Christina

Christina's Lesson Plans :)

====1.1 – Demonstrate an understanding of significant events and themes in United States history.====
 * Content Standards**-

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4.Evaluate the relative influence of individual events that contributed to the American Revolution.=====


 * Student Learning Objectives-** SWBAT tell, in writing, how the Age of Enlightenment changed how people thought and encouraged the American Revolution.

SmartBoard Excerpt from //Two Treatise of Government// by John Locke Paper Pencils
 * Materials/Resources-**


 * Assessment-** Students will write about how the ideas of The Enlightenment effected how people thought about government and society, and how those ideas contributed to the American Revolution.


 * Initiation**- To demonstrate how things were before the Age of Enlightenment, I will ask students to do silly things (I might ask one to stand up whenever they are talking, and another to clap their hands every time I finish a sentence.) When students question why they need to do these things, I will respond with reasons such as "I said so" or "Don't question me! I am in charge!" and students will then be "punished" for questioning authority (they will need to stand in a corner, or sit on the floor instead of in a chair). I will then engage students in a discussion about how they felt about what just happened. Did they like being told what to do? How did it feel to be punished for asking questions? Is it okay to question authority?

Students will have some prior knowledge about key figures such as Locke, Hobbes, Montesquieu. I will have them read an excerpt from Locke's //Two Treatise of Government//:
 * Lesson Development-** As students discuss these questions, I will introduce the Age of Enlightenment, focusing on the American Enlightenment, to them. I will help students understand that in many countries before this period, if you criticized or questioned authority, you could be punished. Although this did not change suddenly, and people were still persecuted for speaking out, there was a gradual change in thought and people began talking about institutions, customs and morals. Students will come to understand that I represented the government, and they were the common people in the exercise during the initiation.

Since men hope to preserve their property by establishing a government, they will not want that government to destroy this objective. When legislators //(lawmakers)// try to destroy or take away the property of the people, or try to reduce them to slavery, they put themselves into a state of war with the people who can then refuse to obey the laws. When legislators try to gain or give someone else absolute power over lives, liberties, and property of the people, they abuse the power which the people had put into their hands. It is then the privilege of the people to establish a new legislature to provide for their safety and security. These principles also hold true for the executive who helps to make laws and carry them out.

Through questions, I will make sure students understand what he is saying, and we will talk about how this sounds familiar to them (idea of life, liberty and property, people have the privilege of revolting).I will reinforce students' prior knowledge on Hobbes, Montesquieu and Locke, and that they represented some of the main ideas of The Enlightenment (freedom, liberty, critical thinking about government). I will use the SmartBoard to create a web of ideas to help students make sense of the information. Students will then read an excerpt from the //Declaration of Independence//:

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness."

Using the SmartBoard, we will create a Venn Diagram as a class to show the similarities and differences between the //Declaration of Independence// and the //Two Treatise of Government//. We will talk about how they are very similar, and that the ideas from The Enlightenment in Europe spread through the colonies, including America, as well.


 * Closure-** I will ask students how The Enlightenment effected the way people thought about government and society. We will apply the ideas to the American Revolution by discussing how some of the ideas encouraged the Revolution.

Instead of writing, a student could dictate the effects to the teacher or a paraprofessional
 * Possible Modifications:** Students will first discuss ideas with the person next to them, and then share with the class (teacher can listen in on conversations, especially on shy students')

Sources: [] [|www.wikipedia.com] [] []