#4140. American Resistance

History, level: Elementary
Posted Tue Apr 1 13:09:01 PST 2008 by Katherine Ingrao (Katherine Ingrao).
Wayne State Univesity, Detroit, USA
Materials Required: Jelly beans, powerpoint
Activity Time: 1 hour
Concepts Taught: Taxation and Boycotting

Lesson Plan Title: American Resistance
Objective:
• Students will be able to understand the concept of taxes.
• Students will be able to understand and relate to the concept of taxation with out representation.
• Students will be able to participate in a group discussion of the American Colonial Resistance.
Content:
Important Facts:
Tax: a burdensome charge, obligation, duty, or demand of money made by a government to its citizens.
The Stamp Act: passed by the British Parliament on March 22, 1765. The new tax was imposed on all American colonists on British goods such as playing cards and letters.
Intolerable Acts: a series of laws passed by the British Parliament in response to the Boston
Tea Party.
Boston Tea Party: In response to the placement of a tax on imported British tea, Colonists in Boston dressed as Native Americans and raided a ship and tossed all the tea on board into the Boston Harbor.
Benchmarks:
5 -- U3.1.2 Describe the causes and effects of events such as the Stamp Act, Boston Tea Party, the Intolerable Acts, and the Boston Massacre.
3.b.1 Students collaborate with classmates using a variety of technology tools to plan, organize, and create a group project.
Learning Resources and Materials:
Powerpoint presentation
Bag of Jelly Beans
Computer access
Development of Lesson:
Introduction:
Today we will be discussing the beginnings of the American Revolution. Before I begin with the discussion of taxation we will be doing a little exercise during the lesson. I will pass around my bag of Jelly Beans and each student will take 20 beans.
You are not to eat them until the end of the lesson. At different points during the lesson today I will be "taxing" you and you will hand back how ever many jelly beans I say you owe me. You will have no choice in this and it will be completely up to me who will be "taxed". At the end of the lesson we will have a group discussion about your thoughts on our exercise and then we will be doing powerpoint project.
Methods/Procedure:
1. Hand out Jelly beans
2. Explain the "taxing" exercise
3. Give Powerpoint presentation
4. Conduct group discussion by following questions on Powerpoint presentation
5. Partner up class
6. Assign Powerpoint project described in the Powerpoint presentation.
Accommodations/ Adaptations:
I have four special needs students that I needed to think about when preparing my lesson. One of my four students has a mild learning disability that limits his ability to concentrate for the same length of time as the average student. My powerpoint activity at the end of the lesson was made in such a way that it helps this student demonstrate his higher level thinking and performance. I also made it a partner project to give added support besides my support as teacher. This accommodation was made with all four of my special needs students in mind.
My second special needs student has limited speech abilities and so in our classroom we have an AAC device for her use. This machine helps make it possible for individuals with little or no speech to overcome their communication problems by enhancing their speaking capability. This device will assist my student in giving a part of her presentation that she makes with her partner and will allow her to participate in the group discussion.
My third special needs student is hearing impaired. To accommodate her hearing disability my classroom has been given a Frequency-Modulated (FM) Amplification Systems. This system creates a direct link between me wearing a microphone, and the student, who wears a hearing aid. The background noise is reduced and I can still move around the room but everything I tell to the class is specially magnified for my hearing impaired student.
My fourth special needs student is physically disabled and not able to use a standard computer keyboard. In order for him to be able to contribute to his group's project we have a special computer set up for him in the classroom that is touch screen capable. By having this accommodation on the computer this student will be able to participate in the creation of computer projects.
Assessment/Evaluation of Student Learning:
My class will be assessed and evaluated during the class discussion and by the quality and effort that they display in their final powerpoint project. The students will demonstrate to me their understanding of the lesson by their participation and comments made during our group discussion. They will also show their comprehension by giving strong reasons of support of the British or Americans in their projects.

Closure:
My students will be asked to present their projects to the class. They will be asked questions by their classmates as well as by me. These presentations will serve as a wrap up of our lesson.