Elementary Education Program

Department of Teacher Education & Learning Sciences

Design Document for Lesson Plan

Name: Mollie Hennings

Grade Level: 5th grade
Concept/Topic: The Underground Railroad
Length of Lesson (in minutes): 25-30 minutes

Learning Objectives: What are your learning objectives? (What new understandings will the
students have as a result of this lesson? Make sure learning objectives are measurable.)

 Students must be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of how the

Underground Railroad was operated and what its purpose was.

 Be able to explain why Harriet Tubman was important

Under which standards from North Carolina Standard Course of Study (NC-SCOS) do these
learning objectives fall?

 NCES.5.H.1.21 - Understand the role of various people, events, and ideas in shaping the
United States.
o NCES.5.H.1.1.21 - Explain how the experiences and achievements of women,
minorities, indigenous groups, and marginalized people have contributed to
change and innovation in the United States.
o NCES.5.H.1.2.21 - Summarize the changing roles of women, indigenous, racial
and other minority groups in the United States.

 NCES.5.H.1.4.21 - Explain the impact of major conflicts and events on the development
of the United States.

Key Tasks/Activities: What are the key activities or tasks that you plan to use?

 I plan to have my students read and take notes on an article about the inner workings of
the underground railroad.
 Then, students will be completing a worksheet where they will have to draw a quilt code
and explain the meaning of the quilt square, what the pattern they chose is called, why they
chose this pattern, and why they chose the colors they used.
 After the students have drawn their quilt codes and written their explanations, they will be
participating in a group discussion where they will explain their code and reasons to the group.

What is your rationale for why you have selected these particular tasks/activities to meet your
learning objectives?
 Elementary Education Program
Department of Teacher Education & Learning Sciences

 The student-to-student discourse is extremely helpful for the overall understanding of the
social aspects of the lesson. The activity of drawing a code and explaining why they
chose that code would help the students understand how the allies of the underground
railroad could help out indirectly. It gives the students a chance to put the same thoughts
and emotions that the underground railroad allies had when participating in leading the
slaves to freedom. The group discussion will teach respect and open students’ minds to
new perspectives as well.

Anticipating Students’ Responses: How do you anticipate that students will respond to your
planned activities/tasks? This does NOT mean their response affectively, but instead their
response academically (e.g., What prior knowledge or conceptions might they bring? How do
you think they will approach or solve the task(s)?). When necessary, please insert images of
your handwritten anticipated approaches/strategies. Be specific! Use your anticipated responses
to help you plan your questions in the lesson plan.

 I expect that the students will respond very well to these activities. They will be very
excited about being able to draw and color their square. This will give the students a
chance to let their creativity really shine through. The activity of drawing will also help
students use their knowledge they have learned in art class when combining colors and
thinking about how certain colors convey certain meanings and emotions.
 Their prior knowledge might be limited based on the actual life in the underground
railroad, but they will build their understanding of this topic using the article they will
read explaining the underground railroad. Their knowledge can also be increased when
viewing the photo of the quilt codes with their meanings. This will help them complete
their quilt code drawing and code explanation.
 The students might bring a few misconceptions into this lesson because of their lack of
background knowledge. They might not understand what the main elements of the codes
actually are based on, so the article they will read explaining each code will correct this.
This will also eliminate any prejudices or preexisting bias.

Responding to Students’ Responses: Describe how you will provide scaffolding for students
who are stuck, and describe how you will extend the thinking of students who have a firm grasp
on the target content/objectives.

 For students who are stuck writing their quilt code explanation, I will encourage them to
take another look back at the article explaining the underground railroad and the photo of
the quilt codes. This will refresh their memory on the topic and build more background
knowledge.
 For students who are stuck during the small group discussion, I can provide conversation
starters or guiding questions to direct the discussion in a productive direction. Some
examples of guiding questions I could ask are listed below.
o “What made you chose that quilt code?”
o “Why did you use the colors that you did?”
 Elementary Education Program
Department of Teacher Education & Learning Sciences

o “Do they represent anything or are they trying to convey another message along
with the design you selected?”
 For students who have a firm grasp on the topic, I will ask them to think about how their
code can be related to other codes, or how to create a quilt using multiple codes. Then I
will ask them to write down this information along with an explanation of their code.

Development of Practices among Students: Which disciplinary practices does your lesson aim
to develop? (e.g., “construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others”, “develop
and use models”) How do the task(s) develop the target practice(s)?

 The disciplinary practices that my lesson aims to develop are to develop and further
reading and writing skills, as well as research skills to cross over multiple subjects. The
tasks develop these target practices by having the students use the article and use it as
research when writing their letter. The tasks also further reading and writing skills by the
students actually writing their letter and reading the article.

Assessment: Describe your assessment plan for the targeted learning objective(s). What
specific data/information will you use, and how will that data/information tell you that the
students have/have not met the objective?

 In order to assess the students’ overall learning, I will collect each students’ colored quilt
square that has the explanation paragraph that demonstrates the meaning of the quilt
square, what the pattern they chose is called, why they chose this pattern, and why they
chose the colors they used.
 I will also be assessing what the students say in the discussion where they explain to their
small group what their quilt square represents.
 If a student does not meet the objectives, their paper did not include the meaning of the
quilt square, what the pattern they chose is called, why they chose this pattern., and why
they chose the colors they used.

Vocabulary/Language Function: Define vocabulary that students will need to know in order to
access the content and goals of your lesson. Be precise and careful with your language. Please
attend to three types of vocabulary:
● Content vocabulary (e.g., obtuse, molecule, civil rights)
● Academic language (e.g., represent, model, compare)
● Key non-content vocabulary that is necessary to understand the task/activity

 Quilt- a patterned blanket

 Code- a language that has different symbols or words to represent other letters and words
 Quilt square- a square with a design on it that would be seen on a common quilt
 Underground Railroad- a trail that slaves followed to freedom in the Civil War
 Harriet Tubman- a major conductor of the Underground Railroad
 Passenger- a slave travelling to freedom on the Underground Railroad
 Elementary Education Program
Department of Teacher Education & Learning Sciences

 Stakeholder- a person that invested money in the Underground Railroad that would help keep
passengers safe
 Conductor- a person who guided passengers on the Underground Railroad to their next stop

Classroom Management Plan: Describe your classroom management plan. Explain how you
will motivate students to engage in the lesson, how you will set and enforce expectations, and
how you will ensure that transitions are smooth and efficient.

 I will have a call back planned if students start to get distracted that will refocus their
attention back on their entry or discussion.