Instructional Unit 4:
The Instructional Strategy
Instructional Strategy
The instructor, Mr.
Brown, will begin by asking student what they know about the U.S. fight for
Independence. He will ask the students to write a chart on the board describing
every idea or background knowledge that they may have. Afterwards, Mr. Brown
will state the objective for students:
“Students will be able
to describe, identify, and illustrate the reasons the United States sought
Independence. In addition, they will be able to describe various Social Studies
topics in complex arguments comparing them to difficulties the U.S. faces now.”
1. The instructor will
lead a reading of the textbook describing the various reasons for the U.S.
pursuit for independence.
a. Students will pre-read the
section by themselves.
b. Students will read the selection
in pairs and discuss what they read after each paragraph.
c. Students will take turns
summarizing each section to each other to ensure they had understood the
material.
2. The instructor will
lead a Project Based Learning project in which students develop solutions to
countries currently seeking independence. Students will:
a.
Research countries seeking independence (students may use this
list to help them get ideas: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_states_with_limited_recognition)
b.
Brainstorm solutions U.S. took towards independence
c.
Revise solutions to fit their country of choice
For the purpose of
this assignment, Wikipedia.org will be acceptable as a source.
Mr.Brown and/or the
students are invited to continue their research into America’s Independence Day
through the following resources courtesy of readwritethink.org and available at
this link:
Independence Day Book
List
Arndt, Ursula. 2001.
Fireworks, Picnics, and Flags: The Story of the Fourth of July Symbols. Clarion
Books.
Bates, Katharine Lee.
2004. America the Beautiful. Little, Brown Young Readers.
Dalgliesh, Alice. 1995.
The Fourth of July Story. Aladdin Library.
Fradin, Dennis
Brindell, and Michael McCurdy. 2002. The Signers: The Fifty-Six Stories behind
the
Declaration of
Independence. Walker and Company.
Freedman, Russell.
2002. Give Me Liberty: The Story of the Declaration of Independence. Holiday
House.
Fink, Sam. 2002.
Declaration of Independence. Scholastic Reference.
Kimmelman, Leslie.
2003. Happy 4th of July, Jenny Sweeney! Albert Whitman & Company.
Landau, Elaine. 2001.
Independence Day: Birthday of the United States (Finding Out about Holidays). Enslow
Publishers.
Osborne, Mary Pope.
2008. Happy Birthday, America. Square Fish.
Scillian, Devin. 2001.
A is for America. Sleeping Bear Press.
Stein, R. Conrad.
1995. The Declaration of Independence (Cornerstones of Freedom). Children's
Book Press.
Wong, Janet S. 2002.
Apple Pie Fourth of July. Harcourt Children's Books.
3. Students will
present project to class.
a. Students must have
4-7 minutes of quality content to present
b. Students must use
factual information to support their ideas
c. Students answer
questions from audience based on their presentations
Instructor will cover presentation rubric. Then, Mr. Brown will
give a sample presentation as students grade Mr. Brown using the rubric. This
will help students understand what is expected of them. The rubric is available
here courtesy of bie.org.
Assessments
As per district
policy, testing will be administered through the testing office. The pretest
will be the district’s scores that the students had on the STAAR exam. The
posttest will be sample questions that the testing coordinator will compile.
Because of the sensitivity of the material, Mr. Brown and the students will not
be privy to the test materials or questions until the day of the exam.
Follow-through Activities
Students are
encouraged to watch one of two films on Independence Day called Drums Along the
Mohawk or Johnny Tremain. The instructor may also show documentaries or PBS
specials. The following novels would be great resources to continue the
conversation: Johnny Tremain or My Brother Sam is Dead.
Media Selection and Delivery System
Students
will use the textbook, initially. 8th grade students are still
learning to read. They benefit heavily from real-world authentic text. They
also benefit from reading with and learning from others.
During the PBL, the instructor and
students can use a variety of multimedia to research and present including but
not limited to: prezi.com, PowerPoint, video, podcasts, animoto.com, and
powtoons.com. These forms of multimedia allow students to be creative in their
presentation of a historical topic. Since some students might be technological savvy,
it could benefit them to use these resources.
First Draft Materials
Using the textbook allotted from the school
district, the instructor should have access to additional content such as
resources online depending on the textbook supplier. For example: http://www.glencoe.com/sec/socialstudies/ushistory/tar12003/tx/content.php4/632/1
The instructor should have example materials
available, such as a prezi presentation like this one: http://prezi.com/daofrjug4ovh/american-revolutionary-war-timeline/
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