Project Two
Draft Lesson/Unit Plan Outline
Premise/Background:
This lesson plan
includes activities that all fit into a larger unit on the American frontier.
Previously, students studied the different Native American histories and cultures,
statehood, and the United States' history of expansion. Earlier in the unit,
students put together a PowerPoint presentation about a specific Native American
history and culture, chose a state to produce a poster describing its history,
and wrote an essay from the perspective of a settler leaving life in the east
to establish a new life in the western frontier.
Title:
The Homestead Act
Description/Summary:
In this lesson, students
travel back in time to the 1884 to discover what life was like for the Homesteaders
by creating a multimedia time capsule for students in 2004. Students will use
the Internet to research the Homestead Act, the various reasons for settler
migration to the West, the modes of travel to the frontier, and the materials
and tools used for daily survival on homesteads. Students will use the research
they gathered from a variety of Internet sources including pioneer journals
and historical documents to complete a final project. The final project requires
students to design and create a Homestead Act iMovie for students of the future
to learn about the Homestead Act. In the iMovie, different groups of students
will include information about the land available under the Homestead Act,
various methods of transportation, the supplies needed for the frontier, the
cost of the supplies in the year 1884, and a description of Homestead life.
Students will learn about the history of the American frontier.
Learner Analysis:
This History class
consists of 20 sixth grade students in a suburban school district. There is
a wide range of learning abilities, two students have learning disabilites.
Alignment Table:
| WI Model Academic Standards | Objectives | Practice | Assessment |
| Social Studies | |||
| B.8.7 Identify significant events and people in the major eras of the United States and world history | Students will plan and produce an iMovie that describes and discusses the Homestead Act and life on the frontier in the year 1884 | Student will write a treatment that incorporates their research on Homesteading | Treatment iMovie |
| B.8.12 Describe how history can be organized and analyzed using various criteria to group people and events chronologically, geographically, thematically, topically, and by issues. | Students will study the various aspects of frontier life, and apply their knowledge of U.S. history in order to create an iMovie. | Classroom and group discussion of the possible reasons for migration to the west. Classroom practice researching events in the early 1880's such as the Homestead Act. |
Story board iMovie |
| Information and Technology Literacy | |||
B.8.5 Record and organize information
|
Students will write a treatment and story board to organize their gathered information for their iMovie. | Classroom discussion of possible ways of assembling and arranging the information into an iMovie. | Treatment Story Board |
B.8.7 Communicate the results of research and inquiry in an appropriate format
|
Students will use the information they gathered from their research pertaining to their subject and synthesize it into an informative and entertaining iMovie. | Classroom discussion of intended audience and objectives. Classroom discussion of the types of information the students will want to include. |
Story Board iMovie |
| Draft Lesson/Unit Plan Outline | Treatment | Storyboard/Script | Final Lesson/Unit Plan Outline |
| Main | Project One | Project Two |
Date Updated
December 10, 2004
Contact me at Ballma@uwec.edu