Teacher(s)

Daniel Medina & Dave Lockley

Subject group and discipline 8th Grade Humanity (U.S. History)

Unit title

Early America

MYP year/LDC Unit Planner

Unit duration (hrs.) 50

Inquiry:
Key concept (4)

Time, place and space

Related concept(s) (5)

Global context (6)

Culture, Conflict, Power, Identity, Equality,

Perspective, and Choice

Identities and Relationships

Statement of inquiry (7)

There were many different reasons for the founding of the English colonies in America. Some settlers hoped to make a profit and others sought religious
freedom. As colonies expanded, wars between settlers and Native Americans broke out in New England. After King Philip's War, Native American power in New
England never recovered. The Middle Colonies were settled by people from many different cultures and religions. Colonies in the South developed for a variety
of reasons. Maryland was settled by Catholics and Protestants looking for religious freedom. In Carolina, many colonists started large farms called plantations.
Georgia, another Southern Colony, was settled in part by debtors as its founder tried to prevent slavery in the colony. Many people came to the colonies
searching for better live, while others came against their will. Enslaved Africans were brought to America and forced to work. Slavery grew over time as the laws
changed. It became more common on the plantations in the South. Despite hardships, enslaved Africans found ways to preserve traditions and resisted slavery.
As the colonies grew, each region developed an economy based on its own resources and geography. English political traditions influenced the development of
colonial governments. Charters allowed the colonies to make their own laws and assemblies.

Statement of Inquiry: America was founded on contradictions that would create conflicts and struggles that would create the America of Today.

Inquiry questions (10)

Factual:

Conceptual:
How did Europeans explore and establish
settlements in the Americas?
What was life really like in the colonies?

Middle Years Programme /LDC Unit Planner

How did African Americans face slavery

and discrimination in early America?
What principles of government are
expressed in the Declaration of
Independence?

Debatable:

How did the Civil War affect the United

States and its people?

Objectives (3)
Criterion:
A Knowing and understanding

Use humanities terminology in context

Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of subjectspecific content and concepts, appropriate to the age level,
using descriptions, explanations and examples
B Investigating (Primary Criterion)

Follow an action plan to investigate a research question

Use methods accurately to collect and record information

consistent with the research question

Effectively address the research question

C Thinking critically (Primary Criterion)

Analyze concepts, events, issues, models and/or

arguments

Analyze and evaluate a range of sources in terms of origin

and purpose, recognizing values and limitations

Recognize different perspectives and their implications

Make connections between information to make valid,

well-supported arguments
D Communicating

Communicate information and ideas using an appropriate

style for the audience and purpose

Structure information and ideas in a way that is appropriate

to the specified format

Create a list of sources of information according to the task

instructions

Summative assessment (2) Rubric Creation (8)

(9)

Outline of summative assessment task(s) including

assessment criteria:

Relationship between summative assessment task(s)

and statement of inquiry:

What does Slavery look like in America

today? After Reading informational texts,
write a News Article in which you compare
the idea of Slavery in Early America and
Modern America, and argue the similarity
and differences. Support your position with
evidence from the texts.

Students will be able to identify the causes and

effects of American slavery.
Preservation of African culture in captivity
Ideas and concepts making American slavery a
cruel institution
Compare and contrast 18th Century American
slavery to slavery occurring in Modern
America.

Approaches to learning (ATL) (11)

Information and Media Literacy

Middle Years Programme /LDC Unit Planner

Reflection: Considering the planning, process and impact of the inquiry

Content (1)

Colorado Social Studies Standards

History
1. Formulate appropriate hypotheses about
United States history based on a variety of
historical sources and perspectives
Geography
2. Conflict and cooperation occur over space
and resources
Economics
1. Economic freedom, including free trade, is
important for economic growth
Civics
1. Analyze elements of continuity and
change in the United States government
and the role of citizens over time

Common Core LDC Standards

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.6-8.1
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.6-8.2
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.6-8.4
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.WHST.6-8.1b

Learning process (12)

Learning experiences/Progression
Students will be able to:

Identify the motives behind European exploration of the Americas.

Explain how Europeans established territorial claims in the Americas.

Compare the Spanish, French, English, and Dutch settlements in the Americas.

Describe the impact of European exploration and settlement of the Americas on indigenous peoples and West Africans.

Analyze primary and secondary sources to learn about various aspects of colonial life, including rights of colonists, religion,
education, and life for enslaved African Americans.

Identify the moral and political ideas of the Great Awakening that led to revolutionary fervor in the American colonies.

Summarize how Magna Carta and the English Bill of Rights affected colonists views of their own rights.

Identify the final causes, such as the Battle of Breeds Hill and Common Sense, that brought about independence.

Analyze the principles of government expressed in the Declaration of Independence.

Recognize how delegates to the Second Continental Congress were able to preserve the slave trade by suppressing
Jeffersons attempt to condemn it in the Declaration of Independence.

Compare the lives and opportunities of free blacks in the North with those of free blacks in the South.

Describe aspects of slave life and forms of resistance to slavery.

Describe and illustrate how slaves faced slavery and discrimination.

Formative assessment
Debrief
Journals
Periodic Checks of understanding on inquiry questions
Daily work
Differentiation
Levels Reading Texts
ELL Modified Reading
Modified products
o Shortened, Sentences Steams, Oral Presentations

o Videos

Resources (13)

A Young Peoples History of the United States

Primary Sources
Voices in American History
History Alive! American History
Teaching strategies
o Workshop Structure, Stations, Research, Debate, Presentations

Middle Years Programme /LDC Unit Planner