Civil War
Unit Plan
I. Unit Topic and Strategy Background
A. 3rd Grade – Families, Communities and the Nation Face Change: The Civil War
· Civil Wars – in Our Lives, in History and Across the World
· Causes and Results of Conflict between the North and South
· Resistance to Slavery and the Abolitionist Movement
· Children during the Civil War
· Different Perspectives on the Civil War
B. Background information from non-academic resources
After talking with our cooperating teachers, who teach third grade, about their approaches to teaching the Civil War we feel that we have a better understanding of how to approach our unit plan. Teaching history to elementary aged students can be a difficult task, since they are so far removed from the time that it happened. What our teachers said was that the best way to engage the students is to make them formulate connections to what has happened in their life and what happened in history. By activating this type of connection, they can gain a better understanding and appreciation for history, which will also lead them to more interest in history.
C. Background information from academic readings
Something that I found most interesting about the Civil War from Takaki was the treatment of the Irish during the Civil War. Since this was an aspect of the Civil War I researched it more extensively and found a great deal of information on the topic. I think that it would be a great topic to have students explore while studying the Civil War. Furthermore, they could do a study/comparison of all the different ethnicities that were affected by the Civil War and how they were affected. It would be a great way for them to see a different perspective, and try to relate to that perspective.
D. Instructional Strategies
(All instructional strategies were taken from Integrating Socially unless otherwise noted)
1) Interviews and surveys – We think that having students engage in interviews and surveys is an extremely important strategy, particularly for a social studies unit. Social studies lends itself to discussions and developing opinions, thus having students talk with other people about a topic will not only further their knowledge of that topic, but also allow them to think more critically about their own opinion of the topic. We have not yet seen this strategy used in our cooperating classrooms, however we have engaged in interviews to learn about the community we teach in as well as an interview with our teachers about our unit plan, the Civil War, and have seen how useful they can be.
2) Timeline – This will be a great way for the students to organize the many events that occurred throughout the Civil War. They will be able to list the events that they study in chronological order which will allow them more thorough understanding of the War.
3) Research Contracts – This strategy is an effective way to have students further their knowledge on a specific topic. We think that this would be a good strategy to include in our unit plan, as there are many aspects one could study about the Civil War, and by using a research contract students can choose a more specific aspect to research and not have to learn everything there is to know about the Civil War. Then, through group presentations the students will learn about the aspects of the Civil War that they did not research, thus in the end will have a broad base of knowledge about the Civil War without having to have researched it all on their own.
4) Conversation Counters – This is an excellent strategy to use during a whole-class discussion to ensure all students have an opportunity to participate and share their views with the class. It is also a way to make sure that there are not the same couple of students who always talk guiding the conversation. The point is that everyone talks an equal amount, and thus the class will have the most diversified amount of information to discuss or debate, depending on how you use this strategy. We think we could use this strategy in our unit plan as a way to share information or experiences students have about the Civil War.
5) Concept Maps – Using concept maps is a great way to organize students’ thoughts and information on a particular topic. We have used concept maps in many different courses as well as in our classrooms and plan on using one in our unit plan. There is a computer program that creates really neat concept maps that we will use to explore the Civil War.
6) Directed Reading and Thinking (DRTA) – This is a good way to get your students involved and really thinking about what they are reading. Often times students get so caught up in simply reading the words they overlook what the words are telling them. By using a DRTA the students will have to think critically about what they are reading and will thus be focusing on the content of the text and not just the words.
7) Moral Dilemmas – Using moral dilemmas is a strategy that can be easily and appropriately used for our topic, the Civil War. There were many dilemmas going on in our nation during the time of the Civil War and it would be great to have students discuss them and debate about what could/should have been done.
8) Grouping Strategies – This is an important strategy, especially for teachers to be aware of and to use. It will give the students an opportunity work with other students they might not normally work with, and thus creating a greater sense of community in the classroom. The categories for random grouping would be particularly effective, for the very reason that it is random.
9) Concept Attainment – This was a new strategy to us but one that we think could be fun for our students. It seems more like a game, which children always love, and it does have an educational purpose. This would be a great way to introduce a new topic, and then elaborate on that topic.
10) Effects Wheel – We both really liked the idea of using an effects wheel for our unit. It is extremely important for students to begin thinking in a cause/effect way and the effects wheel is a great means to do so. There are many examples, especially in the case of the Civil War, of cause and effect, so our unit would be a perfect unit to incorporate an effects wheel for.
Concept Diagrams:
Concept diagrams are instructional devices, which can benefit students’ organization and understanding of concrete material. There are many different types of concept diagrams available that can be used across the curriculum. A few of the graphic organizers include venn diagrams, t-charts, concept charts, and KWL charts. Students with disabilities benefit from the consistency of this learning strategy and the familiarity of the graphic organizer's structures. Concept diagrams are a useful tool to help students of all ability levels to succeed in the classroom.
To be effective, concept diagrams should be used with three principles in mind: consistency, coherency, and creativeness. A standard set of graphic organizers should be created, and a routine should be implemented for using them in the classroom. They should provide clear labels for the relationship between concepts, limit the number of ideas covered, and minimize distractions. The diagrams should be used during all stages of lesson design, be incorporated during homework and test review, and have illustrations. By being consistent with the implementation of graphic organizers, students will independently use organizing techniques.
The use of concept diagrams in the classroom is very practical. All students need to learn to organize their ideas, and concept diagrams offer an unthreatening way to help them with this skill. They are also inexpensive and easily obtained by educators. The teacher can print off copies for the entire class, the students can create their own, and/or the Internet offers some virtual concept maps for students to construct. The other advantage of using this strategy is that there are many different types of diagrams to choose from. Depending on the information that is being learned, a teacher might use multiple graphic organizers to help the students grasp the concept. Educators must continue to incorporate concept diagrams in their inclusive settings to assure all students will achieve academic success.
Cognitive Strategy Instruction (to be used with literature):
The cognitive strategy instruction is a tool intended to help students develop the necessary skills to be self-regulated learners. It is comprised of a strategy or group of strategies that the learner uses to perform academic tasks or to improve social skills. Many times, more than one cognitive strategy is used with others, depending on the learner and his/her method of learning. Some of these strategies include, but are not limited to, visualization, verbalization, making associates, chunking, questions, scanning, underlining, accessing cues, using mnemonics, sounding out words and self-checking and monitoring.
Stage 1: Develop and Activate Background Knowledge
Developing background knowledge sometimes seems so obvious that it is often overlooked. Struggling learners may lack essential background knowledge or pre-skills necessary to successfully complete a task or use a strategy. In many instances, what knowledge a student does have is often fragmented. Students must have mastered prerequisite skills to effectively use a strategy.
Stage 2: Discuss the Strategy
Discussion of the strategy is a more involved process than merely going through the steps of a strategy. A major goal of strategy instruction is to bring students to the point where they are self-regulated. In order for this goal to be achieved, students need to be actively involved and allowed ownership in the process.
Stage 3: Model the Strategy
Purpose of modeling is to expose students to the thought processes of a skilled learner. Good modeling goes well beyond merely presenting the steps in a strategy. It provides students with the “why” and “how” of various strategy steps. It also demonstrates that student effort is essential, and shows that strategy use results in better performance.
Stage 4: Memorize the Strategy
It is critical that the students commit the strategy steps to memory. Memorizing the steps is crucial, because we want students to be able to focus on the task not on remembering the steps of the strategy. Students have a limited amount of cognitive processing capacity, and if that capacity is consumed with remembering the steps of the strategy it will be difficult or impossible to focus on the task itself.
Stage 5: Support the Strategy
Supporting the strategy is arguably the most important step in the SRSD implementation process. Supporting the strategy is done by using a process called scaffolding. Scaffolding involves teachers initially performing all or most of a task, while increasingly shifting responsibility of performance to the student. This like the scaffolding used when constructing a building, provides support. Teachers need to provide that support to students when using the strategy. With scaffolding, it is possible for a gradual transfer of strategy performance from teacher to student. Students need to be given adequate time and support to master the strategy.
Stage 6: Independent Performance
It is important to remember, the goal of strategy instruction is not for the student to use the strategy explicitly as taught, but for improved academic performance. Often, students may adapt the strategy to meet their needs. This is an acceptable part of the model as long as the teacher is confident the strategy is still successful in completing the task.
The cognitive strategy instruction is an extremely useful tool for students with or without a disability. Strategy instruction is something that teachers do everyday, although often times are not aware they are doing it. When a teacher gives instruction with multiple ways to complete the activity they are encouraging strategy instruction. However, a more useful way to implement this strategy would be to go through the six steps stated prior to ensure students have a thorough knowledge of the practical use of the strategies.
II. RESOURCE REVIEW
A. General Resource Review
I. Student Resources
1. Adler, D. A. (2003). A Picture Book of Harriet Beecher Stowe. New York: Holiday
House.
Adler’s book gives a basic description on the life and influence of Harriet Beecher
Stowe. He begins with an introduction on who she was and why we should be reading
about her. Then he writes about when she was born, the family she was born into, and the
life that she was brought up in. Then the author focuses on Harriet and her interests and
skills as a young lady. He includes some very interesting facts that kids will love! Adler
continues to write about how Harriet became interested and involved in writing and how
slavery became an important issue to her. He includes how and why Harriet wrote Uncle
Tom’s Cabin and why this book was so influential to Americans. He emphasizes her
personality; both as an individual and with her family and friends which helps the reader
understand Harriet even better. Adler concludes his story with the death of Harriet
Beecher Stowe and re-emphasizing her importance in American history. All of this is done
with illustrations to help highlight the important parts of Harriet’s life.
This picture book gives a great basic introduction on the life and importance of Harriet Beecher Stowe. The author writes about her childhood, her married life, her career, and her influence on the Civil War. In addition, the book has great illustrations to go along with the text and keep readers entertained. One concern that I had was that some of the terms and phrases that the author uses are unclear and difficult to understand when they are not explained illicitly. However, that could also encourage children to read a more in-depth book about Harriet Beecher Stowe to answer some questions that they may have. Since Harriet Beecher Stowe was not an actual part of any battles nor did she play any role in the outcome of the war, I do not think it is important to stress too much about her life. Rather, this book is great because it gives a basic outline on why she was important and considered one of the reasons why the war started.