Wrapping up the Civil War and moving on to differences between the North and the South after the war, students used a compare/contrast graphic organizer to guide their analysis of several maps and graphs. Using this data, students were to draw conclusions about the strengths and weaknesses of each, such as inequalities or differences in industrial jobs; land value caused by supply, demand, and scarcity, geography, railway systems, and the impact of varying population on representation in the House of Representatives. This analysis engaged critical thinking and engaged students in gifted benchmarks applying or adapting generalizations [of change] to new situations or context and thinking and evaluating analytically.
In support of our Civil War studies, Ms. Klee’s classes utilized another gifted resource, Ten Sentences: The Gettysburg Address to analyze Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address. Only 10 sentences long, this powerful speech gave students an excellent opportunity to see how carefully Lincoln crafted his speech to be inclusive of both the North and South. They also marked places where they saw elements of persuasion they had studied in the gifted Persuasion from William and Mary.
Later in the month students analyzed another powerful speech, The Hypocrisy of American Slavery, by Frederick Douglass given on July 4th, 1852. Thick with metaphors and rich in vocabulary, the class was moved by the power of his words and the paradox of inviting him, an ex-slave, to celebrate freedom while so many remained slaves. To help make this challenging reading accessible to all reading levels in the classroom, students were able to choose which of three levels they chose to read.
As they read, they discussed the speech and what it said about slavery, the contradiction between the words and reality of the Declaration of Independence, and how fortunate it was that Douglass was taught to read and write at a time when it was illegal to do so. Students expressed very strong opinions at the end when asked if they felt the residents of Rochester were expecting this type of speech when they invited Frederick Douglass to help them celebrate the 4th of July. Expounding upon ideas and thinking and evaluating analytically were two of the gifted benchmarks and goals of this lesson. If you haven’t read this speech, you can read a brief biography and his speech here: http://www.historyplace.com/speeches/douglass.htm
In support of our Civil War studies, Ms. Klee’s classes utilized another gifted resource, Ten Sentences: The Gettysburg Address to analyze Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address. Only 10 sentences long, this powerful speech gave students an excellent opportunity to see how carefully Lincoln crafted his speech to be inclusive of both the North and South. They also marked places where they saw elements of persuasion they had studied in the gifted Persuasion from William and Mary.
Later in the month students analyzed another powerful speech, The Hypocrisy of American Slavery, by Frederick Douglass given on July 4th, 1852. Thick with metaphors and rich in vocabulary, the class was moved by the power of his words and the paradox of inviting him, an ex-slave, to celebrate freedom while so many remained slaves. To help make this challenging reading accessible to all reading levels in the classroom, students were able to choose which of three levels they chose to read.
As they read, they discussed the speech and what it said about slavery, the contradiction between the words and reality of the Declaration of Independence, and how fortunate it was that Douglass was taught to read and write at a time when it was illegal to do so. Students expressed very strong opinions at the end when asked if they felt the residents of Rochester were expecting this type of speech when they invited Frederick Douglass to help them celebrate the 4th of July. Expounding upon ideas and thinking and evaluating analytically were two of the gifted benchmarks and goals of this lesson. If you haven’t read this speech, you can read a brief biography and his speech here: http://www.historyplace.com/speeches/douglass.htm