For this option, you can create a teaching tool aimed at any age group from elementary to post-secondary. This tool can be a lesson plan accompanied by materials (slide show, lecture materials, discussion outline etc); or a video or podcast aimed at teaching a specific group. For details see below.

Proposal

  • A brief description of what historical topic your teaching tool will focus on and why (one paragraph).
  • An overview of what this tool might look like, who it is intended for, and your educational goals of it: (two paragraphs)
    • will it be a lesson plan? a video? a podcast?
    • What age group is your tool aimed at? Why have you chosen that group?
    • What do you hope educators will get out of your tool?
  • Two shorter primary sources or one longer primary source. Please include a brief summary of these sources and why you think they will be helpful for your project. 
  • Four secondary sources (academic articles or books). Please include a brief summary of these secondary sources and why you think they will be helpful for your project. At this point of your research, you only need to have read one of them (the article you focused on for your Source Analysis). 

Teaching Tool Options

Lesson Plan and Materials (Developed by Aaron Larsen)

When creating lessons for any age group, a lesson plan can serve as a guiding document for yourself, your learners, and anyone who wishes to observe and understand your ideas. While every institution and every individual has different ideas of what a lesson plan should be composed of, there are a number of key factors that should be taken into consideration. These factors are ideas that should be included in every lesson plan you write, as without them the lesson you are attempting to teach can fall apart or you can miss the targeted learning objectives. Below, I have included a list of terms and ideas to include.

For a template to structure your lesson plan:

  • Title of the Lesson
    • Every lesson should have a title to help your teaching remain clear and organized and to help make the theme apparent
  • Age/Grade
    • List the age or grade of your learners. This can help someone evaluating your teaching ensure that your ideas and processes are appropriate for the age group you are teaching.
  • Learning Objectives
    • What is the takeaway that you would like your students to walk away with after you are done? What would you like them to learn? This should be the most important part of any lesson plan, as if your students do not understand the point of the lesson and have not learned, this lesson will have been a waste. Learning Objectives should be attainable, reasonable, and demonstrable.
  • Assessment
    • After every lesson, you should be able to assess what the students have learned. This is how you can tell if the lesson was effective or not. Assessment can take the form of anything, so long as the students can demonstrate their understanding of what they learned over the course of the lesson. Remember to include the ways that you will assess their success. Will you use a rubric? Does completion of your activity signify success? Will they demonstrate their understanding verbally or on paper? This part is up to you and depends on the style of your lesson.
  • Prerequisite Knowledge
    • What should students know prior to the beginning of this lesson? Is it a stand-alone lesson, or will you need prior knowledge and learning? If a student does not have the proper prior knowledge, they will lose interest almost immediately.
  • Supplies
    • What do you need to deliver this lesson? List everything you will use, as even the best teacher can show up at school and realize they have forgotten the supplies they require for their lessons. This will help you prepare.
  • Allotted Time
    • How long will your lesson last? Keep in mind that every age group has different attention spans. A kindergartener can sometimes struggle with a twenty-minute activity unless there is movement and changes throughout the activity, just as a high school student can sometimes struggle with an hour of pure note-taking. If you are creating a longer lesson, remember you will need greater differentiation in tasks.
  • Set Up
    • What will you have to set up before the lesson? What supplies need to be laid out and prepared? Do you need to do any photocopying?
  • Hook
    • How will you grab the student’s attention? This should describe how you will start the lesson and how you will attract the students. Why would they want to learn about this topic?
  • Lesson
    • How will you provide the information to the students? Will you use presentation software? Read them a story? Provide instructions for how to use a manipulative?
  • Activity
    • How will the students apply what they have just learned? Every lesson should have an attached activity. This allows for students to solidify their learning and demonstrate their understanding to you.
  • Conclusions
    •   How will you wrap up the lesson? How do you know when the students are finished? Does your conclusion require clean up time?
  • Review and Summary
    • At the end of each lesson, you should bring your learners together and discuss what you have learned. The lesson should be summarized, the students should be able to answer questions about their learning, and understand the significance of what you have taught them. The takeaway can be as simple as “It is important to learn the letter A because it is the first letter in the alphabet,” or as complex as “Understanding postmodernist thought in the historical discipline is important as it is a vital cornerstone in almost all modern historical literature.” Just remember to cater this summary to your audience.

By following these steps, you are providing enough detail to make your lesson and objectives clear, while demonstrating your mastery and understanding of the topic you are teaching. Below, you will find a potential template for your lesson plans, containing all of the factors that a successful lesson plan should include. You can use this template for submission of your assignment, but it is not required.

Teaching Tool Template:

Template

Video or Podcast Episode

Your goal with this video or podcast is to inform your audience about your topic, with the understanding that they have little or no background on it. In other words, you want this video/podcast to be an introduction. 

Requirements

  • The video should include images. Make sure to provide information about from where these images are taken.
  • Videos should be approximately 15 minutes in length. Podcast episodes should be 30 minutes.