grade level lesson topic sc standards and including ...palmetto.library.cofc.edu/whycw_4th.pdf ·...

Lesson Topic Events Leading to the American Revolution

SC Standards and

Indicators

4-6.3 Explain the specific events and issues that led to the Civil War,

including sectionalism, slavery in the territories, states’ rights, the

presidential election of 1860, and secession.

Common Core

Strategy(ies)

addressed

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.4.3 Explain events, procedures, ideas, or concepts in a

historical, scientific, or technical text, including what happened and why,

based on specific information in the text.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.4.5 Describe the overall structure (e.g., chronology,

comparison, cause/effect, problem/solution) of events, ideas, concepts, or

information in a text or part of a text.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.4.9 Integrate information from two texts on the same

topic in order to write or speak about the subject knowledgeably.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.4.6 With some guidance and support from adults, use

technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing as well as

to interact and collaborate with others; demonstrate sufficient command of

keyboarding skills to type a minimum of one page in a single sitting.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.4.8 Recall relevant information from experiences or

gather relevant information from print and digital sources; take notes and

categorize information, and provide a list of sources.

Academic

Vocabulary

Missouri Compromise

fugitive slave laws

annexation

Compromise of 1850

Kansas-Nebraska Act

Sectionalism

states' rights

free-soil

plurality

secede

Confederacy

Lesson Materials

Needed (attached at

end of lesson)

• Attachments 1-9.

• Internet access for students.

Lesson Title Why did we have a Civil

War?

Teacher Lisa Stewart

Grade Level 4 Duration of Lesson Approximately five 45

minute class periods

Content Narrative (What is the background

information that needs to

be taught to understand

the context of the lesson?

Be sure to include

necessary citations)

Students should know how the events related to westward expansion led to the Civil War, including the Missouri Compromise, the fugitive slave laws, the annexation of Texas, the

Compromise of 1850, the Kansas-Nebraska Act, and the Dred Scott

decision (4-5.5). Sectionalism meant that the interest of each section of

the country, the North or the South, was more important to the people

of that region than the interest of the country as a whole. Sectionalism

was the result of growing cultural and economic differences between

regions (4- 6.1) particularly their differences over the issues of slavery in

the western territories.

The Northern and Southern sections of the country also had different

philosophies about the power of the federal government. Farmers and

plantation owners, usually in the South, supported the idea of states'

rights, in which the authority rests with the states, and they believed

a government closer to the people was easier to influence. Southerners

adopted this as a way to protect slavery. They feared that the federal

government might take away the right to own slaves even though the

federal government only had the power to limit the spread of slavery

into the territories like the Northwest Ordinance and Missouri

Compromise and could not affect the states where it was already

established. The North recognized the authority of the national

government. This difference in views had its roots in the early national

period with the inception of the two-party system (Jeffersonian vs.

Hamiltonian 4-4.5) and the deep philosophical differences about the

structure and power of the federal system is one of the issues that led to

the Civil War.

The presidential election of 1860 brought sectional conflict to the

breaking point. The new Republican Party (1856) opposed the

expansion of slavery into the territories (a concept known as free-soil)

and nominated the little-known Abraham Lincoln as their candidate. The

southern states feared the election of Lincoln as a Republican, seen as an

abolitionist party, despite the fact that his 'free soil' position on slavery in

the territories was well known (that it should not expand into the

territories, but was legally established in areas where it already existed).

Lincoln's stated priority was upholding the federal Union. In an

atmosphere of heightened sectional distrust, however, an accurate

understanding of the candidates' positions and what could or couldn't be

legally achieved in office by one branch of the federal government was

greatly biased. None of the four candidates won a majority of the votes,

but Lincoln won a plurality and thus enough electoral votes to become

the next president. Claiming that they were protecting states' rights and

their way of life, with a few months of the election and prior to the

inauguration, seven of the southern states, led by South Carolina seceded

from the Union. An additional four states seceded after the firing on Fort

Sumter in April, 1861.

As a result of this secession, the newly-seceded states declared that they

were a new country named the Confederate States of American (CSA) or

the Confederacy. They quickly wrote a constitution that endorsed both

slavery and states' rights and elected Jefferson Davis as their president.

When the war began in at Fort Sumter in 1861, neither the Union nor the

Confederacy entered the war with any intention or desire to change the

status of African Americans.

Taken from: South Carolina Social Studies Standards, 4th

Grade Support

Documents

Lesson Set

Content Objective(s) Explain the specific events and issues that led to the Civil War,

including sectionalism, slavery in the territories, states' rights, the

presidential election of 1860, and secession using graphics and text.

Literacy Objective(s)

Explain events, procedures, ideas, or concepts in a historical including what

happened and why, using graphics and text.

Lesson Importance Identify and explain cause-and-effect relationships.

Connections to prior

and future learning

Previously, students were asked to explain the reasons for South Carolina's

secession from the Union, including the concept of states' rights (3-4.3). In

grade eight and high school, students

will analyze key issues that led to South Carolina's secession from the Union,

including the extension of slavery and the compromises over westward

expansion, the Kansas-Nebraska Act, the Dred Scott decision, and the election

of 1860 (8-4.3). They will also evaluate arguments and the relative importance

of political events and the issues of states' rights and slavery (8-4.4) that

divided the nation and led to the Civil War (USHC-3.1).

Taken from: South Carolina Social Studies Standards, 4th

Grade Support

Documents

Anticipatory Set/

Hook (Engage)

• Share a comic book or graphic novel about the American Civil War with

your students. Suggestions can be found in attachment 2.

• Discuss how the graphics enhance ideas and understanding.

• Discuss the use of dialogue as a means of telling a story.

Skill Development

Initial “explain” portion of the lesson. Introduce vocabulary, explain/demonstrate/model the skill

required for the literacy objective, introduce content components.

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

the guided practice activity.

Introduce content

components

Share The American Civil War: The Causes of War video available from

Discovery Education: http://app.discoveryeducation.com.

Stop the video frequently to discuss important points and to allow students to

take notes.

“I do”

Skill from objective introduce/explain/model

• If necessary, demonstrate using the Strip Designer App on iPad. Examples

are provided in Attachment 3.

• Review sources for information and images related to historical events

leading up to the Civil War. Create a list of appropriate resources. See

Attachment 4.

Guided Practice This is the inquiry portion of the lesson, student-centered & often cooperative learning strategies

used, teacher acting as facilitator, also known as Explore.

“We do”

Activity Description Include student “explore”

components and

opportunities for them to

explain their learning.

• Work with students to discuss criteria for comic strip. An example is

provided in Attachment 5.

• Working pairs or alone, students create a timeline for their comic.

• Using recommended resources, students find images to use in comic strip.

• Students add text to graphics to explain the events.

Checking for

Understanding-

“Informal”

Assessment

• Check outlines for required information.

Closure Teacher will re-visit content and answer students’ questions developed during the Guided Practice

component. Summarize the lesson, clarify content, and revisit content and literacy objectives.

Content Solidified • Students share comic strips with the class.

Independent Practice “You Do” Peer evaluation of other comic strips. (Attachment 6)

Summative/ “Formal” Assessment

Assessment

Students complete self-assessment using criteria list developed by the class.

(Attachment 7)

Differentiation

During Lesson Students will be directed to different websites depending on their individual

reading levels.

Assessment The level of detail required in comic strip will vary according to student

abilities.

Reflection

Lesson Reflection (What went well in the

lesson? What might you

do differently the next

time you teach it?

Evaluate the success of

the lesson)

We have just received our class set of iPads and this was our first project. As

the students (and their teacher) become more proficient at using the iPads,

this lesson will become easier to conduct. by

students will be able to accomplish tasks such as these will little instruction.

Materials Needed for Lesson

Lesson Materials and

Handouts

• iPads

• Strip Designer App

• Internet access

• Comic or graphic novel about the

• Attachments

Attachment 1

Comic strip maker available at iT Strip DesignerThis is a comic strip creation including page templates.

Strip

speech bubbles and additional effect stickers and you

have a professional looking comic or graphic novel.

You can even paint on the photos or draw sketches

from scratch.



this lesson will become easier to conduct. by this time of the year, I suspect


Materials Needed for Lesson

iPads

Strip Designer App

Internet access

Comic or graphic novel about the Civil War

Attachments

omic strip maker available at iTunes app for $2.99

Strip Designer This is a comic strip creation including page templates.

Strip Designer lets you add photos and a couple of




from scratch.



this time of the year, I suspect


This is a comic strip creation including page templates.

lets you add photos and a couple of




Attachment 2

Civil War comic available

http://www.ezcomics.com/site/sites/all/themes/ezcomics_new/view

_comics.php?viewid=80

Harriet Tubman graphic novel

http://www.myon.com

Civil War comic available on Education Made Easy for free.


_comics.php?viewid=80

Harriet Tubman graphic novel available from myon reader

http://www.myon.com

on Education Made Easy for free.


available from myon reader

Attachment 3

Example of student created comic.

Example of student created comic.

Attachment 4

Resources for researching the causes of the American Civil War

http://www.historynet.com/causes-of-the-civil-war

http://www.pbs.org/opb/historydetectives/feature/causes-of-the-civil-war/

http://www.brainpop.com/socialstudies/ushistory/civilwarcauses/preview.weml

http://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/document/missouri-compromise/

http://www.socialstudiesforkids.com/subjects/civilwar.htm

http://www.tolerance.org/magazine/number-40-fall-2011/feature/getting-civil-

war-right

Attachment 5

Example of Comic Criteria List

• describe at least 3 different compromises

• have at least 10 boxes

• include Henry Clay, John C. Calhoun, and Abraham

Lincoln

• told in the correct order

• graphics enhance the story

Attachment 6

Peer Assessment

Attachment 7

Self Assessment

Peer Assessment

3 Glows and a Grow

I liked…

I liked…

I liked…

Next time, you should …

Self Assessment

Use the criteria list to answer the questions.

1. Describe how you met each piece of criteria.

2. In which area is your comic weakest? How could you improve it?

3. What are the three most important things you learned from this activity?