“Just a quick review -- we’ve seen how the new country needed to develop a stronger government in 1781, right?”
“And what was the first attempt at government that was adopted by the 13 states?”
“Yes good, but these Articles of Confederation didn’t last long. Why did the Founding Fathers want to replace this first plan of government?”
We review what we’ve been learning, just so we all start this new historical period with the same ideas in mind. We are beginning a new unit on the growth of the United States after the American Revolution. We have just finished studying the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. In 1787, the same year that the Constitution was written, the one-state one-vote Congress of the Articles of Confederation, passed the Northwest Ordinance. The unit begins with this territorial plan that explains how the northwestern lands that were won from the British -- lands stretching from the Ohio River to the Great Lakes to the Mississippi River -- would be governed.
Connecting one unit to another is important. I mimic the way that great ‘chapter books’ entice the reader from one chapter to another -- and if you want to know how he escaped from the magic mountain you’ll need to read the next chapter! (I think of
Uncle Wiggly
stories or the Chinese masterpiece
Monkey6).
The connection between these units is the concept
plan of government
-- and its importance -- for a new country, for territories, for the school you are in, for a club you might join. We reminisce about discussions the class has already had about how a society achieves order. (The top class at this point can think about ideas from Golding’s
Lord of the Flies,
which they have been reading in language arts.)
Before we begin to read the first chapter in the unit -- The Growth of America as a New Nation -- and now about fifteen minutes into the lesson, I ask the students to write a sentence about why they would move from one city to another or why do they think the early settlers would have moved from one place to another -- out to the territories, to unfamiliar places? Volunteers read their sentences and I write them on the board -- I am lucky to have two long chalkboards resurfaced just last year.
We are going to learn how to diagram sentences --
their
sentences that they have just written in this case -- and we will continue to use diagramming for DO-NOW activities for the rest of the unit. In this lesson today, we also talk about reasons for traveling west, for moving house and home, for relocating from one way of life to another. We will be ready to read about Westward Expansion tomorrow and we’ll be ready to try diagramming a simple sentence independently too.
For the next lesson we will read the Westward Expansion chapter and pull out topic sentences to diagram together. We will talk about how to identify a topic sentence and we will rewrite and diagram topic sentences from the textbook. If we encounter good vocabulary words we will define them and add them to our vocabulary notebooks. Aside from writing skills, the main content ideas to remember about the chapter are the reasons for expanding westward, the impact on local peoples (tribes) and the “how-to’ of getting there -- the National Road and turnpikes and the Erie Canal.
We will pay attention to good details in the next chapter by focusing on the Louisiana Purchase and the travels of Lewis and Clark. We will read from the Lewis and Clark journals and pull out some of the descriptions -- the journals are online so it’s easy to send a group to the computer to gather descriptions -- we are looking for phrases that create images through good descriptions, and details that support a point of view. After students rotate through the computer assignment they will use the information they have gathered to write some detailed sentences about the Lewis and Clark journey. Other students will work on two-column notes for the chapter and another group will complete a mapping assignment: for this five day lesson we will rotate through the computer journals, write a description, work on maps, and spend two class periods reading the chapter and completing the two-column notes. We will wrap the week up on the following 6th day as a class and compare notes. The writing assignment and the notes themselves will be used as an assessment for the lesson and sentences will be displayed in the classroom.
So far in the unit we have worked on parts of speech, topic sentences, and details and description. We’ve used the learning center style for one week and we’ve been diagramming sentences almost every day. The next topic in the textbook is the War of 1812. We spend more time on description and detail by digressing from the textbook and taking a day to talk about the story of the
Star Spangled Banner
. We read the words for the first three stanzas and ‘take apart’ its meaning. “Through the night with a light from a bulb” is NOT a phrase from the national anthem -- I am amazed at what other strange phrases the students think are part of the anthem. We will review metaphors and similes, note how they can add to a writer’s arsenal, and will finish by accessing an Internet site to play the music and sing the first part of the anthem together.7
Back to the War of 1812 and we work on causes and effects with our notes -- and try our hand at drawing conclusions. If the British continually impress men from your merchant ships into their navy what do you think might happen? Why did Andrew Jackson’s popularity increase during this war? After answering questions such as these in sentences, and comparing them, we try to pull the chapter together around the theme that the textbook presented: that the War of 1812 is also called the Second War for American Independence. I ask the students to complete a conclusion for the chapter that sums up what we have been talking about. They are advised to include three important details from the chapter in their conclusion that help support the theme. It’s almost a case of pretending they wrote the chapter themselves and now need to finish it with a conclusion. Students work on their paragraph as a two-day homework assignment.
Since homework was just mentioned, I’ll explain that I try to give assignments four times a week and often on Fridays. The assignments are reviews or extensions of what we are doing in class or occasionally can be an independent project type of activity -- writing an essay or making a poster or a diagram. For practicing topic sentences and good conclusions, the students will receive worksheets that ask them to distinguish between sentence examples where they will select good models from a list and explain their choices. Sometimes students will be asked to complete a topic or concluding sentence or to write sentences modeled after examples I have given them. They will need to refer to their textbooks to look for missing facts to add to some of the sentences so that the homework integrates the writing portion with a review of social studies content. Homework is checked off on a roster the day it is due so that students are motivated to hand it in on time -- especially because we often go over it in class.
The unit now moves into the 1820’s and we discuss the concept of nationalism and link the discussion to the chapter topics: the Monroe Doctrine and the Marshall Court. Students will write a two-paragraph letter to Uncle Sam (whose picture appears in the chapter and whose origin and purpose we discuss). The purpose of the letter is to convince Uncle Sam that America is a patriotic country. Students are reminded to begin with a strong opening sentence and to tie up their thoughts with a good conclusion. Students work on a web or outline of their letter and begin a first draft. We will return to the computer rotations and on the second day a group will type at the computers. Students not at computers will work on their drafts and complete a reading guide that leads them through the next chapter -- the Influence of the West -- that explains Jacksonian Democracy and the Trail of Tears -- an interesting juxtaposition! I will send a reliable group of six students (with 3 ¼” disks) to the library media center to type up their letters so that the rotations this time only take three days.
All the letters will be done on the computer so that I can display some student work to the whole class through the multimedia projector. We’ll gently critique what we read, and strongly praise good sentences, good usage and good ideas.
The unit began with the notion of traveling westward; we moved into nation building, and we will end the unit traveling westward again -- on the Oregon, Santa Fe, and Mormon Trails. We will concentrate on note-taking, gathering details, and understanding the concept of the ‘frontier’ to prepare students for the final performance task -- a longer essay on a topic of their choice (within limits) related to the significance of “crossing a frontier.” We will use Inspiration® software displayed on the multimedia projector to web one of the chapters together. Some students will ‘help out’ at the computer when we do this and learn the program -- which is intuitive, fun, and very easy to learn -- I’d like students to use Inspiration® when they brainstorm and organize their projects. Students who like to think in a more linear fashion can use PowerPoint® to outline their essay.
The final performance task will be to write a five-paragraph (minimum) essay answering an essential question about a person who has ‘crossed a frontier’. Students will need to research the accomplishments of the person they select, develop questions, take notes, and work out an essay answer that supports a personal view -- a critical stance.
They will hand in a first draft along with their notes, and have the opportunity to revise and rewrite.