| LEARNING TITLE A Nation Divided |
AUTHORS: John Raspante and Lizbeth Blanchard |
| GRADE LEVEL: Eleventh Grade |
SCHOOL ADDRESS: Madison-Oneida BOCES
LINKS |
| SUBJECT AREA: Social Studies and English |
SCHOOL PHONE/FAX: (315) 361-5602/FAX: 361-5621 |
WRITTEN OVERVIEW
This is a unit of curriculum on the Civil War era integrating United States History and English 11 content areas. The unit will take approximately six weeks to complete. This unit has been applied to an alternative education setting with smaller classes allowing flexibility to combine students for certain learning experiences. Although this may not be feasible in all educational settings, the unit is adaptable. Rubrics form the basis of all assessments which relate to the tasks and activities described for each week.
CONTENT KNOWLEDGE
DECLARATIVE
*Students will discuss...
*Students will answer the essential questions in their journals at the beginning of the unit and at the end of the unit.
*Students will watch video entitled Slavery and Freedom, Schlessinger Video Production, 1996 and identify key points from video.
*Students will examine Bill of Rights and determine whether free African Americans in the South enjoyed constitutionally-guaranteed freedoms.
*In a cooperative learning setting students will respond to the following questions...
*Students will read and discuss articles relating to significant Americans who contributed to the anti-slavery movement: Nat Turner, Frederick Douglass, Margaret Douglass, Benjamin Banneker. Articles from Exploring American History resource manual.
*Students will visit Harriet Tubman Home in Auburn, New York
*Students will read Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe.
*Students will discuss Negro spirituals and the reason for their creation.
*Students will read and discuss selected readings on "Clara Barton, the Nurse Who Won Battles" from American Folklore and Legends , Globe Book Company, 1992, and "Ain’t I a Woman?" from Tapestry: A Multicultural Anthology, Globe Book Company, 1993.
*Students will interact with librarian about a Civil War figure in the Distance Learning Lab.
PROCEDURAL
*Students will interpret illustrations from "Slaves Taken From Africa," Exploring American History workbook, Globe Book Company, 1994.
*Students will interpret information presented on a bar graph regarding "Slave Populations in the United States," Exploring American History workbook, Globe Book Company, 1994.
*Students will write an explanatory essay based on the articles "The Slave Ship" by Olaudah Equiano and "The Slave Auction" by Frances E. W. Harper from Tapestry: A Multicultural Anthology, Globe Book Company, 1993.
*Students will write an explanatory essay on the movie Amisted.
*Students will write a comparative essay on myths and facts related to the means slaves used to escape from their owners. In order to do this, students will read "The People Could Fly" by Virginia Hamilton from Tapestry: A Multicultural Anthology, Globe Book Company, 1993 and "Secret Agent M" from American Folklore and Legends, Globe Book Company, 1992.
*Students will debate the impact of slavery on the southern economy.
*Students will write a comparative essay on the agrarian vs. industrial societies.
*Using the Internet, students will cooperatively research significant African Americans and give an oral presentation: Harriet Tubman, Denmark Vesey, Sojourner Truth, and Nat Turner.
*Students will write a travel log on the field trip to the Harriet Tubman Home.
*Students will write reflective essays on the following topics: Identify causes, advantages of each side, important battles, and results of the Civil War. Compare armies, philosophical differences, as well as plans, strategies and other aspects of the Civil War as portrayed in the movies Glory and Gettysburg.
*Students will differentiate various genres: speeches, short story, folklore, informational writing, poetry, and analyze the effectiveness of these genres.
*Students will write a literary critique.
*Students will extrapolate these literary elements in selected pieces: imagery, symbolism, metaphor, foreshadowing, irony.
*Students will write a song based on slave treatment or heroes in the Civil War.
ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS
*How can slavery in any society be justified?
*Why do civil wars happen?
*To what length should a national government go to preserve the union?
INITIATING ACTIVITY
To gain an overview of the unit, students will watch as a class the movie Gone With the Wind at a local movie theater. Students will be expected to identify the facts and myths Margaret Mitchell included in her screenplay. Students will respond in their journals throughout the unit as they identify misconceptions as portrayed by Margaret Mitchell in her work Gone With the Wind.
LEARNING EXPERIENCES
This is an integrated unit. The social studies activities are identified by bold print; the English activities are identified by italicized print. For activities that receive credit for both courses, the print will be both bold and italicized.
Week #1:
*Initiating Activity
*Journal entries: respond to essential questions
*Discussion topics:
Comparative essay: "The Slave Ship" and "The Slave Auction"
*Movie: Amisted
*Explanatory Essay: Amisted
*Video: Slavery and Freedom, Schlessinger Video Production, 1996.
Identify key points from video.
Week #2:
*Examine Bill of Rights and determine whether free African Americans in the South enjoyed constitutionally-guaranteed freedoms.
*Cooperative learning activity:
*Comparative essay: "The People Could Fly" and "Secret Agent M"
*Literary critique of Uncle Tom’s Cabin including the extrapolation of literary elements.
*Discussion Topics:
*Activities from Exploring American History workbook:
Week #3:
*Readings
*Discussion Topics:
*Cooperative Activity:
Week #4:
*Field Trip:
*Travel Log:
Field trip to Harriet Tubman Home
*Negro Spirituals:
*Songwriting:
*Discussion Topics:
*Distance Learning:
*Discussion Topics:
Week #5:
*Reflective essay:
*Selected readings: "Clara Barton, the Nurse Who Won Battles"
"Ain’t I a Woman?"
*Discussion Topics:
Week #6
EXTENDING AND REFINING ACTIVITIES:
*Students will cooperatively trace significant battles in the Civil War. Were the strategies effective or ineffective? What other factors influenced the outcome of the battles?
*Students will create, perform, and videotape a dramatic presentation of Lee’s surrender. Include details of the agreements between the North and the South.
RUBRIC
FOR
EXTENDING AND REFINING ACTIVITIES
| CRITERIA |
POSSIBLE POINTS |
EARNED POINTS |
| Depiction of Civil War battles/surrender |
20 |
|
| Cooperative work |
10 |
|
| Accurate information |
20 |
|
| Quality work |
20 |
|
| Written, drawn, or videotaped presentation |
20 |
|
| Accurate use of Standard English |
10 |
|
| TOTAL |
100 |
|
CULMINATING PERFORMANCE
In a cooperative learning setting, students will prepare and deliver a presentation on one aspect of the unit. Students have the autonomy to select the means by which this presentation will be accomplished: mural, skit, poem, essay, short story,...Suggested topics include slavery, causes of Civil War, significant battles, or Reconstruction. Students must use some form of technology in preparing or presenting this project. This could include using the Internet as a research tool, using a word processor for the written presentation, or using PowerPoint for the oral presentation.
RUBRIC
FOR
CULMINATING
PERFORMANCE
| CRITERIA |
POSSIBLE POINTS |
EARNED POINTS |
| Depiction of Civil War era |
20 |
|
| Cooperative work |
10 |
|
| Accurate information |
20 |
|
| Use of technology |
10 |
|
| Quality work |
10 |
|
| Written/drawn presentation |
10 |
|
| Oral presentation |
10 |
|
| Accurate use of standard English |
10 |
|
| TOTAL |
100 |
|
CONNECTIONS TO STANDARDS
LEARNING STANDARDS FOR SOCIAL STUDIES:
STANDARD #1: HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES AND NEW YORK STATE
1. The study of New York State and United States history requires an analysis of the
development of American culture, its diversity and multicultural context and the
ways people are unified by many values, practices, and traditions.
*analyze the development of American culture, explaining how ideas, values, beliefs, and traditions have changed over time and how they unite all Americans.
*describe the evolution of American democratic values and beliefs as expressed in the Declaration of Independence, the New York State Constitution, the United States Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and other important historical documents
2. Important ideas, social and cultural values, beliefs, and traditions from New York State and United States history illustrate the connections and interactions of people and events across time and from a variety of perspectives.
*discuss several schemes for periodizing the history of the United States.
*develop and test hypotheses about important events, eras, or issues in the United States history, setting clear and valid criteria for judging the importance and significance of these events, eras, or issues
*compare and contrast the experiences of different groups in the United States.
*examine how the Constitution, United States law, and the rights of citizenship provide a major unifying factor in bringing together Americans from diverse roots and traditions.
3.Study about the major social, political, economic, cultural, and religious developments to New York State and United States history involves learning about the important roles and contributions of individuals and groups
*research and analyze major themes such as Civil War and Reconstruction.
*prepare essays and oral reports about the social, political, and economic cultural developments, issues, and events from United States history.
4. The skills of historical analysis include the ability to: the explain the significance of historical evidence; weigh the importance, reliability, and validity of evidence; understand the concept of multiple causation; understand the importance of changing and competing interpretations of different historical developments.
*analyze historical narratives about key events in United States history to identify the facts and evaluate the authors’ perspectives
*evaluate the validity and credibility of historical interpretations of important events or issues in United States history, revising these interpretations as new information is learned and other interpretations are developed
STANDARD #3: GEOGRAPHY
1. Geography can be divided into six essential elements which can be used to analyze important historic, geographic, economic, and environmental questions and issues.
These six elements include: the world in spatial terms, places and regions, physical settings, human systems, environment and society, and the use of geography
*explain how technological change affects people, places, and regions.
STANDARD #5: CIVICS, CITIZENSHIP, AND GOVERNMENT
2. The state and federal governments established by the Constitutions of the United States and the State of New York embody basic civic values, principles, and practices and establish a system of shared and limited government.
*analyze the disparities between civic values expressed in the United States Constitution and the realities as evidenced in the political, social, and economic life in the United States
LEARNING STANDARDS FOR ENGLISH:
STANDARD #1: STUDENTS WILL READ, WRITE, LISTEN, AND SPEAK FOR INFORMATION AND UNDERSTANDING
1. Listening and reading to acquire information and understanding involves collecting data, facts, and ideas; discovering relationships, concepts, and generalizations; and using knowledge from oral, written, and electronic sources.
*synthesize information from a diverse sources and identify complexities and discrepancies in the information
*use a combination of techniques to extract salient information from texts.
*make distinctions about the relative value and significance of specific data, facts, and ideas.
*make perceptive and well-developed connections to prior knowledge.
*evaluate writing strategies and presentational features that affect interpretation of the information
2. Speaking and writing to acquire to transmit information requires asking probing and clarifying questions, interpreting information in one’s own words, applying information from one context to another, and presenting the information and interpretation clearly, concisely, and comprehensively
*use a wide range of organizational patterns such as chronological, logical, cause and effect, and comparison/contrast.
*support interpretations and decisions about relative significance of information with explicit statement, evidence, and appropriate argument.
*revise and improve early drafts by restructuring, correcting errors, and revising for clarity and effect
*use standard English skillfully, applying established rules and conventions for presenting information and making use of a wide range of grammatical construction and vocabulary to achieve an individual style that communicates effectively.
STANDARD #2: STUDENTS WILL READ, WRITE, LISTEN, AND SPEAK FOR LITERARY RESPONSE AND EXPRESSION.
1. Listening and reading for literary response involves comprehending, interpreting, and critiquing imaginative texts in every medium, drawing on personal experiences and knowledge to understand the text, and recognizing the social, historical and cultural features of the text
*read and view independently and fluently across many genres of literature from many cultures and historical periods.
*identify the distinguishing features of different literary genres, periods and traditions and use those features to interpret the work.
*recognize and understand the significance of a wide range of literary elements and techniques and use those elements to interpret the work.
*understand how multiple levels of meaning are conveyed in a text.
*read aloud expressively to convey a clear interpretation of the work.
*evaluate literary merit based on an understanding of the genre, the literary elements, and the literary period and tradition.
2.Speaking and writing for literary response involves presenting interpretations, analyses, and reactions to the content and language of a text. Speaking and writing for literary expression involves producing imaginative texts that use language and text structures that are inventive and often multi-layered.
*present responses to and interpretations of works of recognized literary merit with references to the principal features of the genre, the period, and literary tradition, and drawing on their personal experiences and knowledge.
*write original pieces in a variety of literary forms, correctly using the conventions of the genre and using structure and vocabulary to achieve an effect.
*use standard English skillfully and with an individual style.
STANDARD #3: STUDENTS WILL READ, WRITE, LISTEN, AND SPEAK FOR CRITICAL ANALYSIS AND EVALUATION.
1. Listening and reading to analyze and evaluate experiences, ideas, information, and issues requires using evaluative criteria from a variety of perspectives and recognizing the difference in evaluations based on different sets of criteria.
*recognize that the criteria that one uses to analyze and evaluate anything depend on one’s point of view and purpose for the analysis.
2. Speaking and writing for critical analysis and evaluation requires presenting opinions and judgments on experiences, ideas, information, and issues clearly, logically, and persuasively with reference to specific criteria on which the opinion or judgment is based.
*present orally and in writing well-developed analyses of issues, ideas, and text, explaining the rationale for their positions and analyzing their position from a variety of perspectives in such forms as formal speeches, debates, theses/support papers, literary critiques, and issues analyses.
*make effective use of details, evidence, and arguments and of presentational strategies to influence an audience to adopt a position.
*monitor and adjust their own oral and written presentations to have the greatest influence on a particular audience.
*use standard English and a broad and precise vocabulary.
STANDARD #4: STUDENTS WILL READ, WRITE, LISTEN, AND SPEAK FOR SOCIAL INTERACTION.
*engage in conversations and discussions on academic, technical, and community subjects, anticipating listeners’ needs and skillfully addressing them.
*express their thoughts and views clearly with attention to the perspectives and voiced concerns of the others in the conversation.
2. Written communication for social interaction requires using written messages to establish, maintain, and enhance personal relationships with others .
*make effective use of language and style to connect the message with the audience and context.
REFLECTION
Students have been very responsive to the concept of integration and have recognized the benefits of connecting the two content areas. Time spent in both classes creates more of a relevancy for the students. There are clear overlaps between the two subject areas: both involve writing, and both address the same time periods. This reinforces students’ understanding of the skills and the content.