• Context
• Lesson-Specific Standards
• Teaching the Lesson
• Assessment
• Lesson Materials
• Resources

Scheduling and Adaptations

Champlin Park High School uses a block-period schedule with 85-minute classes. This allowed JoEllen Ambrose to complete this lesson in three class periods. Teachers with more conventional schedules would most likely need to divide these activities over four or five days. Consider using Activities 1 and 2 during the first class period, continue the research in Activity 2 on the second day, use Activity 3 (the structured debate) on day three, do consensus building and presentation (Activities 4 and 5) on day four, and debriefing (Activity 6) on day 5. Although, in JoEllen Ambrose’s opinion, separating the debriefing from the consensus building activity is less desirable because of the time lag, in many schools it will be a necessary adaptation.

JoEllen Ambrose has used this basic lesson plan for a variety of topics and diverse student populations, including students in an alternative school who had a considerable amount of life experience to bring to the discussion. The students seen in the lesson are all seniors; thus, JoEllen Ambrose allowed them to select their own partners, although she selected the small groups to ensure that a diversity of opinion would emerge. Younger students may need more direction in selecting partners. JoEllen Ambrose also conducted the Internet search that resulted in the research packet she distributed to students. This enabled her to control the reading level, length, sophistication, and bias of the articles. Teachers of honors students may wish to have them conduct their own research. Additional time would need to be scheduled for this approach.

Overview, Goals, and Planning    |     Activity 1     |     Activity 2     |     Activity 3
Activity 4     |     Activity 5     |     Activity 6     |     Scheduling and Adaptations