Joseph A. Corsetti
Facing History and Ourselves provides a particular scope and sequence as a basis for the curriculum that they write. Most of my units follow the same basic framework. Although this unit will not follow the framework as extensively as others, it will contain many of the same elements. The unit will be taught to my 11
th
grade Humanities class. This particular course is an examination of United States social, political, and cultural history from Reconstruction to the Present Day using both primary source historical documents and literature. By the time students take my class, they are familiar with Facing History and Ourselves, and will understand the vocabulary that is particular to that curriculum.
The general framework of a unit consists of the following sequence. To start, students examine issues of individual identity and their own role and place in the community. From here students move on to examine what is called We and They behavior. They explore the nature of group behavior and how access to the group is controlled. The third section is a historical case study. For the 11
th
grade, this will take the shape of examining the origins of the Eugenics movement and its impact on late 19
th
century and early 20
th
century America. The case study will also examine how several threads weave their way into American society throughout the 20
th
century. These include immigration reform and forced sterilization laws that were legislated in the middle part of the century. Finally, the last portion of the scope and sequence is known as Choosing to Participate. The central idea here is to encourage students to utilize historical awareness and knowledge to make informed decisions about the present day. For this unit, students will engage in activities that allow them to explore the present day and evaluate the use of genetic testing. In the end, students will determine if genetic testing does or does not qualify as modern day eugenics.
Central to my teaching and to my classroom is the idea that the student plays and embraces the role of the historian. Therefore, my eleventh grade course is very much about teaching the historian's craft and preparing students to think like a historian. Consequently, my course is more about how to write history, than it is about the history itself. This is not to say that students do not learn US History. That is far from the truth. In my class students use the chronology of US History to learn how to research and write about the past and its relevance to the modern day. The general rule in my classroom is that students do not report what happened, they interpret what happened. Also, my end of course culminating project is a 10-15 page historical thesis. This is a graduation requirement, and all students must complete this paper to graduate from New Haven Academy. My course is very much focused on preparing students to write this paper well. The best way to accomplish this is to rely heavily upon primary source documents. This unit will be no different. Most of what the students will read and write about can not be found in the typical history textbook, and therefore, must be located elsewhere. In the body of this unit I will refer to several texts and documents and how to access them is appropriate.
