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Lesson Plan Example
Lesson Title: Representing Big Ideas Level: Kindergarten / 1st grade
Time: A series of 45-minute class sessions
Goal: To utilize current research on the topic of creative pedagogical approaches to introducing social
issues in an Early Childhood environment, with special attention on representing how students are
internalizing and interpreting both textual and conversational information about Martin Luther King’s
life and work.
Objectives:
 The students will demonstrate their understandings of vocabulary from text and classroom
discussion.
 The students will communicate their understanding to the class as they present their work and the
thought processes which led them to it.
 The students will represent abstract concepts in a non-typical format to access new understandings
and ways of communicating about social issues.
 Build a foundation upon which students will then build upon to represent ideas emergent from their
own life experiences.
Materials/Media:
 Martin’s Big Words, by Doreen Rappaport
 Cut out’s containing significant words and phrases from the text.
 A classroomsize set of math manipulatives with which to represent the ideas.
 Large legal size paper on which to construct their interpretations.
 Camera to capture their work.
 Projector to project their work onto the wall/screen to assist group reflection.
Instructional Procedures:
 Students gather around our gathering place / carpet central to the classroom.
 Teacher presents Martin’s Big Words and invites students to reflect on previous knowledge of MLK
or his legacy.
 Students take turns sharing their current understandings.
 Teacher reads the text.
 Teacher asks students to reflect on vocabulary / concepts which were novel to them from the text.
 Teacher then highlights several key words / concepts, such as Love, Justice, Peace, Struggle, etc.
 Students are then asked to reflect on their current understandings of these, and other key concepts
raised in the previous discussion.
 Teacher then introduces the math manipulatives and explains their use in representing the terms /
concepts highlighted from the text.
 Students then begin their representations, after selecting a word / phrase that appealed to them, at
their tables.
 Upon completion, or when work time has passed, teacher then records student work via camera.
 Teacher presents students with photographed copies of their work and gives each student a chance
to speak to the class about their representation and what are the important aspects of it.

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 Teacher makes space for dialogue around each students’ work and the topics it raised for the class.
Evaluation/Assessment:
Students will be evaluated by their level of participation in discussion as well as level of verbalization
regarding the thought process that went into their representation.
Contingency Plan:
Students will be presented with multiple work periods to represent various ideas, giving them chances to
practice new methods of representations. Students who present confusion around how to represent the
topics will receive one-on-one attention from the teacher with which to clarify their own thinking.
Adaptation to meet individual needs:
Students who demonstrate more mastery over vocabulary will be encouraged to label their
representations and write up a description of their work, while students who demonstrate lower
confidence / ability will have the option of working with a partner while also presenting verbally to the
class their representations.
Next Steps:
Introduce future activities utilizing a similar approach, replacing textually based input with students’ own
big ideas from their lives and vocabulary.
Citations / Research:
Murphy, Shaun, M. (2009) Mathematics and social justice in grade 1: How children understand inequality
and represent it. Beyond The Journal: Young Children on the Web. Retrieved February 23, 2017, from
http://www.naeyc.org/files/yc/file/200905/BTJMurphy.pdf
Student Work Examples: