Maureen D’Ascanio



Maureen D’Ascanio

ILS 512 Spring 2008

Assignment 2

Programming Lesson

Lesson Plan for 7th Grade Curriculum:

“Reflection on Post Revolutionary War America”

Description: You are a Congressional representative from Philadelphia representing the interests of the people of Pennsylvania before the Continental Congress. You emigrated from England as a fifteen-year-old teen in 1750 aboard a ship to find job opportunities in the British colonies. When you boarded the ship destined for the Plymouth Bay settlement, you were accompanied by one brother but left behind your parents, sisters and younger brothers. When the Revolutionary War fervor took hold of the colonies, you believed that independence would provide great economic and political opportunities for you. It is now 1793, you are fifty-eight years, and life has been hard. You have lost two children to disease, your brother and many friends were killed in the Revolutionary War, and your beloved wife is now sick with fever. As you approach the latter years of your life, you feel compelled to write a letter to your surviving sister in England, age 56, justifying your emigration from England 43 years ago. You will need to describe your expectations and the opportunities, or lack thereof, that awaited you in the British colonies in the 1750’s. Please state whether or not your life in America was worth leaving your homeland of England behind.

Goals: 1. Students will apply information problem-solving skills independently.

2. Students will create a persuasive essay based on historical fact and displaying an understanding of the political climate of post-Revolutionary War America.

Grade Level: 7

Length of Lesson: Two 45 minute class periods for research in the media center; two class periods for class oral presentations, discussions and debate.

Materials: Historical fiction, non-fiction and reference materials from school media center; library online databases and search engines. Computer lab will be booked for two class sessions.

Objectives: 1. Students will display an understanding of the economic, social and political conditions in the United States in the early years after the Revolutionary War.

2. Students will be able to collect and synthesize information from multiple resources to support the opinions presented in their persuasive essays.

3. Students will be able to make their own value-based judgments on non-quantifiable measures such as quality of life, future opportunity and personal safety.

4. Students will be able to present their opinion in debate format and provide supporting historical facts.

Prerequisites: Understanding of the major events and characters of the American Revolutionary War period from the textbook and from the supplemental text “An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow fever Epidemic of 1793” by Jim Murphy.

Assessment: Teacher/School Media Specialist will assess each student’s process and performance using the rubric presented below.

Activities:

Day 1: 1. Students break into groups of four to brainstorm the causes of the Revolutionary War from the perspective of the colonists. Groups will then be asked to discuss whether or not these issues were satisfied by the formation of the United States of America.

2. Groups will share their interpretation and judgment of these events with the class. Students will be asked to judge whether these conditions held true for all Americans or whether different groups of colonists could hold different opinions of their new independence.

3. After initial discussion, students will be asked to reflect on the term “intolerable conditions” and offer ideas on their own interpretation of this phrase.

4. Compare how different Americans in different states would have found their lives in post-revolutionary America better or worse than before.

Day 2: 1. Bring the class into the computer lab to conduct research using book resources and online databases and search engines.

2. Review the context of the persuasive essay to the class.

3. Students will re-evaluate the questions they need answered in order to support their opinion as expressed in their essays.

4. To culminate the lesson, students will draft their essay and highlight areas where additional information is needed to support their argument.

Day 3: 1. Students will spend this class period in the computer lab continuing their research and revising the original draft.

2. Students will be asked to turn in their papers during the next class period, and to be able to debate their point of view before the class.

Day 4: 1. Students are broken into two groups: those who believe it was better to leave England and move to the new colonies and those who believe that it was better to stay in England.

2. Each student will be asked in turn to present evidence to support their viewpoint. The opposing group will be able to offer their opinion to the contrary.

3. After reviewing all issues raised by the students, discuss the ways, other than revolution, in which citizens can affect change within their government.

Rubric: Reflection on Post Revolutionary War America

Teacher Name: M D'Ascanio

Student Name:     ________________________________________

|CATEGORY |              4 |             3 |              2 |              1 |

|Understanding of Topic |Student clearly understood|Student clearly understood|Student lacked a thorough |Student did not show an |

| |and presented the events |and presented the events |understanding of the main |adequate understanding of |

| |leading to the American |leading to the American |issues or was unable to |the topic. |

| |Revolution and |Revolution but did not |present them clearly. | |

| |post-revolutionary life in|display an understanding | | |

| |America. |of post-revolutionary | | |

| | |life. | | |

|Use of Historical Facts |Every major point was well|Every major point was |Major points were not |There was no evidence of |

| |supported with several |adequately supported with |supported with facts, or |investigative research. |

| |relevant facts or |at least one supporting |were not relevant to the | |

| |examples. |fact. |debate and essay. | |

|Debate Etiquette |All statements, body |Statements and responses |Most statements and |Statements, responses |

| |language, and responses |were respectful and used |responses were respectful |and/or body language were |

| |were respectful and were |appropriate language, but |and in appropriate |consistently not |

| |in appropriate language. |once or twice body |language, but there was |respectful. |

| | |language was not. |one sarcastic remark. | |

|Persuasive Essay |All arguments clearly |Most arguments supported |The viewpoint of the |The viewpoint of the |

| |supported the author's |the author's viewpoint and|author was not clearly |author was not supported |

| |viewpoint and essay was |essay was organized in a |supported or essay lacked |or not directly connected |

| |organized in a tight, |logical fashion. |strong organization. |in the essay. |

| |logical fashion. | | | |

|Information Sources |All information presented |Most information presented|Most information presented|Information had several |

| |in the debate was clear, |in the debate was clear, |in the debate was clear |inaccuracies OR was |

| |accurate and thorough. |accurate and thorough. |and accurate, but was not |usually not clear. |

| | | |usually thorough. | |

This rubric was created with the help of RubiStar (). Copyright 2000-2007 Advanced Learning Technologies in Education Consortia ALTEC.

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