6th grade
Title / Women’s role in America: Colonial and Today
Subject Area(s) / Social Studies with an integration of language arts and technology
Overview / Students will engage in a book study of historical women, identify traits that each have that may inspire others to prosper, and create a final product (Powerpoint) of one of today’s woman that could have been influenced by one of the historical women we have studied.
Essential Understanding / Although women in history have been confronted with many struggles, their perseverance and courage, among other traits, are hallmarks for any woman or man to overcome challenges and follow their dreams. This unit is presented with the intent to provide students a thorough understanding of history and how it impacts the present, to give them place, and sense of worth in their community and world.
Essential Questions / Knowledge:
1. What kind of life did the woman live in Colonial America? Is this similar or different to the life woman live today?
Application:
2. Do you know another instance/ time that is similar to the challenges faced by Colonial Women?
Evaluation:
3. How have the lives of Colonial women shaped our world today?
CT Standards / CT GLE 1.13-26 Describe how social, cultural, and economic circumstances influence individual lives.
CT GLE 2.2-4 Assess an author’s purpose and point of view and respond in literal, critical, and evaluative ways.
CT GLE 3.2-4 Cite evidence to summarize the feelings and outlook of people engaged in a significant event (e.g., immigrant experience, wartime experiences).
Objectives / Students will be able to compare and contrast present day life with historical life, and describe how different circumstances influence individual lives. By assessing the point of view of select Colonial women, students can evaluate the significant impact each individual woman had in history and on today’s world.
Materials / Student literature:
· Indian Captive, The Story of Mary Jemison by Lois Lenski
· Betsy Ross, by Alexandra Wallner
· Betsy Ross Patriot of Philadelphia by Judith St. George
· They called her Molly Pitcher by Anne Rockwell
· The Double Life of Pocahontas by Jean Fritz
· Pocahontas by Ingri and Edgar Parin d’Aulaire
Technological sources:
Background information about Colonial America:
http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/teachdearamerica/colonial_about.htm
Notable Women of Early America:
http://www.earlyamerica.com/earlyamerica/notable/
http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1551.html
http://www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/1997/3/97.03.05.x.html#b
http://www.socialstudiesforkids.com/subjects/colonialtimes.htm
Classroom supplies:
· Images of Betsy Ross, Molly Pitcher, Mary Jemison, Pocahontas, Anne Bradstreet, and Margaret Brent (accessed from the internet)
· Two column notes – main idea and details
(chart paper and student reproducible)
· Drawing paper
· Sticky notes
· Writing paper
· Computers with Microsoft Powerpoint and Internet
Day 1
Modeling the Character Study
/ Details of the Activity
Anticipatory set
1. The teacher will begin by introducing the goals and objectives of the mini-unit.
2. Teacher will show a brief Powerpoint of the life of Mary Jemison. Information will include a description of Mary Jemison’s capture by the Native American, hardships she endured, and her perseverance,
This will make students aware of possible focus questions to use when conducting group character studies and help the teacher assess the students’ knowledge of Microsoft Powerpoint software.
3. The teacher will then read excerpts from, The Story of Mary Jemison, and ask students what they think of the life she lived. The teacher will record the student responses on chart paper.
4. The teacher and students will discuss the importance of author’s describing the life of the Colonial women. The students will understand that researching and documenting history is essential to learning from and shape the future. The teacher will indicate that we can learn from people from the past.
5. The teacher will model how to record significant information on a Two Column Notes (main idea and details) about an intended topic (Mary Jemison) using library research and the internet.
6. Once a significant amount of information is recorded, the teacher and students will discuss how Mary Jemison’s life compares to the life of women today, e.g. generate a list of prominent women in today’s history. In addition, the teacher and students will discuss the many hardships endured and how Mary Jemison was influential in shaping the future.
7. The teacher will model using a Venn Diagram to compare and contrast Mary Jemison’s life and that of a prominent woman of today (brainstormed in #4).
8. Following a few examples, the teacher will divide the class into groups of 3 and instruct them to create their own Venn Diagram highlighting the similarities and differences of Lizzie Stanton and their choice of a current prominent woman.
9. To close the lesson, each group will share their comparisons, discuss the hardships that women have endured, and how they have shaped the future for today’s women.
*The modeled lesson can utilize any colonial woman of choice. For the purposes of this outline, Mary Jemison was chosen.
Homework
To extend the lesson, have the students write a paragraph about why Mar y Jemison was important and how she was influential.
Day 2 and Day 3
Becoming Experts on Colonial Women / Details of the Activity
Anticipatory set
1. The teacher will begin by introducing the goals and objectives of the lesson within the mini-unit.
2. To activate prior learning, the teacher shall select a few students to share their paragraphs about the importance and influence of Mary Jemison. The teacher will also ask the students to identify other influential Colonial Women they have heard. A list will be generated to help students choose a research topic.
3. The teacher will review the displayed literature that the students will be using to research and take notes on a Colonial woman (See Materials: Student Literature). Then the teacher will divide the students into groups of three (the same groups as Day 1).
4. Once in groups, the students will choose a woman of interest.
5. Each group will have access to texts as well as the internet to use during the research phase. The students will be provided a Two Column Notes chart (similar to the model used in Day 1) to organize their ideas into main ideas and details.
6. The students will be given time to work in their groups to begin determining important facts about their person of interest as well as discuss how this woman was influential in shaping how woman fit in the world today. The students will be given a sticky note to write a sentence describing how the woman was influential, e.g. Mary Jemison was influential because …
7. Once the students have gathered enough information, they will begin their powerpoint presentations. They will use the model on Mary Jemison as well as the rubric to guide their presentations.
8. To close the lesson, each group will share the sentence written on their sticky note. The groups will place these sticky notes on the board to use at a later time.
*Different groups may work at different paces. Therefore, some groups may begin their powerpoint on Day 2 and complete it Day 3 while others may research on Day 2 and create the powerpoint on Day 3.
Homework
To reinforce the lesson, have students write a paragraph about the hardships that Colonial women faced and whether they would have enjoyed living in Colonial America.
Day 4
Presenting Gained Knowledge / Details of the Activity
1. The teacher will begin the activity by discussing the goals and objectives of the lesson in the mini-unit.
2. To activate prior learning, the teacher shall select a few students to share their paragraphs about the hardships Colonial woman faced and whether they would have enjoyed living in Colonial America.
3. The majority of the class will be used for the groups to present their Powerpoints.
4. Once all groups have presented, the teacher and students will discuss the similarities and differences amongst Colonial Women and of today’s women.
5. To close the lesson, the teacher and students will review the sticky notes indicating the women’s influence on the world today and make conclusions about what we can learn from these notable Colonial women.
Homework
To extend today’s lesson, the children will write a paragraph about what they have learned from the women of the past.
Suggested Assessment/Evaluation / · The students will be assessed on their class participation—this is based on sharing responsibilities within their group and accepting group tasks. In addition the students will be evaluated on their group work and Powerpoint presentations. The rubric will be used to evaluate the final product.
Rubric / EXEMPLARY LEVEL
My Powerpoint presentation includes:
*6 slides – each slide includes important information about the Colonial Woman
* All the information is accurate
* Images on all slides and depict the importance and influence of the Colonial woman.
*Exceptionally neat and organized design and layout
*Proper capitalization and punctuation
TARGET LEVEL
My Powerpoint presentation includes:
*4 slides – each slide includes important information about the Colonial woman.
*Most of the important information is accurate
*Images on all of the slides
*Neat and organized design and layout
*Very few capitalization and punctuation errors
BASIC LEVEL
My Powerpoint presentation includes:
*2 to 3 slides, each slide include information about the Colonial woman
*Some of the information is accurate
* Images on most of the slides
* Disorganized design and layout
* Many capitalization and punctuation errors
Possible Extensions/Resources / · After reading various literature about women in colonial times, and demonstrating their understanding through their Powerpoint presentations, students can research prominent women of today. The students can extend their existing Powerpoint presentation by including information about a modern prominent woman and discussing the influences, similarities, and differences of both women.
· To extend the students’ understanding of Colonial Times, the students can research different aspects of Colonial America, e.g. the development of the thirteen colonies, farming and life in the colonies, education in the colonies, etc.
TAH Lesson Plan