Alex Facciponte's EDU 5313 Week 4 Blog Post

Alex Facciponte's EDU 5313 Week 4 Blog Post




Part I

Overall, the lesson plan is ok, but it feels like it leaves a lot to be desired. It is well aligned with the standards I have provided. For content standards, it’s almost in a sense a little too perfect.

For creating a lesson on the causes of the Civil War, I utilized these content standards from New York State:

Key Idea(s): 7.8 A NATION DIVIDED: Westward expansion, the industrialization of the North, and the increase of slavery in the South contributed to the growth of sectionalism. Constitutional conflicts between advocates of states’ rights and supporters of federal power increased tensions in the nation; attempts to compromise ultimately failed to keep the nation together, leading to the Civil War. (Standards: 1, 3, 4; Themes: TCC, GEO, GOV, ECO)

Conceptual Understandings: 7.8b As the nation expanded geographically, the question of slavery in new territories and states led to increased sectional tensions. Attempts at compromise ended in failure.

Content Specifications:

Students will examine attempts at resolving conflicts over whether new territories would permit slavery, including the Missouri Compromise, the Compromise of 1850, and the Kansas-Nebraska Act. Students will examine growing sectional tensions, including the decision in Dred Scott v. Sanford (1857) and the founding of the Republican Party.


Based on the content standards I gave, the generator essentially spit back out the exact standards I mentioned to them. I feel like it doesn’t get me too far. I do like how the lesson breaks down some key ideas and activities that it could utilize for the lesson itself. I thought it came up with something interesting for the technology side of things as well. As a form of independent practice, it thinks students should create a timeline online that includes key events and descriptions of their significance. I think that is a great application of the knowledge constructor ISTE Standard I gave it in the first place (ISTE, 2025). It’s an idea I may consider using myself for the actual lesson plan. At this point, I do not think this tool could generate rigorous lesson plans. I think they can give great overviews and ideas for things to do for a lesson, but not a comprehensive lesson plan.




Here is the lesson plan Magic School generated:

Exploring Sectionalism: The Road to the Civil War

LEARNING OBJECTIVE:
Students will be able to analyze the key events and compromises leading to sectional tensions in the United States and understand their contributions to the Civil War.

ASSESSMENTS:
Students will complete a digital timeline that illustrates the major events and compromises related to sectionalism, including the Missouri Compromise, the Compromise of 1850, and the Kansas-Nebraska Act.

KEY POINTS:

The Missouri Compromise (1820) established a line that determined where slavery was permitted in new states.


The Compromise of 1850 included several laws aimed at balancing the interests of slave and free states.


The Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854) allowed new territories to decide the slavery issue through popular sovereignty, leading to conflict.


The Dred Scott v. Sanford (1857) case heightened tensions by ruling that African Americans could not be citizens and that Congress could not regulate slavery in territories.


The founding of the Republican Party in 1854 was a response to the spread of slavery into the territories.

OPENING:

Begin the lesson with a thought-provoking question: "What would you do if your rights were being denied based on where you lived?"


Show a brief video clip illustrating the conflict over slavery in new territories to engage students and introduce the topic.

INTRODUCTION TO NEW MATERIAL:

Present a digital slideshow that outlines each key point, incorporating maps and primary source documents.


Encourage students to take notes and ask questions throughout the presentation.


Anticipate the misconception that the compromises effectively solved the issue of slavery; clarify that they ultimately failed and increased tensions.

GUIDED PRACTICE:

Divide students into small groups to analyze specific compromises and their outcomes.


Provide guiding questions, starting with basic inquiries about the purpose of each compromise, moving to more complex questions about their implications.


Monitor group discussions and provide support as needed, ensuring all students are engaged.

INDEPENDENT PRACTICE:

Assign students to create a digital timeline using a chosen online tool (e.g., Google Slides, Canva) that includes key events and descriptions of their significance.


Encourage creativity in their presentations, including images and links to relevant resources.

CLOSING:

Conduct a class discussion where students share one key takeaway from their timelines and how it relates to the overall theme of sectionalism.


Ask students to reflect on how the compromises failed to maintain national unity.

EXTENSION ACTIVITY:

For students who finish early, have them research one additional event or person related to sectionalism and prepare a short presentation to share with the class.

HOMEWORK:

Students will write a one-page reflection on how the idea of states' rights contributed to the tensions leading to the Civil War, using evidence from the lesson.

STANDARDS ALIGNED:

NYS Social Studies Framework: 7.8, 7.8b


ISTE Standards: 1.3 Knowledge Constructor


I think that the lesson plan does relate to some of the readings over the last few weeks. In regards to the independent activity, I think that relates well to the idea of creating authentic intellectual work for students (Newmann et al., 2007). This activity creates meaningful learning experiences for students as they are able to create something new while utilizing the benefits of technology. I also see connections to the Gura reading in regards to creativity (Gura, 2020). Creativity needs to be at the forefront of lessons to allow students to be engaged in meaningful learning opportunities (Gura, 2020).




Part II

On the Magic School Page, I decided to use the rubric generator. I created an idea for a fake essay relating to the same topic in the causes of the Civil War. I think that this is a great tool that can save me a lot of time thinking how I should grade written work in the classroom. Providing a rubric to students also allows them to see what they performed strongly in and what they still need to improve upon. I think it is excellent for everyone involved. I would definitely be able to use this when going over essay writing and the exact expectations that are needed for them. Below is the rubric the generator created for this essay idea.

Rubric for 7th Grade Argumentative Essay: Most Impactful Cause of the Civil War

Criteria

5 - Excellent

4 - Proficient

3 - Satisfactory

2 - Needs Improvement

1 - Unsatisfactory


Understanding of Key Ideas

Demonstrates a thorough understanding of westward expansion, industrialization, slavery, and sectionalism; clearly links to Civil War causes.

Shows good understanding of key ideas with minor omissions or inaccuracies; mostly links causes to Civil War.

Shows basic understanding of some key ideas but lacks clear connections to Civil War causes.

Demonstrates limited understanding of key ideas and weak connections to Civil War causes.

Shows little to no understanding of key ideas or connections to Civil War causes.


Use of Historical Evidence

Effectively incorporates multiple examples: Missouri Compromise, Compromise of 1850, Kansas-Nebraska Act, Dred Scott decision, Republican Party founding to support argument.

Uses several examples accurately but may miss one or two or lacks depth in explanation.

Uses some examples but with limited accuracy or relevance; explanations are superficial.

Uses few examples with inaccuracies or weak relevance; explanations are confusing or incomplete.

Fails to use relevant historical examples or provides incorrect information.


Argument Development

Presents a clear, well-organized argument identifying the most impactful cause with logical reasoning and strong supporting evidence.

Presents a clear argument with logical reasoning; some supporting evidence may be less developed.

Argument is present but lacks clarity or full organization; supporting evidence is minimal or partly irrelevant.

Argument is unclear or poorly organized; supporting evidence is weak or inconsistent.

No clear argument or reasoning; supporting evidence is missing or irrelevant.


Connection to Constitutional Conflicts

Insightfully explains how states’ rights vs. federal power debates increased tensions and influenced sectionalism related to the essay topic.

Explains constitutional conflicts with some insight; connects to sectional tensions and essay topic.

Mentions constitutional conflicts but with limited explanation or weak connection to essay topic.

Shows minimal understanding of constitutional conflicts; connections to topic are unclear or missing.

Does not address constitutional conflicts or their relevance to sectionalism and Civil War causes.


Writing Mechanics & Style

Writing is clear, coherent, and free of grammatical errors; vocabulary is appropriate for 7th grade and enhances the argument.

Writing is mostly clear with minor errors; vocabulary is appropriate and supports the argument.

Writing is generally understandable but contains some errors or awkward phrasing; vocabulary is basic.

Writing is often unclear with frequent errors; vocabulary is limited or inappropriate for grade level.

Writing is unclear and difficult to understand due to numerous errors; vocabulary is inappropriate or very limited.


Part III

Magic school is definitely a resource I would share with my colleagues. I think that it is an effective tool to help generate lesson ideas. However, I would not utilize it for full-reliance in terms of lesson planning. At the end of the day, you still need to be the teacher and utilize your own creativity. That got you a teaching job in the first place. My biggest concern with using magic school is it can be a little brief in terms of analysis. For example, it almost spit out the exact wording of the standards I gave it in the first place. I do see there being various benefits. I utilize magic school already. I mainly use the raina chatbot feature which is extremely effective in doing a lot of things. I like to use it to check my grammar before sending professional emails. Regarding the Oklahoma K-12 Schools Document, I think it brings up many interesting discussions about artificial intelligence. First, I like the idea of trying to embrace the use of it instead of not wanting to use it at all (OSDE, 2024). This is the future of the world and in education we should make conscious efforts now before it gets harder to utilize and leverage effectively (OSDE, 2024). Another crucial point made in this document that I can not stress enough is AI is NOT the final step (OSDE, 2024). So many people I talk to when referring to AI mention how they just copy and paste the material they get from the program. It gets me frustrated because that’s not the point. Anyone could type in a prompt and get that same or similar result. Instead, you need to make conscious and thoughtful decisions on how to use the information given to you from AI to make it even better (OSDE, 2024). I also think that AI can help students with individual learning needs (OSDE, 2024). If there is a lesson already planned, you can put into AI “how do I conduct this lesson while supporting this student(s)”. There are many benefits to AI and we should embrace its use, but we need to utilize our critical thinking skills as well. Personally, in the classroom, I have only utilized magic school within the classroom. However, many colleagues of mine also love utilizing chat gpt for resources. It is definitely a source I will need to look into for the future.

References
Gura, M. (2020). Fostering Student Creativity. EdTech Digest the State of the Arts, Creativity, and Technology 2020: A Guide for Educators and Parents. p. 7. Retrieved from: Gura (2020).pdf

ISTE Standards: For Students. ISTE. (2025). Retrieved from: https://iste.org/standards/students

Newmann, F. M., King, M. B., & Carmichael, D. L. (2007). Authentic instruction and assessment: Common standards for rigor and relevance in teaching academic subjects. State of Iowa Department of Education. Introduction, Chapters. 1 & 2 (30 pages). Retrieved from: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1T9JNAZgLfKvXAX7JoaOJElkkZS5Xf-lp/view?usp=drivesdk

New York State K-8 Social Studies Framework. (2025). Retrieved from: https://www.nysed.gov/sites/default/files/programs/standards-instruction/ss-framework-k-8a2.pdf

OSDE. (2024). Guidance and Considerations for Using Artificial Intelligence in Oklahoma K-12 Schools. Retrived from: https://oklahoma.gov/content/dam/ok/en/osde/documents/services/standards-learning/educational-technology/Guidance-and-Considerations-for-Artificial-Intelligence-in-Oklahoma-Schools.pdf


Links of Magic School AI inputs

https://app.magicschool.ai/tools/lesson-plan-generator?share=6d688cf9-737a-4dbd-851f-5191accc067e


https://app.magicschool.ai/tools/rubric-generator?share=8224176f-8426-41bb-8d78-89536b5c40c3