Lesson Title / African Americans and Reconstruction / Teacher / Maria Williams
Grade Level / 11th / Duration of Lesson / 90 minutes
Lesson Topic / African Americans and Reconstruction
SC Standards and Indicators / USHC – 4.5: Summarize the progress made by African Americans during
Reconstruction and the subsequent reversals brought by Reconstruction’s
end, including the creation of the Freedmen’s Bureau, gains in educational
and political opportunity, and the rise of anti-African American factions and
legislation.
Academic Vocabulary / Emancipation Proclamation, Reconstruction, Freedmen’s Bureau, African-American politics, Jim Crow laws, Ku Klux Klan, 13th-15th Amendments, literacy tests, grandfather clause, conflicts within the black community, Black Codes, sharecropping, poll taxes, African-American education, Civil Rights Act of 1866,
Lesson Materials / Smartboard, textbooks, workbooks

Lesson Set

Content Objective(s) / Summarize the progress made by African Americans during Reconstruction and the subsequent reversals brought by Reconstruction’s end.
·  Explain the role of the Freedman’s Bureau.
·  Explain the effect of sharecropping for African Americans and the South.
·  Compare the rights of African Americans during Reconstruction with the rights they exercised after Jim Crow laws and voting restrictions.
Literacy Objective(s) / Students will be able to write a point of view perspective piece from the Reconstruction era.
Lesson Importance / This lesson discusses the African-American experiences during post Reconstruction.
Connections to prior and future learning / The standard covered in this lesson ties standard USHC 4.4, which summarizes the effects of Reconstruction, to standard USHC 5.5 , which explains the migration of African-Americans to the North and the Midwest.
Anticipatory Set/ Hook (Engage) / As president of the United States during the Reconstruction period, list three rights you would give African-Americans.

Skill Development

Initial “explain” portion of the lesson. Introduce vocabulary, explain/demonstrate/model the skill required for the literacy objective, introduce content components.

The content portion is only a brief introduction; the bulk of the student learning will take place during the guided practice activity.

Introduce content components / Teacher will say, “African Americans made social and political progress during Reconstruction, but little economic progress. After Reconstruction ended these political and social gains were severely limited by laws passed in the 1890s.”
“I do”
Skill from literacy objective
introduce/explain/model / Power point presentation and discussion

Guided Practice

This is the inquiry portion of the lesson, student-centered & often cooperative learning strategies used, teacher acting as facilitator, also known as Explore.

“We do”
Activity Description
Include student “explore” components and opportunities for them to explain their learning. / Debate the accomplishments of Reconstruction in its ability to achieve social and economic freedom for African Americans. Students will participate in a Smartboard flash vocabulary game.
Checking for Understanding-“Informal” Assessment / Socratic method question-answer session

Closure

Teacher will re-visit content and answer students’ questions developed during the Guided Practice component. Summarize the lesson, clarify content, and revisit content and literacy objectives.

Content Solidified / Smartboard flash quiz

Independent Practice

“You Do” / Student will address the following topic: “You are an African American experiencing the Reconstruction period. Write a newspaper article comparing your rights during this period with your rights during the Civil War.”

Summative/ “Formal” Assessment

Assessment / Benchmark testing

Differentiation

During Lesson / Teacher will provide a copy of the notes for struggling students and those with accommodations.
Assessment / Teacher will provide an assessment with fewer questions and/or requirements for struggling students and those with accommodations.