LESSON PLAN
TOUCHCAST USAGE IN EDUCATION
BY TOUCHCAST EDU TEAM
HISTORY - THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE -8TH GRADE
TouchCast // History // Lesson Plan
The Declaration of Independence
Grades : 8th grade
Created by : TouchCast Edu Team
Overview
This unit lesson plan is part of an 8th grade history curriculum about the Declaration
of Independence. Students will explore what Thomas Jefferson wrote in the third
section of the Declaration. The TouchCast application is used by both the teacher
and the students, for lecturing and role-playing.
Objectives
•Students will analyze what Thomas Jefferson wrote in the third section of the
Declaration of Independence
•Students will be able to express what Thomas Jefferson wrote in their own words
•Students will understand meaning of the more difficult words in the Declaration of
Independence
TOUCHCAST
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TouchCast // The Declaration of Independence
Corresponding Common Core Standards
•CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.6-8.1
Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources.
•CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.6-8.2
Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an
accurate summary of the source distinct from prior knowledge or opinions.
•CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.6-8.4
Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including
vocabulary specific to domains related to history/social studies.
•CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.6-8.6
Identify aspects of a text that reveal an author's point of view or purpose (e.g., loaded
language, inclusion or avoidance of particular facts).
•CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.WHST.6-8.1.B
Support claim(s) with logical reasoning and relevant, accurate data and evidence that
demonstrate an understanding of the topic or text, using credible sources.
•CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.WHST.6-8.2.D
Use precise language and domain-specific vocabulary to inform about or explain the topic.
•CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.WHST.6-8.9
Draw evidence from informational texts to support analysis reflection, and research.
•CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.WHST.6-8.6
Use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing and present the
relationships between information and ideas clearly and efficiently.
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TouchCast // The Declaration of Independence
Part /
Time
Procedures
Introduction
(5 minute)
Relay to students that during this project they will:
1. Further explore what Thomas Jefferson meant in the third section of The Declaration
by reading and understanding Jefferson’s words
2. Be able to tell, in their own words, what it was that he wrote
3. Work on their summaries by themselves (rather than in group)
4. The teacher and students discuss what they covered the previous day and the
meanings behind the first and second sections.
Reading the
text
(10 minutes)
Read the third section aloud with the students (the students will follow along silently
while the teacher begins reading aloud). The teacher will models prosody, inflection,
and punctuation. This technique will support struggling readers as well as English
Language Learners (ELL).
Introduction
to the activity
(5 minutes)
1. The students will analyze the third section from the Declaration of Independence.
Students are given a copy of summary organizer (worksheet)
2. Students select up to 10 Key Words and then write those words in the Key Words
box on their worksheet.
3.
TOUCHCAST
TouchCast
Teacher’s Lecture TouchCastRead the third section out loud to the students
- This TouchCast is created by the teacher as an
example for the students to follow
- The teacher models prosody, inflection, and
punctuation
- Use whiteboard and drawing tools to circle the
words that use prosody, inflection, and
punctuation
- The students can read the text by following the
teacher in the video
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TouchCast // The Declaration of Independence
Part /
Time
Sharing key
words
(5 minutes)
Procedures
TouchCast
Teacher led activity. Students nominate key words and class indicates the strength of
agreement with those words. Identify and underline the words in the text on the board.
Student’s
TouchCast
assignment
( 20 minutes)
The students write a summary using selected key words. Students do not have to use
Jefferson’s words to write the summary (can use their own words).
Students will share the summary sentences they create via TouchCast; Students will
create a TouchCast including a script with their summary. Students will present their
TouchCast in the next lesson.
Materials
- TouchCast
- Green Screen
- Costumes and Props
- Microphone
- Dictionary
- Worksheet
TOUCHCAST
Students’ Role-playing TouchCastAct a scene from the third section of the
declaration:
- Work in groups (3- 4 per group)
- Utilize the key words and sentences from their
summaries
- Use the worksheets they have filled out
- Use the TouchCast storyboard template to plan
TouchCast
-Use the teleprompter to read your script
-Add titles to your speech
-Use costumes and a background image that are
related to the period of time and the event
-Use the white board to erite important
sentences
- iPads or Pc’s
- Tripod
- Internet Connection
- Storyboard
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TouchCast // Assessment Rubric
Category 4
3
2
1
Content
The concept of the scene is
clearly demonstrated.
Most of the scene can be
understood, but there is
some confusion .
Only part of the scene can be
understood.
The concept of the scene
cannot be understood at all.
Teamwork
Was a leader in group and
helped to organize.
Made contribution to the
group work.
Did not contribute to the
group work.
Did not help the group or
wasn’t responsible for the
group work.
Organization
Information presented
clearly. It is easy to follow
and understand the
project.
Project is easy to follow and
understand.
Project is hard to understand
and unorganized.
Appearance distracts from
the content. Unorganized.
TouchCast
Filming
Script is
complete. Transitions are
smooth. Green screen
background and
costumes contribute to the
realism of the video.
Script is mostly complete.
Transitions are not smooth.
Green Screen background
and costumes contribute to
the realism of the video.
Script has a few major
mistakes. Transitions are not
smooth. Green screen
background and costumes
contribute to the realism of
the video.
There is no script. Camera
work is bad and there few
transitions. Costumes or
green screen background are
missing.
TOUCHCAST
Score
6
TouchCast // The Declaration of Independence // Example
TOUCHCAST
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TouchCast // Appendix // Storyboard
Storyboard - a tool for planning your TouchCast
Storyboard
- A tool to plan your TouchCast
Shot
order
Name of the
scene / Actors
Background
Image
Title
Text
Angle / Zoom
vApps / Effects
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
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TouchCast // Appendix // Worksheet
Worksheet
- The
Declaration
of Independence
Worksheetthe
Declaration
of Independence
Original Text
Key words
Summary
In your own words
To prove this, let facts be submitted to a
candid world. He has refused his assent to
laws, the most wholesome and necessary for
the public good. He has forbidden his
governors to pass laws of immediate and
pressing importance, unless suspended in
their operation till his assent should be
obtained; and when so suspended, he has
utterly neglected to attend to them. He has
refused to pass other laws for the
accommodation of large districts of people,
unless those people would relinquish the
right of representation in the legislature, a
right inestimable to them and formidable to
tyrants only…He has kept among us, in times
of peace, standing armies without the
consent of our legislature. He has affected
to render the military independent of and
superior to civil power… He has abdicated
government here, by declaring us out of his
protection and waging war against us. He
has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts,
burned our towns, and destroyed the lives of
our people...He is at this time transporting
large armies of foreign mercenaries to
complete the works of death, desolation and
tyranny, already begun with circumstances
of cruelty and perfidy scarcely paralleled in
the most barbarous ages, and totaly
unworth the head of a civilized nation.
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