Unit 2: American Independence

E

Stage 1- Desired Results

Essential Questions

Enduring Understandings

Students understand that...

When is asserting your independence justifiable?

    • Governments act in their own self-interest.

    • The government should be responsive to its citizen’s needs, interests, and individual rights.

    • Individual views and actions can encourage/discourage change in government policies.

    • Change is accomplished through the effective management of one’s resources.

Common Core Standards and Performance Indicators:

Unifying Themes:

    • Geography, Humans and the Environment

    • Creation, Expansion and Interaction of Economic Systems

    • Development, Movement, and Interaction of Cultures

New York State Social Studies Framework

    • Social Studies Standards

    • Social Studies Standard 1: History of the United States and New York

    • Social Studies Standard 4: Economics

    • Social Studies Standard 5: Civics, Citizenship, and Government

    • Key Ideas:

      • 7.3

    • Conceptual Understandings:

    • 7.3a, 7.3b, 7.3c, 7.3d

    • Social Studies Practices:

    • Gathering, Using, and Interpreting Evidence

    • Chronological Reasoning

    • Comparison and Contextualization

    • Economics and Economic Systems

    • Geographic Reasoning

    • Civic Participation

Common Core Learning Standards for English Language Arts and Literacy

    • RHST: 6-8.1, 6-8.2, 6-8.4, 6-8.5, 6-8.6, 6-8.7, 6-8.9

    • WHST: 6-8.1, 6-8.2, 6-8.4, 6-8.6, 6-8.9, 6-8.10

    • SL: 7.1, 7.3, 7.4

Knowledge

Students know....

Skills

Students will be able to...

    • vocabulary connected to the American Revolution

    • how to read and analyze bar graphs

    • how mercantilism affected the development of the colonies

    • the short-term and long-term effects of the French and Indian War

    • the actions taken by British government (i.e. taxing the colonies)

    • the relationship between governments and its citizens

    • the commonly held beliefs of both Patriots and Loyalists

    • the events that led to the American War for Independence

    • the role of propaganda during the American Revolution

    • the reasoning behind the Declaration of Independence

    • the effects of the Battle of Saratoga

    • the role resources in achieving victory

    • the role of groups and individuals in shaping the course of our history

    • the terms of the Treaty of Paris (1783)

    • the geographic boundaries of the new nation

Key Vocabulary

  • boycott

  • petition

  • writ of assistance

  • repeal

  • blockade

  • patriot

  • loyalist

  • traitor

  • alliance

  • treaty

Key People/Terms/Events

  • French and Indian War

  • Stamp Act

  • Boston Tea Party

  • Continental Congress

  • Declaration of Independence

  • Lexington and Concord

  • Battle of Saratoga

  • Battles of Trenton and Princeton

  • Battle of Yorktown

  • George Washington

  • John Adams

  • Sam Adams

  • Benjamin Franklin

  • Thomas Jefferson

  • Marquis de Lafayette

  • Benedict Arnold

    • create a bar graph

    • create a multimedia presentation

    • compare and contrast multiple perspectives

    • put events in chronological order

    • identify the relationship between historical events

    • compare and contrast two documents

    • complete a graphic organizer

    • analyze and draw conclusions from images

    • participate in a Socratic Seminar

    • integrate information from several sources

    • state a claim and support it with textual evidence

    • write argumentative paragraphs

    • present their project to their peers

Stage 2- Assessment Evidence

Performance Task

Other Evidence

Stage 3- Related Lessons

These lessons are aligned with the unit goals. They are intended for center work, whole group and/or small group instruction. Lessons that meet the same objectives can be used in place of the ones below.

Technology and Resources