United States History

8th Grade

Unit: Jefferson/Madison Era

Lesson Plan Title:   Hamilton and Burr Duel

Objectives: The students will learn the history between Hamilton and Burr that led up to their
duel. They will learn what lead up to the War of 1812.

Content:

Students will study the details of the feud between Hamilton and Burr. They will make their own
conclusion on Burrs motives in the Duel. Next will be the British helping the Native American’s
go on the offense US settlers. They will see how this is a failure for the Native Americans.

Standards: 

Common Core: CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.6-8.8

Distinguish among fact, opinion, and reasoned judgment in a text.

CA Social Science Content Standard: 8.4.1: Describe the country’s physical landscapes,
political divisions, and territorial expansion during the terms of the first four presidents.

Key Concepts:  Duel, impressment

Required Materials:

Students using Zoom on their own device at home, Google Slides, videos imbedded in Google
Slides.

Lesson:
The instructor will present the lesson over zoom with material on Google Slides.
Hook:
The instructor will use Google Slides and show a video for their this day in history log. They will
watch the video and put notes in their log. After the video, they will answer a few questions in
their log.
Instruction:
The instructor will present the lecture on Google Slides. The slides will contain the information
discussing Hamilton and Burr issues with each other. The students will take notes on these slides
as the instructor reads them out loud to the students. Next, they will watch a video about the
conflict between Hamilton and Burr.
Group Discussion:
The students will be separated into two break out rooms. My cooperating teacher and myself will
each lead a breakout room in group discussion.
Lecture:
The class will come back together, and the instructor will use a Google slide to show the students
how to set up their notebooks for the next section, the Madison era and the leading up to the War
of 1812. Next, the students will receive information about the build up to the War of 1812. They
will then be taught about the Native American’s involvement. They will then watch a video
pertain to the Native American involvement. A discussion of what they learned in the video will
occur after they finish the video.
Assessment:
The students will be answering questions throughout the lesson via chat and out loud. These
serve as informal assessments. They will also have a group discussion which will serve as
another informal assessment.
Modifications:
All the material will be read to the students to help my struggling readers. Everything is
presented on a google slide and the students will have access to the google slides after the lesson
is taught so they can always go back and look at it again if needed. The videos will also have
closed captions turned on.