USChina Forum Lesson Plan Gr. 8 U. S. History
Topic: Civil Rights and Liberties # of Days: 5
Objective: students will compile social, political and economic issues leading to Shays’ rebellion and compare and contrast it with two other protests in world history – the Tianamen Square (China) and Tahrir Square (Egypt) protests.
CA / NCHS / CA Language Arts STANDARDS:
Materials: Text Book (Creating America), inter-net, display board/sheet, crayons
Prior Knowledge & Skills: already covered ‘Shays’ Rebellion’ and ‘Whiskey Rebellion’ in U. S. History; familiarity in using the internet for research; analytical and synthesis skills; established student email accounts – and prezi presentation accounts for leadership and advanced students
Group activity: three students per group
Day 1 students will be grouped in threes; they will be given details about the project:
Topic: Civil Rights and Liberties
The research based project involves compiling details about of civil rights and liberties about three events –
(i) Shays’ Rebellion, USA (ii) Tianamen Square, China (iii) Tahrir Square, Egypt
- Information is to be presented in a ‘tree map’ format to the class, followed by a brief Q & A
- additionally, the leadership/advanced class will create and present the topic in a prezi format (www.prezi.com)
Teacher gives a brief intro about the three events – students are instructed to jot down any WHO, WHEN, WHAT, WHERE, WHY and SIGNIFICANCE of each event; classes with LEP and LP students given a WWWWWS template chart to write in; unfamiliar names/terms are written on the board (25 mins)
Day 2 each student in the group of three is responsible for getting details on one event; students research for details from the textbook and online about Shays’ Rebellion – jot down the social, political and economic issues underlying the cause(s) leading to the rebellion; the relevant WWWWWS to be written (about 30 min); suggested online research sites – Google search, wikipedia, ask.com
- for the rest of the period, students get together in their group and check each others notes and discuss the layout of their presentation
Day 3 students work on making the tree map; it should also include a bibliography/frame of reference listing the sources; leadership/advanced students also start making their prezi presentation
Day 4 first 10 min: students will get together in their groups to do final prep for presentation. Each group will be called on randomly with presentation by leadership/advanced student groups of about five minutes and about seven min. for LEP and LP student groups; Q & A by teacher and student peers to be limited to 3-5 queries
Day 5 presentations continue; after tree map presentations, leadership/advance students present their prezi.com creations on the screen
Assessment: is based on students working in a group setting, groups presenting relevant information about each event; how the events compare with each other and the layout of the display board/sheet
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DRAFT of Lesson Plan for 2011 Fall Seminar
01/15/2012 12:18 AM
#1
DRAFT of Lesson Plan for 2011 Fall Seminar
Great use of group activity and comparing and contrasting with events in China and Egypt. For homework there are a few questions you may want to ask students is: What are the similarities and differences in each social revolution? How did each event begin? What were the outcomes of each uprising? What is the likelihood that a violent social protest will result in a democratic or peaceful government transition?
Student group critiques often yield very profound comments that they would not have learned from reading the text alone.
This is a good and very original tie in to 8th grade history.......
Perhaps you'd like to include the following.....
When I taught Shay's rebellion this year, I handed the students a "face" outline and asked them to fill in and draw what a protestor would say, see, hear and accomplish (thank you Faiza for this idea)......students really enjoyed it......time permitting could transfer to a writing exercise.......next time I teach 8th grade I am going to use your idea and have students "fill in" a face for a protester in "Shay's rebellion" and one in modern day Egypt and one in modern day China. Pat Lamkie
I also used the character sketch in teaching Shay's rebellion ,but did have my students to write a summary about what they learned ,and had them to draw features on the faces with color. Students were engaged and could summarize the details involving the event. Great Lesson!
edited by asilvestre on 1/8/2012
Thanks all for your suggestions. Please click on attached file for the final plan.
I think maybe instead of Shay's Rebellion you might think about using the Watts riots or the LA riots that way the students can find the lesson more relevant. A writing activity that will add to an already good lesson is having the students write a critique of the uprising from the point of view of a government official and a justification by a participant of the event. Another activity they can do is trace what steps the conspirators took in launching their uprising. They can then write a handbook for a potential rebel, outlining the steps of how to start an uprising and call it, "How to Change the World in 10 Steps" or "How to Start a Successful Uprising in 10 Easy Steps." I do the last activity in my World History class when I cover WWII. My kids do handbooks on how to be a fascist dictator.
MC - thanks for the suggestion...however Gr 8 U S history is pre-1865 and covers up to the CW & Reconstruction and the rise of big businesses. So I have to anchor the Lsn Pln to something within the time period of the eighth graders...