Lesson Plan Template

Name: Kevin Buss, Brian Keller, Katie Magnuson, Adam Pauley, Scott Rogers Date: April 22nd 2013 Content Standards: - Illinois Common Core 16.A.4a: Analyze and report historical events to determine cause- and-effect relationships. - History Habits of the Mind- Historical Empathy: Describe past events and issues as people experienced them at the time, in order to develop historical empathy. Student Objectives/Student Outcomes: Students will be able to accurately define what freedom is and how those freedoms have been denied to specific groups throughout history. Students will not only learn who is in their groups, but how to interact with each other and how to promote their specific causes. Students will be able to understand how the group activity will affect their freedoms in the classroom and how they will have to adapt their behaviors to meet these new social roles. Materials/Resources/Technology: - Chalk board/white board - Exit slips Teachers Goals: Students will have an understanding as to the hardships that African Americans were subjected to during pre-civil rights United States. Along with that, the students will be able to understand the significance of having ones rights taken away from them and the struggles/hardships that they had to endure to create a society for themselves. Students will have an idea of what the goals of this project are and will begin to figure out how they will work towards either gaining equal rights or restricting the rights of others.

Time

10 minutes

Start of Discussion: Teacher will open with the questions What is freedom? and What freedoms do we have today? Students will shout out answers and teachers will put them on the board. If students are not answering, teachers can give examples (freedom of education, freedom of worship, freedom of
inter-racial marriage, freedom of expression, freedom of habeas corpus). Teachers will then cross off all the freedoms listed that African Americans did not have up to the 1960s, and ask the students to see if they could identify what was done. Once they figure it out, teachers will pose the question: How would you feel if suddenly the government told us it could not guarantee these freedoms to us anymore? This will introduce the social atmosphere leading up the Civil Rights movement and get students thinking about the social contract (how the government helps guarantee our freedoms). Lesson Instruction: Introduction to a weeklong simulation of the 1950s. Teachers will split the class into two parts, 25% representing African Americans and 75% representing White Americans. Teachers will explain the rules of the simulation: Group 1 (African Americans) must ask permission before they do anything in class, i.e. talking/answering questions (and cannot speak to Group 2 unless addressed first), sharpening pencils, get a Kleenex, go to the bathroom, and must sit in the back of the classroom in their assigned seats. Group 2 (White Americans) do not have to ask permission for the above things, and can sit where they want. Teachers will then explain the objective, to be met by the end of the week: Group 1 must decide if and how to ameliorate their situation and Group 2 must decide if and how to defend the status quo. Assessments/Checks for Understanding: To introduce the simulation, class will play a game of 20 questions. Teachers will explain the rules of the game: The entire class can only ask 20 yes or no questions to find out the secret word (for example, MLK Jr.), so students are encouraged to work together so as not to waste questions (i.e. is he tall?) The idea is to facilitate interaction between students, which will inevitably involve members of Group 1, who are likely to forget the rules of the simulation. Teachers must be consistent in enforcing the rules when they are broken (i.e. if a student from Group 1 speaks without being spoken to or does not ask permission, they cannot speak or will be ignored). Self-Assessment: Teachers will distribute exit slips after the game, asking the students what they thought of the game. Specifically: how Group 1 felt about being restricted, while their other classmates could act as they wanted, and how Group 2 felt about having the freedom to do what they wanted while their classmates could not do the same. Teachers will use these evaluations to determine if there are any simulation rules or aspects to change, based on how well the students appear to be understanding the points that are being made.

10 minutes

20 minutes

5 minutes