This lesson plan aims to teach Russian immigrant students ages 10-19 about July 4th celebrations in America. Over two class periods, students will discuss how birthday celebrations are similar to July 4th festivities. They will listen to patriotic music and read about Independence Day. Students will then create an itinerary of 3 July 4th activities and present it to the class, explaining their choices. A variety of tactile materials like an American flag, fireworks skewers, and watermelon will be used to engage students' non-visual learning styles. Presentations on the second day will indicate if students achieved the lesson objective and allow revisions to be made.

1. Christina Carrion
Revised ASSURE Method: Lesson
Dr. Harold Blanco
30 April 2014
Analyze the Learners: My students are Russian immigrants and range from the age of 10 to
19. My class has 15 students, and they all have mild to severe vision impairments.
Therefore, their preferred learning style will not be visual. My class is evenly split
between male and female.
State the Objective: My students will create, and then present, an itinerary listing at least
three activities they want to do with their family and friends to celebrate the next July 4th
,
and explain why they chose each activity. Each student will present their individual
itineraries and explain to their classmates what they like about each activity, and why
they think the activity is an appropriate 4th
of July celebration activity. The written
itinerary will not be graded, it serves as a reference during the presentation. My students
will be graded on their presentation which must include at least three activities to pass the
assignment with a 70%; however, for a 100%, they must provide thoughtful rationales to
accompany each of their activities. My students will begin to present at the end of the
second lesson (this is a two day instructional lesson), and each student will have a
maximum of 5 minutes to present. We can finish up presentations on the third day if
needed.
Select Methods: We will begin by discussing how my students celebrate their birthdays and
compare their birthday celebrations to July 4th
celebrations (parties with friends and
families with special foods, candles on birthday cake likened to fireworks, special
activities they like to do on their birthday likened to concerts, parades, and museums for
4th
of July, etc). Then, we can listen to a few of America’s “birthday songs” – like, the
National Anthem (Star-Spangled Banner) and God Bless America– and discuss
patriotism.
Media: We will need internet/wifi, a computer, and speakers.
Materials: My students will need paper and pencil, or a Braille writer to write their
itinerary to refer to for the presentation (the written itinerary will not be graded). We will
need a watermelon. We will also need a large picnic blanket/sheet, paper towels, 15
marbles, Poprocks, roasted peanuts, pipe cleaners, skewers, velvet/cotton/felt swatches,
pom poms and glue.

2. Utilize Materials: We will listen to an audio reading of a newspaper article called
“Americans Reflect on Meaning of Independence Day”, as well as Youtube videos of
patriotic music. My students will then feel a pre-made American Flag made with strips
of red velvet and white cotton for stripes, and blue felt with pompoms for the fifty stars.
My students will associate the colors with hand warmers for red (and courage), cotton
ball for white (and purity), and a marble that is cool to the touch to signify a dark blue
(justice). Poprocks will be used as a simulation of fireworks, and the students will create
their own fireworks by twisting pipe cleaners in “bursts” and gluing them to the end of
the skewers. The picnic blanket/sheet and paper towels will be for the end of lesson
picnic experience, complete with watermelon. The class will listen to a part of the
podcast by NPR called “Philadelphia, the The Original American Melting Pot” and
another piece of a podcast by NPR called “For the Perfect Hot Dog, Keep It Simple.”
Finally, as my students savor their watermelon, we will listen to a voki, summarizing the
main points as a general review. The watermelon will be for the end of the class picnic
wrap-up during presentations, but will also serve the purpose of feeling/picking up,
inspecting, and tasting for the experience.
Require Learner Participation: My students will participate in brainstorming ideas for
discussion, suggestions, and questions. They will be encouraged to sing along if they
know the words to the songs. All my students will touch the flag and associated objects.
Everyone will try the Poprocks and create firework skewers. All students are required to
create and present their itinerary at the end of the lesson. My students will have the
opportunity to experience a watermelon and create conjectures as to why Americans eat
watermelon on July 4th
. They will also enjoy roasted peanuts, a popular American snack
during events (a prior check for peanut allergies must be done).
Evaluate and Revise: The presentation will indicate both student achievement and if the
class has achieved the objective. The presentations correlate to the media because my
students’ rationales may come directly from the audio news article, but they may also
come from class discussion, which reflects the methods used in class. An informal poll
may be taken at the end of the lesson (after all presentations) to determine how effective
the overall instruction was.