Teaching the Enlightenment
Lesson: Enlightenment
Grade/Subject: 7th – Texas History
Materials Needed: (per student)
1 Sheets of color paper (blue)
2 Pieces of ¼ slice of color paper (green)
Document Camera/White Board & Markers
Scissors
Glue Stick
1 Declaration of Independence/Bill of Rights
1 Enlightenment & Thinkers Reading
Objectives:
SWBAT identify and analyze ideas of 5 key Enlightenment thinkers and their impact on the founding American documents by reading, taking notes, and discussing.
TEKS §113.19. Social Studies, Grade 7
(1) History. The student understands traditional historical points of reference in Texas history. The student is expected to:
(B) apply absolute and relative chronology through the sequencing of significant individuals, events, and time periods; and
C) explain the significance of the following dates: 1519, mapping of the Texas coast and first mainland Spanish settlement; 1718, founding of San Antonio; 1821, independence from Spain; 1836, Texas independence; 1845, annexation; 1861, Civil War begins; 1876, adoption of current state constitution; and 1901, discovery of oil at Spindletop.
(3) History. The student understands how individuals, events, and issues related to the Texas Revolution shaped the history of Texas. The student is expected to:
(A) trace the development of events that led to the Texas Revolution, including the Fredonian Rebellion, the Mier y Terán Report, the Law of April 6, 1830, the Turtle Bayou Resolutions, and the arrest of Stephen F. Austin;
(17) Citizenship. The student understands the importance of the expression of different points of view in a democratic society. The student is expected to:
(B) describe the importance of free speech and press in a democratic society; and
(21) Social studies skills. The student applies critical-thinking skills to organize and use information acquired through established research methodologies from a variety of valid sources, including electronic technology. The student is expected to:
(A) differentiate between, locate, and use primary and secondary sources such as computer software, databases, media and news services, biographies, interviews, and artifacts to acquire information about Texas;
(B) analyze information by sequencing, categorizing, identifying cause-and-effect relationships, comparing, contrasting, finding the main idea, summarizing, making generalizations and predictions, and drawing inferences and conclusions;
Modifications:
Students with trouble focusing can use the 20:2 method they are used to during the independent practice time with the readings. (Set a timer for 20-min for them to work, then give a 2-min break, then have them resume their work)
Time & Activities
7:35am A: Mental/Anticipatory Set (7:35am 7min)
(7 min) Two Walls (Four Corners) Activity: What do you think?
The list of questions will be asked and student will show their response by walking to the “Agree” or “Disagree” wall.
1. Humans are naturally selfish.
2. Government is necessary to keep order.
3. Without government, the world would be chaotic.
4. Giving up some of your rights in exchange for law and order sounds like a good idea.
5. The purpose of government is to protect the citizens’ rights.
6. If the people do not agree with the government, then the people have the right to rebel and demand change.
7. It is important the power is separated and not given to one person.
8. Humans are naturally good.
9. All people should be free and equal, without social classes and social hierarchies.
10. Education is necessary to become virtuous, useful, and productive.
11. Every person should be given an education.
12. People know how best to govern their own affairs, not the government.
(15 min) Setting up the “secret door” foldable. This will take time, but it will be worth it!
(3 min) When students are seated, ask them “What do you think it means to be “enlightened”? (Have the students write this in one flap of the foldable)
B: Modeling (Demonstration) (8:00am 5min)
I will give a short background on where the enlightenment came from. What new ideas prompted the enlightenment?
(Practice) Students will read about the Enlightenment and 5 key thinkers (John Locke, Thomas Hobbes, Cesare Beccaria, Baron de Montesquieu, & Voltaire).
C: Checking for Understanding
Throughout the lesson I will check with the students to make sure no one is lost or confused about what we will be doing.
After students have the chance find the information independently, we will discuss their findings from the documents as a class to ensure everyone has everything.
D: Practice (Guided/Indep) (8:05am 35min)
Students will read about the Enlightenment and 5 key thinkers (John Locke, Thomas Hobbes, Cesare Beccaria, Baron de Montesquieu, & Voltaire). They will take the information from this reading and organize it into their foldable as guided on the template (shown on the document camera or drawn on the white board). Then, they will work in pairs to analyze the Declaration of Independence and Bill of Rights for ideas relating to Enlightenment Thinkers ideas.
After students have the chance to do this independently, we will discuss their findings from the documents as a class.
E: Closure (8:40am 5-10min)
After students have the chance to do this independently, we will discuss their findings from the documents as a class.
I will ask them again “What do you think it means to be “enlightened?” based on what they have learned today. (Have the students write this in one flap of the foldable below their previous answer)
End Time: 8:50am
Total Time: 1 hr 15 min
Allows for 10 min gap time/clean up at end. If students do not finish their foldable on their own, they can finish outside of class time if needed.
Lesson Reflection #1
This lesson’s topic, the Enlightenment, was the one I was the most excited to teach this semester of all my lessons. However, I found it incredibly difficult to write when it came down to actually putting the lesson together. I fell into what my CT calls the “black hole” of lesson planning, when you love the topic and see so many pieces to focus on that you become overwhelmed with the options. Eventually, my CT sent her lesson plans to me, so that I could try to narrow down the topics to make my lesson flow as seamlessly as possible into her next lesson. In the end, I found a way to focus on the Enlightenment Thinkers the students would be working on later in the unit, and was able to incorporate the “secret door” foldable I had learned from a workshop. There was a lot of researching for articles that could be used to keep me from lecturing for 30+ minutes and instead have me facilitating the kids as they practiced pulling information of a source. After hours of searching I ended up creating a collaboration of various readings and my own additions to be sure the students had all the information they would need to organize.
During the planning stages I was unsure whether the foldable would be the best idea, since the class I normally teach has some trouble following directions. However, I decided to follow through with it because 1) it looks super cool and is motivating because of it and 2) my CT has been trying to work with the class to get them better at following directions. Using the foldable set up, students would not only get more practice paying close attention to directions, but I would also be challenged in giving clear and concise directions.
Coming in to prepare my lesson, I realized my CT and I had gotten to a place where she was completely ready to hand the classroom over to me. This feeling boosted my confidence knowing she trusted me with her class so well. While I was setting up, I was able to hear a conference with a principal about an evaluation he had given her last week. For the classroom set up, I tried to keep the classroom in her format by writing the SWBAT objective on the board, color-coded, and placed items as “pick-ups” on the front table. I think this helped in created a nearly seamless transition between me and her on the days that I teach.
Overall, I was very satisfied with the lesson. My CT did not have much feedback to give me since I have been steadily improving in my problem areas we had identified in my first lesson. She would give me a couple comments or ask what I was planning to do to make the lesson go smoother, but not really anything after the lesson. It makes me feel extremely happy that she is so comfortable and trusting when giving me the reins to the classroom. I think this lesson may be something I use later on, if it applies to my subject I end up teaching.
Lesson Reflection #2
The lesson started off with some errors by the kids before the bell even rang, I was very impressed by their abilities. Many students had not grabbed the “pick-ups” as they were instructed to and only grabbed a piece or two of the set instead of following my directions when they came in the door. This was easily remedied, but served as a reminder that directions would require a lot of effort. After this, I began with the warm-up for my lesson, in which students showed their opinions (agree/disagree) on statements created by Enlightenment thinkers. It was fun and the students were very involved, my CT even joined in the game. I feel that since this activity got the kids moving, it helped them be more alert during class (which was the goal). This was especially god because it was leading into the construction of the foldable.
Surprisingly, the construction of the foldable went exceptionally well, with only three mistakes total. I made sure the students were all on the same page before moving on to minimize mistakes, and made my instructions as clear and concise as possible. Only two students cut on the wrong flap, so it was easy to fix. At the end of this, my students were impressed by the secret door and eager to see what was next.
Although the next step, pulling information from a reading, was not very exciting, the students pushed through without need for additional motivation from me. I made sure to stop by each table after I finished giving directions to be sure everyone was doing their work correctly and that they didn’t have any questions. Only one student started working on the wrong flap, but it was easily remedied by swapping a piece of her foldable. The first reading (the custom-made reading on the Enlightenment & Thinkers) took the students more time to finish than expected, so only about 1/3 of the class successfully moved on the analyzing the Bill of Rights and Declaration of Independence. As such, the last part of the class did not go as planned. Instead of reviewing what everyone had found, only the students who had gotten through it were able to give feedback. The lesson was not able to be finished as smoothly as I had hoped, but I see now that the reading might have been too much for a single class period. However, after my lesson my CT told me that the class I taught was their last day with her before break, so they likely were not working at their normal speed. She thought having me teach on the last day of break would be a good experience for me to have. This made me think that maybe I did not assign too much for a normal day, but more so this specific day. Yet, I also this this lesson could go well in two days rather than a single class period.
Overall, I was very satisfied with the lesson. My CT did not have much feedback to give me since I have been steadily improving in my problem areas we had identified in my first lesson. She would give me a couple comments or ask what I was planning to do to make the lesson go smoother, but not really anything after the lesson. It makes me feel extremely happy that she is so comfortable and trusting when giving me the reins to the classroom. I think this lesson may be something I use later on, if it applies to my subject I end up teaching.
Enlightenment Lesson Foldable & Evaluations
 Model Outside Foldable |  Model Inside Foldable |  Model Secret Interior Foldable |
|---|---|---|
 Completed Model Foldable Outside |  Completed Model Foldable Inside |  Completed Model Foldable Secret Interior |
 Evaluation #1 (1/2) |  Evaluation #1 (2/2) |  Evaluation #2 (1/2) |
 Evaluation #2 (2/2) |