History 420 - Dr. Gayle Olson-Raymer

 Planning Lessons - How do we research, design, amd teach historical content?

Introduction: We have now come to the practical part of this discussion - how to research, design, and teach historical content. For the next few days, we are going to focus on how to teach content.

Discussion Goals:

• To discuss how to create the content for a good history lesson.
• To brainstorm about hooks.
• To understand how to use the lesson plan template for this course..
• To provide an example of a well-designed lesson plan.
• To explain the research and lesson plan assignment.
• To assess our responses to Assignment #1 - Teaching with Podcasts

Goal #1: To discuss how to create the content for a good history lesson.

Getting Started on Your Lesson Plan

1.     Begin with a broad topic.  For example, you have to write a lesson plan on the 1920s.

• Read related chapter(s) in a good university-level textbook.
• Read the related chapter in your students' textbook.
• Consult a reliable Internet source for further information on your topic.
• If time permits, consult some primary and secondary sources on your topic.
• While reading all of your sources, jot down some issues that interest you and that you may want to teach.

2.    Think about how the topic and your issues fit into the content standards for California -California History Standards at http://www.cde.ca.gov/be/st/ss/ . Scroll down to the middle of the page and click on History-Social Science, Adopted October 1998 (PDF). Find the standards for Grade 11. Your topic is the 1920s and you can find an easy fit with Standard 11.5 - “Students analyze the major political, social, economic, technological, and cultural developments of the 1920s.”

• Find a fit between your topic and the Standards.  Sometimes you will have to manipulate your topic and the Standards to find a fit.  Sometimes, your topic will not fit one of major standards, but rather it will match some of the issues.  If you have a subject assignment - like the 1920s, then you already have issues determined for you.
• Determine which sub-topics/issues are of particular interest to you.  Which do you already know a great deal about?  Which would you like to learn more about? Which do you think would be of interest to your students - as well as relevant to their lives today?  For instance, let’s say that of all the topics dealing with the 1920s, you are most interested in the Ku Klux Klan, the Harlem Renaissance, and how the mass production of the automobile changed American life.  These should form the core of what you will be teaching for this unit.

3.     Research your selected topic and  issues.

• Read more primary and secondary sources - a book, article, poem, letters, speeches, or historical novel about your topic and issues.  Take notes for use in your lesson plan.
• See a movie(s) and/or listen to music related to your topics.  This should be a pleasurable experience - something you do to relax and enjoy.  For instance, for the 1920s, you could watch Ragtime with your friends or family and/or listen to music from the Harlem Renaissance.
• Third, consult further resources - books, primary documents, Internet, etc. - to fill in spots where your information is scanty or incomplete.  

4.   Determine how your topic and issues fit into one or more of your overall course themes. For instance, the course theme that you decide to illustrate should be the one related to economics. Possible themes are: Economic interests shape our society; The economy shapes our political and social lives; What goes up must come down; Money makes the world go round. Make sure that you make the connection in your mind - and then in your lesson - between your topics and themes. 

5. Determine the "bottom line" concepts/big ideas you want emphasize in your lesson. 

• For instance, for the 1920s you may want students to study the economic realities of the period and understand the major consequences of ignoring such economic realities - the Stock Market Crash of 1929 and the Great Depression and to compare and contrast the economic realities of the 1920s with those today and then determine why the 1920s legacy is such an important factor in contemporary society.

6.  Develop a strong "hook" for your lesson and a way to transition from the hook into your lesson content. A hook is a 2-10 minute activity that begins each class and is designed to hook our students' attention and keep them focused throughout the lesson. Possible hooks include documentary film clips; political cartoons; journal writes on provocative topics to be discussed; YouTube videos; demonstrations; a contemporary account of a historical concept. Your hook can often make or break your entire lesson. For a fascinating, one-day hook to introduce WWI, click here.

7. Think about how you want to present your information.  Once you have a good understanding of the topics and your themes, you can begin to think about how you will teach the historical content. 

• Write down all the content you want your students to understand.
• Decide how you will present the information - how much lecture/discussion will you use? 
• You will combine some lecture/discussion with various methods. You will have to explain each of these as they arise throughout the lesson. (A wide variety of teaching methods will be discussed in detail throughout the course.)

8. Decide how you will conclude your lesson in a way that emphasizes your overall theme(s).

9.  Decide how you will assess your lesson in a way that demonstrates that your students understood the contents. (Assessments will be discussed throughout the course)

• Introduction to racism - http://users.humboldt.edu/ogayle/hist420/DouglassRacePhotos.html. Explain that these photos were taken in the 1840s and used by Frederick Douglass in his anti-slavery campaign.

  Methods Discussion: The Opinion and Evidence Chart below has students first write what they think about their topic - their opinion. Then, they need to use 2-3 pieces of evidence to support their thinking.

  Opinion: What do I think?	Evidence: What evidence supports my opinion?

  • Take out a piece of paper. and draw the above chart. Write your name at the top and then write "Opinion and Evidence Chart."
  • In the Opinion column, write the answer to this questions: Who are the people in these photos and what are they doing?
  • In the Evidence column, write down 2-3 pieces of evidence found in the photos to support your opinion. 
  • Be sure to keep your "Opinions and Evidence Chart" method activity. It will go into your Portfolio.

  To guide you in the next part of this hook on racism, go to http://users.humboldt.edu/ogayle/hist420/RacismHook.html

• Introduction to geography or a unit on Afghanistan. This cartoon is one of the saddest, but unfortunately, accurate statements about the American knowledge of geography. It appeared right after the United States declared war on the al Qaeda and the Taliban. How and why is it an excellent hook?

• Introduction to U.S. History https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOQvVrDWuIM

• Introduction to Presidential elections - http://metrocosm.com/us-presidential-elections/

• Law Enforcement - The Guardian's "Map of Police Deaths" at http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2015/jun/01/the-counted-police-killings-us-database#

• Introduction to Human Rights - "The Story of Human Rights" at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oh3BbLk5UIQ

Methods Discussion: It's time to Brainstorm.

1. Get in to two groups of 5-6 each.
2. Take 10 minutes to come up with a good introductory hook to begin the topic of Manifest Destiny.
3. Elect a spokesperson to share your group's hook with the entire class.

1. Research Topic Selection and completion of Research Worksheet (20 points) due on September 27th. Click here to access the worksheet.
2. Research Historiography and completion of Brief Historiography Worksheet (30 points) due on October 6th. Click here to access the worksheet.
3. Research Paper (50 points) due on October 18th
   • Your paper must be no longer than 5 typewritten, grammatically correct pages. Your paper must incorporate the following four components:
     • A discussion of the thesis upon which you originally based your research.
     • A comparison of the differing interpretations of your topic that you researched from at least 2 different sources.
     • Your interpretation of the topic based on evidence gained from your 2 different sources.
     • A concluding statement about how and why your original thesis did or did not change after conducting your research.

1. Lesson Plan Worksheet completion (20 points) due on October 25th. Click here to access the worksheet.
2. First draft of lesson plan (50 points) due no late than November 17th. You will each make a 45-minute appointment with your professor during the week of November 11-18th so you can have a one-on-one discussion of your first draft. NOTE - THIS FIRST DRAFT MEANS YOU MUST ADDRESS ALL REQUIRED COMPONENTS OF THE LESSON PLAN BUT THEY CAN STILL BE IN A DEVELOPING STAGE.
3. Final lesson plan (50 points) is due no later than December 1st. You will each make a 60-minute appointment with your professor between November 28-December 2nd so you can have a one-on-one discussion of your final draft. Please note that with your final lesson plan, you must include the first draft with your professor's comments.