Unit Planning: Slavery, Civil War and Reconstruction

Lesson and Strategy / Time and materials / FLEXIBLE GROUPING options and differentiation
TAG / ELL / SPED
Lesson 19
The Worlds of North and South
Students learn about key geographic, economic, transportation, and societal differences between the North and the South.
Visual Discovery
Students examine images to determine which corresponds to each section
of the country; they read about how the North and South developed differently; and they create spoke diagrams to illustrate the differences. Two Act-It-Outs are included. / 6 days (including Geo Challenge)
Idea: To shorten this time frame, do only one of the two Act-It-Outs. The “economy” images are easier to act out because there is movement implied, whereas the “society” images are more static. But that probably only saves half a period or less.* / Depending on your class, you might Model Transparency B with Read/Think Aloud and Reading Notes.
TAG and Advanced Readers could be grouped. After the economy Act-It-Out, these students can be told to move ahead at their own rate, and when done, they can turn to pp. 448-449 in the back of the text and prepare a Readers Theatre performance.
  • They should select a narrator who introduces the sections and asks the key questions.
  • They should select the paragraphs (i.e. alpha or age order for assigning paragraphs) and begin repeatedly rehearse-reading them aloud (a la Reader’s Theatre) for fluency, listener comprehension, and style.
  • They should be able to explain how they drew their conclusions to answer key questions.
Students would need half a period or longer to perform the Reader’s Theatre.
Geography Challenge
(p. 427 of Lesson Guide 2 – part of Lesson 19)
Students answer one question at a time and are invited to get out of their chairs to check their answers with their teacher, so they have two payoffs for staying focused. / (1 of the 6 above) / For all students who exceed at map and chart analysis:
Provide the entire sheet. Tell students that after completion they should continue the rehearsal reading from the previous day and be prepared to read aloud and answer questions. Perform Readers Theatre. This can serve as a model for Lesson 20 Alternative.
Lesson 20
African Americans at Mid-Century
Students learn about the conditions that characterized African
Americans’ lives in the period before the Civil War.
Writing for Understanding
Includes a Geography Challenge
Students read sections of the text related to various aspects of life under slavery, analyze primary source materials, create a story quilt, and write journal entries from the perspective of a slave. / 5 days
For sections 20.2 and 20.3, consider the reading plan that would be most effective for your students. Independent silent, choral read, whisper read alternate paragraphs, rehearse and re-read aloud, Interactive Read/Think Aloud…
Depending on their abilities, also model, guide, or ask students to write Cornell Notes for these sections in their Social Studies Notebook (Vocabulary, Notes, and Writing)
It is very important to explain the dialect and non-dialect versions of the Information Masters. / Procure illustrated books about African American story quilts so students have more examples of quilt pieces to get ideas from.
When drawing images for the quilt sections in the reading notes, students can refer to p. 268 and to the books you have procured.
Show students the directions for the Journal before beginning the quilt pieces and post the words that will need to be included in the journal entry.
Have students pull topics (the eight placard topics) for their quilt pieces out of a container so that all are present in the quilt.
ALTERNATIVE
Students who may benefit from and/or enjoy working on fluency and comprehension may choose an alternative to creating the quilt: students may rehearse and perform a Readers Theatre of the “Voice of Opposition to Slavery.”
Some struggling readers may enjoy performing and be willing to practice reading a passage aloud many times in order to be able to perform it well.
This practice increases fluency and comprehension. Allow students to practice in pairs to share the reading and ask each other questions regarding meaning so that they are challenged to dig deeper or ask for support and then to project comprehension. Very empowering.
Lesson 21
A Dividing Nation
Students learn about the issues that divided the North and Southbefore the Civil War.
Experiential Exercise
Assuming the roles of northerners and southerners, students attempt to reach compromises on four sets of issues that led to the Civil War. Then they read about what actually happened and record notes. / 7 days / When students are simulating northerners and southerners trying to reach compromise, the teacher should have students alternate roles so that they all experience both perspectives.
Pinky lock… How about using a string?
Lesson 22
The Civil War
Students read about key events of the Civil War and learn how it affected civilians and soldiers.
Experiential Exercise
Students take on the roles of Civil War soldiers and civilians. / 9 days
This can be shortened by three days by not doing the simulations but instead only the reading sections and completing the Reading Notes. There are so many simulations and varied learning experiences in this unit, it might be time to watch a video (guided viewing) and then read, use ISN, and play the 4 audio tracks. / Strong readers who are interested could avail themselves of the material in Ch. 22 at the back of the book and write the brief assignment.
Lesson 23 The Reconstruction Era
Students learn about African Americans’ struggle to achieve full citizenship rights during the Reconstruction Era.
Visual Discovery Students analyze images of five phases of Reconstruction; they read about how former slaves fared during reconstruction andrecord notes; and they and create a human spectrum to assess African Americans’ progress toward full citizenship. / 7 days can be reduced by 2 or 3 using the Jigsaw / Jigsaw this activity by having small teams (including a TAG team) analyze only one of the 5 visuals using the image in the textbook. Provide the analysis questions from the teacher lesson guide.
Then project the images and invite the teams that worked on those images to explain them and show their notes.
All students copy the notes or write them in their own words. Then all students place themselves on the spectrum at the same time.

Text abbreviated from TCI Lesson plan book; anticipated duration of lesson from TCI Pacing Guide