Lesson Plan: Aimee Nettleton

Title: Reconstruction Amendments

Grade Level: 8th
Content: Social Studies
Standard Addressed: SS8H6: Analyze the impact of Reconstruction on Georgia.
a. Explain the roles of the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments in Reconstruction.
Amount of Time: 120 minutes
Technology Standard Addressed: 3. Knowledge Constructor
SAMR Level: Redefinition.
Essential Question(s): How can I relate the Reconstruction Amendments to today? How can I
make an interesting video about a historical topic? How does making a video change the way a
topic can be looked at? Why are the Reconstruction Amendments considered to be so important?
What historical context does my video need to be set in? How can I use technology to enhance
history? How does the design of a video set a tone for the topic, and what tone should I use?
Learning Activity
• Introduction: Students will come into class after watching a Crash Course video on
Reconstruction and notating their thoughts in their Daily Journals. Class will begin with a
free-flowing discussion on their understanding of the video they watched. Moving
forward, students will be introduced to the Reconstruction Amendments (13th-15th)
during class lecture in detail.
• Instruction/Activities: After explaining the content to the students and checking them for
understanding, I will inform them that they are going to be making their own, short
videos about the Reconstruction Amendments. I will be able to refer to the various ways
John Green introduces material in his videos (from seriously speaking to the camera, to
the animated portions in the Thought Bubble) and encourage creativity in their short
projects.
• Final Product: The final product will be a detailed video with images, music, and the
student’s own narration explaining an aspect of the Reconstruction Amendments. This
can include African American responses, government responses, modern impacts,
impacts of the time period, or anything else that the student discovers and wants to
academically explore. These videos will potentially be posted on the school blog, so the
student should remove their name from the presentation and include their name in the
file’s name to ensure anonymity online. I will remove their name prior to uploading.
• Evaluation or deliverable: The final products will be graded on academic accuracy,
creativity, and meeting the video criteria. This will be in the rubric given to the students
which is found below:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/b2tj4ahox956hek/rubric.PNG?dl=0

Reflective Practice
I think that this is a solid lesson plan. There is a creative introduction and throughout the lesson
students are encouraged to create and explore elements that are interesting to themselves as an
individual. Adding an overview at the end of these assignments of important information that
they need to know, regardless of particular interest to that area, would strengthen their
knowledge of the time period. Since these will be published to the classroom blog, we can
encourage parents, faculty, and younger peers to view them. This is operating at the highest
Bloom’s level and SMAR level. Once the lesson is delivered, I will be sure to come back to it for
re-evaluation of its success.