This week was one big jumbled hot mess. We began the week with remote learning Monday through Wednesday. Then the entire week was made to be remote learning. Student engagement was 42%. Like I mentioned above – one. big. jumbled. hot. mess.
With remote learning, I usually slow down what I’m doing. If I expect 1 class period in person for something to finish, I usually give 2 to 3 remote learning days. With that, here is the week we had:
Monday – empathy maps for the Whiskey Rebellion
Tuesday – Whiskey Rebellion assessment choice (blog, Facebook, or Yelp)
Wednesday – Whiskey Rebellion assessment choice (blog, Facebook, or Yelp)
Thursday – Begin Quest 3 – John Adams and the Sedition Act. (Quizizz, Edpuzzle)
Friday – John Adams and the Sedition Act (Quizizz, EdPuzzle, Primary Source Analysis)
Monday
The entire goal of my Quest unit on the early republic is to get students thinking from someone living during the 1790’s to 1820’s as a Democratic Republican or Federalist. Some of the bests blogs, Facebook profiles, or Yelp review activities happen when I can help students really place themselves in the moment. One of the best ways to have students place themselves in the moment is an Empathy Map. The empathy map I use came from EMC2Learning so I will not share it, but you can find empathy maps all over the internet.
I had students look back at Quest 1 and the character they created with their chosen political party. Next I had students write that party in the middle of the empathy map. This was followed by having students think about how a Federalist or Democratic Republican would view the whiskey tax, farmers rebelling, and the use of military force to end the rebellion. This type of mindset really helped students create some awesome blogs, Facebook profiles, and Yelp reviews for the final assessment for Quest 2. Here are some student created empathy map examples:
Tuesday and Wednesday
Tuesday and Wednesday were devoted to choosing and finishing a project choice for Quest 2 – the Whiskey Rebellion. The goal with these project choices is for the students to get into character and analyze decisions made by presidents. In this case, students would write about or review the decision made by George Washington to end the Whiskey Rebellion. The two most popular items students completed were the blog post or the Yelp review. Here are some examples:
Thursday and Friday
My hope going into THursday and Friday was that most students completed a Quest 2 blog, Facebook, or Yelp review. However, 42% of students completed one of those items. However, I sent emails, comments, or videos trying to increase work completion. I can’t hold up the rest of students for some. So, I posted Quest 3 – John Adams and the Sedition Act. I chose to only focus on the Sedition Act because it’s an act that is still relevant today. Plus, it’s an act that Federalists and Democratic Republicans can debate. Democratic Republicans felt John Adams signed the Sedition Act into law to silence their party. Federalists urged John Adams to go to war against France. This lesson has many interesting takes.
To begin this Quest, I chose an Edpuzzle video that fits perfectly with the lesson. The video discusses background information to the Sedition Act such as the tensions with France and the XYZ affair. I also had students take a Quizizz with the information they need to know with this quest.
The last activity I uploaded to the assignment was a primary source analysis with the Sedition Act. In this file I included a vocabulary sort with context clues and a reading of the Sedition Act. Then I have students creating a discussion between John Adams and Thomas Jefferson. Finally, students reflect on if a president should limit free speech.
Moler's Musings 