Core Decision of Lesson Design

What:
For my social studies lesson with my fifth grade students at Lea Elementary
School, I want to focus on the relocation of Japanese Americans during World War II,
with a particular focus on the causes behind the relocation. While limited time has been
allotted in the classroom specifically to social studies, students have been introduced to
social studies topics through literacy. Currently, they are reading a short story in their
literacy textbook that chronicles a young girls time living in an internment camp during
World War II.
As there are varying perspectives on why the internment of Japanese Americans
happened, I hope that through approaching this topic my students will develop their skills
on making inferences and sourcing information. Rather than accepting one account as
the indisputable truth, I want my students to consider who created the source and for what
purpose. Using prior knowledge as well as information from the source, students will
make inferences about what caused the relocation of over 100,000 Japanese Americans.
How:
Students will move toward their learning objectives through a guided discussion
and video analysis. Our discussion will be framed using the Reading and Analyzing
Nonfiction (RAN) strategy, an adaptation of the more traditional KWL chart (what I
know/what I want to know/what I learned). Using a constructivist approach, I will
ground the conversation in students prior knowledge, considering what understanding
they already have that needs to be built upon as well as what misconceptions they have
that need to be challenged. While my hope is to have students discuss with each other
rather than simply look to me for the correct answers or approval of their responses, I will
ask guiding questions in order to draw out important aspects of students thinking or to
redirect responses that may be misguided or less relevant.
Our discussion will be centered on a short video clip taken from a US government
video created in 1943 to explain how and why the extensive relocation of Japanese
Americans took place. Using evidence from the video to make inferences, we will keep
track of which pieces of prior knowledge were confirmed or discredited. We will
conclude our conversation by focusing on what lingering questions students have so as to
try to move students toward a more inquiry-based approach.
Why:
I am choosing to focus on the topic of Japanese internment since students have
been introduced to it through a short story yet have not had a chance to discuss more
deeply why this historical event took place. While the story takes place at a Japanese
internment camp, the focus of the story is on how the protagonist continues to keep her
Japanese heritage alive through dance. The story does not delve into the reasoning
behind her internment, which I believe is an important and challenging topic within
American history that many students are not exposed to. I personally remember being
very surprised when learning about this subject in high school, since I had never been
introduced to the topic during my elementary years.

I am focusing on building up students skills for making inferences and sourcing

information since they are vital tools needed to make meaning out of texts, images,
videos, and experiences both inside and outside of the school setting. My students have
been working on their inference skills all year through a daily exercise called Picture of
the Day. During this time, students work on making observations and inferences from
an image. While their inference-making skills have been steadily improving all year, I
think students could further cultivate this skill in a small group setting. Additionally, I
want students to focus on making inferences from sources other than pictures in order for
them to see that this skill is valuable outside of the Picture of the Day exercise. I know
that the classroom teacher, Mrs. Coyne, is going to cover how to make inferences about
texts soon, so I thought that I would have them apply this skill to a video.
So far from my observations in the classroom, students have not had much
experience evaluating information sources. Rather, they seem to accept most of what
they see and read in the classroom as fact. In order to challenge this framework, I plan to
use guiding questions to scaffold students thinking about the source so that by the end of
the lesson students can draw conclusions about the purpose and motivation behind it.
As mentioned previously, I am choosing to use the RAN strategy instead of a
KWL chart. The RAN strategy consists of five categories: what I think I
know/confirmed/misconceptions/new information/wonderings. I think this chart will
help organize the conversation. I will also use a chart paper with each of these categories
to record students thinking, helping students who are more visual to follow along with
the conversation. By starting off with what students think they know, rather than saying
what they know, students may feel less pressured to report correct information and
hopefully will be more comfortable giving input. We will end with students wonderings
to allow me to assess how students thinking has evolved as well as to get students more
used to an inquiry-based approach.
Finally, I am choosing to only show one minute and twenty seconds of a tenminute video. If I were to show the entire video I think students would feel bombarded
by too much information and would likely tune the video out. Since my students seem to
have limited prior knowledge about World War II in general and even less when
specifically considering Japanese internment, I think a short video clip will give us more
than enough information to try to unpack in a forty-five minute period.
Lesson Plan
Goals/Objectives:
During a 45-minute small group lesson, the five participating students will learn how to
draw inferences from a video and consider the source information, as well as deepen their
understanding of the causes behind Japanese internment.
Standards:
Speaking and Listening Standards (Comprehension and Collaboration), Grade 5:

1. Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups,

and teacher-led) with diverse partners on Grade 5 topics and texts, building on
others ideas and expressing their own clearly.
2. Summarize a written text read aloud or information presented in diverse media
and formats, including visually, quantitatively, and orally.
3. Summarize the points a speaker makes and explain how each claim is supported
by reasons and evidence.
Materials and Preparation:
1.
2.
3.
4.

Computer
Chart paper
Post-it notes
Pencils

Learning Environment and Management Issues:

1. I have chosen five students for this lesson who have a range of academic abilities.
We will sit in a circle so as to encourage students to direct their comments to the
whole group rather than just to me. We will work in the school library so that we
can listen to the video a few times without distracting the rest of the class. I will
be showing the video on my laptop, which has a large enough screen for five
students to view at once.
2. Student will not need to bring anything to the lesson. I will have pencils for each
of them. I will also have chart paper prepared with the five RAN categories listed
and will hand out post-it notes when needed. I will also have the video set up and
ready to go before the students come over.
3. I have chosen five students who I believe will be engaged in this lesson and bring
a diverse range of abilities and perspectives. I will tell students where to sit when
they come over for the lesson. We will also go over small group expectations at
the beginning, using language aligned with that used in the classroom. Although
students are very familiar with these expectations, I will try to make sure that they
understand what each expectation means instead of simply reciting them.
Plan:
1. I will start out by explaining that I am conducting this lesson as part of my
practice in learning how to become a teacher.
(1 minute)
2. Go over small group expectations. (Complete work/make progress & keep
trying/work together/focus & stay on task/stay positive/monitor volume) Follow
up questions: How do we stay positive if we disagree with someone? How do we
show that we are listening to someone?
(2 minutes)
3. The hook of the lesson will be to bring up the story they are reading in literacy,
The Dancing Bird of Paradise, and ask students about the context of the story.
Guiding Questions: What did you think of this story? Where/When did it take

4.

5.

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7.

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place? What happened when Sahomi moved back to America? Why did her
family have to move? How do you think they felt? If students do not use the
phrase internment camps, I will introduce it to them.
(2 minutes)
Once we have established that the story takes place at a Japanese internment
camp, I will ask students to write at least three things down on post-its about what
they think they know about the Japanese relocation. I will emphasize that I am
asking for what students think they know, and that it is fine if the information they
write down is not completely accurate. If students collectively have very little
prior knowledge, I will give them a brief overview of what the internment camps
were. They will signal to me that they are finished by putting their thumb up.
(5 minutes)
During the body of the lesson, we will watch the first minute and twenty seconds
of this video clip (https://archive.org/details/Japanese1943). After the first time
watching it, I will ask students for their general reactions to the video (What did
you think of the video? How did you feel while watching it? What stood out to
you? What made sense to you? What was confusing?).
(5 minutes)
I will then play the video a second time, pausing it at key points based on students
responses to the previous questions. I will pause the video at points in the video
that I think may need clarification (What happened at Pearl Harbor? What does
alien mean in this video?). We will then discuss the reasons given for the
relocation of Japanese Americans.
(10 minutes)
When we watch the video a third time, I will ask students to pay special attention
to who made the video and ask students to think about why the video was made.
Afterward we will discuss their findings, and I will make sure to ask students to
ground their responses in evidence. We will then revisit the question of why
Japanese Americans were relocated. I will ask some guiding questions to help
students in their thinking (What evidence did the government have to think that
Japanese Americans were potentially dangerous? Are any of you or your families
from another country? What would happen if the United States went to war with
that country?)
(10 minutes)
To wrap up the lesson, I will ask students to move their post-its with information
they thought they knew to either the confirmed or misconception category. I will
then ask students to write down one piece of new information they learned and
one question they still have about the topic. In order to assess their
understanding, I will ask students to write down what they think is the main
reason for the relocation of Japanese Americans and explain why they chose it.
(10 minutes)

Assessment of the Goals/Objectives:

In order to assess students progression throughout the lesson I will pay close attention to
their discussion comments, occasionally taking notes on their key points. I will listen for

whether or not students are grounding their claims in evidence and whether they are
thinking thoughtfully about the source. This will help me see if students are building on
their skills to make inferences and source materials. I will particularly focus on students
responses during the closing of the lesson. Are they able to correctly identify which
information was confirmed or discredited? Are their wonderings meaningful? Or do
they show a lack of understanding of what was discussed? The post-its will serve as a
record of their responses. Finally, I will consider what students named as the main
reason for Japanese internment and their supporting evidence.
Anticipating Students Responses and Your Possible Responses:
1. If there are management issues I will probably first address them by asking the
whole group to revisit the expectations we laid out at the beginning. I will then
ask the students to evaluate whether they, as a whole, are meeting the group
expectations. I will emphasize that I want them to do this without naming anyone
specifically. If problems persist, I may have to remind individual students what
the expectations are. I will also make sure to comment on those who are
following the expectations in order to encourage others to do the same. If
necessary, I may move seats.
2. While I am unsure what students responses will be, I anticipate that the
conversation could likely go in two ways. The students might take the video very
literally and recite back the reasons given for the internment. In this case I will
try to make the situation more concrete for the students by relating it back to their
literacy story as well as to their own lives (If the United States went to war with
the country your parents are from, what would you do? Would you become a
danger to the United States?) An alternative to this line of response is that
students might say the government was bad and racist. I would then ask students
to think more about why people are sometimes racist. I would also ask them to
think about whether or not this could happen now and why or why not.
Accommodations:
1. I believe that by starting out with what students think they know, students who are
coming to the lesson with less prior knowledge will feel less pressured to know all
the correct answers when participating. I will emphasize the point that I want
students to share what they think they know, regardless of whether or not it is
correct. By having students write down their responses first, I am allowing them
time to think. Once we put up all of the post-it notes with students responses,
students will have a collective pool of information to work with going into the
lesson. Throughout the lesson, if students seem to be having difficulty with a
certain idea in the video I will pause and replay it as needed. I will call on
struggling students who are raising their hands to answer questions first, allowing
them to give a response before I ask students to think more critically. If students
do not seem to want to participate, I will call on them to rephrase what one of
their classmates has shared.

2. If some students need to be challenged more, I will direct more difficult questions
to them and follow up with more challenging response questions. Follow up
questions: What evidence are you using to support your argument? Are other
alternatives likely/possibly? If they finish writing on their post-it notes early, I
may push them to expand on what they wrote or ask them to come up with more
responses than I asked of everyone else.