PP104      LESSON PLAN

TITLE:  The Amistad Case

GRADE LEVEL:  7^TH and 8^th grades

CONTENT AREA:  US History/Journal Writing

HISTORICAL THINKING STANDARDS FOR GRADES 5-12:

• Historical comprehension – Student will be able to reconstruct the literal meaning of a historical passage.
• Historical Analysis and Interpretation – Student will be able to compare and contrast differing sets of ideas, values, and behaviors; differentiate between historical facts and historical interpretations; consider multiple perspectives; compare competing historical narratives.
• Historical Research Capabilities – Students will be able to obtain historical data.

US HISTORY CONTENT STANDARDS FOR GRADES 5-12:

• Era 4: Expansion and Reform (1801-1861) – Students will demonstrate understanding of the quick growth of slavery after 1800 and the varied experiences of African Americans under slavery; demonstrate an understanding of how the debates over slavery influenced politics and sectionalism.

OBJECTIVES:  Upon completing this lesson, students will be able to

• Hear and reconstruct the literal meaning of the assigned reading by clicking on a lexical item’s synonyms in a hyperlinked text.
• Recognize how spelling patterns and word structure reflect meaning and use by using a word study technique of sorting into categories a verb and its related noun (verb + suffix).  (Morphology)
• Recall and recognize the difference between active and passive voices.
• Identify all passive vocabulary in the reading.
• Change passive voice to active voice using sentences from the reading.
• Demonstrate their knowledge of the application of the two voices.
• Use the two voices in writing their newspaper articles for an 1841 newspaper describing the decision of the Supreme Court in the Amistad case.
• Recognize that most newspapers have political leanings by investigating newspapers from both the North and South.
• Research the provisions of the Congressional Act of March 19, 1819 for background information in writing their articles.

MATERIALS/RESOURCES

National Center for History in the Schools http://nchs.ucla.edu/standards/toc.html

The U.S. National Archives & Records Administration

              The Amistad Case:   http://www.archives.gov

         Assigned Reading:   http://Amistad-master.htm

         Quia Class Page:  http://www.quia.com/pages/eslhistorysol.html

ACTIVITIES AND PROCEDURES

Pre-activity:  Recall difference between the active and passive voices.

         In the active voice the SUBJECT comes before theVERB. (Action word)

                  Example:  Slave hunters abducted the Africans.

                        (Subject)

         It is the slave hunters who are doing the ACTION.

         In the passive voice the SUBJECT comes after the VERB.

                                                                                        (Subject)

                  Example:  The Africans were abducted by the slave hunters.

         The slave hunters are still doing the action, but they are placed after the verb in the passive construction.

NOTE:  The passive voice is formed by a form of the verb “to be” + a past participle.

PART I

1.   Read and reread the objectives which are posted on my blogspot.  If there are questions, make a comment.

2.   Read the assigned text on the Amistad Case at http://Amistad-master.htm.

·        Click on any word with “Shift Key down” once to hear the word and twice to see its definition.

Note:  The click feature only works with Microsoft Internet Explorer.

3.   Sort verbs into verb and associated noun categories.  Go to

4.   Go to http://www.quia.com/jg/731390.html to play some vocabulary games.

5.   Write ten sentences using any of the vocabulary from the reading and post them to my blogspot as a comment.  

6.   Go to the National Archives at the address above and click on documents.  There you will find several documents to help you better understand the case.  Review and take note of them.

PART II

Rationale:  Many history texts are written using the passive voice.

1.        Recall the examples of the passive and active voices.

2.      Look for examples of the passive in the reading and change them to the active voice.  I think there are 8 of them.  Post these sentence structure transformations to my blogspot as a comment.

3.      Take the quiz on active/passive voice at

4.      Research the provisions of the Congressional Act of March 19, 1819 for background information on writing your article.

5.      Research and note point of view of both northern and southern newspapers publishing in 1841 after the decision.

6.      Write an article for an 1841 northern or southern newspaper describing the Supreme Court’s decision in the Amistad Case.  Be sure to use both active and passive voices in your writing.

7.      Use the “who, what, where, when, and how” graphic organizer to outline ideas for your article.

8.      Submit completed articles to my blogspot.

9.      Check out my Quia Class Page for more information.

EVALUATION

Student blog comments, the ten sentences using new vocabulary, the successful sorting of verb plus its associated noun, the examples of passive voice from the reading, the test on active/passive voice, and the article writing will all be useful in determining whether students have understood the vocabulary and grammar concepts presented in these activities.