Category Archives: Lesson Plans

This category identifies a post with several documents, which will include a lesson plan, and may include a short exercise to being the class (known in the New York City Department of Education as a “do-now”) a worksheet, often scaffolded, a teacher’s copy of the worksheet, and a learning support of some kind.

A Lesson Plan on Socrates

This lesson plan on Socrates (as above and below) is the seventh of an eleven-lesson global studies unit on the origins of religion and philosophy. This is a lesson, owing to Socrates’ importance to methods of inquiry (as well as informing my own teaching practice, which is something I wanted students to understand and take away from this lesson), was definitely designed to unfold over at least two days if possible.

I open this lesson with this Cultural Literacy worksheet on the concept of a faction; for the second day of the lesson, here is a context clues worksheet on the noun justice. Here are the reading on Socrates and its accompanying vocabulary-building and comprehension worksheet that are the primary work for this lesson. Here, also, is a shorter worksheet that I intended either for a class that struggled with the longer reading, or to use as independent practice (i.e. homework).

If you find typos in these documents, I would appreciate a notification. And, as always, if you find this material useful in your practice, I would be grateful to hear what you think of it. I seek your peer review.

A Lesson Plan on Myths and Mythology

Here, as above and below, is the sixth in an eleven-lesson global studies unit on the origins of religion and philosophy, to wit, a lesson plan on myths and mythology.

I open this lesson with this context clues worksheet on the noun protagonist and include here, in the event the lesson spans two days (as previously mentioned, I am all but certain I intended) another on the noun antagonist. This is an unmistakably complementary and complimentary pair of words for a lesson on mythological figures.

Finally, here is the reading and comprehension questions that are the central work of this lesson. You’ll also need this learning support on the Roman gods for the independent practice (i.e. homework) for this lesson.

If you find typos in these documents, I would appreciate a notification. And, as always, if you find this material useful in your practice, I would be grateful to hear what you think of it. I seek your peer review.

A Lesson Plan on Siddhartha Gautama as Buddha

This lesson plan on Siddhartha Gautama as Buddha is, as above and below, the fifth lesson of an eleven-lesson global studies unit on the origins of the religion and philosophy.

I open this lesson with this context clues worksheet on the adjective austere and include another on the noun cosmology in the event the lesson goes into a second day, as I think I assumed I would. Finally, here is the reading with comprehension questions that is the principal work of this lesson.

If you find typos in these documents, I would appreciate a notification. And, as always, if you find this material useful in your practice, I would be grateful to hear what you think of it. I seek your peer review.

A Lesson Plan on Hinduism

This lesson plan on Hinduism is the fourth lesson in a eleven-lesson global studies unit on the origins of religions and philosophy. I think I planned the do-nows as part of the lesson because there are three of them: the first is a context clues worksheet on the noun class, used in the sense of social class; the second is another context clues worksheet, this one on the noun monsoon; the third short exercise is this Cultural Literacy worksheet on the concept of reincarnation.

And here is the reading and comprehension questions that are the center of this lesson.

If you find typos in these documents, I would appreciate a notification. And, as always, if you find this material useful in your practice, I would be grateful to hear what you think of it. I seek your peer review.

A Lesson Plan on the Israelites and the Jews

Moving along to lesson number three in a eleven-lesson global studies on the origins of religion and philosophy, here is a lesson plan on the Israelites and the Jews. I open this lesson with this context clues worksheet on the adjective consecutive; for the second day of this lesson, if there is one, here is another another context clues worksheet on the adjective ethnic. Finally, here is the reading and comprehension questions that are at the center of this lesson on the origins of Judaism.

If you find typos in these documents, I would appreciate a notification. And, as always, if you find this material useful in your practice, I would be grateful to hear what you think of it. I seek your peer review.

A Lesson Plan on Moses and Monotheism

As below (and above) here is a lesson plan on Moses and Monotheism, the second in a unit of eleven global studies lessons.

I open this lesson with this context clues worksheet on the noun covenant, the inclusion of which in this lesson I assume is obvious. In the event this lesson goes into a second (I’m fairly certain I intended that it would), then here is another context clues worksheet on the verb assimilate, which is used both intransitively and transitively. Finally, here is the reading and comprehension questions on Moses and the origins of the Judaism.

If you find typos in these documents, I would appreciate a notification. And, as always, if you find this material useful in your practice, I would be grateful to hear what you think of it. I seek your peer review.

A Lesson Plan on Polytheism and Monotheism

Alright, this post begins a series of eleven documents posts (twenty-two posts in all, in other words, with the usual interstitial quotes between documents posts) above it, that comprise an entire global studies unit from my days teaching in New York City. This unit reflects my best understanding, the year I wrote it, of what would appear on the New York State Global History and Geography Regents Examination. Therefore, you may find elsewhere on this blog one or more versions (I rewrote several of these almost every year) of each of the lessons in this unit. Also, please bear in mind that this lesson was written with building literacy in mind as well.

So, here is a lesson plan on polytheism and monotheism. I opened this lesson with this context clues worksheet on the noun sect, which fits nicely, I submit, with the topic under study. If the lesson continues into a second day (given the length of the worksheet, I feel confident I meant it to), then here is another context clues worksheet on the verb unite, (used both intransitively and transitively), which is what both the polytheistic and monotheistic religions do. Finally, here is the reading and comprehension questions at the center of this lesson.

If you find typos in these documents, I would appreciate a notification. And, as always, if you find this material useful in your practice, I would be grateful to hear what you think of it. I seek your peer review.

A Lesson Plan on the Fastest Animals on Earth from The Order of Things

Here is another reading and analysis lesson from Barbara Ann Kipfer’s The Order of Things, this one on the fastest animals on this planet. You’ll need this list and comprehension questions to work kids through this lesson.

If you find typos in these documents, I would appreciate a notification. And, as always, if you find this material useful in your practice, I would be grateful to hear what you think of it. I seek your peer review.

The Weekly Text, July 17, 2020: A Lesson Plan on the Simple Future Tense of Verbs

This week’s Text is a lesson plan on the simple future tense of verbs. I open this lesson with this worksheet on differentiating the homophones veracious and voracious, which are both adjectives. It always pays to prepare for a lesson to spill over into a second day. So here is a Cultural Literacy worksheet on the concept of nuance, which is really something students ought to know before they graduate high school.

You’ll need the scaffolded worksheet that is the mainstay of this lesson to do its work. You might also find this learning support and word bank useful in presenting this lesson and completing its work. Finally, here is the teacher’s copy of the worksheet.

If you find typos in these documents, I would appreciate a notification. And, as always, if you find this material useful in your practice, I would be grateful to hear what you think of it. I seek your peer review.

A Lesson Plan on Alexander the Great and Hellenism

If you’ve been following along from top to bottom, you’ll know that this is the eleventh (twenty-second if you count the interstitial quotes) and final post of an eleven-lesson global studies unit on the ancient world. Just to remind you, the first lesson in this run is “The First of Two Lessons on Sumer.”

So, now let’s move on to the last, which is this lesson on Alexander the Great and Hellenism. I think this is another two-day lesson, so I include two context clues worksheets, the first on the verb dominate (it’s used both intransitively and transitively), and the the second on the noun dominion.

Here is the reading on Alexander the Great and its accompanying vocabulary-building and comprehension worksheet that are the primary work of this lesson. If you have English language learners or emergent readers in your class, this differentiated version of the work for this lesson might be more appropriate for you use. The reading is a bit shorter and I’ve edited it to include more familiar words for students.

OK! That’s it. Eleven global studies lessons on the ancient world. I hope they serve you well.

If you find typos in these documents, I would appreciate a notification. And, as always, if you find this material useful in your practice, I would be grateful to hear what you think of it. I seek your peer review.