This was our first week back from spring break, and just before spring break began, we finished up our unit on Westward expansion. I usually follow up Westward Expansion with some Industrial Revolution and reform movements. However, I am running out of days and just need to focus on what is important with these final days of school. So, I decided to cover the Industrial Revolution with some differences between north and south and how they developed differently in terms of geography, their economies, and transportation. The essential question was: How was life different in the North from life in the South? This blog post will be very short and to the point as we covered the differences between North and South for much of the week.
Monday
On Monday, our first day back from spring break, I began class with a Fast and Curious on Gimkit. I had 12 questions related to differences between North and South. The class averages ranged from 42% all the way to 52%. After the Gimkit and some feedback, I then switched gears to the Repuzzler EduProtocol. I used some vocabulary words such as agrarian, Industrial revolution, cotton gin, and etc. I gave students 2 minutes to share the Repuzzler with each other and 12 minutes to complete all of the slides together as a group.
Next, we moved on to the Sketch and Tell-O where students read about differences between North and South in terms of geography. Recently, I have been reading Gene Tavernetti’s book called Teach FAST. In this book, he discusses using preview activities to help students use things they already know and relate them to what they are getting ready to learn. I really like the examples he used in the book and it gave me some ideas to use in my current unit. For example, with the students getting ready to read and learn about the differences of geography in terms of northern and southern United States, I had them think about the geography in their community of New Richmond, Ohio. This way, when they got ready to read about northern and southern United States geography, they would have an idea of the importance of geography and how it impacts the way of life. I had students read and as they read, I had them complete a Sketch and Tell-O on paper. I really like this because they act as sketch notes. Students had until the end of class to read and complete their Sketch and Tell-O and explanations of their sketches.
Tuesday – Wednesday
Tuesday through Wednesday was a rinse and repeat type of lesson. I began class with a Gimkit Fast and Curious, we followed that up with a Repuzzler, and then students thought about the economy of New Richmond and then read about the different economies between North and South. They completed a Sketch and Tell-O. Then on Wednesday, it was the same style of lesson: the Fast and Curious, the Repuzzler, and then reading about transportation of north and south and completing a Sketch and Tell-O. Everything that I have students complete in my class I want it to serve a purpose. In this case, I wanted the students to be able to use their Sketch and Tell-O drawings to help them complete a map. On the map, I wanted students to cut out their Sketch and Tell-O circles, organize them in terms of North and South, add some labels, and then answer a few questions.
Thursday
On Thursday, I got to school and printed off 11×17 papers with blank outlines of the United States in the middle of each paper. On the back, I copied instructions for making an annotated map. Students were to cut out their Sketch and Tell-O circles and organize them on a map into North and South. I didn’t want them to label the circles, and then I had them answer three questions on the map which were:
- What is the purpose of this map?
- What similarities and differences do you see?
- Create a claim about why the North and South developed differently, and provide at least two pieces of evidence from the map to support your claim.
Students really had to think about organizing and planning as they cut out circles. They had to think about organizing the circles on their map to make them fit and where they should go. Some students just started gluing stuff down and then realized that they ran out of room and didn’t glue things correctly. Some students cut out circles and forgot which ones went with North and South. I’m only 50 total minutes over two classes. We also did a Fast and Curious, and this time the class averages all ranged from 83% to 95%.
Friday
Finally, on Friday, some students still needed to finish their map so I gave them 20 minutes to finish up. Then, we began a new lesson on the cotton gin which will then get us into a lesson on slavery, abolitionism, and resistance to slavery. I put together a lesson on the cotton gin and I asked the students: What were the consequences of the cotton gin? I put together a mini lesson where students started off thinking about an invention that had unintended consequences. Next, they read about Eli Whitney and background information on him and the cotton gin and completed an ArchType for Square. Then, I had students read two primary sources about Eli Whitney and the cotton gin and do an Annotate and Tell. Afterwards, I had the students do a Graph and Tell as they looked at statistics about slavery. Finally, we wrapped up with a Sketch and Tell where they retold the consequences of the cotton gin from two points of view. We only began this lesson in class and didn’t get all the way through it.
Moler's Musings 