Name: Matt DePalma

Course: Developmental Psychology

Lesson #, Lesson Title or Topic Addressed: Kohlberg’s Moral Development
Date: Day of Week, Date, Time March 7, 2017

Instructional Context
What do I know about my students that will inform this lesson?
My students are most productive when I am constantly engaging them in different ways. I have found
that transitioning between multiple types of activities: group work, independent work, small group
discussions and large group discussions. . I have found my students work best individually and like to
share their responses to their classmates in small group discussions.

How does this lesson connect with and build on the previous lesson(s)?
This lesson is apart of a longer unit based on Child Development in a Developmental Psychology class.
Previously, the class has learned how children have developed cognitively through the analysis of
Piaget, this lesson now focuses on the moral development of children into adolescence, which is our
next unit. Kohlberg’s Theory of Morality final stage is developed during adolescence. Therefore, this
lesson both provides a framework for the earlier stages in early childhood, as well as previewing
another topic in adolescence.
How do you expect to build on this lesson in subsequent lessons?
This lesson will be used in the larger scope of the entire course. As we begin this course in early
childhood, the later aspects in moral development, which occur during adolescence and into
adulthood, will be constantly used as background knowledge when teaching about adolescence and
issues like identity, how they should treat others in society and how to act during moral dilemmas that
occur during their lifetimes. More specifically, my students will be faced with moral dilemmas when we
host discussions on the decisions that delinquent adolescents make and how Kohlberg’s theory can be
applied to there decision making, for example.
Standards Addressed
Common Core State Standards/Local Standards
>CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.9-10.2
Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary
of how key events or ideas develop over the course of the text.

INQ 9–12.12 Present adaptations of arguments and explanations that feature evocative ideas and perspectives on issues and topics to
reach a range of audiences and venues outside the classroom using print and oral technologies (e.g., posters, essays, letters, debates,
speeches, reports, and maps) and digital technologies (e.g., Internet, social media, and digital documentary).

Psych 1.3. Use the concepts, language, and major theories of the discipline to account for psychological
phenomena.
(a) Describe behavior and mental processes empirically, including operational definitions
(b) Identify antecedents and consequences of behavior and mental processes
(c) Interpret behavior and mental processes at an appropriate level of complexity
(d) Use theories to explain and predict behavior and mental processes
(e) Integrate theoretical perspectives to produce comprehensive and multi-faceted explanations

Learning Objectives
Objective
 O

O SWBAT identify the stages of Kohlberg’s theory of morality and apply it

to characters and situations in the Walking Dead
O SWBAT describe the meaning of the vocabulary terms for Kohlberg such as
the pre-conventional level, conventional level, and post-conventional
level throughout the Walking Dead assignment and lecture discussions.
o
o
Academic Language Demands (Language functions, vocabulary, discourse, syntax) & Supports
O Language Functions: SWBAT be given the opportunity to analyze the moral
development characteristics of themselves when confronted with the Heinz
Dilemma, as well as through the movie Mean Girls, which is being used as a
model for the analysis of their own popular culture reference.

() Vocabulary: Students will be constantly given opportunities to use the

vocabulary mentioned in the learning objectives (pre-conventional level,
conventional level, and post-conventional level). It is introduced to them
very explicitly through PowerPoint presentation. They are given the Heinz
Dilemma, and the Walking Dead scenarios to practice engaging with these
vocabulary words.

Assessments (formative and/or summative)

Do Now: Name some of your heroes, real or fiction. Write a response to the following question: how
do these heroes impact your life?

The independent writing response to the Heinz Dilemma

Walking Dead Assignment

Instructional Strategies and Learning Tasks (Procedures & Timelines)

Time Instr Purpose
15 minutes Do Now: Name some uctio This is intended to get students prepped for moral development and begin thinking
nalor how people in their lives, real or fiction, have played a role in how they interact
of your heroes, real
fiction Strat with others. Students will have a small group discussion to share their findings
egies This is intended to get students to become familiar and introduced to the concrete
20 minutes Lecture on the moral
/Lear content of Kohlberg’s theory of moral development. This will allow them to
development theory
ning become introduced to the vocabulary, how the theory works, and provides a
Task scaffold for the next sequences of the lesson.
s
20 minutes Heinz Dilemma free This is intended to get students to critically think about how they would react to a
write and discussion moral dilemma (a situation with two or more outcomes) and to write about how
of responses they would respond to a situation in which they would have to steal medicine in
order to save their loved ones as the price of the medication was too expensive

This relates to standard Psych 1.3. Use the concepts, language, and major theories of the
discipline to account for psychological
phenomena.
(a) Describe behavior and mental processes empirically, including operational definitions
(b) Identify antecedents and consequences of behavior and mental processes
(c) Interpret behavior and mental processes at an appropriate level of complexity
(d) Use theories to explain and predict behavior and mental processes
(e) Integrate theoretical perspectives to produce comprehensive and multi-faceted
explanations
40 minutes Kohlberg’s Morality This is intended to get students to analyze a given situation and choose which stage
Theory in the Zombie of Kohlberg’s theory of moral development the characters in the Walking Dead are
Apocalypse in given their response to the scenario at hand. Students are asked to watch a video
clip, read a short passage on the situation and determine the stage and provide a
rationale for why they think it is that stage. They can choose any of the stages as
long as they back their claim with evidence.

This activity addresses CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.9-10.2

Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary
source; provide an accurate summary of how key events or ideas develop
over the course of the text.

Psych 1.3. Use the concepts, language, and major theories of the discipline to account for
psychological
phenomena.
(a) Describe behavior and mental processes empirically, including operational definitions
(b) Identify antecedents and consequences of behavior and mental processes
(c) Interpret behavior and mental processes at an appropriate level of complexity
(d) Use theories to explain and predict behavior and mental processes
(e) Integrate theoretical perspectives to produce comprehensive and multi-faceted
explanations
Student Supports & Modifications
 List what you are using to support student learning/organization.
 Do Now
 Powerpoint presentation
 Graphic organizer on Kohlberg Walking Dead Analysis
 Students with reading difficulties are also given an attached video for each of the Kohlberg
responses


Research/Theories Applied (identify theories/or research that supports the approach you used)
 Identify theories/or research that supports the approach you used
 The beginning of the lesson features a lot of group work. I am using models and student
cooperation as suggested by Vygotsky’s social constructivist theory

Handouts & PowerPoints

 Kohlberg Slideshow
 “Kohlberg’s Morality Theory in the Zombie Apocalypse” Handout

Materials needed in class

 Powerpoint
 “Kohlberg’s Morality Theory in the Zombie Apocalypse” Handout
 Students will need computers (the classroom has chromebooks for each student) to complete
the project

Reflection
o What worked and for whom? Why?
o This lesson worked for a majority of students. They found the Heinz Dilemma engaging and was
a good intro to the lesson content as well as enjoyed seeing the Walking Dead clips and
applying the theory to it.
o What didn’t work and for whom? Why?
o Some students struggled with the theory. They still had a limited grasp on the content and need
additional support.
o What are instructional next steps based on the data from this plan?
o Since students still struggle with the theory, it is imperative for me as the teacher to continue
teaching the main components of Kohlberg to these individuals. I reached out to these students
and provided them with extra help. Future steps for these students will include asking them
frequently if they have a good handle of material and collecting their classwork and making sure
they are getting the content down.