ASSURE Lesson Plan:

Beyond the Battlefield

ANALYZE Learners / STATE Objectives / SELECT Methods, Media, and Materials / UTILIZE Media and Materials / REQUIRE Learner Participation / EVALUATE and Revise /

Tennessee Curriculum Standards / National Curriculum Standards

ANALYZE Learners

General Characteristics

The students for whom this lesson is intended are eighth graders in a U. S. History class oriented to the average learner. The students, 13 of whom are boys and 12 girls, range in age from 13 to 15 years old. Of the class of 25, two have been identified as slow learners. Most students come from homes that are middle class or lower middle class. About 90 per cent are white, nine per cent African American, and one per cent Hispanic. Most students are well behaved.

Entry Competencies

The students are able to:

-  use the school library

-  use the computer center to search the Internet for appropriate Web sites

-  demonstrate computer keyboarding skills

Learning Styles

The students quickly become bored whenever the teacher lectures. They have to be constantly cajoled to read their textbook assignments. The students like to use the school computers, which are located in a separate computer center. However, because they have not developed visual literacy skills, they do not critically review the content they obtain on the World Wide Web.

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STATE Objectives

The objectives for this lesson are:

  1. Given Web sites for the locating of information, the student will be able to identify and explain three concerns of the civilians on each home front, i.e., in the North and the South, during the Civil War.
  2. Working alone and in a collaborative group, the student will be able to create a written work, both in legible handwriting and as a Word document, that synthesizes knowledge of those concerns to demonstrate their impact on the thoughts and feelings of civilians toward war and the United States as a nation at the end of the Civil War.
  3. Given Web sites for the locating of pertinent information, the student will be able to identify and explain three issues concerning prisoners of war in both the North and South during the Civil War.
  4. Working alone and in a collaborative group, the student will be able to create a written work, both handwritten and as a Word document, that synthesizes knowledge of those issues to demonstrate their effect on the attitudes of Civil War prisoners of war toward the war and the United States.
  5. Given Web sites for the locating of pertinent information, the student will be able to identify three war-related themes of popular culture as reflected in the poems, short stories, and songs of, or about, the Civil War era.
  6. Working alone and in a collaborative group, the student will be able to collaborate with other students to produce an artistic work that evaluates their knowledge of civilians, prisoners of war, and popular culture as it concerns the Civil War.

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SELECT Methods, Media, and Materials

Method of Instruction

The teacher will provide instruction by means of a WebQuest to be accomplished by students working in small, collaborative groups. Each group will be made up of five students named by the teacher. The students themselves will assign the five roles within the group. The teacher will keep direct intervention in group work to a minimum. However, the teacher will always be available to answer questions and provide guidance on the evaluation of information and on the preparation of written work.

Media

The students will use personal computers with an Internet connection to locate informative Web sites. The PCs will be used to prepare Word documents. A video camera will be used to record student performances.

Materials

Notebooks will be used to create portfolios of student work not performed.

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UTILIZE Media and Materials

Preview the Materials

·  The teacher will preview all Web sites recommended in the WebQuest.

Prepare the Materials

·  The teacher will write the WebQuest as a Word document. It will be available on the school PCs.

Prepare the Environment

·  The teacher will prepare the classroom environment for student work on the WebQuest. One class period each week will be dedicated to work on the WebQuest. On that day student chairs will be placed in groups of five to facilitate student discussion.

·  The teacher will reserve spaces in the computer center for student use during that hour. (Students may also use the computer center during their free period.)

Prepare the Learners

·  The teacher will complete a unit on the Civil War before beginning the WebQuest.

·  To begin the WebQuest, the teacher will devote a class period to explaining the WebQuest and answering any questions.

Provide the Learning Experience

·  The teacher will monitor group work on the WebQuest projects. While the teacher will be available to answer any student questions, to assist in evaluating information from the Web, and to give tips on preparation of written works, the teacher will avoid intervening directly in student work.

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REQUIRE Learner Participation

·  The learner will use the computer to review the Internet sites which apply to his/her part of the WebQuest activity.

·  The learner will prepare the written materials required by the activity.

·  The learner will discuss his/her progress with the remainder of the group.

·  The learner will collaborate with group members to produce an artistic or literary work.

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EVALUATE and Revise

·  Student work will be evaluated on both an individual and group basis. (The evaluation rubric is provided in the WebQuest.)

·  Individual work will be evaluated in three areas (subject matter, English skills, and creativity) according to criteria in four categories (beginning, developing, accomplished, and exemplary).

·  Group work will be evaluated according to whether individual work products are integrated and whether all individuals group contribute to the collaborative product. All students in a group receive the same number of points for group work. These points are awarded as bonus points.

·  Once the WebQuest is ended, the teacher will conduct a discussion with the students to determine whether they benefited from the exercise. During the course of the WebQuest, the teacher will keep on the teacher’s desk a comment box in which students can place comments or questions at any time.

·  The teacher will reflect on student work products and student comments on the WebQuest. Particular attention will be paid to whether too much work was demanded of the students and whether the information on Web sites was too difficult for the students to process.

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TENNESSEE CURRICULUM STANDARDS

The WebQuest does not deal with the traditional coverage of the Civil War, but rather expands on it. It can be seen as complying with Tennessee Curriculum Standards 8.5.18 (d), (e).

Era 5 - Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877)

8.5.18 Recognize the causes, course, and consequences of the Civil War.

  1. Identify sectional differences that led to the Civil War.
  2. Chart the course of major events throughout the Civil War.
  3. Explain the technological, social and strategic aspects of the Civil War.
  4. Weigh political, social, and economic impact of the Civil War on the different regions of the United States.
  5. Understand that different scholars may describe the same event or situation in different ways.

8.5.19 Identify the contributions of African Americans from slavery to Reconstruction.

  1. Recognize the economic impact of African American labor on the United States economy.
  2. Analyze the social and cultural impact of African Americans on American society.

8.5.20 Identify Tennessee’s role within the Civil War.

  1. Identify important Civil War sites within Tennessee’s borders.
  2. Explain conflicts within the regions of Tennessee over Civil War issues.
  3. Discuss the contributions of significant Tennesseans during the Civil War.

Retrieved from: http://www.state.tn.us/education/ci/cistandards2001/ss/cissg8accomp.htm

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NATIONAL CURRICULUM STANDARDS

Non-binding curriculum standards of the National Center for History in the Schools are available at:

http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/nchs/standards/era5-5-12.html

The WebQuest would most closely comply with Standard 2:

Standard 2:
The course and character of the Civil War and its effects on the American people

Standard 2B
The student understands the social experience of the war on the battlefield and home front.

Therefore the student is able to:

  1. compare women's home front and battlefront roles in the Union and the Confederacy. [Compare and contrast differing sets of ideas]
  2. compare the human and material costs of the war in the North and South and assess the degree to which the war reunited the nation. [Examine historical perspectives]

The Tennessee Curriculum parallel non-binding national standards available at:

http://www.education-world.com/standards/national/soc_sci/us_history/5_12.shtml#nss-ush.5-12.5

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