Below is my 4 lessons for my Web-Based Inquiry Unit. At certain points in the lesson plans, I direct you to some of my previous posts, which can by found simply by scrolling down.
Introduction to the Gilded Age: Lesson 1
Corey Dyke
Lesson Components
Description
Identification of the Class
Subject: US History
Grade: 11
Number of Students: 30
Virginia Standards of Learning
Virginia Content SOL: VUS.8 d: The student will demonstrate knowledge of how the nation grew and changed from the end of Reconstruction through the early twentieth century by:
identifying the causes and impact of the Progressive Movement, including the excesses of the Gilded Age, child labor and antitrust laws, the rise of labor unions, and the success of the women’s suffrage movement.
Virginia Technology SOL: C/T 9-12.2: Identify and use available technologies to help complete specific tasks. B- Use content specific tools, software, and simulations to approach projects
Lesson Objectives
· Students will know the process for making a paper airplane
· Students will understand that factories at the turn of the century were a terrible place to work
· Students will be able to work effectively as a team
· Students will be able to list/describe grievances that factory workers had against their employer
· Students will be able to state the theme of the unit
Big Idea and essential questions
Today, I will introduce my students to our unit on the Gilded Age and Progressive Era. In this lesson, the Big Idea I really want students to focus on is that of change. Everywhere in our country during this time period, the only constant was change. We were adopting new economic practices, living in new places, and new people were coming to America and bringing rich new experiences along with them. Some questions I want students to focus on will be:
1. What do you think life was like for factory workers of the time?
2. How do you think Americans felt about new immigrants? What did the immigrants think about America?
3. What are some changes you see in society during this time period? What potential conflicts will these changes cause?
Procedures
1. Hook: As students enter the classroom, they will find it very messy and disorganized. They will also find all of their desks moved to the center of the room in three, long assembly lines. All chairs will be pushed against the walls. I will explain to students that we will be doing a simulation of a factory today. I will give each student a piece of paper detailing instructions on how to properly assemble a paper airplane. As students go over the instructions, I will assign them each jobs. Assuming a class size of ~30, I will have 10 students as cleaners, 5 as paper distributers, 5 as plane collectors, and 10 as folders. I will be the foreman.
The Assembly Line: I will assign some students from each job sub-group to each of the 3 assembly lines. Folders will be spread along both sides of the desks. Distributers will have boxes of copier paper at the front of the line. Collectors will have empty boxes at the end of the line. Cleaners will be given some dust pans and a recycling bin and stationed around the line. I will then explain each role on the line. Distributers are in charge of making sure paper continuously flows down the line. Collectors are in charge of collecting all finished products at the end of the line. I will explain that each folder will complete 1 step of the process of making the paper airplane and then pass the paper to the next folder until. Badly folded planes must be thrown on the ground. Cleaners are responsible for getting any discarded paper into a recycling bin.
The Simulation: Students will be tasked with making as many paper airplanes as they can in 20 minutes. They are expected to keep their assembly line as clean, efficient, and productive as possible. The team with the most airplanes constructed at the end of the 20 minutes will get candy. As the simulation is in progress, I will walk around the room banging on a pan with a wooden spoon and shouting things like “time is money!” and “no breaks!” to try and best simulate the experience in a turn of the century factory. If I have a few students who I know won’t be upset by it, I could potentially even “fire” someone.
2. Debrief/Presentation: After the simulation, I will give students 5 minutes to return the room to order. Then, I will explain to them the theme for our unit by means of the following speech-
“In this unit we are going to be learning about the Gilded Age and the Progressive Era. While this was not a very long time period in terms of years, these distinct periods of US History came to define our nation. While these years were packed full of numerous different historical events, one large theme that we are going to focus on is that of social change and how the conflicts this change caused led to the formation of the America we know today. As we continue through this unit, I will be asking you all to think about and explore the many changes that occurred in society during this time period, including technological advances, the growth of cities, the emergence of the US onto the world stage, and eventually the growing rights of citizens that marked this time period. Throughout this unit, we will be tying what we are learning about the past into the conflicts that shape America today and comparing and contrasting their similarities and differences. By the end of this unit, you will have discovered the history of these changes and many others as well. We will wrap up this unit with a project that will ask you to find a social cause or change today that interests you, do some research on it, compare it to a change/movement that occurred in the Gilded Age or Progressive Era, and see how you could help in aiding that current day movement.”
I will then show the interactive timeline presentation I created as a quick overview of the time period. (Timeline can be found in previous post titled Web-Based Inquiry Unit: Interactive Timeline)
3. Virtual Tour: Once we have gone through the timeline, students will utilize a class set of laptops to go on a virtual tour of Ellis Island:
(http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/immigration/tour/)
4. Pre-Assessment: Students will then be given a short quiz as a formative pre-assessment.
Assessment & Evaluation
Pre-test in the form of a quiz that will be used as a formative assessment based on what they should have learned from the activity and videos
Materials & Resources
Computer Paper
Printed Instructions from: http://www.instructables.com/id/how-to-make-the-fastest-paper-airplane/?ALLSTEPS
Dust pans
Candy
Recycling
Class laptop set
Interactive Timeline (Timeline can be found in previous post titled Web-Based Inquiry Unit: Interactive Timeline)
(http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/immigration/tour/)
Management
By strategically grouping my students, I will hope to avoid conflicts within groups.
By allowing students a few minutes to gather themselves after our simulation, I will allow them to wind-down after an exciting activity.
I will be circulating throughout the room during the Virtual Tour portion of class to ensure that students are on task.
Differentiation
Certain built-in portions of my lesson help with differentiation. The interactive timeline and virtual tour will hopefully help engage some students who prefer to learn visually. Similarly, the simulation will allow students to move around and be active, hopeful helping those who prefer to learn kinesthetically.
Quiz
How did you feel during our simulation? (Tired? Stressed? Rushed?) Explain and elaborate in no less than 3 sentences.
What are some ways you would have improved the experience of the simulation?
From the video on the Triangle Factory fire, what social class did the factory workers come from? What was their social background? (Age? Gender? Nationality?)
What were some of the workplace hazards in the Triangle Factory (name 2)? How could they have been fixed/prevented?
What is the theme of our unit?
Where did most immigrants enter the United States? What was that experience like? (Stressful? Easy? Exciting?)
Gilded Age and Progressive Era WebQuest: Lesson 2
Corey Dyke
Description
Identification of the Class
Subject: US History
Grade: 11
Number of Students: 30
Virginia Standards of Learning
Virginia Content SOL: VUS.8 d: The student will demonstrate knowledge of how the nation grew and changed from the end of Reconstruction through the early twentieth century by:
identifying the causes and impact of the Progressive Movement, including the excesses of the Gilded Age, child labor and antitrust laws, the rise of labor unions, and the success of the women’s suffrage movement.
Virginia Technology SOL: C/T 9-12.2: Identify and use available technologies to help complete specific tasks. B- Use content specific tools, software, and simulations to approach projects
Lesson Objectives
· Students will understand that social, political, and military issues influence everyday life.
· Students will know the definition of Gilded.
· Students will know that the US economy was shifting from agrarian to industrial
· Students will be able to analyze social/class issues of the Gilded Age
· Students will be able to identify key political issues such as women’s suffrage
Big Idea (statement) and essential question (question that helps us learn the content for understanding – how or why questions)
In today’s lesson, we are going to be looking closely at some of the changes that took place during the time period we are studying. Some major events that shaped the way America is today including the Women’s Suffrage movement, industrialization, the growth of cities, and Americas involvement in the Spanish American War. Each of these events/phenomenon marked a dramatic change in US society. Some essential questions students will focus on will be:
1. In what ways was the event/change you are studying revolutionary?
2. How can you see the impact of that change today?
Procedures
1. Hook: As students enter the classroom, I will have the word “Gilded” written on the board. I will ask students to take out a sheet of paper and use a dictionary (print, online) to define the word. Then, I will ask them to try and write a sentence using that word. I will then for volunteers to give their definition and sentence and go over the correct definition as a class. Next, I will project a few photographs taken by Jacob Riis and ask students to simply write down their reactions. Once they have done that, we will do a visual discovery activity using the photographs. I will start out by asking student basic questions such as “What do you see?” and “How many people are pictured”? We will gradually move up Bloom’s Taxonomy and I will ask students “How do you think these people came to live in these conditions?” and “What are some ways you think people tried to solve issues like this?”
2. Introduction of WebQuest: I will then explain to students that we will be completing a WebQuest activity today. I will explain to students that their quest/task for this class period is to research a topic that I will provide each group. I will explain that the goal of the task is to create a newspaper article about the event they research. Students will be asked to cover the history of the event, include 5 quotes from a prominent figure/prominent figures of their event, utilize at least two images, and create an eye-catching headline for their article.
3. WebQuest Process: Next, I will break students into roughly 8 groups of 4 and assign each group a topic. Since there are 4 topics, there will be groups that have the same topic. Each group will receive a handout (example below) that will help the complete the WebQuest assignment and give them a few good starting sources of information as well as laptops to complete their quest. A separate handout that consists of the Critical Evaluation Tool (see previous post Critical Evaluation Tool- INDT 501) will also be given to students. I will explain that they must use this tool when evaluating each source. Including on the handout will be a rubric used to grade their newspaper articles. When students are done with their quest, they should have a written newspaper article ready to hand in. Students will receive a group grade on this assignment.
4. Summary/Debrief: With 10 minutes remaining in the class period, I will call students back together. I will ask each group to read their headline to the class and discuss one fact they learned about their event. I will also assign students the following reading for homework- Murdering McKinley: p. ix-xii, 3-9, 14-40, 83-90 in the form of a handout. I will then collect the newspaper articles to grade.
Assessment & Evaluation
Newspaper articles produced by groups in their WebQuest
Materials & Resources
Laptops
Handouts
Rubrics
Management
By strategically grouping my students, I will hope to avoid conflicts within groups.
I will be consistently circulating through the classroom to monitor that all students are working and on task.
Differentiation
By providing students with reputable sources to begin their quest, and only limiting them to sources that pass the criteria of their Critical Evaluation Tool, I will give my students flexibility to explore avenues that interest them and allow them to gain knowledge they deem valuable.
Handout Example:
Gilded Age and Progressive Era Webquest-
Today, I have tasked you with creating a newspaper article that captures the highlights of a particular historical event that occurred between 1890 and 1920 and which still impacts our country today. In order to produce your article, please reference the following rubric:
Gilded Age and Progressive Era Newspaper Article
Poor: 1 pt
Fair: 2 pts
Good: 3 pts
Historical Context
Students do not provide an accurate summary of their event. They use sources that are not reputable, or they do not cite sources correctly.
Students provide some background and summary of their event. They use and mostly properly cite reputable sources at the end of their article.
Students provide a thorough and accurate summary of their event. They use and properly cite reputable sources at the end of their article.
Quotes
Students only utilize 1 quote, or do not utilize any quotes from prominent members of their event
Students utilize 2-4 quotes from prominent members of their event
Students utilize at least 5 quotes from prominent members of their event
Pictures
Students do not utilize any pictures in their article
Students utilize 1 relevant picture in their article
Students utilize at least 2 relevant pictures in their article
Headline
Students do not include a headline, or write one the is misleading or not enticing
Students write a headline that somewhat accurately portrays the contents of the article and is mildly enticing
Students write a headline that accurately portrays the contents of the article and entices readers to read more
As you look for sources to write your article, you must utilize the Critical Evaluation Tool and cite all sources used in the correct style. To help you get your start, here are some places to begin looking for information:
Women’s Suffrage: Encyclopedia Britannica online, history.com The Fight for Women’s Suffrage, National Women’s History Museum website, Scholastic.com Chronology of Women’s Suffrage Movement Events, Library of Congress Website
Spanish American War: Encyclopedia Britannica online, history.com Spanish American War, Library of Congress Website, pbs.org Crucible of Empire: The Spanish American War
Industrialization: Encyclopedia Britannica online (search US industrialization), Library of Congress Website, ushistory.org Economic Growth and the Early Industrial Revolution
Growth of Cities: Encyclopedia Britannica online (search US Great Migration), Library of Congress Website, npr.org Great Migration: The African-American Exodus North, ushistoryscene.com Immigrants, Cities, and Disease
The Progressive Era Begins with a Bang: Lesson 3
Corey Dyke
Lesson Components
Description
Identification of the Class
Subject: US History
Grade: 11
Number of Students: 30
Virginia Standards of Learning
Virginia Content SOL: VUS.8 d: The student will demonstrate knowledge of how the nation grew and changed from the end of Reconstruction through the early twentieth century by:
identifying the causes and impact of the Progressive Movement, including the excesses of the Gilded Age, child labor and antitrust laws, the rise of labor unions, and the success of the women’s suffrage movement.
Virginia Technology SOL: C/T 9-12.2: Identify and use available technologies to help complete specific tasks. B- Use content specific tools, software, and simulations to approach projects
Lesson Objectives
· The student will understand that tensions caused by class division, poor working conditions, and expansionist government policies led to the assassination of William McKinley
· Students will know a background of Leon Czologsz
· Students will know that issues such as class division, unfair/unsafe working conditions, and fear of foreign entanglement led to widespread civil unrest
· Students will be able to analyze the role that industrialization played in creating a poverty gap
· Students will be able to analyze the motives Leon Czologsz claimed for killing the President
Big Idea and essential questions
The Big Idea we will focus on in today’s class is once again, change and conflict. However, today we will be looking at how the changes and conflicts that we studied in the last two lessons all culminated in one event that rocked the nation. With the assassination of President McKinley, the nation started on a course towards reform and restructuring that was quicker and more dramatic than any other time period in our history. It is important for students to understand the nuances of this turning point and how one summer day in Buffalo, New York sparked decades of change. Some essential questions students will focus on are:
1. What were the motives Leon Czologsz cited for killing President McKinley? Were these common issues experienced by many, or just isolated to Czologsz?
2. How did the nation react to the assassination? Did it cause people to look at their neighbors and friends differently? Were people more sympathetic to the plight of others?
Procedures
1. Hook: We will begin class with a reenactment of the assassination of President McKinley. I will assign one student to play the President, one student to play Leon Czologsz, a few students to be secret service officers, a few students to be other fair-goers, and a few students to be police officers. I will ask students to work together to put together a “script” (doesn’t need to be written out, the reenactment just needs to be cohesive). Then, I will give them 10 minutes to act out the assassination.
2. Introduction to Socratic Seminar model: I will ask students to move into a circle so that we can begin our Socratic Seminar. I will remind students that the purpose of the Seminar is to help them think for themselves as well as interact with their classmates intellectually. I will stress the need for discussion to remain civil and respectful of everyone in the circle.
3. Conducting the Discussion: I will begin student discussion by asking one of the leading questions I have written. I will let the students continue the discussion, and interrupt only to bring them back on task, or to introduce a new question that emphasizes a different point. In order to ensure that everyone has an opportunity to participate, we will operate the discussion under the rule that everyone must speak once before anyone can speak twice.
4. Summary: With about 10 minutes left in the class period, I will wrap up the discussion and summarize, with student help, what was discussed during the Seminar. I will then tell students that they are to write a short assessment (1 page max) of their participation in our discussion today
Assessment & Evaluation
I will write a few guiding questions for the Socratic Seminar that I will distribute beforehand so I can ascertain if my students read and understood the reading
Materials & Resources
Murdering McKinley by Eric Rauchway. Selected pages in the form of handouts
Guiding Questions sheet
Management
The reenactment will be the hardest portion of this lesson to manage. I will have to be sure to keep students under control and not allow them to get too rowdy. I will emphasize the we cannot completely accurately portray the assassination, as I will not allow them to tackle the student playing Czologsz, etc.
During the seminar, I will be sure to interject only when necessary to bring discussion back on task or to move discussion along. Students who are dominating conversation will be asked to refrain from talking for 5 minutes as a way to ensure everyone has an opportunity to be heard.
Differentiation
I will provide a summary of the reading that I have written to any students with reading disabilities. I will make sure that the Socratic Seminar is run in a way that allows all students to participate. For students who have anxiety speaking, I will prime them with a question to ask before we begin the seminar.
Guiding Questions:
Why do you think Leon Czologsz killed President McKinley? Do you think his reasons were justified?
What is Xenophobia? How did this phenomenon play a role in the assassination?
What is anarchy/anarchism? Was this really a threat to America? The world?
What social class did Czologsz belong did? How did this affect his opinion of the American government?
Were the issues Czologsz had with the President and the government shared by other citizens? To what extent?
Readings: In order to answer these questions, and in order to fully participate in our Socratic Seminar, please read Murdering McKinley: p. ix-xii, 3-9, 14-40, 83-90.
Progressive Era Problem Based Inquiry: Lesson 4
Corey Dyke
Lesson Components
Description
Identification of the Class
Subject: US History
Grade: 11
Number of Students: 30
Virginia Standards of Learning
Virginia Content SOL: VUS.8 d: The student will demonstrate knowledge of how the nation grew and changed from the end of Reconstruction through the early twentieth century by:
identifying the causes and impact of the Progressive Movement, including the excesses of the Gilded Age, child labor and antitrust laws, the rise of labor unions, and the success of the women’s suffrage movement.
Virginia Technology SOL: C/T 9-12.2: Identify and use available technologies to help complete specific tasks. B- Use content specific tools, software, and simulations to approach projects
Lesson Objectives
· Students will be able to evaluate the solutions put in place during the Progressive Era to solve labor disputes
· Students will know major labor unions
· Students will know actions taken to achieve better labor conditions
· Students will understand that the progress of early labor unions shape industry and the working world to this day
· Students will understand that activism can help solve a prevalent issue.
Students will identify a societal issue that affects themselves, a family member, a friend, or any issue that they are passionate about
Students will create possible solutions to the issue they choose
Big Idea and essential questions
Today we’re going to be learning about how the Progressives solved some of the problems they faced in everyday life. As we are completing our Problem Inquiry Chart, think about this big idea and try to answer these questions:
Social change is not often easily accomplished. We have learned about the many problems facing the working class in the 1890s and 1900s and we have seen how work affected their lives. If you were alive during this time period, would you make a positive change in your community?
1. How did the changes made by these citizens affect your life today?
2. How did the Progressives accomplish what they did? What types of methods did they use? (Legal, Political, Grassroots movement)?
3. How can you work to change your community in a positive way?
Procedures
1. Hook: In order to get students excited and going this lesson, we will be doing a Picket Line simulation. 12 students will be assigned to be picketers, 12 to be strike breakers, and 6 will be business owners. Each picketer will be asked to use a sheet of paper to make a picket sign that they think would have been appropriate for the time period. They will then march around the classroom with their signs, and chanting a common chant that they will create. While they are marching, the business owners will announce that the strike is over and that they have hired new workers. At this point, the strike breakers will cross the picket line (literally) and receive money from the business owners.
2. Introduction and Summary of Problems: After the simulation, I will ask students to return to their seats. I will reintroduce the students to the plight of industrial workers, calling upon the lesson on the Gilded Age as a background. I will break students up into groups of 4-5 and give each group a laptop. I will ask each group to elect one scribe, who will be entering their responses via the group laptop. Once a scribe has been selected, I will invite that student to be an editor on a Google Sheets spreadsheet I have created with the worksheet below. We will sum up the problems of industrial workers as a class and each group will write a problem statement into the corresponding portion of the spreadsheet.
3. Inquiry Chart: I will then explain the chart within the spreadsheet more thoroughly. The problem statements each group generated will be written in that portion of the chart/spreadsheet. I will then explain that as a class, we will generate a question that the problem statements generate. Then, each group will write their own question based on a problem statement and enter it into the spreadsheet. Finally, we will go through the same process to generate hypotheses of answers to the questions they generate.
4. Using Sources: I will then provide the students with two readings on the histories of prominent Labor Unions of the era as text sources to help them answer the questions and pursue solutions.
History of the American Federation of Labor- http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/19681/American-Federation-of-Labor-Congress-of-Industrial-Organizations-AFL-CIO
History of Child Labor Laws- http://xroads.virginia.edu/~ma01/davis/photography/reform/progressive_era.html
5. Primary Sources: I will then provide students with two primary source documents on the formation of these influential Labor Unions. Students will use these sources to come up with solutions to their question as well as analyze how labor issues were solved in the past.
Samuel Gompers letter- http://www.let.rug.nl/usa/documents/1876-1900/samuel-gompers-letter-on-labor-in-industrial-society-to-judge-peter-grosscup-september-1894.php
Selections from this speech given by President Theodore Roosevelt- http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=29545
6. Sharing Solutions: We will reorganize back together as a class and discuss some of the solutions that activists and politicians suggested and implemented during the Progressive Era to combat labor issues. We will then come up with suggestions on how to modify these solutions and generate solutions of our own.
7. Assignment of Project: With 10 minutes left in class, I will call the class back together and assign them their summative assessment, a presentation project. The summative assessment is designed to allow students to research, synthesize, and analyze information about a Progressive Era reform/movement that interests them, compare it to a modern reform/movement that interests them, and look to the example of the Progressive reformers for ways in which they can help impact a modern movement. I will give students a rubric which will outline these requirements and which will ask them to complete, for homework, a 5-10 minute presentation about the above requirements. Students will present their work in class the next day.
Assessment & Evaluation
I will use the Inquiry Chart/spreadsheet, and the discussion we use to fill it out, as a way to gauge student learning
Materials & Resources
Inquiry Chart in the form of a Google Sheet made beforehand
Laptop cart
Popsicle sticks to glue picket signs to
Glue
Monopoly Money
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/19681/American-Federation-of-Labor-Congress-of-Industrial-Organizations-AFL-CIO
http://www.let.rug.nl/usa/documents/1876-1900/samuel-gompers-letter-on-labor-in-industrial-society-to-judge-peter-grosscup-september-1894.php
http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=29545
Rubric
Management
By strategically grouping my students, I will hope to avoid conflicts within groups.
By limiting the number of laptops in use and making one student responsible for the use of the laptop, I will hope to cut down on the use of the laptops as a distraction.
Similarly, by projecting the chart on the board, it will help keep students accountable for their work and hopefully help to keep them on task.
I will have to be careful with the simulation. Constant monitoring of my students while they “picket” will be essential
Differentiation
Certain built-in portions of my lesson help with differentiation. Through putting students in groups and allowing students to pick their task within the group, this lesson allows students to pick tasks they are most comfortable with and allows them to learn in ways that they are comfortable. Similarly, by allowing them to research and present on movements (one Progressive Era, one modern) that interest them, I hope to engage students and help them to analyze how change and conflict which started in the Gilded Age and Progressive Era is relevant to their lives today.
Inquiry Chart
Problem Statement:
Question:
Question
Question
Question
Hypotheses
Text Source 1
Text Source 2
Primary Source 1
Primary Source 2
Summary
Rubric:
Gilded Age and Progressive Era Presentation
Poor: 1 pt
Fair: 2 pts
Good: 3 pts
Historical Movement
Does not identify a reform/movement of the Gilded Age or Progressive Era. Gives little or no historical background for the movement. Gives little or no information of leaders, goals, and outcomes of the movement
Identifies a reform/movement of the Gilded Age or Progressive Era that interest them. Provides some historical background. Does not discuss leaders, goals, and outcomes.
Identifies a reform/movement of the Gilded Age or Progressive Era that interests them. Provides historical background for that movement. Gives brief history of leaders, goals, outcomes.
Modern Movement
Does not identify a reform/movement of the present day. Gives little or no historical background for the movement. Gives little or no information of leaders, goals, and outcomes of the movement.
Identifies a reform/movement of the present day that interest them. Provides some historical background. Does not discuss leaders, goals, and outcomes.
Identifies a reform/movement of the present day that interests them. Provides historical background for that movement. Gives brief history of leaders, goals, outcomes.
Makes Connections
Does not connect the two movements selected.
Discusses how the two selected movements connect, but in little detail. Does not go into detail about the impact of the past movement on the modern movement. Does not provide detail about how they can impact the modern movement.
Discusses how the two selected movements connect. Addresses whether the earlier movement directly lead to the modern movement, or whether lessons learned from the past movement could help the modern one. Student explains how they can impact the modern movement selected.
Presentation Quality
Presentation is sloppy and not visually appealing. Many grammatical or spelling errors present. Presentation is 0-3 minutes in length.
Presentation is visually appealing with minor grammatical or spelling errors. Presentation is 3-5 minutes in length.
Presentation is visually appealing and free of grammatical and spelling errors. Presentation is a minimum of 5 minutes.