Lesson Plans
Week One, Class One:
Materials:
-
1. Class copies of Aristotle’s
Politics
, Book Three, Parts I, VII-XII
-
2. Student writing journals
Objectives:
Students will analyze those portions of
Politics
that apply to their study of American democracy. This will begin as a whole class activity.
Duration:
One eighty-two minute class period
Anticipatory Set:
“What is democracy?” “Who has the right to vote in the United States?”
Instructional Procedure
Initiation:
Students will answer the deceptively simple question, “What is democracy?” in their writing journals. This prompt will be written as a warm-up exercise that students will write about for the first 5-10 minutes of class. A class discussion of student responses will follow. After students have volunteered their definitions of democracy, class copies of excerpts from Aristotle’s
Politics
will be passed out.
Seatwork:
Students will read Book Three, Parts I and VII-XII. During and following the reading, the instructor should ask pointed questions of individual students, such as: What is the purpose of Aristotle’s
Politics
? Who is the audience? What is the main idea of Aristotle’s argument? What different types of government does Aristotle identify? In Aristotle’s opinion, what is the purpose of government? How does Aristotle define democracy? Who counts as a citizen under Aristotle’s definition of democracy? What is the difference between a constitutional republic and a democracy? What type of government does Aristotle prefer? As a whole class activity, the teacher will make a T-chart on the board titled “Democracy” with column subheadings “Positives” and “Negatives.” Students will volunteer positive and negative attributes of democracy as described by Aristotle.
Closure:
The teacher will leave the T-chart on the board, then write the following writing prompt on the board: “What is the difference between a Constitutional Republic and a perfect Democracy?” Students will be given five minutes to write their responses. A class discussion of these responses will follow. The objective of these discussions is for students to define disparate political systems, and determine which ones work best.
Homework:
Students will write a persuasive argument for a political system of their choosing and explain why they believe it is the best system of government, citing at least three reasons that support their individual arguments.
Assessment:
All student writing
Week One, Classes Two-Three
Materials:
-
1. Class copies of your school’s student handbook and behavior code
-
2. Class copies of
The Constitution of the United States of America
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3. Access to a computer lab or other digital multimedia, such as a DVD player
Alternate materials:
-
4.
The Declaration of Independence
Objectives: Students will develop an understanding of the laws that govern American democracy. Students will be able to differentiate between a monarchy and a democracy. Students will create a model student government, and defend their plans before their peers.
Duration:
Two eighty-two minute class periods
Anticipatory Set:
What is a perfect democracy?
Is America a perfect democracy? To whom did the Bill of Rights apply when it was written? How is the Bill of Rights a reflection of the political climate of post-Revolution America?
Instructional Procedure
Initiation:
Students will answer the question “Is America a perfect democracy?” as a warm-up written journal assignment. Students will be given no more than fifteen minutes to write spontaneously about the subject based on the previous day’s reading of Aristotle’s
Politics
. A class discussion of journal responses will follow the initial writing portion of the class. The instructor should lead students to develop their own unique understandings of what is meant by the concept “democracy.”
Seatwork:
Students will read the
Constitution
and
Bill of Rights
. During and after reading, the instructor will ask pointed questions of individual students that may include, but are not limited to: How do the rights in the Bill of Rights reflect the zeitgeist, or the popular sentiment of post-Revolution U.S.A.? How is the United States government organized to create a balance of power? What three main branches of government are outlined by the Constitution?
Closure:
(Day One) Students will again write in their journals a response to the following prompt: “Which is the most important right in the
Bill of Rights
? In your response, develop a connection between this right and a real-life experience in which you had your rights infringed upon. If you have never had your rights infringed upon, compare and contrast the three branches of government, and choose the branch that you believe is most powerful; be prepared to defend your response with examples from the Constitution.” If time allows, a class discussion of student journal responses will follow.
(Day Two) A writing prompt in which students defend their groups’ different versions of student government. Students will be asked to support their choices with at least one right and one law suggested by their groups’ constitutions and bills of rights.
Homework:
If students have not yet had an opportunity to finish writing their constitutions, they will be asked to come in with at least one suggestion for a student right and one law of student government.
Assessment:
Students will draft a mock school constitution for their school as a small-group activity (no more than five students per group). Students will draft rules and regulations for governance of the student body. Students will also draft a students’ bill of rights, which should be limited, ideally, to ten student rights. Students will choose a representative from their groups to represent the group’s consensus version of student government. Student representatives will then have an opportunity to present and debate their plans before the class. If a class is in a computer lab, they may use multimedia such as an LCD projector to outline and delineate their proposed government using Microsoft Office applications, PowerPoint or Word, or create digital videos with their cameras at home, which have the potential to be played as a DVD or a digital media player, like RealPlayer or Windows Media Player. Following these presentations, students will vote on what they believe to be the best potential student government. Students will not be allowed to vote for their own groups. As a follow-up, students can present their chosen rules, laws, and regulations to the administration of their school.
Week Two, Class Four
Materials:
1. Class copies of excerpts (pp.VII-XIII of the foreword and p.XXXIII of the introduction, pp. 1-7, 26-40, 44-48, and 50-51 from Thomas Paine’s
Common Sense
, (
note
: excerpt page numbers correspond to the Signet Classics 2003 Edition of
Common Sense, Rights of Man, and other essential writings of Thomas Paine
)
Objectives:
Students will read and respond critically to Thomas Paine’s
Common Sense
. Students will apply their knowledge of persuasive rhetoric to their own lives through a letter-writing campaign about issues of their choosing.
Duration:
One eighty-two minute class period
Anticipatory Set:
“What does it mean to be a patriot?” “Why might some Americans have been resistant to change or revolution in 1776?”
Instructional Procedure
Initiation:
Students will answer the question “How is a democracy different from a monarchy?” as a written “Do Now” journal assignment. Students will be asked to explain their answers in detail and be prepared to defend them during class discussion. Other possible initiation questions may include the following: “Did the founding fathers have a perfect democracy or a republic in mind while drafting the Constitution?” or “Who has more power in the United States government: the people or the legislators?” or “What is the difference between a colony and an independent nation?” or “What is meant by taxation without representation?” In any case, students should be given no more than fifteen minutes to compose a response, and the instructor should allow another ten to fifteen minutes for class discussion of student journal responses.
Seatwork:
(Whole class) Student volunteers will read portions of Thomas Paine’s
Common Sense
aloud. As a during reading activity, students will be asked to record at least three reasons Paine cites in support of the American Revolution.
Closure:
Students will be asked whether or not Thomas Paine’s vision for America has come into being. Which changes in America did Thomas Paine foresee? What did Paine fail to foresee? This should be done as an individual writing prompt, followed by a whole class discussion of student responses.
Homework:
Students will choose an issue that affects their lives and write a letter to their school administrator, local politician, newspaper editor, U.S. Congressperson, or state governor that defends either a pro or con stance about their issue of choice. The instructor and class should brainstorm different issues and topics that they believe the community, their elected officials or school administrators can have an impact on. This is a free associative group activity.
Assessment:
Student journals and letters
Week Two, Class Five
Materials:
-
1. Class copies of Henry David Thoreau’s “Civil Disobedience”
-
2. Class copies or transparencies of pie charts that show the division of federal
7
and state
8
budgets
-
3. An overhead projector
Alternate Materials:
-
4. A brief biography of abolitionist John Brown
-
5. “A Plea for Captain John Brown” by Henry David Thoreau
-
6. “Self Reliance” by Ralph Waldo Emerson
-
Objectives:
Students will read and respond critically to Thoreau’s essay “Civil Disobedience”
Duration:
One eighty-two minute class period
Anticipatory Set:
“Who was considered a citizen in the United States before the Civil War?” “How is the concept or theory of democracy different than its reality or execution in the United States?”
Instructional Procedure
Initiation:
Students will answer the question “What, or whom, did the founding fathers leave out when framing the Constitution?” “Why were certain groups of people not taken into account when the Constitution was written?” as a warm-up journal assignment. Students will be asked to explain their answers in detail and be prepared to defend them during class discussion.
Seatwork:
(whole class) Student volunteers will read “Civil Disobedience” aloud. During reading, the instructor should ask pointed questions of individual students such as “What kind of government does Thoreau prefer?” “What is Thoreau’s opinion of prisons?” “Which uses of his tax dollars does Thoreau approve or disapprove of?” As students research the answers to these questions, the students should create a T-chart, dividing Thoreau’s assertions into “Approve” and “Disapprove” columns. Students will discuss whether they agree or disagree with Thoreau and why.
Closure:
After reading “Civil Disobedience,” as a whole class activity, students will be shown a pie chart that shows exactly how each tax dollar is divided. Students will create a T-chart showing what uses of taxpayer money they approve of and what they believe to believe to be wastes of taxpayer money. The purpose of this exercise is to spark debate about a variety of potential issues among students.
Homework:
Students will write a second draft of their persuasive letters.
Assessment:
Student journals and letters.
Week Three, Class Six
Materials:
-
1. Class copies or transparency of “The Gettysburg Address” by Abraham Lincoln
-
2. Class copies or transparency of selected poems (“For You O Democracy,” “Cavalry Crossing a Ford,” and “O Captain, My Captain”) from Walt Whitman’s
Leaves of Grass
-
3. Class copies of chapter 18 of Alexis de Tocqueville’s
Democracy in America
, “Why American Writers and Orators are Often Bombastic”
-
4. An overhead projector
Alternate Materials:
-
5. “Democratic Vistas” by Walt Whitman
-
6. Lincoln’s “House Divided” speech
-
7. “The Emancipation Proclamation” by Abraham Lincoln
-
8. Class copies of Lincoln’s speech at New Haven, CT, March 6, 1860
Objectives:
Students will read and respond critically to Lincoln’s speeches and Whitman’s poems. Students will compare and contrast the ideas of Abraham Lincoln and Walt Whitman through the lens of major historical events like the Civil War and abolition.
Duration:
One eighty-two minute class period
Anticipatory Set:
“What was the cause of the Civil War in the United States?” “What was the outcome?” “What effect did the Civil War have on democracy in the United States?”
Instructional Procedure
Initiation:
“Why is President Abraham Lincoln considered an American hero and legend?” Students will respond to this writing prompt, and discuss collaboratively for the first 20-30 minutes of class.
Seatwork:
As a whole class activity students will read and respond critically to Lincoln’s “Gettysburg Address.” The writing prompt should be as follows, and students should be given no more than three minutes to write a response: “According to President Lincoln what does the future of democracy in America rely on?” A brief discussion of the document and student responses will follow, with the instructor filling in the historical context. Students will then read Walt Whitman’s poems “For You O Democracy,” “Cavalry Crossing a Ford,” and “O Captain! My Captain!” and discuss them. Students will then be given de Tocqueville’s “Why American Orators are Often Bombastic,” and student volunteers will read this aloud. Afterwards, students will respond in writing to the following prompt: “Based on your own experience of American politicians and ‘The Gettysburg Address,’ do you agree or disagree with de Tocqueville’s opinion of American oratory?”
Closure:
A discussion of student responses will follow.
Homework:
Students will write the first draft of a 1-2 pp research paper about one of the following figures in American history: Paul Robeson, Thomas Jefferson, Arthur Miller, Frederick Douglas, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Susan B. Anthony, John Brown, Harriet Tubman, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Sojourner Truth or Cesar Chavez (students may also choose their own figure to research, as long as they can explain why and how that historical figure relates to democracy in the United States).
Assessment:
see
Homework
Week Three, Class Seven
Materials:
-
1. Class copies of “Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions” as drafted by the Woman’s Rights Convention at Seneca Falls, NY, July 19-20, 1848
-
2. Class copies of “On Women’s Rights” by Elizabeth Cady Stanton
-
3. Class copies or transparency of Amendment XIV, Section One to the
Constitution
-
4. Class copies or transparency of Amendment XIX, Section One to the
Constitution
Alternate Materials:
-
5. Brief biographies of Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Sojourner Truth (several available to Connecticut teachers and library card holders via iconn.org’s individual databases)
Objectives:
Students will read and respond critically to the writings of Elizabeth Cady
Stanton as well as the Women’s Rights Convention at Seneca Falls, NY, July 19-20, 1848
Duration:
One eighty-two minute class period
Anticipatory Set:
“Why are amendments to the Constitution necessary?”
Instructional Procedure
Initiation:
The instructor will pass out class copies or show a transparency of Amendment XIV, Section One to the Constitution (1868): “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside. No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.” And ask students, “Based on the Fourteenth Amendment, who has the right to citizenship in the United States?” Students will be given no more than three minutes to write a response. A brief discussion of the Fourteenth Amendment and its historical context will follow.
Seatwork:
Students will read and respond critically to excerpts from “Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions” drafted by the Women’s Rights Convention at Seneca Falls, NY, July 19-20, 1848 and “On Women’s Rights” by Elizabeth Cady Stanton.
Closure: Students will be asked how long after the Women’s Rights Convention they think it took women to acquire the right to vote. Students will propose answers and their justification for those answers until the correct answer is known. At this point the instructor will distribute class copies of the Nineteenth Amendment (1920): “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.” The class will end with a discussion about why it took so long for women to acquire the right to vote.
Homework:
Students will continue working on their biography research papers.
Assessment:
Student journals and research papers
Week Three, Class Eight:
Materials:
-
1. Class copies of selected poems of Langston Hughes (“Let America be America Again,” “America,” “The South,” “Negro,” “The Negro Speaks of Rivers,” and “A Dream Deferred”)
-
2. Class copies of Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech
Alternate Materials:
-
3. “The Atlanta Compromise” by Booker T. Washington
-
4. Chapter Three “Of Mr. Booker T. Washington and Others” from
The Souls of Black Folk
by W.E.B. Dubois
-
5. The Supreme Court decision of Plessy V. Ferguson
Objectives:
Students will examine and analyze the poems of Langston Hughes in the context of the Jim Crow era, as well as civil rights. Students will be asked to compare and contrast the sentiments expressed in the poem “I Dream a World” by Langston Hughes with those of Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech.
Duration:
One eighty-two minute class period
Anticipatory Set:
“Following the Civil War were blacks and whites separate but equal in the United States?”
Instructional Procedure
Initiation:
Students will answer the
Anticipatory Set
as a writing prompt, and include at least two examples supporting their opinions. Students will be given ten-fifteen minutes to write. A class discussion about the Jim Crow era and Civil Rights shall follow.
Seatwork:
The instructor will break the students up into small groups (no more than five students per group). Each group will receive a sampling of selected poems of Langston Hughes and be asked to analyze one of them. Each group will analyze a different poem, but students will be encouraged to read all of them closely. A whole class discussion of each poem the student groups have analyzed will follow.
Closure:
If time remains, students will read “Freedom’s Plow” by Langston Hughes
Homework:
Students will read copies of Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream Speech” and Langston Hughes’ “I Dream a World” and be asked to compare and contrast them in a three-paragraph essay.
Assessment:
Student journals and essays