Direct Instruction Lesson Plan Template

Teachers: Subject:
World History, High School
Arianna Fiandaca Subtopic: Imperialism, Region: Central Africa
Common Core State Standards:
• HS.H1.3: Evaluate the consequences that resulted from civilizational and cultural
interactions
• HS.H2.3: Evaluate the short- and long- term impacts of conflicts and their resolutions.
Objective (Explicit):
• Analyze the impact of King Leopold II’s Belgium on the region of Central Africa
Evidence of Mastery (Measurable):
Include a copy of the lesson assessment.
Provide exemplar student responses with the level of detail you expect to see.
Assign value to each portion of the response.

Exemplar Lesson Assessment

Exemplar Student Responses have been provided in Italics, this is a 12 point assignment
1. King Leopold II was the king of __(Belgium)____ and he wanted a ___(Colony)___ during a time
where it was hard to find a good, suitable place to create one. (2 points)
2. Which of the following strategies did King Leopold II not use in order to drum up support for his exploits
in Central Africa? (2 points)
a. He held a global humanitarian conference known as the Geographica Conference where he
explained his intentions to invest in the peoples of the Congolese River Valley
b. He purposely intimidated and harassed journalists working to uncover the atrocities
committed by the Belgian government in Africa
c. When he needed more money in order to continue his colonial experiment, King Leopold
found newer and more lucrative resources to exploit
d. He told the truth about why he wanted a colony and invited publicists to write articles about
the aid Belgium was providing in Africa
3. What is one example of a resource King Leopold acquired during his exploits in the Congo? (1 point)
a. Rubber
b. Bananas
c. Titanium Alloy
d. Papyrus
4. Place the following 4 events in the order in which they occurred. (4 points)
____4___a. King Leopold burns all of the records of his involvement in the Congo River Basin that
survive in the State Archives.
___2___b. Henry Morton Stanley is able to make treaties with tribal chiefs throughout the region,
granting Belgium full rights to their land in exchange for little or no payment
___1___c. Leopold finds Henry Morton Stanley, willing to explore the Congo for him and claim it as a
colony for Belgium
___3___d. A shipping line employee, working in the Congo, exposes King Leopold’s financial endeavors
to newspapers, proving he is not poor, but rather overwhelmingly rich
5. Give 2 examples of how the legacy of King Leopold still impacts Central Africa to this day. Explain how
these examples impact the Congo. (3 points)
Any combination of 2: Disease, military conflict, slavery, natural resources, democratic government,
organization, western influence, or other acceptable ideas with explanation. 1 point for each correct
example, for a total of 2 points, plus 1 point for elaboration/explanation.

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Sub-objectives, SWBAT (Sequenced from basic to complex):
How will you review past learning and make connections to previous lessons?
What skills and content are needed to ultimately master this lesson objective?
How is this objective relevant to students, their lives, and/or the real world?

Students will already have the background knowledge of Imperialism as discussed in earlier
lessons that cover the impact of Imperialism in Central and South America, as well as Asia. This
is a continuation of the same conceptual sphere, but from a new narrative angle that is designed
to stick with students as they contemplate the realities of Western Imperialism within the content
of Africa. This lesson provides an opportunity to reaffirm the basic tenets, causes and effects of
Imperialism, through the lens of a unique case study. The skills needed to master this lesson
objective include critical thinking, skillful analysis, and basic reading and writing skills.
Sub-Objectives:
a. SWBAT Explain why world leaders sought colonies and what they were primarily used for
b. SWBAT Describe how the truth was revealed about the colony through journalistic endeavors
c. SWBAT Outline the sequence of events that allowed King Leopold to take, and subsequently
lose, the Congo Colony
Key vocabulary: Materials:
King Leopold II Blank White Printer Paper
Belgium Pencil, or marker and colored pencil
Colonialism depending on student preference
Congolese Rubber Trade
Geographica Conference
Scramble for Africa
Opening (state objectives, connect to previous learning, and make relevant to real life)
How will you activate student interest?
How will you connect to past learning?
How will you present the objective in an engaging and student-friendly way?
How will you communicate its importance and make the content relevant to your students?

Today’s lesson is a different sort of story. Today we will be looking at a case study of one man
and his unending desire to possess a colony. We know from our past lesson that colonies are
territories that have been adopted by another power, usually European and well-developed, and
they are exploited for their resources and manpower, sometimes even culminating in instances
of slavery. We are going to look at the impact of King Leopold II, king of Belgium during the 19th
and 20th centuries, and his disastrous impact on the land and people of the Congo. Our
objective as a class is to analyze his impact on the region of Central Africa. This is important to
understand because it explains a lot of why the world looks the way it does in Africa, even into
the 21st century. Although we have talked about the Scramble for Africa and how it impacted the
continent, King Leopold’s actions were especially cruel and a disaster we need to work to make
sure never occurs again in the course of human history. To keep things interesting, today we will
be making a timeline as we take our notes instead of taking traditional handwritten notes, since
we are telling a story.

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 Teacher Will: Student Will:
How will you model/explain/demonstrate all What will students be doing to actively capture and
knowledge/skills required of the objective? process the new material?
What types of visuals will you use? How will students be engaged?
How will you address misunderstandings or
common student errors?
How will you check for understanding?
How will you explain and model behavioral
expectations?
Is there enough detail in this section so that
another person could teach it?

Teacher will utilize a Powerpoint Students will be actively engaged in the lesson
presentation that focuses on images and due to its narrative nature. Students will need
numbers to accompany the overall story of to capture the new material by creating their
King Leopold II’s influence in the Congo. own personal “Belgium’s Congo” timeline
Beginning with the driving motives of King throughout the direction instruction lesson.
Leopold’s desire for the colony, and Students will need to participate in an inquiry
examining how other colonies had process in order to learn what happened
succeeded, the stage is set to introduce to “next” in the story of Belgium’s Congolese
Ins
tru students the main concepts of the lesson. Colony. In addition, students will be
cti The Teacher can model at the beginning of forewarned that it is important to pay attention
on the lesson what the specific expectations to the lesson in order to adequately complete
al are for the “Belgium’s Congo” timeline that the take-home quiz they will be provided as
Inp
ut students will complete while the teacher homework.
gives them the information necessary to
complete the assigned activity.
Co-Teaching Strategy
Which co-teaching approach will you use to maximize student achievement?
There is no anticipated need for a co-teaching strategy in regards to this portion of the
planned lesson.
Differentiation Strategy
What accommodations/modifications will you include for specific students?
Do you anticipate any students who will need an additional challenge

Due to the fact that this is a primarily content and background knowledge based activity, it
is not anticipated the many students will need specific accommodations. For students that
come in late, are absent, or otherwise may have an issue keeping pace with the
synchronous timeline activity, a timeline that is completed to the halfway point (generated
prior to the lesson) can be provided. It is only a partially completed example so that
students must still complete work in class and/or independent research to fill in the blanks.
Teacher Will: Student Will:
How will you ensure that all students have multiple How will students practice all knowledge/skills required
opportunities to practice new content and skills? of the objective, with your support, such that they
What types of questions can you ask students as continue to internalize the sub-objectives?
you are observing them practice? How will students be engaged?
How/when will you check for understanding?
How will you provide guidance to all students as How will you elicit student-to-student interaction?
they practice? How are students practicing in ways that align to
How will you explain and model behavioral independent practice?
expectations?
Is there enough detail in this section so that
another person could facilitate this practice?

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 Teacher will support the students in Students will be asked to share with one
comparing and completing their “Belgium’s another the results of their “Belgium’s Congo”
Congo” timeline after the conclusion of the timeline. Students will be engaged in
lecture portion of the lesson. Teacher will collaborative comparison that allows them to
model expectations of a completed discuss and debate certain aspects of the King
Gui timeline by touching base with different Leopold II story. When asked to complete the
de
d student groups and seeing what they have “short- and long-term effects” section of the
Pra completed. Teacher will expect that timeline assignment, they will be asked to
ctic students use each other as a collaborative complete this with their table groups, and
e
resource and encourage them to refrain decide on a few collective, agreed-upon
from working independently. effects. This requires students to align
themselves with the objectives, while providing
support to those who may need additional
assistance.
Co-Teaching Strategy
Which co-teaching approach will you use to maximize student achievement?
A co-teacher would be helpful in this guided practice portion as they will be able to assist
students in a group basis and support the completion of touching base with each of the
student groups as they work on the completion and finalization of their “Belgium’s Congo”
timeline activity.
Differentiation Strategy
What accommodations/modifications will you include for specific students?
Do you anticipate any students who will need an additional challenge?
How can you utilize grouping strategies?

Teacher Will: Student Will:

How will you plan to coach and correct during this
practice?
How will you provide opportunities for remediation and
extension?
How will you clearly state and model academic and
behavioral expectations?
Did you provide enough detail so that another person
could facilitate the practice?
How will students independently practice the knowledge and
skills required by the objective?
How will students be engaged?
How are students practicing in ways that align to
assessment?
How are students using self-assessment to guide their own
learning?

How are you supporting students giving feedback to one

another?

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 Teacher will implement the usage of the By gaining a score of 80% on the exemplar
“exemplar lesson assessment” noted at lesson assessment, students will demonstrate
the beginning of this lesson plan as the clear mastery of the concepts introduced in
main mode for independent practice. the lesson and reinforced by the “Belgium’s
Although it is a point-based assignment, it Congo” timeline activity. Students will be
still serves as a great way to check for invited to improve their score or review
Ind student understanding. Since this is concepts as needed, since this is still
epe considered another practice activity, it may considered a practice activity in the scheme of
nd be reasonable to provide an opportunity the lesson.
ent
Pra for corrections in order to gain additional
ctic points. Also, the “lesson assessment”
e would not be utilized as a cumulative
assessment because it mainly focuses on
one case study instead of general
conceptual ideas.

Co-Teaching Strategy
Which co-teaching approach will you use to maximize student achievement?
No co-teaching strategy is necessary for this section of the lesson unless students require
more individualized assistance.

Differentiation Strategy
What accommodations/modifications will you include for specific students?
Do you anticipate any students who will need an additional challenge?
An easy differentiation strategy, if it is needed, would be allowing students to use their
“Belgium’s Congo” timeline in order to complete the assessment activity during the class
time. This would also enable students who were actively engaged from the beginning to
succeed and reinforce the importance of effective listening/note taking skills.
Closing/Student Reflection/Real-life connections:
How will students summarize and state the significance of what they learned?
Why will students be engaged?

Students will be engaged throughout the course of the lesson due to the “case-study” style of
learning it employs, allowing students to build a connection and deeper understanding of the
material that will be relevant to their lives outside of the classroom. By introducing an area of the
world that is not often studied, students will be interested in growing their knowledge and
sharing that with others. They will summarize and state the significance of what they have
learned through the completion of both the “Belgium’s Congo” timeline collaboratively and in
class, as well as in the “lesson assessment” that will expect students have digested and
analyzed the information through their own lens and in an effective manner.