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District Overview:Honors History I is designed for students who have excelled in the areas of critical thinking, research analysis, and writing. The course provides students with an in-depth examination of American History from the Reconstruction Era through World War II. Emphasis is placed on writing and critical thinking skills necessary to craft responses to Document Based Questions and Long Essay Questions, which are a part of the College Board essay types. Students in this course will engage in authentic learning activities including performance based assessments which will examine topics related to the 1912 Election, Gilded Age, and Imperialism Films of America’s acquisition of Power in the 1900s. Students will be expected to take notes from their textbook in a well maintained notebook. Close examination of primary sources and Text Dependent Analysis activities whereupon students are expected to use critical thinking skills will be routinely practiced. In addition, large group classroom discussions utilizing the Socratic method to engage in higher-level analysis of topics will be practiced daily. All in all, it is expected that students entering Honors History I are able to manage a more intensive, rigorous class while exercising thorough knowledge of the curriculum.

Grade 9 Honors History I Description:The overarching goals addressed in the 9th grade Honors History I course include practice in primary source analysis, introduction to and practice of Long Essay Questions (LEQ) and Document Based Questions (DBQ) writing skills, understanding of themes relating to post-Civil War up to World War II American history, engagement in fast pace learning style, practice of successful notetaking skills, and practice of test taking strategies. The introduction and practice of these particular skills will lend critical support to the mastery necessary for successful performance in the sophomore AP U.S. History course. Throughout the course of the year, students will engage in activities related to research, presentation skills, literature analysis, role-play, re-enactments, class discussions, topic centered debates, analysis of events and evaluations of trends which all lend themselves to development of a deeper understanding of American history. These engagements provide a balance to the importance and time that will be placed upon essay writing and short answer responses written in class.

Grade 9 Honors History I Units: Unit 1: Reconstruction of the American Civil War Unit 2: Imperialism of the American West Unit 3: The Industrial Era Unit 4: Immigration in America Unit 5: Urbanization and the Gilded Age Unit 6: The Age of Imperialism Unit 7: The Progressive Era and World War I Unit 8: The Roaring Twenties and the Dirty Thirties Unit 9: World War II

Subject: Honors History I Grade: 9th grade Suggested Timeline: 4 weeks

Unit Title: Reconstruction of the American Civil War

Unit Overview/Essential Understanding: Students will have studied the Civil War in 8th grade and in 9th grade are prepared to learn how the different branches of the United States government struggled for control over the reconstruction and reunification of the Union and the Confederate States of America.

Essential Questions: Should Congress or the President be in charge of Reconstruction? What responsibilities does the federal government have for newly Freedmen? What important Civil Rights Amendments were added to the U.S. Constitution during this time? Who benefitted economically/socially from Reconstruction? Does the end of Reconstruction signify a real and meaningful union of the North and South?

Unit Objectives: Students will be able to identify the differences between the three plans for Reconstruction. Students will be able to describe the threats African Americans faced in the Reconstruction South. Students will be able to explain the consequences of Radical Republicans taking control of Congress. Students will be able to synthesize primary source information in the cultivation of a thesis statement and essay response. Students will be able to produce a technology presentation inclusive of primary source images and bullet point information on

Reconstruction. Students will be able to evaluate the success of Reconstruction for the U.S. government, citizens, newly Freedmen and women.

Focus Standards Addressed in this Unit: CC.8.5.9-10.C - Analyze in detail a series of events described in a text; determine whether earlier events caused later ones or simply

preceded them. CC.8.5.9-10.J - By the end of grade 10, read and comprehend history/social studies texts in the grades 9–10 text complexity band

independently and proficiently. CC.8.6.9-10.A - Write arguments focused on discipline-specific content. Introduce precise claim(s), distinguish the claim(s) from

alternate or opposing claims, and create an organization that establishes clear relationships among the claim(s), counterclaims, reasons, and evidence.

CC.8.6.9-10.C - Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose,

and audience.

Important Standards Addressed in this Unit: CC.8.6.9-10.E - Use technology, including the Internet, to produce, publish, and update individual or shared writing products, taking

advantage of technology’s capacity to link to other information and to display information flexibly and dynamically. CC.8.6.9-10.G - Gather relevant information from multiple authoritative print and digital sources, using advanced searches effectively;

assess the usefulness of each source in answering the research question; integrate information into the text selectively to maintain the flow of ideas, avoiding plagiarism and following a standard format for citation.

Misconceptions: The federal government does not always agree. For example, the federal government is in charge of Reconstruction that both Congress

and the President have ideas on how to achieve this – and they are vastly different, and neither one is exclusively chosen. The impeachment of a president does not necessarily mean removal from office. Students might be confused about the impeachment of

President Andrew Johnson – he was impeached, but was 1 vote away from being removed from office, which can happen – a president can be impeached without being removed.

The term “Reconstruction” was given to a time in history after the Civil War and was more complex than many think. Be clear that Reconstruction is a lovely word for an unhappy process experienced by Southerners who had to get used to the idea of Yankee troops stationed in their states for over 10 years, which doesn’t foster love for the Union.

Concepts/Content: The Radical Republicans The Wade-Davis Bill The Freedman's Bureau Johnson Takes Office The Fourteenth Amendment Military Reconstruction The Republican Split The Panic 1873 Reconstruction Ends "Redeeming" the South

Competencies/Skills: Describe the threats African

Americans faced in the Reconstruction South

Analyze how different groups in the South responded to Reconstruction

Evaluate the economic impact of the Civil War on the South and the North,

Project into the future and evaluate whose economy will be more successful and why

Learn and utilize writing skills

Description of Activities: Presentations of student generated research

based Google Slideshows illustrating the events and individuals relevant to Reconstruction of the South

Large group question and answer (Q & A) discussion while viewing slideshows

Introduction to note-taking strategies for successful notation

Introduction to test-taking strategies Introduction to the writing process and rubric for

DBQ and LEQ essays

necessary for a DBQ and an LEQ essay

Assessments: Reconstruction – Technology Presentations Reconstruction DBQ and LEQ - Rubrics Reconstruction multiple choice test

Interdisciplinary Connections:Extensions into engineering courses are applicable in the discussion of rebuilding America and the start of the transcontinental railroad and the first transatlantic cable. Additionally, discussion about pseudoscience’s such as phrenology, which served to discredit the intelligence of women and blacks in America and promote white men.

Additional Resources: District Approved Textbook District Approved Supplemental Resources Various online resources: map of US, Charles Sumner article


Unit Title: Imperialism of the American West

https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/pdf/rubrics-ap-histories.pdf

Unit Overview/Essential Understanding: Students will learn about how Euro-Americans engaged in genocide against the Indigenous and ecological imperialism of the wildlife in the American West. These activities were offered the blanket of legitimacy by proponents of “Manifest Destiny” who claimed that their Christian God wanted them to establish themselves as the owners of the continental United States, “from sea to shining sea.” Students will learn about miners, farmers, cattle ranchers, railroad workers and interactions with the Indigenous, all which were culminating activities to procure a cultivated West.

Essential Questions: How did mining lead to statehood for many territories in the West? How did the open range help the business of cattle ranching thrive? What new methods and technologies revolutionized agriculture and made it practical to cultivate the Plains? How did railroads contribute to the settlement of the Great Plains? How did westward imperialism change the Plains Indians' way of life forever? What is ecological imperialism and who did it severely impact out West? In what ways were reservations another way to enact genocide against the Indigenous? What led to massacre at Wounded Knee in 1890? What provisions did the Dawes Act make for Native Americans who remained on the reservations?

Unit Objectives: Students will be able to identify how mining, ranching and farming affected the development of the West. Students will be able to identify the factors that encouraged settlement of the Great Plains following the Civil War. Students will be able to identify the factors that caused conflicts between Native Americans and settlers on the Great Plains. Students will be able to evaluate the impact of Manifest Destiny on Indigenous people. Students will be able to synthesize the multitude of events shaping the West and how they coalesced to create a Western American

identity. Students will be able to evaluate the role of white settlers in the ecological imperialism of the buffalo. Students will be able to analyze the far reaching impact of Manifest Destiny on Indigenous people today. Students will be able to synthesize information from the period of Manifest Destiny and contemporary America on the treatment and

existence of Indigenous peoples on reservations and connect those realities to form a firm conclusion about the impact on them.

Focus Standards Addressed in this Unit: CC.8.5.9-10.A - Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources, attending to such features as the

date and origin of the information.

CC.8.5.9-10.B - Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary of how key events or ideas develop over the course of the text.

CC.8.5.9-10.C - Analyze in detail a series of events described in a text; determine whether earlier events caused later ones or simply preceded them.

CC.8.5.9-10.F - Compare the point of view of two or more authors for how they treat the same or similar topics, including which details they include and emphasize in their respective accounts.

CC.8.5.9-10.J - By the end of grade 10, read and comprehend history/social studies texts in the grades 9–10 text complexity band independently and proficiently.

CC.8.6.9-10.B - Write arguments focused on discipline-specific content. Establish and maintain a formal style and objective tone while attending to the norms and conventions of the discipline in which they are writing.

CC.8.6.9-10.C - Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.

CC.8.6.9-10.H - Draw evidence from informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.

Important Standards Addressed in this Unit: CC.8.5.9-10.E - Analyze how a text uses structure to emphasize key points or advance an explanation or analysis. CC.8.5.9-10.H - Assess the extent to which the reasoning and evidence in a text support the author’s claims.

Misconceptions: Indigenous people still live on reservation in America. Indian reservations are addressed in past historical context and not current

history. Be sure to explore aspects of reservation life past and present. Examine how difficult it is to preserve a culture and lifestyle when forced to relocate every few months and years. Have students read, “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian.”

Native Americans don’t all wear feathers. Examine how Hollywood impacted the imagine of the “real” Indian. Many believe that moving West brought on fortune and an easy life. Not everyone can afford to ride the railroad –just because you are

a “miner” doesn’t mean you found gold in California - being a cowboy is a lonely, dangerous job, not glamorous – living in a sod-house out West sounds like fun, but not really when snakes and bugs live with you!

Concepts/Content: Growth of the Mining Industry Boomtowns Mining Leads to Statehood Ranching and Cattle Drives The Beginnings of Settlement The Wheat Belt

Competencies/Skills: Synthesize elements of western

settlement into a thesis Read the book “The Absolutely

True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” and write a three page paper in MLA format

Description of Activities: Examination of primary source images Labeling a map of the U.S. and locating where

reservations occurred and what tribes lived on them

Reading a book written by an Indigenous person in America on what it’s like to be a Native in

Farmers in the West, Closing the Frontier The End of the Open Range Struggles of the Plains Indians The Dakota Sioux Uprising The Dawes Act The Indian Reorganization Act Indian Citizenship in 1924

America living on a reservation Large group Q & A discussions about life out

West Perusing a Sears Roebuck catalog online to see

what farming families out West would have purchased and why

Locating and drawing on a map where the Union and Central Pacific railroads connected and where cattle drives were located

Assessments: A synthesis paper which explores how the period of white imperialism of the American West is still relevant in contemporary America, as

illustrated by our studies and by reading “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” by Sherman Alexie. Culminating multiple choice and essay test

Interdisciplinary Connections:Extensions into AP Environmental Science is applicable in our analysis of how white Euro-Americans engaged in ecological imperialism of the American West.

Additional Resources: District Approved Textbook District Approved Supplemental Resources – Custer Died for

Your Sins by Vine Deloria Jr.; poetry by John Trudell Various online resources: Dr. Adrienne Keene’s twitter page;

PBS’s The West series Teacher Created Materials – Indigenous Film Festival


Unit Title: The Industrial Era

Unit Overview/Essential Understanding: In this unit on the Age of Industrialization, students will know that an increase in inventions helped spark this new movement in the American economy. Men like Thomas Edison, Alexander Graham Bell, Eli Whitney, Isaac Singer and Elisha Otis invented new products that were geared towards modernizing the way people lived and spurred an interest in science and innovation, while Samuel Slater’s stolen information regarding

how British factories mass produced goods helped along the already nascent manufacturing sector in America. Students will know that these new factories and businesses were owned by ruthless men such as Cornelius Vanderbilt, Andrew Carnegie, J.P. Morgan and John D. Rockefeller, considered Captains of Industry whose embrace of Social Darwinism and use of vertical and horizontal integration to legitimize their cut-throat treatment of workers, competitors and consumers earned them notoriety as Robber Barons. Students will learn about these men as they engage in research activities. Students will also know that the role of immigrants played crucial in the success of manufacturing in America. Treated poorly and unfairly, early immigrant groups such as the Germans and Irish from the 1840’s wave comingled with the new wave of immigrants from the 1880’s who hailed from Southern and Eastern Europe to slave away in factories, earning little and living in slum tenements on the Lower East side of Manhattan. Students will know that in turn, these immigrants attempted to organize and challenge management for fair wages, safe working conditions and fair working with little success as a result of government’s strong relationship with big business. Their cultures continued to add to the already diverse cultures present in the United States.

Essential Questions: Why was steel such an important commodity during the Industrial Revolution? How did individual inventors and entrepreneurs contribute to industrialization during this era? What inventions during this period had the most impact on daily life? How do the qualities of modern-day entrepreneurs such as Bill Gates or Mark Zuckerberg compare with those of the era of

industrialization? What backlash movements occurred as a result of the nation’s heavy involvement in industry? Which side of the class warfare was government on and why between workers and big business?

Unit Objectives: Students will be able to identify the various resources that enabled the United States to industrialize quickly. Students will be able to identify how the spread of railroads changed the nation. Students will be able to examine the rise of large-scale businesses and their different forms of organization. Students will be able to examine the rise of organized labor, and the reasons it failed to achieve its major goals. Students will be able to categorize different information about the major industrial strikes during this time. Students will be able to analyze the importance of the relationship between big business and the government. Students will be able to examine why there was a backlash literary movement to the Age of Industry and its response to it.

Focus Standards Addressed in this Unit: CC.8.5.9-10.B - Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary of how key

events or ideas develop over the course of the text. CC.8.5.9-10.A - Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources, attending to such features as the

date and origin of the information. CC.8.5.9-10.C - Analyze in detail a series of events described in a text; determine whether earlier events caused later ones or simply

preceded them. CC.8.5.9-10.D - Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including vocabulary describing political, social,

or economic aspects of history/social science. CC.8.5.9-10.F - Compare the point of view of two or more authors for how they treat the same or similar topics, including which details

they include and emphasize in their respective accounts. CC.8.5.9-10.H - Assess the extent to which the reasoning and evidence in a text support the author’s claims. CC.8.5.9-10.J - By the end of grade 10, read and comprehend history/social studies texts in the grades 9–10 text complexity band

independently and proficiently. CC.8.6.9-10.A - Write arguments focused on discipline-specific content. Introduce precise claim(s), distinguish the claim(s) from

alternate or opposing claims, and create an organization that establishes clear relationships among the claim(s), counterclaims, reasons, and evidence. Develop claim(s) and counterclaims fairly, supplying data and evidence for each while pointing out the strengths and limitations of both claim(s) and counterclaims in a discipline-appropriate form and in a manner that anticipates the audience’s knowledge level and concerns. Use words, phrases, and clauses to link the major sections of the text, create cohesion, and clarify the relationships between claim(s) and reasons, between reasons and evidence, and between claim(s) and counterclaims. Establish and maintain a formal style and objective tone while attending to the norms and conventions of the discipline in which they are writing. Provide a concluding statement or section that follows from or supports the argument presented.

Important Standards Addressed in this Unit: CC.8.5.9-10.E - Analyze how a text uses structure to emphasize key points or advance an explanation or analysis. CC.8.5.9-10.I - Compare and contrast treatments of the same topic in several primary and secondary sources.

Misconceptions: Students believe that immigrants working in America had a better life. Examine and explain the common practice of piece-work, or work

taken home by immigrant factory workers to supplement their income – this illustrates their total enslavement to the machine of industry.

When discussing trusts, or monopolies, explain how vertical and horizontal integration, while both served to create a trust, one was more cut-throat than the other, who used which ones and who was a real Robber Baron.

Concepts/Content: The Rise of Big Business Consolidating Industry

Competencies/Skills: Write DBQ essays in MLA format

using primary source documents

Description of Activities: Discussion and drawing what vertical v.

horizontal integration looks like and which

Carnegie and Steel Rockefeller and Standard Oil Opposition to Unions Struggling to Organize The Great Railroad Strike The Knights of Labor The Homestead and Pullman Car

Strikes The Rise of the AFL The IWW, Women and Organized

Labor The Transcendentalists and the

backlash to industry

Peer edit DBQ essays using the College Board rubric

Research of a historical individual and craft a project exploring his importance in the rise of industry in America

business leader preferred which Read Carnegie's "Gospel of Wealth" and write a

response to it from the perspective of a worker from the 1800's

Watch clips from PBS's "Men Who Made America" about the rise of men like Vanderbilt, Carnegie and Rockefeller

Research individuals and create Robber Baron Trading Cards for various individuals

Assessments: Robber Baron Trading Cards project Multiple choice test DBQ essay

Interdisciplinary Connections:Extensions into other disciplines such as science and literature are prevalent in this unit. Students can examine how science becomes a prominent feature of American innovation, leading to universities establishing science departments and a cultural divide between urban and rural citizens whose exposure or lack thereof to scientific developments creates a divided America. Students will also be brought into the helm of American literature when reading work from the Transcendentalists who revert back to nature and consider developments such as the railroad to impede on the natural, spiritual connection that Americans have with nature and ultimately God.

Additional Resources: District Approved Textbook District Approved Supplemental Resources: Charlie Chaplin’s

“Modern Times” short film about factory work; Thoreau’s “Walden Pond”; various Transcendentalist literature selections

Various online resources: PBS, “Men Who Made America” series


Unit Title: Immigration in America

Unit Overview/Essential Understanding: The Industrial Revolution paved the way for the increase in manufacturing which in turn spurred an increase in immigrants looking for work and a better life. Students will learn that these immigrant groups contributed to the diversity of American culture. Students will know the importance and influence of diverse immigrant communities on American culture and history. Students will know how immigration contributes to the philosophy that America is a salad, or melting pot of different people all whose influence is valuable. They will research immigrant groups that came to the U.S. in the first or second wave of immigration spanning between the 1840’s and early 1900’s. In addition, students will learn how “nativists” or people born in the United States responded to these new waves of immigrants.

Essential Questions: How did the journey of immigrants in the nineteenth century differ from the journey of the first people to settle in North America? What were the effects of the Chinese Exclusion Act on Chinese immigration and American ideas? Why were immigrants evaluated upon admission to the U.S.? What was the fate of immigrants found to have a contagious illness? Why were immigrant communities such as Little Italy and Chinatown developing in major cities, like New York City? How did European immigrants of the late 1800s change American society? How were the experiences of Asian immigrants different from those of European immigrants?

Unit Objectives: Students will be able to identify the settlement patterns of immigrants and their influence on American culture. Students will be able to outline the push and pull factors that influenced immigration to the United States. Students will be able to research immigrant groups and project what their concerns and issues might be during Age of Industry. Students will be able to create a Cultural Community Newspaper which explores the contributions of immigrant groups to American

culture. Students will be able to synthesize research into imagining topics of interest in news and opinion articles that would have been written

from an immigrant’s perspective. Students will be able to collaborate with their peers, reading each other’s newspapers and discerning which information is vital to

notate.

Focus Standards Addressed in this Unit: CC.8.5.9-10.A - Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources, attending to such features as the

date and origin of the information. CC.8.5.9-10.B - Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary of how key

events or ideas develop over the course of the text. CC.8.5.9-10.D - Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including vocabulary describing political, social,


they include and emphasize in their respective accounts. CC.8.5.9-10.I - Compare and contrast treatments of the same topic in several primary and secondary sources. CC.8.5.9-10.J - By the end of grade 10, read and comprehend history/social studies texts in the grades 9–10 text complexity band

independently and proficiently.

Important Standards Addressed in this Unit: CC.8.6.9-10.B - Write informative/explanatory texts, including the narration of historical events, scientific procedures/ experiments, or

technical processes.

Misconceptions: Immigrant communities still exist in the world today. Places like Little Italy are being crowded out by Chinatown and the growing Asian

population. Immigrants have contributed to many words in our American vernacular – we are not always speaking English, rather a confluence of

languages and cultures have helped to achieve an American lexicon. Immigrants did not have an easy time getting into America – they still do not. There is a heavy vetting process.

Concepts/Content: Europeans Flood into America The Atlantic Voyage Ellis Island Diverse Cities Asian Immigration Nativism Resurges Backlash Against Catholics Restrictions on Asian Immigration

Competencies/Skills: Researching immigrant groups

and skimming and scanning for relevant information to include in their Cultural Community Newspapers

Synthesizing their research into well-formed insight into their culture, providing a sense of what was valued by the culture and what they brought over

Generate articles, ads, announcements in the voice of an immigrant group in an attempt to “step into the shoes of an immigrant” and illuminate their concerns and beliefs

Description of Activities: Research an immigrant group that came to the

U.S. in the first or second wave of immigration spanning between the 1840’s and early 1900’s and examine what words, foods, traditions, religious celebrations, cultural practices and beliefs they brought with them that shaped American culture.

Role-play immigration processing at Ellis Island for students to experience the “eye man” and understand what “processing” really meant.

Student generated newspapers, attempting to recreate ethnic community pieces of interest, religious announcements, advertisements, recipes, want ads, etc. This will be shared with other groups and students will take notes about what other cultures had to offer.

Student field trip to Ellis Island in the spring

Assessments: Cultural Community Newspapers, researching for them, creating them, and finally sharing them and exploring them

Immigration essay test Immigration LEQ

Interdisciplinary Connections:Extensions into anthropology where students study the cultures of a people is a natural connection to the study of immigration in America.

Additional Resources: District Approved Textbook District Approved Supplemental Resources

o Library texts / databases related to research


Unit Title: Urbanization and the Gilded Age

Unit Overview/Essential Understanding: Students will learn in this unit about the impact of immigration on the increase in urbanization and problems associated with a fast growing urban population, such as the development of political machines. Students will also learn about the social and economic hardships suffered by farmers and African Americans in post-Reconstruction America. Students will learn how a strong relationship between big business and government flourished at the expense of the people – regarding fair wages, fair working conditions, fair hours and lack of social justice. Students will also learn about the vast corruptness of government in the Gilded Age, how political machine bosses such as Boss Tweed ran Tammany Hall by engaging in duplicitous maneuvers of the voting public. Students will examine political cartoons created by Thomas Nast in his attempt to show to the immigrant masses how corrupt Tweed was and the culminating fall of his political machine as a result of “those damn pictures.” Students will learn about a movement within government to eliminate the spoils system and bring about civil service reform, to little

avail. Students will also know about the reform movement in urban areas to bring about social and economic change for immigrants and poor urbanites. As they examine and learn about the rise of political parties, such as the Populists, who recognize the wide-spread social, political and economic ills citizens were constantly exposed to, they will discuss the problems that minor parties had in gaining traction in American politics and why a third party candidate never won the presidency. Finally, students will also learn about the period of Realism in art and literature and will be exposed to much of it in an attempt to provide an argument as to why this particular style is evolving during the Gilded Age.

Essential Questions: How was life in big cities different from life on farms and small towns? How did populations and living conditions change in big cities? How did the living conditions of the urban working class differ from those of other social classes? What types of health and social problems developed due to the rapid growth of urban areas? What is a political machine? How were men like Boss Tweed able to remain in political power through a political machine? What methods and philosophies were developed for helping the urban poor? Who were some leaders of the reform movement and with which organizations were they associated? What types of leisure activities did Americans participate in during the Gilded Age? What is local color and why did Mark Twain use this style in his text "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn?" Why were artists in the Gilded Age concerned with portraying Americans more realistically? Why was civil service reform needed for government employees in the Gilded Age? What groups made up the People's Party? What was the root cause of the failure of the national Populist Party in 1892? Why did African Americans head west with Benjamin Pap Singleton to become Exodusters? What evidence supports the notion that poll taxes and literacy tests were used to keep African Americans from voting?

Unit Objectives: Students will be able to identify the problems that developed as more people crowded into urban areas. Students will be able to explain the reasons for and course of the Populist movement and its legacy. Students will be able to explain the political and economic issues of the Gilded Age. Students will be able to explain how the rights of African Americans were eroded after Reconstruction. Students will be able to summarize the economic problems farmers faced during the Gilded Age. Students will be able to compare and contrast the political candidacies of William Jennings Bryan and William McKinley. Students will be able to describe the main political and economic issues of the Gilded Age.

Students will be able to write a DBQ essay reflecting on the difference between local government's response to urban needs and social welfare leaders.

Students will be able to create faux Twitter pages that would have reflected the thoughts and values of the social reformers of the Gilded Age.


events or ideas develop over the course of the text. CC.8.5.9-10.C - Analyze in detail a series of events described in a text; determine whether earlier events caused later ones or simply


or economic aspects of history/social science. CC.8.5.9-10.E - Analyze how a text uses structure to emphasize key points or advance an explanation or analysis. CC.8.5.9-10.F - Compare the point of view of two or more authors for how they treat the same or similar topics, including which details


independently and proficiently.Important Standards Addressed in this Unit:

CC.8.6.9-10.A - Write arguments focused on discipline-specific content. CC.8.6.9-10.B - Write informative/explanatory texts, including the narration of historical events, scientific procedures/ experiments, or

technical processes.

Misconceptions: Laws don’t always improve society. Examine and discuss how the government identified the spoils system as a problem and just because

they passed laws such as the Pendleton Act and the Sherman Anti-Trust Act does not mean that these laws actually changed anything. Rather, they were to keep citizens satisfied with the belief that government was fixing its corruption – these laws had no teeth, on purpose.

Social justice and help for the poor does not always come from government, during the Gilded Age the majority of outreach programs and supports for the poor came from the private sector and private individuals.

Third parties are rarely important in the way that citizens think they are. Third parties do the job of getting the word out about problems suffered by groups of people in the population in the hopes that one of the major parties will pick up these issues and address them.

Some conclude that politics during the Gilded Age was corrupt and issueless. However, it’s quite opposite. During the Gilded Age there

were no compelling differences between the parties, people are voting in droves, but they are candidate centered elections.

Concepts/Content: Americans Migrate to the Cities Separation by Class Urban Problems Gilded Age Ideas The Idea of Individualism The Rebirth of Reform Challenging Social Darwinism Helping the Urban Poor Public Education in the Gilded Age Realism Politics in Washington Civil Service Reforms The Exodusters Rise of the Populists

Competencies/Skills: Examine several excerpts of

authors from the time period whose works coalesce to bring us a firmer portrait of American life during the late 1800’s and early 1900’s

Analyze art from artists from the Gilded Age whose aim was to portray “the people” – all classes are represented

Determine why Realism became a popular art form in the Gilded Age

Examine the photos of Lewis Hine and Jacob Riis in studying the urban lives and work places of the immigrant poor

Description of Activities: Social welfare faux Twitter pages Reading excerpt of authors works and analyzing

art from painters from the Gilded Age period of Realism

Read and analyze excerpts of texts from the Gilded Age from men such as W.E.B. DuBois’ “The Color Line,” Mark Twain’s “Huckleberry Finn” and “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer,” Theodore Dreiser’s “Sister Carrie” and Edward Bellamy’s “Looking Backward”

Evaluate the message of artists such as Thomas Eakins, John Singer Sargent, Mary Cassatt, and the evolution of Kodak

Assessments: Social reformers faux Twitter pages DBQ essay on Realism LEQ about the Exodusters and Populists

Interdisciplinary Connections:Extensions into the study of American government are relevant here. While studying the Gilded Age, students are exposed to potential side-effects of a strong relationship between big business and government, sacrificing the protections of citizens and consumers. Students will understand how laissez-faire practices allow business to flourish at the expense of the people. This time period, followed up closely by the Progressive Era, connects nicely to a study of American government,

Additional Resources: District Approved Textbook District Approved Supplemental Resources: literature

selections including Betty’s Smith’s “A Tree Grows in Brooklyn” excerpts about life in Gilded Age America and excerpts from "Mother Jones"; photos from Jacob Riis and Lewis Hine

Approved online resources: www.gutenberg.org; Google works of art by Cassatt, Eakins, Singer, etc.

it’s growth over time and the challenges it faced.


Unit Title: The Age of Imperialism

Unit Overview/Essential Understanding: In this unit, students will learn about the desire the American government and the American people have for access to other markets and resources now that the West has officially been settled. Having previously engaged in a period of isolationism, America is now ready to engage in interventionism, having achieved Manifest Destiny. Students will learn that the United States government blamed the Spanish for the blow up of the American naval ship, the Maine, allowing it to be a reason for engaging in war with Spain. This war was quick and fraught with yellow fever, malaria and rotten food for the U.S. military. Students will examine the irregular fighting forces such as the Rough Riders led by future president Theodore Roosevelt in Cuba whose successes at the Battle of San Juan Hill bestow upon him a charismatic appeal. As the U.S. government gains more territories, problems arise with ally Emilio Aguinaldo when he realizes the U.S. doesn’t plan on leaving the Philippines. Finally, an examination on the U.S. government’s foreign policy practices and how they were influenced by yellow journalism during this time period will be discussed and analyzed.

Essential Questions:

How did American imperialism in Hawaii affect attitudes in the U.S. about their role in the world? Why was the Panama Canal considered an important investment in world trade and transportation? What hardships did American and previously, French, workers face while building the Panama Canal? Why, in the aftermath of the Civil War, were Americans uninterested in expansion? What changed their minds? How were American missionaries able to exploit Hawaii and overtake their sovereign nation? What changed Japan's mind about opening up its ports and trading with the West? How was yellow journalism able to influence American's opinion on foreign policy issues? Why did the U.S. want to intervene in the Spanish American War? How did the U.S. relationship with Emilio Aguinaldo change over time? How was Dollar Diplomacy different from The Big Stick? Which was more successful? How did Wilson's moral diplomacy differ from Taft's dollar diplomacy?

Unit Objectives: Students will be able to identify the reasons for American desire for new markets and resources, fueling imperialism. Students will be able to explain why the United States attempted to reduce European influence in the Western Hemisphere. Students will be able to identify the causes of the Spanish-American War. Students will be able to explain the origins, significance, and consequences of the Open Door policy. Students will examine yellow journalism and its influence on the public to read the news in order to make connections between

sensationalism during this time and present day. Students will be able to evaluate the role of the construction of the Panama Canal, the Roosevelt Corollary, and dollar diplomacy in

spreading U.S. influence to other nations. Students will be able to research historical events related to the Age of Imperialism and create a short film about their topic using Maker

Spaces, One Button studio.





they include and emphasize in their respective accounts.

CC.8.5.9-10.G - Integrate quantitative or technical analysis (e.g., charts, research data) with qualitative analysis in print or digital text. CC.8.5.9-10.I - Compare and contrast treatments of the same topic in several primary and secondary sources. CC.8.5.9-10.J - By the end of grade 10, read and comprehend history/social studies texts in the grades 9–10 text complexity band

independently and proficiently. CC.8.6.9-10.C - Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose,

and audience. CC.8.6.9-10.D - Develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach, focusing on

addressing what is most significant for a specific purpose and audience.

Important Standards Addressed in this Unit: CC.8.6.9-10.E - Use technology, including the Internet, to produce, publish, and update individual or shared writing products, taking

advantage of technology’s capacity to link to other information and to display information flexibly and dynamically. CC.8.6.9-10.F - Conduct short as well as more sustained research projects to answer a question (including a self-generated question) or

solve a problem; narrow or broaden the inquiry when appropriate; synthesize multiple sources on the subject, demonstrating understanding of the subject under investigation.

CC.8.6.9-10.G - Gather relevant information from multiple authoritative print and digital sources, using advanced searches effectively; assess the usefulness of each source in answering the research question; integrate information into the text selectively to maintain the flow of ideas, avoiding plagiarism and following a standard format for citation.

Misconceptions: Film making is a complex process. Be sure to plan out your script, film process, and pictures, with your group. When creating films, be

flexible ask questions, things may not go precisely as planned.

Concepts/Content: Building Support for Imperialism A Desire for New Markets American Superiority Building a Modern Navy American Expansion in the Pacific Diplomacy in Latin America The Spanish-American War The Open Door Policy Annexing Hawaii

Competencies/Skills: Research based scripts produced

in student groups for faux news stations investigating foreign affairs during the Age of Imperialism

Performance based project using student generated research based scripts about topics such: The Spanish-American War,

Description of Activities: Imperialism films – students research topics

related to the Age of Imperialism and create short films, role-playing as individuals and groups from their event, i.e. – the Spanish –American War, students will role play interviewing a student performing as Teddy Roosevelt and one of the Rough Riders, and Emilio Aguinaldo from the Philippines. Films must include an element of sensationalized

Big Stick Diplomacy Dollar Diplomacy Wilson’s Diplomacy

annexation of Hawaii, U.S. force in creating the Open Door Policy, Panama Canal and the Great White Fleet

journalism on behalf of the reporters engaging in Yellow Journalism. Students will then watch the films and discuss what similarities and differences we notice about shaping American imperialism abroad and how we have continued this policy over time.

Assessments: Imperialism Films Imperialism DBQ Multiple choice test

Interdisciplinary Connections:Extensions into the study of American government and its change in foreign policy over time is a natural connection to this unit. Students will be asked how our current foreign policy might be similar or different with that of the Age of Imperialism. Journalism or the study of American journalism is also an extension from this time period. Students will be asked if they think sensationalized journalism still exists today? Is sensationalized journalism “fake news” or is it biased news? Is biased news “fake”?

Additional Resources: District Approved Textbook District Approved Supplemental Resources Approved online resources: PBS Yellow Journalism, CNN, Fox

News, Reuters, You Tube


Unit Title: The Progressive Era and World War I

Unit Overview/Essential Understanding: In this unit two major topics are covered, the Progressive Era and World War I. During the Progressive Era, political reformism swept both major parties and led to the elections of Republicans Teddy Roosevelt and William Howard Taft and Democrat Woodrow Wilson. These presidents endeavored to pass laws to limit the power of big business such as the Clayton Anti-Trust Act, the Pure Food and Drug Act and the Meat Inspection Act, regulate banks and lower tariffs to the benefit of the economy. Students will connect that the laissez-faire practices of the Gilded Age led to the reformist policies of the Progressive Era. Finally, students will learn about the overarching reasons for World War I – militarism, nationalism, imperialism and alliances. They will discuss why many American citizens were reluctant to join in Europe’s War. They will know how the Balkan peninsula was a “powder keg” in Europe that would ignite – and did ignite – after the assassination of the Archduke of Austria-Hungary Franz Ferdinand by a Serbian nationalist terrorist organization. Actions including the DeLome letter and the sinking of the Lusitania served as public events to spur an unwilling public to support American participation in a world war. On the home-front citizens planted victory gardens, engaged in rubber and metal drives, went without certain foods on certain days of the week to support the troops and out of necessity provided factory jobs to women and minorities while men were fighting overseas. As students wrap up their learning, they will discuss if the war made the “world safer for democracy” and if it was a “people’s war” fought to make the lives of the people better, globally.

Essential Questions: Who were Progressives and what did they believe caused social problems? How was the national parks system an example of the progressive philosophy? How did Muckrakers get their name? What strategies did women use in their fight for woman suffrage? What problems might result if there were no regulations to manage the environment, product safety, water equality, or business

competition? (We already know: Flint Michigan, the Navajo Water crisis, etc.) What were some achievements of the Progressive movement? Why did many Americans resist becoming involved in WWI initially? How do you think the war in Europe affected people in the United States? Why did European nations form alliances during the early 1900's? Why did the sinking of the Lusitania affect U.S. public opinion about the war? How did Germany's use of unrestricted submarine warfare bring the United States into World War I? Why would Germany's offer to Mexico to support their war with America to regain lost territory worry many Americans? How did life change for women and minorities on the home front during WWI? Why was the arrival of the U.S. forces so important to the war effort? What was the goal of the Treaty of Versailles for Wilson, for European powers? How does the Treaty of Versailles sow the seeds for World War II?

Unit Objectives: Students will be able to identify the nature of the societal problems that Progressives hoped to solve. Students will be able to compare and contrast the progressive philosophies of Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft and Woodrow

Wilson. Students will be able to summarize how the Progressives hoped to make government more efficient and responsive to citizens. Students will be able to explain how President Theodore Roosevelt supported conservation. Students will be able to describe the successes and failures of Progressives. Students will be able to identify the major causes of World War I, including militarism, alliances, imperialism, and nationalism. Students will be able to analyze what life was like on the home front for women and minorities during World War I. Students will be able to identify the new technology of warfare and its effect on military tactics and casualties. Students will be able to summarize how World War I affected life on the home front. Students will be able to describe the effects of World War I on the U.S. economy. Students will be able to address how the Treaty of Versailles sowed the seeds for World War II.

Focus Standards Addressed in this Unit: CC.8.5.9-10.C - Analyze in detail a series of events described in a text; determine whether earlier events caused later ones or simply

preceded them. CC.8.5.9-10.F - Compare the point of view of two or more authors for how they treat the same or similar topics, including which details

they include and emphasize in their respective accounts. CC.8.5.9-10.J - By the end of grade 10, read and comprehend history/social studies texts in the grades 9–10 text complexity band

independently and proficiently. CC.8.6.9-10.H - Draw evidence from informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.

Important Standards Addressed in this Unit: CC.8.6.9-10.C - Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose,

and audience. CC.8.6.9-10.F - Conduct short as well as more sustained research projects to answer a question (including a self-generated question) or

solve a problem; narrow or broaden the inquiry when appropriate; synthesize multiple sources on the subject, demonstrating understanding of the subject under investigation.

Misconceptions: The Progressives were both Republican and Democrat – this was a political wave that shook both parties. Explore this concept in class

that while both major political parties might embody different philosophies, it is possible for them to agree on issues, for example, currently both major parties are anti-intervention in foreign affairs.

Progressives are the trees in bloom that were planted by reformers of the Gilded Age spurred by the Mugwumps and finally the Muckrakers. Finally, government is engaging in regulatory practices to discourage runaway capitalism.

Today’s Democrats were yesterday’s Republicans – when students recognize that T.R. is a Republican, cultivate a discussion about party behavior today – Are the Republicans of today the pro-environmental party they were under T.R.? What happens to party values over time?

The United States is no better than any of the European powers during WWI – we did not fight in WWI to “make the world safe for democracy.” If we had, when the war was over Jim Crow laws would have been lifted, women and the Indigenous would be considered equal citizens under the law, an Equal Rights Amendment would have been passed to protect women and minorities as citizens under the Constitution and freedom of speech, religion and beliefs would have been protected instead of ignored during the 1920’s Red Scare. Just a reminder to students that while American Superiority continues to remain a supreme core belief in America post-WWI, the realities offer a grim reminder that discrimination against minorities and women was the norm. This will be true again in post-WWII America.

Concepts/Content: The Rise of Progressivism Muckrakers Women's Suffrage Social Reforms Child Labor Health and Safety Codes The Prohibition Movement Progressives v. Big Business Roosevelt and Trusts Conservation and Preservation The Election of 1912 Progressives Legacies and Limits World War I Begins Militarism, Alliances, Imperialism

and Nationalism The Assassination of Archduke

Ferdinand The U.S. Declares War Organizing the Economy, Wartime

Agencies Women and Minorities on the

Home front Treaty of Versailles and Armistice

Day

Competencies/Skills: Research the platforms and values

of the men who ran for president in 1912

Create a campaign survivor kit for their candidate by synthesizing ideas from the group on what the message should be and how to send it to the voters

Engage in a war re-enactment, having students role-play member nations who fought in WWI

Description of Activities: Mock 1912 Election in which student generated

Campaign Survivor Kits are used to campaign for their candidate: candidates are Teddy Roosevelt running for the Bull Moose Party, Eugene V. Debs running for the Socialist Party, Woodrow Wilson running for the Democrats and William Howard Taft running for the Republicans. Students are responsible for making the following for their campaigns: buttons, yard signs, banners, t-shirts, lunchboxes, pennants, a faux website page for Pay Pal campaign fund raising, a speech that is rife with the message that the candidate would have delivered based on his values, and a student from the group needs to dress up as one of the candidates, deliver the speech and go around the building with his campaign crew pressing the flesh and doing a little politicking for votes! The student run campaign that wins the mock election wins the spoils of victory!

For our study of WWI, students will re-enact the war in the classroom – battle sites will be identified by signs – each student will wear a sign that identifies them as Allies or Germany – they will also wear a sign around their neck that identifies how many soldiers they represent. As we go in order as a class from battle site to battle site, students will read from their notebooks what technologies were used at the battle, who the military leaders were, how long the battle lasted and where it was located. When we discuss casualties, students will take a

knee representing how many of their nation died. Battle site locations in class will reflect actual location on a map of Europe.

Assessments: Campaign Survivor Kits WWI multiple choice test WWI DBQ Progressives LEQ

Interdisciplinary Connections:Extensions into political science and military history are natural applications. In our analysis and engagement in the 1912 Presidential Election, students will be able to participate in a campaign crew, understanding the value of volunteers in supporting a campaign and getting a message out. When students learn about WWI, they will learn about the new military technologies created out of necessity for both the Allies and the Central Powers such as mustard gas, heavy artillery, trench warfare, use of airplanes and gas masks. Students will continue to learn how military technologies increase with WWII and the development of the atomic bomb and future wars such as Korea and Vietnam, where strategies against communism spark creation of Agent Orange, napalm and carpet bombing.

Additional Resources: District Approved Textbook District Approved Supplemental Resources: Upton Sinclair’s

“The Jungle”; Ida Tarbell’s expose “Standard Oil” Approved online resources: WWI interactive map; Iron Jawed

Angels


Unit Title: The Roaring Twenties and the Dirty Thirties

Unit Overview/Essential Understanding: In this unit students will engage in two decades of American history: the 1920’s and the 1930’s. Students will learn about America’s eagerness to “return to normalcy” after WWI and enjoy life by engaging in consumerism with rapid ability thanks to mass produced goods. Students will know that the car culture of the 1920’s was made possible by assembly line production and that soon all Americans would expect to be able to “have a car in the backyard and chicken in the pot to boot” that would announce their entrance into the middle class. Students will know that once again laissez-faire practices by the Republican presidents of the 1920’s Harding, Coolidge and Hoover create a permissive attitude about alcohol during Prohibition, enabling gangsters like Al Capone to capitalize on the sale of illegal liquor. Students will learn that World War I provided women and minorities with a rare taste of economic and social freedoms that they continued to demand in one way or another in the 1920’s: women through fashion and the adoption of new social mores and African Americans through poetry and literature production. These physical manifestations of change served to once again illustrate an eruption between rural and urban values and social mores, a division made prominent by the 1920’s Scopes Monkey Trial. The end of the 1920’s signals the end of runaway capitalism and brings about the election of Democrat Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) in 1932. Students will learn that FDR is elected to erect a hands-on regulatory program to eliminate the effects of the Great Depression on America. During his first 100 days in office, bills were passed to begin a recovery of the American economy. Students will know that these bills were largely the result of a powerful executive going unchecked by the legislative branch, for the sake of speediness. Students will learn that the judicial branch was the only branch checking and balancing the growing power of the executive branch during the 4 election terms of FDR. Students will examine why a conservative backlash occurred during the 1930’s against the growing

power of the office of the presidency. As the unit concludes, students will discern that the 1930’s continued to be a period of social and economic freedoms experienced by women and minorities on a small scale.

Essential Questions: What economic choices caused the economy to become unstable in the late 1920's? How did the stock market crash trigger a chain of events that led to the Depression? How did new industries change the lives of Americans in the 1920's? Why did nativism strengthen during the 1920's, and how did the government deal with the tension? How did the behavior of some young women in the 1920's represent a turning away from traditional values? How did many artists and writers of the time describe the 1920's? What does the Harlem Renaissance reveal about African American culture in the 1920's? Why was it important that FDR inspire optimism among so many Americans during the recovery of the Great Depression? Why are the first hundred days so important for a president? What were the key accomplishments during Roosevelt's first hundred days in office? How did the government restore confidence in the banking system? Why were Roosevelt's radio addresses to the American people referred to as the "fireside chats"? How did New Deal programs differ from President Hoover's attempts to combat the Depression? How did the relief programs help combat the Depression? What impact has New Deal legislation had on federal and state governments? Why was there a conservative backlash to the New Deal programs and to the presidency of FDR?

Unit Objectives: Students will be able to identify U.S. economic policies of the 1920's. Students will be able to explain the social impact of WWI on the rise of nativism in American society during the 1920’s. Students will be able to examine how the popular culture of the 1920's and the emergence of mass media affected American society. Students will be able to explain the idea of supply-side economics and how it is supposed to stimulate the economy. Students will be able to identify causes and effects of anti-immigrant prejudices. Students will be able to analyze the causes and effects of the 1920’s Red Scare. Students will be able to identify the failures and successes of the worker’s movements in the 1920’s. Students will be able to identify the causes and the effects of the Harlem Renaissance. Students will be able to identify how the government’s return to laissez-faire economics gave birth to the collapse of the stock market

and the national economy in 1929. Students will be able to evaluate the effects of the Great Depression on the American people.

Students will be able to analyze the Republican presidencies of the 1920’s and compare and contrast them with 1930’s president, Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Students will be able to assess the reasons why the Republican policies of the 1920’s led to the 1932 election of Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Students will be able to analyze why the first 100 days of FDR’s presidency were so crucial to the passage of bills. Students will be able to examine the reasons why FDR could be considered a benevolent dictator in the age of tyrannical dictators. Students will be able to identify the New Deal programs and what their goals were. Students will be able to examine the presidency of FDR and how it establishes an imperial presidency legacy enjoyed by future

presidents such as Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon. Students will be able to analyze the conservative backlash to the FDR administration and what their goals were. Students will be able to evaluate the impact of the New Deal programs on the American economy and current American society. Students will be able to evaluate the successes and failures of the New Deal programs. Students will be able to identify changes in American society with regard to women’s social and economic freedom’s. Students will be able to evaluate how New Deal programs regarding the treatment of the Indigenous are a stark reminder of the U.S.

government’s lack of provisions for Native Americans.




or economic aspects of history/social science. CC.8.5.9-10.E - Analyze how a text uses structure to emphasize key points or advance an explanation or analysis. CC.8.5.9-10.F - Compare the point of view of two or more authors for how they treat the same or similar topics, including which details


independently and proficiently. CC.8.6.9-10.A - Write arguments focused on discipline-specific content.

Important Standards Addressed in this Unit: CC.8.6.9-10.C - Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose,

and audience. CC.8.6.9-10 - Develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach, focusing on

addressing what is most significant for a specific purpose and audience.

Misconceptions: The system of checks and balances is always effective. Examine the presidency of FDR and how he used his presidential powers. The legislative process is quick and the people benefit. Examine the Alphabet Soup programs and determine if they were or were not

successful. Many Americans conflated laborers with communists in the 1920’s as a result of public displays of anger at management such as the

Haymarket Riot leading to the Red Scare. Americans continue to conflate groups of people with dangerous connotations: Muslims with terrorists, Middle Easterners with terrorists, Hispanics with people who fleece the system and take “our jobs.” It is important to remember that “Othering” groups can lead to fear mongering and hate.

Concepts/Content: The Stock Market Soars Flappers: The Modern Woman Prohibition and Gangsters The Harlem Renaissance Literature in the 20’s The Great Crash The Roots of the Great

Depression The Dust Bowl and the Okies Arts and Entertainment The Alphabet Soup Programs FDR as Imperial President Conservative Backlash The Urban/Rural Divide The Scopes Monkey Trial

Competencies/Skills: Examine the reading fluency in

American literature of the 1920’s Analysis of themes in literature

and fashion of the 20’s and how they reflect a more modern America

Evaluation of the causes of the collapse of the stock market

Create an Alphabet Soup mural Research ABC programs and

generate responses to their effectiveness

Description of Activities: Examination of American literature that explores

themes of decadence and discrimination in American culture by writers such as Langston Hughes, Claude McKay, Zora Neale Hurston, F. Scott Fitzgerald. Class discussions about what the meaning is in these texts and how it relates to the themes of the 20’s.

Creation of the Alphabet Soup mural necessitates that students have knowledge of the programs, what they aimed to accomplish, if they’re still around today – why or why not and who they were created to support.

Play the stock market game to have a hands-on understanding of what led to the stock market collapse in 1929.

Assessments: 1920’s LEQ 1930’s DBQ

Alphabet Soup programs mural Multiple choice tests

Interdisciplinary Connections:Extensions into American literature course are relevant here with the study of literature produced during the 1920’s. Harlem Renaissance poetry and literature highlighting the socioeconomic and political struggles encountered by African Americans and the literature created by writers such as F. Scott Fitzgerald led to a movement of artists to leave America and move to Paris in order to escape from the decadent superficiality of the 20’s. FDR’s passage of the Alphabet Soup programs and his desire to “pack the courts” are natural conversations encountered in American government studies.

Additional Resources: District Approved Textbook District Approved Supplemental Resources: The Stock Market

Game; various literature selections (Zora Neale Hurston “Their Eyes Were Watching God”, Claude McKay’s “If We Must Die”, “Grapes of Wrath”)

Approved online resources: YouTube, films (Great Gatsby, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Inherit the Wind, Z: The Beginning of Everything)


Unit Title: World War II

Unit Overview/Essential Understanding: In this unit students will learn about the reasons for World War II and the impact it had on the American economy, society and its forever far-reaching consequences of American foreign policy. Students will examine the Treaty of Versailles, which ended World War I and its impact on Germany. They will learn about the 1930’s economic collapse and how it helped encourage nationalism on a global scale, leading countries to elect world leaders who promised an end to depression and to make their nations strong again. The desire for nationalism and economic independence led to the elections of dictators such as Adolf Hitler in Germany, Joseph Stalin in Russia, Francisco Franco in Spain, and Hirohito in Japan. This rise of nationalism fuels the desire to engage in militarism and connect to other countries out of fear of the “other,” promoting alliances. Students examine how these actions spurred imperialism by nations like Germany to control all other German speaking nations in an attempt to create the Third Reich. This created a perfect storm for a second world war. As students examine FDR’s plan to watch Europe’s war and not get involved, they will discover America’s role with the allies thus causing the U.S. involvement. Through discussions and activities, students will engage in discussion on event like Pearl Harbor, conscription of drafting soldiers, wartime production, fighting styles on the two fronts, the Holocaust and treatment of people, and how the end of the war brought about the Cold War.

Essential Questions: What economic and political conditions following World War I encouraged dictatorships? Why did many Americans support isolationism? Why did President Roosevelt support internationalism? What steps did the supporters of United States isolationism take to ensure that the country remained neutral in an international

conflict? What sequence of events led the United States to a declaration of war? How did the Nazis try to exterminate Europe's Jewish population? What roles did minorities and women play in the armed forces during World War II?

How did the U.S. government mobilize the economy for war? How did World War II change life for women and minorities in the United States? What was the military strategy behind "island-hopping"? Was it successful? What if D-Day had failed and Germany had defeated the Allies in Europe? If Truman hadn't bombed Japan, what might have been a different outcome to World War II?

Unit Objectives: Students will be able to evaluate how new dictatorships and militaristic expansion in the interwar years led to global warfare. Students will be able to identify the purpose of the Munich Conference and be able to explain the policy of appeasement. Students will be able to evaluate the significance of Pearl Harbor and the declaration of war against Japan. Students will be able to examine the events of the Holocaust and the atrocities committed against Europe's Jews. Students will be able to examine how the government mobilized the economy, financed the war, and later stabilized the wartime

economy. Students will be able to examine how the U.S. involvement in WWII helped the Allies in the western front defeat Germany. Students will be able to examine the moral and military implications involved in the U.S. dropping two atomic bombs on Japanese civilian

targets to defeat Japan. Students will be able to assess the impact of World War II on women and minorities on the home-front. Students will be able to identify how the end of World War II initiated the Cold War of the 1940’s into 1991.

Focus Standards Addressed in this Unit: CC.8.5.9-10.G - Integrate quantitative or technical analysis (e.g., charts, research data) with qualitative analysis in print or digital text. CC.8.5.9-10.D - Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including vocabulary describing political, social,

or economic aspects of history/social science. CC.8.5.9-10.B - Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary of how key

events or ideas develop over the course of the text. CC.8.5.9-10.E - Analyze how a text uses structure to emphasize key points or advance an explanation or analysis. CC.8.6.9-10.A - Write arguments focused on discipline-specific content.

Important Standards Addressed in this Unit: CC.8.5.9-10.J - By the end of grade 10, read and comprehend history/social studies texts in the grades 9–10 text complexity band

independently and proficiently.

Misconceptions:

World War II is different from World War I. Illustrate to the student’s that while WWII was certainly considered a popular war, it was not as professor and writer Howard Zinn would call it, “A People’s War” which would have brought great positive changes to the rights of all citizens once the war was finished. In this way, World War II is similar to World War I in that it’s occurrence and end did not bring about a world “safer for democracy” or granted equal rights to all citizens. Rather, these wars ends’ both served to install fear and suspicion of communists and demanded a return to “normalcy” where women and minorities were expected to give up their newly found social and economic freedoms.

Concepts/Content: The Rise of Dictators Militarists Control Japan World War II Begins The Austrian Anschluss The Munich Conference The Invasion of Poland The Fall of France Neutrality Tested The Lend-Lease Act The Atlantic Charter Japan Attacks Pearl Harbor American Involvement in WWII The Holocaust Women and Minorities on the

Home-Front and at War Island Hopping and the Atomic

Bombs VJ Day and VE Day Origins of the Cold War

Competencies/Skills: Analyze government propaganda

and examining it’s rhetoric and the use of art to reach the people

Role-play and re-enact the war battle by battle, examining the military technologies created and evaluating their success

Identify nations on a map of Europe and Asia that are relevant to WWII

Comparing casualties from WWI to WWII

Analyzing if WWII was “A People’s War” and all that that might entail

Description of Activities: Analyzing government propaganda posters

during WWII to establish what the government wants and how they have crafted their message to get it.

Re-enact battle sites of WWII to establish whose strategies are successful, casualties lost and technologies used.

Label maps of Europe and Southeast Asia and the Pacific in order for students to establish a location for where the war takes place.

Assessments: Re-enactment of battles of World War II Multiple choice test WWII DBQ

Interdisciplinary Connections:Extensions into other disciplines include military history about the progression of military weapons technologies. Students will understand that WWII brought with it new technologies and advancements in science such as the building of atomic bombs and later hydrogen bombs, and the increase in the use of planes than was used in WWI. Studies could also extend into geography and the importance of islands in the South Pacific to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and also with regard to the U.S. military island hopping strategy. Geography and resources also played a vital role in the interest of the U.S. government wanting to defeat Japan’s growing power in Asia in order to secure a foothold in the region to control oil production there.

Additional Resources: District Approved Textbook District Approved Supplemental Resources – propaganda

posters Approved online resources - films like, “Saving Private Ryan”;

WWII interactive maps

· web viewas the u.s. government gains more territories, problems arise with ally emilio...

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