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OAH Magazine of History

Guidelines for Lesson Plans

Lesson Plans in the OAH Magazine of History should follow the Magazine's style guide and conform to a standard format in order to assist teachers in finding the information they need and to make the lessons clear and easy to use. Each lesson plan should contain the following elements, in the following order:

Introduction - one or two paragraphs introducing the topic of the lesson plan to the teacher.

Time Frame - for example, three 40-minute class periods.

Student Objectives - a numbered list of skills students should learn through this lesson. Each skill should begin with an infinitive verb.

Example:

Objectives

To interpret primary documents.

To understand how a congressional investigation works.

To identify the major figures and issues involved in the Watergate investigation.

To develop a measure for judging other congressional investigations.

Background/Preparation - a few paragraphs giving teachers the background information they will need to conduct the lesson, along with a discussion of where this lesson would fit in a standard U.S. history class and what information students should already have covered in class.

Procedure - step by step instructions or activities for teachers to follow. These steps should be numbered or, if complicated, in outline form.

Endnotes - citing all sources for quotations and unique information in the lesson plan. This section should be kept to a minimum and it is preferable to use a "Works Cited" or "Sources Used" section instead.

Bibliography/Suggestions for Further Reading - this should be a list of books that teachers can refer to in order to learn more about the topic of the lesson. Alternatively, this could be a list of readings to be assigned to students (if this is the case, please specify this).

Handouts to be given to students - If using excerpts from primary sources, be sure to include a citation. If including the text of an assignment or questions to students, phrase these exactly as it would appear on a handout.

Biographical statement - two or three sentences about the author of the lesson plan, including the author's current position and any recent publications.