Unit Design Packet

Brief Summary of  Unit

this is a FAMILIARIZATION rather than a MASTERY unit.. everything in this unit will be gone over again in detail during the year and students will not be required or expected to master the concepts that will be flung past them at a breakneck pace during this initial two week unit. What will be expected is an understanding of what those skills *will be* , the REASONS they will need them iin life,   an ability to use some of them, AND a vague familiarity with the contents of the various timelines and their meanings and interrelations.... this a is a foundation and evaluation unit , so that while a vast number of TEKS are listed, students are expected to be "brushed" by them , rather than to have mastered them.

This unit will also serve to evaluate students knowledge of history at the beginning of the class to help guide individual instruction and to serve as a measure of teaching effectiveness when compared against their closing "book end" unit performance.

2) Events that become history have shaped who you are and will affect you and those you care about

3) Knowledge of history can help you make better decisions

4) Anyone's ignorance is everyone's danger.

2) Determining and evaluating causality theories

3) setting realistic expectations of your society (and how to contribute to keeping them)

4) recognizing and choosing societal expectations of you (and recognizing  your options/choices and consequences)

1) Students will have a clear idea of my  expectations and of what lies before them in this class

2) Students will have a clear idea of the understandings that I will be attempting to convey to them

3) Students will have a functional usage of  Social studies Skills

4) Students will have coarse knowledge of Geography and how it relates to history

5) Students will have coarse familiarity with the Timeline of Culture and history

6) Students will have coarse familiarity with the Technology and Economics timeline

7) Students will have coarse familiarity with the Government/Org/Law/Citizenship/Economics Timeline

8)Students will be able to use their social studies skills to relate events from different timelines

9) Students will begin familiarization with Enduring themes and Conflicts in history (EXAMPLES)

Learning Skills 

PREP Pre Reading Plan: 

1) Brainsstorming

2) Focus/Extend

3) Discussion

ReQuest: Reciprocal Questioning to Read for Comprehension 

1)     Pre-read the text and prepare GOOD questions (several articles have models of questions)

2)     Instruct the students to read a short passage and re-read along with them

3)     Have the students ask you questions on the short passage

4)     Ask the students good questions about the passage (modeling good questioning)

 a)  If applicable to the passage,   Nominate/ have students nominate a word for vocabulary lists

        1)ask what students *think* the word means

        2) identify the importance of the word

Repeat steps 2 through 5.

6) return to vocabulary list and remove and strike a consensus of which to discard and which to take home an study.

 Group Mapping Activity: Extension By Writing and Assessment Tool.

1) prepare "dummy maps"

2)Instruct students to map their perceptions

3) pair share map discussion

4) Model and encourage questions that promotes student extension of thinking.

5) review dummy maps to gains a better insight as to the class.

Parents Guide

Timelines

Map Reading

Statistics

source documents

Historical Method

Instructional Minutes:

1-5   

Organization/old business  

6-15   

Briefing 

16-35   

Activity

35-45   

Evaluation

Closing activities

Instructional Minutes:

1-5   

Organization/old business  

6-15   

Briefing 

16-35   

Activity

35-45   

Evaluation

Closing activities

Explain and engage the four understandings (see above)

Set their expectations and explain the course and the unit in outline. explain grading system, and waypoints in the course

Initial overview of Social Studies Skills from TEKS as follows...

(25)  Social studies skills. The student applies critical-thinking skills to organize and use information acquired from a variety of sources including electronic technology. The student is expected to:

(C)  analyze information by sequencing, categorizing, identifying cause-and-effect relationships, comparing, contrasting, finding the main idea, summarizing, making generalizations and predictions, and drawing inferences and conclusions;

(D)  explain and apply different methods that historians use to interpret the past, including the use of primary and secondary sources, points of view, frames of reference, and historical context;

(E)  use the process of historical inquiry to research, interpret, and use multiple sources of evidence;

(F)  evaluate the validity of a source based on language, corroboration with other sources, and information about the author;

(G)  identify bias in written, oral, and visual material;

(H)  support a point of view on a social studies issue or event; and

(I)  use appropriate mathematical skills to interpret social studies information such as maps and graphs.

11(B)  pose and answer questions about geographic distributions and patterns in world history shown on maps, graphs, charts, models, and databases.

12(A)  locate places and regions of historical significance such as the Indus, Nile, Tigris and Euphrates, and Yellow (Huang He) river valleys and describe their physical and human characteristics

(1)  History. The student understands traditional historical points of reference in world history. The student is expected to:

(A)  identify the major eras in world history and describe their defining characteristics;

(C)  apply absolute and relative chronology through the sequencing of significant individuals, events, and time periods; and

 

(2)  History. The student understands how the present relates to the past. The student is expected to:

(A)  identify elements in a contemporary situation that parallel a historical situation; and

(B)  describe variables in a contemporary situation that could result in different outcomes.

(19)  Culture. The student understands the history and relevance of major religious and philosophical traditions. The student is expected to:

(20)  Culture. The student understands the relationship between the arts and the times during which they were created. The student is expected to:

(B)  analyze examples of how art, architecture, literature, music, and drama reflect the history of cultures in which they are produced; and

(21)  Culture. The student understands the roles of women, children, and families in different historical cultures. The student is expected to:

(22)  Culture. The student understands how the development of ideas has influenced institutions and societies. The student is expected to:

(13)  Economics. The student understands the impact of the the Neolithic agricultural revolution(s) on humanity and the development of the first civilizations. The student is expected to:

(A)  identify important changes in human life caused by the Neolithic agricultural revolution(s); and

(14)  Economics. The student understands the historic origins of contemporary economic systems. The student is expected to:

(23)  Science, technology, and society. The student understands how major scientific and mathematical discoveries and technological innovations have affected societies throughout history. The student is expected to:

(15)  Government. The student understands the historical antecedents of contemporary political systems. The student is expected to:

(A)  explain the impact of parliamentary and constitutional systems of government on significant world political developments;

(B)  define and give examples of different political systems, past and present;

(C)  explain the impact of American political ideas on significant world political developments; and

(D)  apply knowledge of political systems to make decisions about contemporary issues and events.

(16)  Government. The student understands the process by which democratic-republican government evolved. The student is expected to:

(A)  trace the process by which democratic-republican government evolved from its beginnings in classical Greece and Rome, through developments in England, and continuing with the Enlightenment; and

(17)  Citizenship. The student understands the significance of political choices and decisions made by individuals, groups, and nations throughout history. The student is expected to:

(A)  evaluate political choices and decisions that individuals, groups, and nations have made in the past, taking into account historical context, and apply this knowledge to the analysis of choices and decisions faced by contemporary societies; and

(B)  describe the different roles of citizens and noncitizens in historical cultures, especially as the roles pertain to civic participation.

(18)  Citizenship. The student understands the historical development of significant legal and political concepts, including ideas about rights, republicanism, constitutionalism, and democracy. The student is expected to:

(A)  trace the historical development of the rule of law and rights and responsibilities, beginning in the ancient world and continuing to the beginning of the first modern constitutional republics;

Love and Hate 

(example: movements such as Nazism are more vehement in the hate of what they oppose, than movements like American independence which did not propose to "hate" England, but to "love" a particular set of ideals)

Right and Might

(Example: German theorists at the turn of the century postulated that the power of the superior over the inferior gave them a right and duty to lead, whereas "enlightenment" and "age of reason" philosophers defined right very differently)

centralization and Decentralization

Executive and Representative 

Church and State

Economic Boom and Bust ("bubbles" , "Corrections", depressions and recessions)

Correlates of War and TYPES of wars, their initiation and their endings...

Systems of class and leadership selection (who gets what privileges and how)

pop culture, change, and generational conflict

popular movements

Emancipation as a long term general thrust of history

Agricultural improvement=increased population=new social organization=expansion

Carrying capacity