Lesson Plan
Decision to Fire McArthur

Teacher Name: Sherry SchirmerGrade level(s): college juniors and seniorsCourse: HI 326 U.S. Since 1945

Describe the classroom or homework activity to be performed(individual assignment, cooperative learning, cross curricular, technology based, using artifacts and/or primary sources, etc.)

  • Given a thesis [“Truman was wrong to fire McArthur.” Or “McArthur deserved to be fired.”], teams of students will collect data to support the given thesis.

Rationale (why are you doing this?)

  • I need a “praxis” exercise, or major paper for HI326 that caps a major sub-unit in the course.
  • Students have difficulty identifying a thesis and/or identifying convincing arguments to buttress a thesis.
  • Students need practice dividing a thesis into component statements
  • Students need practice locating appropriate secondary sources.

Required time frame: 10 minutes in-class time to distribute assignment; 20 minutes in-class time to work in teams

; 10 hours out-of-class time to complete the assignment.

Where in the teacher conference did you get the idea for this activity or assignment(speaker, document,photograph,activity, audio recording, other)?

  • Speakers: Adrian Lewis and Gary Hess.
  • Reading Hess’s book Presidential Decisions for War.

Lesson objectives – the student will:

  • Given a thesis, identify relevant information to support that thesis.
  • Divide a given thesis into its component statements.
  • State evidence in a logical and convincing manner.
  • Document sources of evidentiary information.

District,state, or national performance and knowledge standards/goals/skills met (be specific when referencing): Departmental Expected Learning Outcomes for history majors.

  • Examine and analyze primary documents, pose a historical question (i.e., offer an interpretation or thesis) that the weight of evidence seems to answer, then provide context for one’s historical question and evidence using available secondary literature synthesized in a well-written work of historical scholarship.

Secondary materials (book, article, video documentary, etc.) needed – cite title and other detailed information:

  • Lecture and in-class discussion.
  • Video-documentary Korea: McArthur’s War.
  • Books and articles available in the Hooley-Bundschu Library of Avila University [to be identified by students]
  • Internet resources
  • Writing center’s on-line resources on Chicago style of documentation.

Primary sources (document, photograph, artifact, diary or letter, audio or visual recording, etc.) needed – cite detailed information:

  • The Gallup Poll, published compilation in 3 volumes.
  • Relevant documents at trumanlibrary.org/educ/america_at_war.html
  • Relevant political cartoons

Fully describe the activity or assignment in detail. What will both you and the students do?

I will

  • Write up instructions to students.
  • Make instructions available on-line via Angel system.
  • Schedule the activity and post instructions on the course syllabus.
  • Distribute instructions to students
  • Have students meet in teams to consider component questions [e.g. Was Truman politically wise to fire McArthur? What are the Constitutional grounds and issues surrounding firing of a military leader?] and divide responsibility for component issues among team members.
  • Compile, as needed, a power-point program of visual aids, such as political cartoons.
  • Take students to participate in Decision-Center at Truman Library.

Students will

Work in teams to divide assignment into logical components.

  • Locate appropriate evidence sources
  • Write up paper listing evidentiary arguments and correctly documenting sources.

Assessment: fully explain your assessment method in detail or create and attach your scoring guide:

  • See attached scoring guide.

Paper Grade Check List

HI 326 U.S. Since 1945

Fall, 2010

Assignment:Supporting a Thesis

Student:______

Grade:______

Rating Key: [5] excellent; [4] above average; [3] average; [2] needs improvement; [1] unacceptable [60 points possible]

Content of Paper / 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5
Follows the guidelines and includes the required components
Accurately explains the given thesis
Identifies and states the key points of supporting argument.
Provides relevant supporting evidence for each argument
Uses analytical thinking to accomplish the task.
Writing is clear, correct and polished, and sources are correctly documented.

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