1) The lesson plan focused on teaching 4th grade students about the 2010 Census and economics. 2) A variety of activities were used including a PowerPoint presentation, reading assignments, group work creating charts, and a community map assignment. 3) The teacher reflected that students struggled with writing responses and completing assignments within the time given, and that more explanation of key concepts like producers and consumers was needed.

1. ST-7
CONCORDIA UNIVERSITY
RIVER FOREST, IL
LESSON PLANNING
Teacher Candidate: Zenaida Almodoar Date(s): March 23, 2010 Plan # 6
Topic(s): Economics/Census 2010 Time allotted: 1 hour
Grade: 4 Subject: Social Studies Cooperating/Classroom Teacher: Mr. Savage
CONSIDERATIONS
(Describe all those that apply.)
A. Materials: Supplies – Equipment – Technology
Post-it notes
Response journals
Projector
Power Point Presentation
Worksheet on Census in Schools
Scissors
Pencils
Small whiteboard easel
A supply of newspaper, magazine and coupons
Phone book for the yellow pages
12 x 17 construction paper
markers or colored pencils
Ruler
Social Studies rubric
Who Counts? Student Worksheet 1a, drawing materials, Who Counts? Reading Questions Student Worksheet 1b,
United States Population wall map
B. Physical Environment: Safety -- Physical Space --Procedural Rules
Sitting Arrangements: At their desks
Students will listen to each other without interrupting.
Students will demonstrate courtesy and respect for others’ rights and point of view.
C. Diverse Learning
• Learning Styles: Auditory – Tactile/Kinesthetic – Visual
Auditory: Students will see if listeners can figure out the main idea of a passage. Students will ask themselves
questions and share it to other listeners. Students will pair and share their thinking.
Tactile/Kinesthetic: Students will write their think aloud on post-it-notes and attached them on the selection.
Students will make marginal notes of reactions, ideas, details, numbering questions, etc as they read. Students
will list the vocabulary and write a short explanation of why they chose these words. Students will skim for the
main points.
Visual: Students will survey text organization by looking at title, introductory first sentence, subheadings, last
paragraph or summary; boldface print or italics, charts, maps, picture and graphs.
Auditory: Student will listen to Economics 101 page 6 as the teacher reads it to them.
Tactile/Kinesthetic: Students will create a chart and write a statement of the kind of goods and services offered
in the community.
Visual: Students will see the coupons and look at the PowerPoint presentation.

2. • Multiple Intelligences: Visual/Spatial – Logical/Mathematical – Verbal/Linguistic – Musical –
Interpersonal – Intrapersonal – Naturalistic – Bodily/Kinesthetic
Intrapersonal: Students will reflect on their personal reactions personally concerning to the economic situation
in the state of Illinois.
Verbal/Linguistic/Interpersonal: Students will briefly retell their personal reactions or summarizes what was
read and share it to another student.
Visual/Spatial: Student will read a selection and list the vocabulary and write a short explanation of why they
chose these words. Then they will write each word in the first column, and on the second column they can write
a short explanation of why they chose these picture and words.
• Grouping: Individual – Cooperative – Competitive – Collaborative
Students will work individually at designated place while the teacher is at the reading session.
Students will be grouped with partners with struggling readers and students needing more support.
Students will learn and contribute productively as individuals and as members of groups.
• Multicultural strategies: Cultural sharing – Multiple perspectives – Bridging communities –
Enhancing tolerance/Reducing prejudice – Promoting social justice – multicultural
infusion
Students will explain their personal reactions to a selection concerning the economy and gain the appreciation
for the It is an opportunity for students to reflect and understand the geographic, social economic and political
relationships in history and recognize the contributions of significant people and events in the past to their
present world. Students will relate the literary works and their characters, settings and plots to current and
historical events, people and perspectives.
D. Adaptive considerations: Environmental – Individual – Instructional
Accommodations
 Teacher will reduce the number of terms a learner must learn at any one time.
 Teacher will individualize a timeline for completing a task; pace learning differently for some learners
(increase and decrease)
 Teacher will accept a verbal response instead a written response for some students.
Modifications
 Students work with partners to recall facts from stories using visual arts activities.
 Students work with partners to draw the main ideas of a story they have read or heard.
 Students work with partners to use pictures, charts maps, graphs, etc.
 Students work with partners to encourage use of color to highlight important points in text.
 Students work with partners to read text aloud.
 Students work with partners to allow student to move around to learn new things.
E. Key Terms: Definitions – Names – Symbols -- Formulas
THE LESSON
Objective(s) with IL State Benchmarks:
 Students will read and/or listen to a short story and answer comprehension questions. (Knowledge and
Comprehension)
 Student will create a chart and write a statement of the kinds of goods and services offered in the community
 Students will build confidence and reading fluency (affective) (Knowledge)
 Students will Increase vocabulary using textual clues (Knowledge)
 Students will understand ideas about civic life and government. (Knowledge)
 Students will create a “good neighbor” badge. (Application)
 Students will participate in a Reader’s Theater activity and answer comprehension questions. (Application
and Comprehension)(psychomotor, affective, and cognitive domains)

3.  Students will create a community and identify its wants and needs. (Evaluation)
Social Studies
State Goal 15A: Understand economic systems, with an emphasis on the United States.
State Goal 15C. Understand that scarcity necessitates choices by producers.
Standards/Benchmark
Goal 1: English/Language Arts
• Use reading skills and strategies to understand a variety of familiar literary passages and texts.
• Use reading skills and strategies to understand informational texts.
-Understand the main idea and supporting details of simple expository information.
• Use the general skills and strategies of the writing process
-Use writing and other methods to describe familiar persons, places, objects, or experience.
• Listen for specific information in spoken texts.
Geography
• Understand the characteristics of spatial organization of Earth’s surface.
-Know the absolute and relative location of a community and places within it.
• Understand how geography is used to interpret the past.
-Know how areas of a community have changed over time.
Social Studies
Goal 15 A. /15 C.
• Time, Continuity and Change
o Identify and use various source for reconstructing the past
• Individual Development and Identity
o Identify and describe ways/families, groups, and groups and communities influence the individual’s
daily life and personal choices.
o Examine the consequences of changes in economic conditions and public policies and recognize the
contribution of governments to their economic world.
• Power , Authority and Governance
o Examine the rights and responsibilities of the individual.
STATE GOAL 1: Read with understanding and fluency.
A. Apply word analysis and vocabulary skills to comprehend selections.
B. Apply reading strategies to improve understanding and fluency.
• Students will establish purposes for reading; survey materials; ask questions; make predictions;
connect, clarify and extend ideas.
C. Comprehend a broad range of reading materials.
• Students will summarize and make generalizations from content and relate to purpose of
material.
STATE GOAL 2: Read and understand literature representative of various societies, eras and ideas.
A. Understand how literary elements and techniques are used to convey meaning.
B. Read and interpret a variety of literary works.
• Students will recognize and apply connections of important information and ideas within
and among learning areas.
• Students will express and interpret information and ideas
• Students will learn and contribute productively as individuals and as members of groups.
Introductory Activities: Warm-up – Review -- Previous Homework -- Prerequisite skills
Teacher will call all of the students come to sitting area to receive instructions for the hour.
Teacher will pass out the selection to all of the students. Wants and Needs worksheet. Set up the power point
presentation. Before starting, print and copy the student worksheets and hang the wall map. Then download
the It’s About Us Census Fact Sheet to aid classroom discussion. Pre and Post Assessment will be printed and
copied.

4. Lesson Development:
Anticipatory Set: Engage – Motivate – Build on prior knowledge – Show need for lesson
Before Reading- Anticipatory Set
I. Students will take a pre-assessment.
II. Teacher will show a power point presentation to begin the unit plan to speak about the economic
system in the United States which will into the Census 2010.
• Activate Prior Knowledge
• Questions:
• When is money important, and when does it affect our lives?
• How can we use money wisely?
• How can the government use money wisely?
• Vocabulary Development
• Want/Needs
• Producers
• Consumer
Instructional sequence based on content: Explore -- Demonstrate – Explain – Question – Elaborate
1. Write the word good neighbor, law, and responsibility on the board. Ask: What do these words mean?
2. Ask: Are you a good neighbor? What laws do you know about? What does it mean to be responsible?
Encourage a classroom discussion that reinforces the concepts of being a good neighbor and civic
responsibility. Make a list on the board of different laws with which students are familiar (e.g., wear a seat
belt, children must go to school, drivers must stop at red lights, etc.).
3. Explain to students that every grown up who lives in this country has a responsibility to participate in an
exciting activity called the census. A census finds out how many people live here by counting each man,
woman and child. The law says that a census count has to happen every 10 years, and one is happening in
2010.
4. The Importance of the Census
Teacher will say the following information: “We live in a representative democracy. If everyone is going to be
represented and have a voice in government, we need to know how many people that "everyone" includes.
The country's founders understood this, so they put it right into the Constitution! Article 1, Section 2 requires
the government to count the number of people in the country every 10 years”.
The data collected from this count will determine the number of representatives each state has in Congress,
which affects the number of electors in presidential elections. And census data are used within each state to
define congressional districts, which can impact congressional elections. These uses of census data are at the
foundation of our democracy.
5. Teacher will begin the PowerPoint presentation. Teacher will read the lesson objective to the student in “I
can” statement using student-friendly terminology. Teacher will explain the social studies rubric which
explains the assessment task and how the rubric will be used to evaluate their performance level. Teacher
will activate their background knowledge on community development and economics by asking several
questions. For example, When is money important and when does it affect our lives? How can we use
money wisely?
Check for understanding: On-going analysis -- Assess/ (Re-teach) – Practice -- Evaluate
Using the Student Worksheets
1. Teacher will explain that students will now read a story to find out how the census works.
2. Distribute Who Counts? Distribute Who Counts? Student Worksheet 1a to each student. Together read the
story aloud. Ask older students to answer the bonus question in their journals. Then ask students to
complete Who Counts? Reading Questions Student Worksheet 1b.

5. 3. Write the sentence, "It's about us" on the board. Discuss how it relates to the concept of being a good
neighbor (if everyone is a good neighbor, our country will be a better place).
4. Students will read an expository nonfiction article on economics. Then students will create a chart by using
coupons and write a statement of the kinds of goods and services offered in the community. Students will
learn on how to identify producers of goods and services in the community and list examples of producers in
the economy and identify what they produce.
Assessment: Informal -- Formal
Informal: Informal Assessment: Teacher will informally walk around the classroom and answers any questions that
students have.
Questions:
What is scarcity?
What are goods?
What are services?
What is economics?
Community Development
Public and Private Services
Formal Summative Assessment: on Friday, students will give a small quiz on Census 2010.
Closure (Student activity relating to the objective): Share – Process – Review/Reflect/Focus on Lesson Objective(s) --
Journal – Student self-assessment
Student will continue on reading the selection and write their own personal reactions on post-it-notes. Students
will share their ideas and observations with another student.
Teacher will reinforce the major points to be learned; to help establish the network of thought relationships.
Signal me if you have additional questions or need assistance
Ending: Ending details to be put on the board or announced at the end of class – Assigning homework – Enrichment
Reading Response journal – additional practice will be done tomorrow in the classroom during your sustained silent
reading. Students will pick up their materials and return to their seats.
Flexible Planning (Consideration of time, activities, and resources): Modify – Adapt -- Extend
If there sufficient time, students can continue to work with a partner to exchange their personal reaction and
finish their chart.
If there insufficient time, students will work at their desk individually or with a partner.

6. REFLECTIVE EVALUATION OF THE LESSON
Date Lesson Taught: Tuesday, March 23, 2010 Title of Lesson: Census 2010
Category Strengths Suggestions for Improvements
Introductory
Activities
Students were given a pre-assessment concerning
the Census 2010. Then I passed out the article
titled “The 2010 Census Is Coming! By
EducationWorld.com
Before reading the article, I wanted to assess their knowledge on the Census
2010. Honestly, these students are having difficulty on expressing their
thoughts in written format. I read their response to several essay questions.
I couldn’t understand what they have written
Lesson
Devel
opme
nt
Anticipatory
Set
Instructional
Sequence
Check for
Understandi
ng
Auditory: Student will listen to Economics 101
page 6 as the teacher reads it to them.
Tactile/Kinesthetic: Students will create a chart
Visual: Students will see the coupons to create a
t-chart on the wants and needs in the community
and how it can affect receiving government funds.
Visual; Students will view a PowerPoint
presentation on Economic 101/Census 2010.
Students will view their community on Google.
Com images by downloading their community so
they can learn more about the Hermosa
community.
In order to check their understanding, I briefly
read the article titled “The 2010 Census Is
Coming”. The students were given the article to
complete independently. The article had word
box: accurate, residence, representative, data,
determine and services. It had a timeline from
March, 2010 to December 2010.
It was at their reading level. I read briefly the
history of Hermosa. I lived in Hermosa. I
learned a lot about my community.
I enjoyed myself when I downloaded the GPS
images for Nixon School and was able to show
where I lived and where Nixon was located.
When l asked students to describe times when
they or their families have been consumers
and/or producers, I felt that they understood the
concepts.
I didn’t have sufficient amount of time to briefly read an article titled
“Junior Scholastics’ Economic 101” which explained important vocabulary
such as scarcity, wants and needs. I gave the article to each group. I need
to find time during the week to read the article so they could learn more
about economics. I wanted to teach them about the text features in an
expository nonfiction source. For example, key words with definition are in
bold lettering. Mr. Savage kept reminding me that we have an emergency
disaster drill and informed the students to be careful on tripping over the
cords. I know that we can’t also dump so much information within a short
period of time.
Cloze sentence: I think that they were enjoying themselves by interacting
with the PowerPoint Presentation. I would like to extend the lesson with
information on community development.
Next time, I will describe a variety of producer-consumer relationships
(e.g., assembly-line worker manufacturing a car and a mom or dad driving
the car, a worker making a baseball bat and the student at bat, a worker
serving ice cream cones and the family eating them). Even though, I gave
pictures to identify the wants and needs. I felt that I needed to explain the
producer-consumer in depth.
Assessment Map making
Students were responsible to construct a
community map. I felt that they needed to be
informed about the brief history of Hermosa.
Tested Objective:
I felt that they were having problems on making their community map.
Closure Teacher will evaluate student’s work using the
Social Studies Rubric.
I ran out of time so students couldn’t read their sentences orally and make
a presentation on their Wants/Need chart in front of the classroom.
Ending When I asked them to get all of the materials and
return to their seats, they were a bit too energized
because of the GSP images and the disaster drills.
Flexible
Planni
ng
Consideration of time, activities and resources.
• If there is extra time, the teacher will
ask student to illustrate sentences in
their journals.
• If there is not enough time, student can
write and fill in 1 to 2 sentences.
Instead completing the assignments in the classroom, I gave them to
complete it at home.

7. REFLECTIVE EVALUATION OF THE LESSON
Date Lesson Taught: Tuesday, March 23, 2010 Title of Lesson: Census 2010
Category Strengths Suggestions for Improvements
Introductory
Activities
Students were given a pre-assessment concerning
the Census 2010. Then I passed out the article
titled “The 2010 Census Is Coming! By
EducationWorld.com
Before reading the article, I wanted to assess their knowledge on the Census
2010. Honestly, these students are having difficulty on expressing their
thoughts in written format. I read their response to several essay questions.
I couldn’t understand what they have written
Lesson
Devel
opme
nt
Anticipatory
Set
Instructional
Sequence
Check for
Understandi
ng
Auditory: Student will listen to Economics 101
page 6 as the teacher reads it to them.
Tactile/Kinesthetic: Students will create a chart
Visual: Students will see the coupons to create a
t-chart on the wants and needs in the community
and how it can affect receiving government funds.
Visual; Students will view a PowerPoint
presentation on Economic 101/Census 2010.
Students will view their community on Google.
Com images by downloading their community so
they can learn more about the Hermosa
community.
In order to check their understanding, I briefly
read the article titled “The 2010 Census Is
Coming”. The students were given the article to
complete independently. The article had word
box: accurate, residence, representative, data,
determine and services. It had a timeline from
March, 2010 to December 2010.
It was at their reading level. I read briefly the
history of Hermosa. I lived in Hermosa. I
learned a lot about my community.
I enjoyed myself when I downloaded the GPS
images for Nixon School and was able to show
where I lived and where Nixon was located.
When l asked students to describe times when
they or their families have been consumers
and/or producers, I felt that they understood the
concepts.
I didn’t have sufficient amount of time to briefly read an article titled
“Junior Scholastics’ Economic 101” which explained important vocabulary
such as scarcity, wants and needs. I gave the article to each group. I need
to find time during the week to read the article so they could learn more
about economics. I wanted to teach them about the text features in an
expository nonfiction source. For example, key words with definition are in
bold lettering. Mr. Savage kept reminding me that we have an emergency
disaster drill and informed the students to be careful on tripping over the
cords. I know that we can’t also dump so much information within a short
period of time.
Cloze sentence: I think that they were enjoying themselves by interacting
with the PowerPoint Presentation. I would like to extend the lesson with
information on community development.
Next time, I will describe a variety of producer-consumer relationships
(e.g., assembly-line worker manufacturing a car and a mom or dad driving
the car, a worker making a baseball bat and the student at bat, a worker
serving ice cream cones and the family eating them). Even though, I gave
pictures to identify the wants and needs. I felt that I needed to explain the
producer-consumer in depth.
Assessment Map making
Students were responsible to construct a
community map. I felt that they needed to be
informed about the brief history of Hermosa.
Tested Objective:
I felt that they were having problems on making their community map.
Closure Teacher will evaluate student’s work using the
Social Studies Rubric.
I ran out of time so students couldn’t read their sentences orally and make
a presentation on their Wants/Need chart in front of the classroom.
Ending When I asked them to get all of the materials and
return to their seats, they were a bit too energized
because of the GSP images and the disaster drills.
Flexible
Planni
ng
Consideration of time, activities and resources.
• If there is extra time, the teacher will
ask student to illustrate sentences in
their journals.
• If there is not enough time, student can
write and fill in 1 to 2 sentences.
Instead completing the assignments in the classroom, I gave them to
complete it at home.