The 13 Colonies

Hello everyone! Long time no see. For this week's Social Studies Methods class we were required to evaluate a real lesson plan created by a teacher. The lesson plan that I chose to evaluate was called "The 13 Colonies." It was created using a HyperDoc, which I'm not too familiar with so I figured why not try and get to know it better. That way, I might be able to use it in my own future classroom one day to create lesson plans. I particularly liked this lesson because it showed how technology can be used in a meaningful way in order to engage students within the classroom. The link to the lesson can be found here!

Now, let's go more in-depth about this lesson plan. This lesson in particular addressed two different Social Studies Standards which include: History of the United States/New York and Geography. More specifically, in this lesson students are required to gather and organize geographic information from a variety of sources and display in a number of ways, investigate how people depend on and modify the physical environment, and identify and compare the physical, human, and cultural characteristics of different regions and people. Now, this may sound like a lot but its really not! That is because all of the instructions are laid out for the students right on the HyperDoc so that they know exactly what is required of them. As for the layout of this lesson, it is fairly simple and straightforward. For one, there are multiple passages within the lesson for students to read and then answer some questions by pulling information from the text. There are also videos embedded within the lesson for students to watch and then reflections for them to complete. There is also an activity at the end of the lesson with a guide for students to complete. Within this guide there are also multiple helpful resources for students to utilize is they so choose. 

Now, some may ask the question of "What type of lesson does this one fall under?" 

This is a very good question because there are a multitude of different lessons as well as types of learning. For this one in particular, it is a mix of two different types: direct and inquiry based. For one, it is direct because there are specific, detailed instructions throughout the lesson that guide the student on what he/she is responsible for completing. For example, right at the beginning of the lesson the student is instructed to use Quizlet in order to study the vocabulary related to the 13 Colonies and then post screenshots of their progress. This lesson is also inquiry based due to the amount of higher-level thinking the student is required to engage in. They are required to make real-world connections through exploration. For example, there are multiple videos embedded in the lesson that require students to answer questions after they watch them as well as ask themselves what questions they may have. In addition, at the end of the lesson the student is required to create their own colonial adventure by researching information and using real-world connections.

In terms of the model of teaching that this lesson represents in my opinion is behavioral/direct. This is because throughout the lesson there are clear, precise instructions that will guide the student through what they are expected to complete. Although the teacher is not physically present at the front of a classroom giving the students directions, it is all carefully planned and well-developed designed around small learning increments about the 13 Colonies. This lesson also has a strong pedagogical value because it uses a mix of direct and inquiry based learning. Since these two ways of learning are embedded within the lesson it gives the students the opportunity to become better learners by not just focusing on one, but a combination of two types. Ultimately, this allows for the highest potential of learning.

All in all, I would most definitely use this lesson in my own classroom because it gives students the opportunity to engage in the lesson meaningfully and create real-world connections. It also gives children a differentiated model of instruction by including videos for them to watch and passages for them to read. I also personally really liked how this lesson incorporated technology in a meaningful way and shows how it can be useful for teaching a lesson.