DIRECT INSTRUCTION LESSON PLAN DESIGN AND RUBRIC



Fredrick Douglass and Slavery

Socratic Seminar Lesson Plan

Socratic Seminar can be found on pages 188-204.

8th Grade U.S. History

1. MATERIALS/PREPLANNING

• Materials - List all of the materials you will need for teaching this lesson.

• Pen

• Paper

• Excerpt from American slavery as it is: testimony of a thousand witnesses... by Theodore Dwight Weld

• Excerpts from Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave

• Letter from Frederick Douglass to Amy Post, January 26, 1868 (Letter #112)

• Vocabulary - List key vocabulary terms needed for this lesson

• Abolish

• Amendment

• Literature - List supporting literature or reading materials

• Excerpt from American slavery as it is: testimony of a thousand witnesses... by Theodore Dwight Weld

• Excerpts from Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave

• Letter from Frederick Douglass to Amy Post, January 26, 1868 (Letter #112)

2. OBJECTIVE

• “A clear objective is a statement of the measurable learning that is intended to take place as a result of instruction” as per text p. 22. Follow examples in Chapter 2 of text.

▪ Students will explore primary sources and evaluate themes and concepts related to slavery and abolition

▪ Students will creatively analyze concepts related to the primary sources and create questions for the purpose of class discussion and debate. 

▪ Students will engage in a Socratic seminar and respond to questions, and issues raised by their classmates. 

▪ Students will complete a reflection activity to identify the nature and quality of their participation in the Socratic seminar. 

• State the Cognitive Taxonomy and/(Affective/ Psychomotor) Level

• The cognitive taxonomy would be all the way at the top level “evaluation”. The affective would also be at the level of “evaluation”. This is because students are evaluating the sources, developing responses, articulating those responses and then defending them based on the sources.

• List the standards met by this objective.

8.9 Students analyze the early and steady attempts to abolish slavery and to realize the ideals of the Declaration of Independence.

1. Describe the leaders of the movement (e.g., John Quincy Adams and his proposed constitutional amendment, John Brown and the armed resistance, Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad, Benjamin Franklin, Theodore Weld, William Lloyd Garrison, Frederick Douglass).

3. ASSESSMENT

• Key question: Can this objective be assessed and what will the students be able to think, say, or do when the objective is accomplished?

• Students will be able to argue their answer to the question “Why was the abolition of slavery necessary?” They will also be able to back up this argument with evidence from the text.

• Describe clearly how you would assess student performance in this lesson.

• Students will be evaluated on their ability to complete a successful reflection exercise (provided).  In addition, students will be evaluated based on the rubric assessing their level of participation and ability to critically analyze the issues and ideas raised in the seminar (provided). 

• Label your method of assessment as authentic, formal, or informal and the type of assessment tool used (ex. a rubric).

• This method of assessment would fit under the category of informal because students are doing this for the first time, but after a couple of practices students will be formally assessed.

• Provide a rationale as to how this assessment links with or supports this theoretical model and provide a rationale for using this assessment tool.

• This fits with the Socratic seminar model because it allows for students to discuss what they think the answer is after completing the reading. Then students discuss the issue with the teacher guiding the conversation, and lastly students reflect and refine their beliefs after hearing others points to the argument. This also fits the social learning theory because it has students looking at what others are doing and then building their knowledge off of those models.

• Include a copy of the rubric, checklist, or other tool that will be used to assess each objective.

• Socratic Seminar Analytic Rubric

|  |Excellent |Good |Fair |Unsatisfactory |

|Conduct |Demonstrates respect for the learning |Generally shows composure but may |Participates and expresses a belief that |Displays little respect for the |

| |process; has patience with different |display impatience with |his/her ideas are important in |learning process; argumentative; |

| |opinions and complexity; shows |contradictory or confusing ideas; |understanding the text; may make |takes advantage of minor |

| |initiative by asking others for |comments, but does not necessarily|insightful comments but is either too |distractions; uses inappropriate |

| |clarification: brings others into the |encourage others to participate; |forceful or too shy and does not |language; speaks to individuals |

| |conversation, moves the conversation |may tend to address only the |contribute to the progress of the |rather than ideas; arrives |

| |forward; speaks to all of the |teacher or get into debates. |conversation; tends to debate, not |unprepared without notes, |

| |participants; avoids talking too much.| |dialogue. |pencil/pen or perhaps even |

| | | | |without the text. |

|Speaking |Understands question before answering;|Responds to questions voluntarily;|Responds to questions but may have to be |Extremely reluctant to |

|& |cites evidence from text; expresses |comments show an appreciation for |called upon by others; has read the text |participate even when called |

|Reasoning |thoughts in complete sentences; move |the text but not an appreciation |but not put much effort into preparing |upon; comments illogical and |

| |conversation forward; makes |for the subtler points within it; |questions and ideas for the seminar; |meaningless; may mumble or |

| |connections between ideas; resolves |comments are logical but not |comments take details into account but |express incomplete ideas; little |

| |apparent contradictory ideas; |connected to other speakers; ideas|may not flow logically in conversation. |or no account taken of previous |

| |considers others' viewpoints, not only|interesting enough that others | |comments or important ideas in |

| |his/her own; avoids bad logic. |respond to them. | |the text. |

|Listening |Pays attention to details; writes down|Generally pays attention and |Appears to find some ideas unimportant |Appears uninvolved in the |

| |questions; responses take into account|responds thoughtfully to ideas and|while responding to others; may have to |seminar; comments display |

| |all participants; demonstrates that |questions of other participants |have questions or confusions repeated due|complete misinterpretation of |

| |he/she has kept up; points out faulty |and the leader; absorption in own |to inattention; takes few notes during |questions or comments of other |

| |logic respectfully; overcomes |ideas may distract the participant|the seminar in response to ideas and |participants. |

| |distractions. |from the ideas of others. |comments. | |

|Reading |Thoroughly familiar with the text; has|Has read the text and comes with |Appears to have read or skimmed the text |Student is unprepared for the |

| |notations and questions in the |some ideas from it but these may |but has not marked the text or made |seminar; important words, |

| |margins; key words, phrases, and ideas|not be written out in advance;  |meaningful notes or questions; shows |phrases, ideas in the text are |

| |are highlighted;  possible |good understanding of the |difficulty with vocabulary; mispronounces|unfamiliar; no notes or questions|

| |contradictions identified; pronounces |vocabulary but may mispronounce |important words; key concepts |marked in the text; no attempt |

| |words correctly. |some new or foreign words. |misunderstood; little evidence of serious|made to get help with difficult |

| | | |reflection prior to the seminar. |material. |

| |

4. LESSON OPENING/PURPOSE

• Clearly state to students how this lesson will benefit students.

o Students will hear from the teacher that this lesson will benefit them because it will allow for them to determine what they believe an answer to a question is based upon other students modeling what they believe. They will learn to argue their belief and then be able to back that argument up with evidence.

• The purpose statement lets students know WHY you are spending time with this lesson.

o They will be told that we are spending time with this lesson because it shows us differing opinions on why the abolishment of slavery was important.

5. MOTIVATION FOR LEARNING

• Identify the type of motivation (i.e., intrinsic/extrinsic) that is appropriate for this theoretical model.

• There will be intrinsic motivation for learning because students will want to argue their points to see if it stands up against other students’ arguments.

• Describe exactly what you will do to in this lesson to support motivation to learn.

I will provide questions when there seems to be a lull. This will keep students from becoming bored and it will motivate them to stay connected. I will also make sure to pick on all students to ensure everyone is stating their opinions at least one time.

6. LESSON BODY

• Follow the steps provided in the text for the general lesson format. These first steps are found in most all models.

• Adjust this format to match the exact teaching model you are preparing according to the model description provided in the text. Clarity is the key.

Step 1 Review/Make Connections to Previously Learned Material (Advance Organizer appropriate)

Students will be asked the warm-up question “What does abolish mean and how did it apply to the United States in the mid 1800s?”. This will then transition into the review of what was previously taught. Students will be guided through the definition of abolish.

Step 2 State Objectives for the Lesson (State the objective to students in a way that students will know what they will learn. This helps them make connections with prior learning.)

A student will read this objective to the class.

▪ “Students will explore primary sources and evaluate themes and concepts related to slavery and abolition

▪ Students will creatively analyze concepts related to the primary sources and create questions for the purpose of class discussion and debate. 

▪ Students will engage in a Socratic seminar and respond to questions, and issues raised by their classmates. 

▪ Students will complete a reflection activity to identify the nature and quality of their participation in the Socratic seminar.”

The teacher will then simplify this by saying something to the extent of “This means that you will be able to show me that you can argue you answer to a question and back it up with evidence.”

Step 3 Present New Material – Here is where you select the particular model from the text that is suitable for the material you are teaching. Be sure to list each step of the model and bullet the details of how you will accomplish each step. This is the key step of your lesson model so it must be clear and easy to follow.

1. Introduce students to the concept and practice of Socratic seminars.

2. Class will create guidelines and procedures for the Socratic seminar

3. Distribute reading materials to form the basis of the discussion in the seminar.

Excerpt from American slavery as it is: testimony of a thousand witnesses...

Reader, you are empaneled as a juror to try a plain case and bring in an honest verdict. The question at issue is not one of law, but of fact--"What is the actual condition of the slaves in the United States?" A plainer case never went to a jury. Look at it. Twenty seven hundred thousand persons in this country, men, women, and children, are in slavery. Is slavery, as a condition for human beings, good, bad, or indifferent?...

Two millions seven hundred thousand persons in these States are in this condition. They are made slaves and are held such by force, and by being put in fear, and this for no crime!...

As slaveholders and their apologists are...flooding the world with testimony that their slaves are kindly treated; that they are well fed, well clothed, well housed, well lodged, moderately worked, and bountifully provided with all things needful for their comfort, we propose--first, to disprove their assertions by the testimony of a multitude of impartial witnesses, and then to put slaveholders themselves through a course of cross-questioning which shall draw their condemnation out of their own mouths. We will prove that the slaves in the United States are treated with barbarous inhumanity; that they are overworked, underfed, wretchedly clad and lodged, and have insufficient sleep; that they are often made to wear round their necks iron collars armed with prongs, to drag heavy chains and weights at their feet while working in the field, and to wear yokes, and bells, and iron horns; that they are often kept confined in the stocks day and night for weeks together, made to wear gags in their mouths for hours or days, have some of their front teeth torn out or broken off, that they may be easily detected when they run away; that they are frequently flogged with terrible severity, have red pepper rubbed into their lacerated flesh, and hot brine, spirits of turpentine, &c., poured over the gashes to increase the torture; that they are often stripped naked, their backs and limbs cut with knives, bruised and mangled by scores and hundreds of blows with the paddle, and terribly torn by the claws of cats, drawn over them by their tormenters; that they are often hunted with blood hounds and shot down like beasts, or torn in pieces by dogs; that they are often suspended by the arms and whipped and beaten till they faint, and when revived by restoratives, beaten again till they faint, and sometimes till they die; that their ears are often cut off, their eyes knocked out, their bones broken, their flesh branded with red hot irons; that they are maimed, mutilated, and burned to death over slow fires.... We will establish all these facts by the testimony of scores and hundreds of eye witnesses, by the testimony of slaveholders in all parts of the slave states, by slaveholding members of Congress and of state legislatures, by ambassadors to foreign courts, by judges, by doctors of divinity, and clergy men of all denominations, by merchants, mechanics, lawyers and physicians, by presidents and professors in colleges and professional seminaries, by planters, overseers and drivers.

Source: Weld, Theodore Dwight. American slavery as it is: testimony of a thousand witnesses ... ( New York, American Anti-slavery Society, 1839).

Example 2: Excerpt from Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave

I have had two masters. My first master's name was Anthony. I do not remember his first name. He was generally called Captain Anthony -- a title which, I presume, he acquired by sailing a craft on the Chesapeake Bay. He was not considered a rich slaveholder. He owned two or three farms, and about thirty slaves. His farms and slaves were under the care of an overseer. The overseer's name was Plummer. Mr. Plummer was a miserable drunkard, a profane swearer, and a savage monster. He always went armed with a cowskin and a heavy cudgel. I have known him to cut and slash the women's heads so horribly, that even master would be enraged at his cruelty, and would threaten to whip him if he did not mind himself. Master, however, was not a humane slaveholder. It required extraordinary barbarity on the part of an overseer to affect him. He was a cruel man, hardened by a long life of slave- holding. He would at times seem to take great pleasure in whipping a slave. I have often been awakened at the dawn of day by the most heart-rending shrieks of an own aunt of mine, whom he used to tie up to a joist, and whip upon her naked back till she was literally covered with blood. No words, no tears, no prayers, from his gory victim, seemed to move his iron heart from its bloody purpose. The louder she screamed, the harder he whipped; and where the blood ran fastest, there he whipped longest. He would whip her to make her scream, and whip her to make her hush; and not until overcome by fatigue, would he cease to swing the blood-clotted cowskin. I remember the first time I ever witnessed this horrible exhibition. I was quite a child, but I well remember it. I never shall forget it whilst I remember any thing. It was the first of a long series of such outrages, of which I was doomed to be a witness and a participant. It struck me with awful force. It was the blood-stained gate, the entrance to the hell of slavery, through which I was about to pass. It was a most terrible spectacle. I wish I could commit to paper the feelings with which I beheld it.

This occurrence took place very soon after I went to live with my old master, and under the following circumstances. Aunt Hester went out one night, -- where or for what I do not know, -- and happened to be absent when my master desired her presence. He had ordered her not to go out evenings, and warned her that she must never let him catch her in company with a young man, who was paying attention to her belonging to Colonel Lloyd. The young man's name was Ned Roberts, generally called Lloyd's Ned. Why master was so careful of her, may be safely left to conjecture. She was a woman of noble form, and of graceful proportions, having very few equals, and fewer superiors, in personal appearance, among the colored or white women of our neighborhood.

Aunt Hester had not only disobeyed his orders in going out, but had been found in company with Lloyd's Ned; which circumstance, I found, from what he said while whipping her, was the chief of fence. Had he been a man of pure morals himself, he might have been thought interested in protecting the innocence of my aunt; but those who knew him will not suspect him of any such virtue. Before he commenced whipping Aunt Hester, he took her into the kitchen, and stripped her from neck to waist, leaving her neck, shoulders, and back, entirely naked. He then told her to cross her hands, calling her at the same time a d -- -d b -- -h. After crossing her hands, he tied them with a strong rope, and led her to a stool under a large hook in the joist, put in for the purpose. He made her get upon the stool, and tied her hands to the hook. She now stood fair for his infernal purpose. Her arms were stretched up at their full length, so that she stood upon the ends of her toes. He then said to her, "Now, you d -- -d b -- -h, I'll learn you how to disobey my orders!" and after rolling up his sleeves, he commenced to lay on the heavy cowskin, and soon the warm, red blood (amid heart-rending shrieks from her, and horrid oaths from him) came dripping to the floor. I was so terrified and horror-stricken at the sight, that I hid myself in a closet, and dared not venture out till long after the bloody transaction was over. I expected it would be my turn next. It was all new to me. I had never seen any thing like it before. I had always lived with my grandmother on the outskirts of the plantation, where she was put to raise the children of the younger women. I had therefore been, until now, out of the way of the bloody scenes that often occurred on the plantation.

Source: Douglass, Frederick. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave (Boston: Published at the Anti-Slavery Office, 2005).

Example 3: Letter written by Frederick Douglass to Amy Post, January 26, 1868 (Letter #112)

Akron (?). Jan. 26, 1868  
My dear Friend

You manefested so
much of your old time interest
in me where I called at your house
to say farewell, that I cannot do
less than to send you a line at
this my first opportunity. I had not
travelled far from the sunshine of your
home, before I met the chilling frosts
of that prejudice which has been
the bane of my life. I was positively
refused a berth in the sleeping car from
Buffalo to Cleveland and threatened with
an old fashoned "drag out" if I refused
to go out peaceably. High and angry words
passed over me and for a time, I was
preparing my body for the brusing
in store for me. The loud talk between the conductor and myself
brought to the scene a number of
the passengers. Most of whom stood
up manfully for my rights and this
with my own firmness, brought the
conductor to his senses. He at last
gave me a bed and I slept about
as well as a man can when his
temper has been sorely tried. You
will not regret, my dear friend, when
you review your past, that your life
has been a constant and an earnest
protest against this vile spirit of
cast. I am speaking very night and
travelling every day. I have but little
time for letter writing. Kind Regards to
my friend Isaac. This is a selfish
little note. All about myself.
Truly Yours,

Frederick Douglass

1. Source: University of Rochester Rare Books and Special Collections, Post Family Papers. Frederick Douglass to Amy Post, January 26, 1868 .

2.

4. Introduce the question which will guide the seminar, "Why was the abolition of slavery necessary?"

5. Students formulate questions to stimulate discussion based on the guiding question and concepts related to the reading materials. 

6. Conduct the Seminar (teacher acts as the facilitator, and the students create the conversation).

7. Students will complete the reflection activity.

Step 4 Guide Practice, Assess Performance, and Provide Corrective Feedback

▪ Questioning – Prepare/list appropriate questions as per P. 69 of the text

▪ Correcting Errors- Make sure to correct errors as they arise and note the corrections you have made for future use.

Reflection and Rubric: 

1.  Socratic Seminar Reflection

Name                                                                        

Seminar #                                                                                                                                

Text Title:                                                                                                                                

Author:                                                                                                                                    

Opening Question(s):

                                                                                                                                               

                                                                                                                                               

                                                                                                                                               

                                                                                                                                               

Summary of key ideas:

Reaction:  Identify what someone said; write down his/her comment.  React to his/her statement.

Explain how the Seminar influenced your thinking about the topic or the text(s).

Socratic Connections:  Identify and explain a connection to . . .

another writer/poet

news article

movie

song

commercial

Photograph/painting

TV show

person you know

experience you had

observation

another culture

famous/infamous person

your choices . . . .

 

 

 

Explain your connection fully:

Self Assessment:

Taking a position on a question

5

4

3

2

1

Using evidence to support a position or presenting factual information

5

4

3

2

1

Drawing another person into the discussion

5

4

3

2

1

Asking a clarifying question or moving the discussion along

5

4

3

2

1

Highlighting and marking the text with questions/commentary

5

4

3

2

1

7. Identify a personal goal for the next seminar:

8. Identify a group goal and how you would be willing to contribute to it: | |

Step 5 Assign Independent Practices, Assess Performance, and Provide Corrective Feedback

Step 6 Review Periodically – Build in review of lesson in future lessons

(Provide ideas on how/when you might review the lesson)

7. Student Work Examples/Technology Support

• Attach samples of student work.

• Include a variety of levels of performance

• Add technology support (ex. www resources/interactive activities etc.)

8. Reflective Thinking/Curriculum Evaluation – 25 Points This is a very important part of each lesson. Please take the time to thoughtfully prepare your reflections. Follow the format provided below. These reflections can be added to your portfolio and will count as one of the 8 reflections assigned.

 Reflective Statement for Socratic Seminar Lesson Plan

SLO: 6
The candidate uses knowledge of effective cross cultural verbal, nonverbal, and media communication techniques to foster active inquiry, collaboration, and supportive interaction with diverse student populations.



Relevance: Why is this assignment relevant to demonstrating your competence with this SLO?

• Through reflective/analysis/critical thinking processes link this lesson to a SLO/TPE and discuss how it is relevant to meeting a specific part of a standard.

To demonstrate my understanding of PSO 6, I developed a Socratic Seminar lesson plan that requires that students work with and against each other to develop a mutual and individual understanding to of how to answer the question “why was the abolishment of slavery necessary?” This lesson provided a supportive environment for interaction across cultures and between students. It fostered inquiry in the desire to answer the question. It also provides the group with the framework to collaborate with one another.

Significance  - Why is competence with this artifact significant for a professional educator?

Competence with learning the Socratic Seminar lesson plan is significant to the professional educator because it provides another opportunity for students to learn on a deeper level through discussion and debate over various subtopics and one major topic. This model fits into a variety of lesson subjects. I actually use this model frequently to teach aspects of the Revolutionary War, the Civil Rights movement, and the current issues that are affecting us today. The strengths of this lesson are that it usually captures the attention of students. The weaknesses are that sometime students can become lost because they are scared to participate and then they loose interest or focus. This lesson model fits in line with the social learning theory because students are learning from one another and the models that are set before them.

Link to Theory  - How is this artifact supported by a competent research base?

This lesson model is supported by competent research base because it is funded under the social learning theory. It fits under the social learning theory because it allows for students to interact with one another and they begin to learn from each other’s actions causing the group to develop mutual understandings or disagreements. This lesson also fits in with the Big Idea that states “Learners do not passively absorb information from the environment; rather, they actively work to make sense of their environment and construct their own, unique understandings of the world.” This means that learners need to be active in the social learning process. They need to be able to actively apply what they are watching models produce in order for it to connect and make sense in their lives. They have to apply what they are learning to what they currently know and to their current world. I apply this by making sure that students have time to relate what they are learning to their real world setting rather than just in an educational/intellectual setting. In creating this lesson I utilized a few primary source documents and websites that provided information on completing a good Socratic Seminar on this topic.

Resources/Technology- What technology did you select to support this lesson? Include interactive applications and videos …any/all technology suitable.

The technology that I utilized for this lesson was a couple of websites to better implement this model. I also utilized some websites that contained primary source documents that were needed to complete this assignment.

Professional Actions/Areas for growth  - What are your next professional steps in this area to keep moving forward as a professional?

My next steps in moving forward as a professional educator are to begin to develop more lessons with this model. I will create one per unit to ensure that this type of learning is taking place. I believe that this entire lesson worked well. Next time I will have some better supportive questions to ensure that all students are engaged the entire time. I need to do some research on what other lessons are available online in the Socratic Seminar model. This lesson helps me demonstrate that I can teach students in a way that is based on them working together to teach each other and themselves. This lesson allows for me to play the role of the facilitator rather than the direct instructor.

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