Day to Day Learning Guide
History Lesson Plan
Students will learn the importance of carefully reading an assignment, and choosing and recording the important details so they will be able to use this information for chapter study.
History text; spiral or loose-leaf notebook for History notes
- Write the day's reading assignment on the board. This will be read silently or sometimes in groups.
- Direct the students to fold their notebook paper in half, lengthwise, and write their name, subject, pages, and "today's date" on the top line, front of the paper.
- After reading the assigned pages, the students will begin searching for good questions, names, dates, or other important themes that would be good for quizzes and tests. --These questions will be numbered and written on the left-hand side of the notebook paper; the answers to each will be written directly adjacent to the questions, on the right-hand side of the paper's centerfold.
- The following day, the class will discuss the material and have an "open notebook" quiz over the information (no text!). If time does not permit for a quiz, one will be held first thing next class period.
- If a student is absent the day of discussion, they will be able to borrow some other student's notebook during class and get help from the teacher when needed.
The day of chapter review, students will have a chance to check all their questions, once again, for accuracy. Chapter study, using notebook questions and those supplied by the teacher, will be had by all orally in class. This provides a chance for all students to be sure they have the necessary information for the chapter test. No Excuses!!
A Subjective Exam is given so students of all learning styles will be able to achieve. I give a test consisting of only short answer essay; the questions I provide cover only the material we covered in our class discussions and what the students decide to use in their Learning Guides. I have found in 26 years of teaching that Objective tests don't fairly test what a person truly knows. By giving a Subjective test, students can write (sometimes provide orally in a private setting) what they know and receive from partial to full credit if they are somewhat to totally correct. This isn't a possibility with an Objective test. I find Subjective tests much easier to correct, too!
