero or villain.
 Management:
o The time management used during these activities will be based mostly on the pace of the
students since there are so many students with exceptionalities. Rushing the activities will do
little to benefit these students. General time constraints will be given but can be extended at
the discretion of the teacher.
o Transitions will be conducted by the teacher giving specific instructions to the students
before they are allowed to move on.
o Collaboration will be managed by observation and promptings by the teacher. Voice levels
during collaborative sessions will be managed by the teacher as well.

Understandings (unit understanding):

 Students will understand the impact of Alexander the Great’s empire had on the Greek world and the
intellectual, cultural, artistic contributions it gave.

Central Focus (of the learning segment or lesson):

 Students will focus on Alexander the Great and his impact on the Greek world.

Lesson Goal(s):
 Students will know:
o The size and influence of Alexander the Great’s empire
o How many diverse opinions of Alexander existed as a result of his conquests
o How complex it is to determine whether Alexander’s efforts were considered heroic or
villainous

Secondary Education Lesson Planning Templates

Adapted from Understanding by Design Professional Development Workbook © 2004
Teacher Candidate Name: Devin Ray 2
Individual Daily Lesson Plan Title: Alexander the Great: Hero or Villain?
Date: 11/19/19

Academic Language and/or Language Function used in the lesson:

 Describe, name, explain, analyze, know, understand
 Alexander the Great, Macedonia, Aristotle, Primary Source, Empire, Conquests
 Syntax – Virtual Handout, Open ended responses, Obituary/Wanted Poster writing activity
 Discourse – Students will be able to talk with each other to determine answers to each excerpt.
Students will be able to share their responses with the class as well as their writing activity response

Assessment Evidence:
 Formative assessments:
 The four questions for the map activity are the following:
1. Alexander the Great was from Macedonia. What cultures did he come into
contact with when building his empire?
2. Name three bodies of water that bordered Alexander’s empire.
3. Why would it be difficult to rule Alexander’s empire?
4. How would you describe the type of culture that flourished in Alexander’s
empire?
 The order of the readings and questions are as follows:
 Excerpt 1
 Read the excerpt
 Answer the following questions:
1. According to this document, what did Alexander the Great do?2013
2. How does this document depict (describe) Alexander the Great?
 Excerpt 2
 Read the excerpt
 Answer the following questions:
1. According to this document, what did Alexander the Great do?
2. How does this document depict (describe) Alexander the Great?
 Excerpt 3
 Read the excerpt
 Answer the following questions:
1. Looking at the first sentence, what does this quote reveal about
Alexander the Great and his actions?
2. Looking at the second sentence, how does this philosopher explain how
Alexander the Great was able to become so powerful?
 Excerpt 4
 Read the excerpt
 Answer the following questions:
1. How does Arrian describe Alexander?
2. How does this description explain how he was able to conquer vast
lands?
 Summative assessments: N/A

Part 2: Lesson Plan

Materials needed for the lesson: Chromebook (provided by the school), Composition notebook, Writing
Utensil

BEFORE THE LESSON ACTIVITIES:

Secondary Education Lesson Planning Templates

Adapted from Understanding by Design Professional Development Workbook © 2004
Teacher Candidate Name: Devin Ray 3
Individual Daily Lesson Plan Title: Alexander the Great: Hero or Villain?
Date: 11/19/19

Bell ringer:
 Description of activity: As students walk into the class there will be a bell-ringer listed on the smart
board. The bell-ringer will require students to answer two questions in their composition notebook.
Once class has begun, they will finish up their bell-ringer and the questions/answers will discussed
between the teacher and students. The two questions on the bell-ringer will be the following:
 Who was Alexander the Great’s father’s name?
 Who was Alexander the Great’s famous teacher?
 Approx. time required: 5 minutes
 Accommodation or modification if included in this activity: N/A

Review of relevant, previously learned information (should be an activity):

 Description of activity: The review of previously learned information will occur in the bell-ringer.
See above for description of activity.
 Approx. time required: See “Bell-Ringer” above
 Accommodation or modification if included in this activity: N/A

DURING THE LESSON ACTIITIES:

Introductory Activity (should be an activity):

 Description of activity:
 Students will access a handout on Google Classroom that will contain a map activity and four
excerpts from primary sources that discuss Alexander the Great. The map section will show
the expanse of Alexander the Great’s empire and students will answer four questions about
the map in order for the students to understand the overall size and impact of the empire.
 The four questions are the following:
1. Alexander the Great was from Macedonia. What cultures did he come into
contact with when building his empire?
2. Name three bodies of water that bordered Alexander’s empire.
3. Why would it be difficult to rule Alexander’s empire?
4. How would you describe the type of culture that flourished in Alexander’s
empire?
 Students will be given time to complete this section of the handout on their Chromebooks
before the teacher will ask a few students to read their responses.
 Approx. time required: 7 minutes
 Accommodation or modification if included in this activity:
 Some students will have the prompts read to them by the collaborative teacher, who will help
them in answering the questions.
 Students will receive promptings from the classroom and collaborative teacher to stay on
task as well as to check if anyone needs help with the readings/questions.

Body of the lesson (thoroughly describe all aspects of the lesson):

 Description of activity:
 The students will now move on to the primary source section of the handout. Students will be
verbally told that now starts the point in which students will begin to take the opinions from
primary sources so that they can make a final decision about whether Alexander the Great is
really a hero or villain.
 Students will read an excerpt and then answer the questions on their computer. The teacher
will give them around 6 minutes to complete each excerpt with its questions. Students will be
able to work with each other to complete the readings with questions and after the time is up

Secondary Education Lesson Planning Templates

Adapted from Understanding by Design Professional Development Workbook © 2004
Teacher Candidate Name: Devin Ray 4
Individual Daily Lesson Plan Title: Alexander the Great: Hero or Villain?
Date: 11/19/19

a short discussion will take place before moving on. The same format will be followed for
each of the four excerpts.
 The order of the readings and questions are as follows:
 Excerpt 1
 Read the excerpt
 Answer the following questions:
1. According to this document, what did Alexander the Great do?2013
2. How does this document depict (describe) Alexander the Great?
 Excerpt 2
 Read the excerpt
 Answer the following questions:
1. According to this document, what did Alexander the Great do?
2. How does this document depict (describe) Alexander the Great?
 Excerpt 3
 Read the excerpt
 Answer the following questions:
1. Looking at the first sentence, what does this quote reveal about Alexander
the Great and his actions?
2. Looking at the second sentence, how does this philosopher explain how
Alexander the Great was able to become so powerful?
 Excerpt 4
 Read the excerpt
 Answer the following questions:
1. How does Arrian describe Alexander?
2. How does this description explain how he was able to conquer vast lands?
 Once all four of the excerpts have been completed the students will be encouraged to think
briefly about whether they think he is a hero or a villain.
 Approx. time required: 25 minutes
 Accommodation or modification if included in this activity
 Some students will have the excerpts and prompt read to them by the collaborative teacher,
who will help them to answer the questions.
 Students will receive promptings from the classroom and collaborative teacher to stay on
task as well as to check if anyone needs help with the readings/questions.

Closing the lesson Activity:

 Description of activity:
 Students will be shown a slide that will give them particular instructions depending on
whether they think that Alexander the Great is a hero or a villain. The instructions are as
follows:
 Alexander the Great is a….
 Hero
o Write a newspaper obituary: Why should Alexander the Great be
remembered as a hero?
o Why would others think that he may be a villain even though you
think he should be a hero?
 Villain
o Write a wanted poster: Why should Alexander be considered a villain?
o Why would others think that he may be a hero even though you think
he should be a hero?

Secondary Education Lesson Planning Templates

Adapted from Understanding by Design Professional Development Workbook © 2004
Teacher Candidate Name: Devin Ray 5
Individual Daily Lesson Plan Title: Alexander the Great: Hero or Villain?
Date: 11/19/19

Students will follow instructions and write a paragraph using the opinion they have formed
based on the excerpts.
 Once students have finished, a few volunteers will be taken to read their obituary/wanted
poster.
 Approx. time required: 15 minutes
 Accommodation or modification if included in this activity:
 Three of the students with exceptionalities will be allowed to write less. They will be directed
to do so by the collaborative teacher.
 Students will receive promptings from the classroom and collaborative teacher to stay on
task as well as to check if anyone needs help with the readings/questions.

AFTER THE LESSON ACTIVITIES:

Preview of the next lesson:

 Description of activity:
 Students will be verbally told that the next day they will be learning more about Alexander
the Great.
 Approx. time required: < 1 minute
 Accommodation or modification if included in this activity: N/A

Related out of class assignment: N/A

Secondary Education Lesson Planning Templates

Adapted from Understanding by Design Professional Development Workbook © 2004