Social Science8th Grade Interdisciplinary African and African
American Studies Quarter 4 Launch Lesson
THEME: Culture, Dignity, and Identity
CONCEPT: Africa, Us, and the WorldAfrican American in
Post-Reconstruction America: contributions and challenges in the
development of the global society.
CONTENT TOPIC: Investigating and researching the role of African
Americans in the transformation of America: from Reconstruction to
the Civil Rights Movement to the present through fiction and
nonfiction texts
UNIT TITLE: The Rise of America in the Modern World
Sample Student OutcomeStatementsStudents will be able to ---
with African and African American Studies ConnectionsStudents will
be able to --- from Social Science Planning Guides
Argue and/or Explain How both supporters and opponents of the
Civil Rights Movement used Cold War logic to support their
stances.Investigate and Research How Civil Rights issues affected
the UnitedStates image abroad.
Make Connections and Evaluate The impact of the ColdWar onthe
developmentof the Civil Rights Movement. Social Studies Literacy
Reading Skills Biographies, newspaper, photographs, letters,
speeches Document-based Analysis CCSS Literacy Writing Skills
Explanatory essay, focusing on argumentCCSS Speaking and Literacy
Skills Students will read and analyze short and extended fiction
and informational texts. Students will be able to write to texts
during and after reading short and extended texts.
Lesson Description: At the height of the Cold War, global
competition with the Soviet Union preoccupied the United States and
highlighted the situation of African Americans. In the Cold War
context, black struggles for freedom were largely denounced as
un-American. During the Cold War, the federal government funded
both white prosperity and black containment. Yet, African Americans
kept on pushing with organized political strategies and social
protest movements. In this introductory lesson, students will
research the connection between the Cold War and the Civil Rights
Movement. Students will read a variety of informational texts
including primary and secondary sources that examine the impact of
the Cold War on the development of the Civil Rights Movement.
Length of Lesson: 1 Day
Enduring Understanding1. Economic systems differ with respect to
level of stability, efficiency, freedom, security, and equality.2.
Politics: There is a dynamic interaction between power and
political structures. 3. Politics: Different political systems
structure and distribute power in distinct ways.4. History: Events
and actions of the past affect the present and the future.
Essential QuestionsGuiding Essential QuestionsI) How do culture
and identity influence who we are? II) How do time, culture and
history influence works of art and/or the advancement of science
and technology?III) What can I do to positively impact my
community?
Common Core Standards ReadingRH.6-8.8 Distinguish among fact,
opinion, and reasoned judgment in a text.RH.6-8.7 Integrate visual
information (e.g., in charts, graphs, photographs, videos, or maps)
with other information in print and digital texts.RH.6-8.9 Analyze
the relationship between a primary and secondary source on the same
topic.
WritingWHST.6-8.4 Produce clear and coherent writing in which
the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task,
purpose, and audience.WHST.6-8.5 With some guidance and support
from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by
planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach,
focusing on how well purpose and audience have been
addressed.WHST.6-8.6 Use technology, including the Internet, to
produce and publish writing and present the relationships between
information and ideas clearly and efficiently.WHST.6-8.7 Conduct
short research projects to answer a question (including a
self-generated question), drawing on several sources and generating
additional related, focused questions that allow for multiple
avenues of exploration.
Speaking and ListeningSL.8.4 Present claims and findings,
emphasizing salient points in a focused, coherent manner with
relevant evidence, sound valid reasoning, and well-chosen details;
use appropriate eye contact, adequate volume, and clear
pronunciation.SL.8.2 Analyze the purpose of information presented
in diverse media and formats(e.g., visually, quantitatively,
orally) and evaluate the motives (e.g., social, commercial,
political) behind its presentation.SL.8.5 Integrate multimedia and
visual displays into presentations to clarify information,
strengthen claims.
Cognitive SkillsExecutive functions Plan Flexibility: change
direction if not working; adopt multiple approaches Strategy use:
ability to reflect on strategy and select appropriate strategy
Thinking skills Reasoning about concrete items versus abstract
ideas Analyzing/evaluating arguments Developing a logical argument
Inductive reasoning: using specific examples/observations and
forming a more general principal Deductive reasoning: use stated
general premise to reason about specific examples Appreciation:
recognition of the value of something
ContentBuilding Knowledge Through Texts Internal and external
forces shape power dynamics. Power has shaped the social, cultural,
and economic scenarios of race, class, and gender and it continues
to shape presently. There are intended and unintended consequences
in the use of power in the United States. The struggle for power in
America is a competition of ideas and values with multiple
perspectives and conclusions.
Assessments
(F) FormativeFormative assessments for this launch lesson
consist of: Guided Reading and Guided Writing, frequent checks for
accomplishment of group and individual intermediate goals,
summaries of select portions of text, and quick-writes in response
to short, informational texts.
(S) SummativeResponds to writing prompt
Text/ResourcesShort Texts: Excerpt taken from An Appeal to the
World: A Statement of Denial of Human Rights to Minorities in the
Case of citizens of Negro Descent in the United States of America
and an Appeal to the United Nations for Redress by W.E.B. Du Bois,
1947 Excerpt taken from You and Segregation by Governor Herman
Talmadge, 1955 Excerpt from The FBI and Martin Luther King by David
J. Garrow, The Atlantic, July 2002 Excerpt from Malcolm Xs speech
to African Heads of State, July 17, 1964) Images: Careful, the
Walls Have Earshttp://eisenhowercivilrights.blogspot.com/Graphic
Organizers: Cartoon Analysis template:
http://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/worksheets/cartoon_analysis_worksheet.pdf
Document Analysis
template:http://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/worksheets/written_document_analysis_worksheet.pdf
Summarizing:
http://teacher.scholastic.com/reading/bestpractices/vocabulary/pdf/sr_allgo.pdf
Learning ActivitiesLesson Procedures1. Begin class by displaying
the political cartoon found on page L6 and having students answer
the following questions: What happened in Little Rock, Arkansas in
1957? How does the political cartoon portray the event?
2. Using the political cartoon, review the events of the early
Civil Rights Movement and to introduce the idea that these domestic
events did not take place in a bubble, but were linked to American
foreign affairs, specifically with the Soviet Union, its allies,
and non-aligned states. Use some of the following questions to
facilitate this brief discussion: What issignificance of the
splitscene? How does the cartoon portray Americans? How does it
portray the rest of the world? How do you think other nations (like
the Soviet Union) reacted to the Little Rock crisis? What is the
message of the political cartoon? How do you think the Civil Rights
Movement affected the Cold War?
3. Mention that the Little Rock Crisis made international
headlines, with most foreign newspapers showing great concern about
the violent reaction to integration.
4. Document Analysis: Distribute to each student a copy document
packet. Point out that this packet contains documents from various
individuals during the Cold War, labeled A-D.
5. Explain that one pair within each group will read documents A
and B and the other pair will read documents C and D. Ask students
to individually read through the two excerpts assigned to them and
complete a document analysis worksheet. Circulate around the
classroom to help students with their analysis.
6. Once partners have reached a consensus about the answers to
the questions posed on the document analysis worksheet, have groups
members share information from the excerpts, one excerpt per
student, in a round-robin format.
7. In quick-write, ask the students to respond to the following
prompt and then share their quick-writes with their group members:
Now that you have read documents, state your thoughts about who you
thought used the Cold War as a justification for advancing civil
rights and who saw the Civil Rights Movement as one organized by
Communists.Differentiated Strategies for Varied Learning
Profiles(Example) Informational texts will be available in a
variety of formats including audio, visual and tactilely. Tasks
will have components that allow for students to use visual, oral
and tactile as well as kinesthetic skills to express knowledge
gained. Students will be able to take ownership of tasks through
the use of Choice Boards and Learning Centers Supply the material
with the varied amount of print, varied text structures and
extensive graphic support based on students instructional levels
Use videos to enhance comprehension through auditory and visual
modes Allow brief, cooperative brainstorming to activate prior
knowledge and make predictions Adjust the complexity, abstractness,
type of response necessary, and connections required between topics
based on readiness and learning profile Establish clear criteria
for success Use wait time before taking student answers If
appropriate, give students a chance to talk to partners or write
down their answers before responding Provide clear guidelines for
group functioning that are taught in advance of group work and
consistently reinforced
Examples of possible pacing/mini-lesson topics for cooperative
learning Students will reflect and create a list of what creates a
good discussion Students will develop and practice skills of
listening well (active listening) Students will increase
participation through discussions Supply the material with the
varied amount of print, varied text structures and extensive
graphic support based on students instructional levels Use videos
to enhance comprehension through auditory and visual modes Allow
brief, cooperative brainstorming to activate prior knowledge and
make predictions Adjust the complexity, abstractness, type of
response necessary, and connections required between topics based
on readiness and learning profile Establish clear criteria for
success Use wait time before taking student answers If appropriate,
give students a chance to talk to partners or write down their
answers before responding Provide clear guidelines for group
functioning that are taught in advance of group work and
consistently reinforced
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, September 11, 1957.
Document AW.E.B. Du Bois, An Appeal to the World: A Statement of
Denial of Human Rights to Minorities in the Case of citizens of
Negro Descent in the United States of America and an Appeal to the
United Nations for Redress, 1947.
We appeal to the world to witness that this [racist] attitude of
America is far more dangerous to mankind than the Atom bombas long
as Great Britain and the United States profess democracy with one
hand and deny it to millions with the other, they convince none of
their sincerity least of all themselves. Therefore, Peoples of the
World, we American Negroes appeal to you; our treatment in America
is not merely an internal question of the Unity States. It is a
basic problem of humanity; of democracy; of discrimination because
of race and color; and as suck it demands your attention and
action. No nation is so great that the world can afford to let it
continue to be deliberately unjust, cruel and unfair toward its own
citizens.
Document BGovernor Herman Talmadge, You and Segregation, 1955.
For over a decade now, the American people have been
undergoingvicious and dangerous brainwashing [directed by
international communists]How many times have you read or heard
this: What will the Reds say if we dont do this? or What will
Communist newspaper Pravda print about the United States because we
do this or that. In some cases we have shaped our national
policyThese are the answers I give when asked What will Communists
say about the stand Southerners take on racial segregation? or
Wouldnt the end of segregation stop Moscow and Pravda from
slandering the United States? Who cares what the Communists say!
Only one group stands to gain [from]the attacks on the Bill of
Rights [i.e. Brown v Board of Education.]the Communist party and
its fellow-travelers.
Document CDavid J. Garrow, The FBI and Martin Luther King, The
Atlantic, July 2002.The transcripts from the wiretaps on King and
his advisers also answer a question that came to preoccupy
President Lyndon Johnson just as it had the Kennedy brothers and J.
Edgar Hoover: Was Martin Luther King Jr. any kind of Communist
sympathizer? Of course notbut the FBI never passed along to Johnson
or to anyone else what King said to Bayard Rustin one day in early
May of 1965, when the SCLC was tussling with the Student Nonviolent
Coordinating Committee over a public statement proclaiming movement
unity: "There are things I wanted to say renouncing Communism in
theory but they would not go along with it. We wanted to say that
it was an alien philosophy contrary to us but they wouldn't go
along with it." Instead the FBI continued to distribute utterly
misleading reports that declared just the opposite; as one newly
released CIA summary from just a few weeks before King's death
asserts, "According to the FBI, Dr. King is regarded in Communist
circles as 'a genuine Marxist-Leninist who is following the
Marxist-Leninist line.'"
Document DMalcolm X to African Heads of State, Addis Ababa, July
17, 1964.Many of you have been led to believe that the much
publicized, recently passed civil-rights bill is a sign that
America is making a sincere effort to correct the injustices we
have suffered there. This propaganda maneuver is part of her deceit
and trickery to keep the African nations from condemning her racist
practices before the United Nations, as you are now doing as
regards the same practices of South Africa.
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