Runninghead:LESSONPLAN:AMERICANREVOULTIONREVISITED

LessonPlan:AmericanRevolutionRevisited
ToniA.Bell
UniversityofSouthernCalifornia
MultiliteraciesPedagogyforLanguageTeachingandLearning
EDUC506T
Dr.EbonyCain
July21,2014
LessonPlan:AmericanRevolutionRevisited
In this English-as-a-second language (ESL) lesson plan, students will be taught using a
combination of sociocultural and cognitive theory. Students will be given a historical overview
of the American Revolution from the perspective of three overlooked groups: British loyalists,
enslaved and free Africans, and Native Americans. Traditionally, students are taught that
everyone in the United States was united in the drive towards American independence but this
was not the case. The lesson assumes that most students have only learned a singular viewpoint
of the American Revolution. However, if necessary, the teacher will provide the students a quick
overview of the American Revolution and the founding of the United States. The lesson will also

LESSONPLAN:AMERICANREVOULTIONREVISITED
incorporate several components of multiliteracies and new media. There will be a heavy
emphasis on carefully scaffolded group work. Since the students are refugees, they will discuss
how their own journey to the United States compares and contrasts with that of the four groups
presented. Prior to the lesson, students will be asked to reflect on and write a two to three page
about their own experiences as refugees coming to the United States. This essay will be used as
reference for the final project, which includes the students writing their own personal
Declarations of Independence.
Lesson Plan Context
Setting

The high needs community college has 24 percent of students who come from immigrant
populations. Ten percent are classified as refugees and are protected under the in the
California Refugee Resettlement Program (RRP) and the Cuban Haitian Entrant Program
which are both administered by the Child Care and Refugee Programs of the California
Department of Social Services.

The population includes several classes of refugees: refugees, Cuban an Haitian entrants,
asylees, Amerasians, human trafficking victims, and Afghan and Iraqi special immigrants.
(CSS, 2010)

Most refugees receive funds from the Refugee School Impact Grant or other measures of
financial aid.

There is an average of twenty-five students per class.

Most students work full-time and/or are parents.

LESSONPLAN:AMERICANREVOULTIONREVISITED
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Students are ESL Advanced Low Level. These students have, the ability to use English
to function effectively in familiar and unfamiliar social situations and familiar work
situations (California Department of Education 1992, p. 18). Students can communicate in
English but still struggle with more complex sentence structures.

The students are from a variety of language communities.

This lesson will be implemented July 24, 2014 as a part of a summer quarter.

The lesson will last a total of 1 class period. Class periods are 50 minutes each.

The lesson is part of an English-as a Second Language (ESL) program though the vehicle of
American History.
Standards
The English as a Second Language Model Standards for Adult Education Programs lists

three curriculum standards and nine instructional standards. Only four instructional standards
will be addressed in this lesson plan for the sake of brevity.
Curriculum Standard 1 The curriculum is focused on meeting students needs as determined
by assessments of students language proficiencies, goals and interests. (California Department
of Education 1992, p. 3)

Students are for the most part at the same level of English language proficiency and most
of the students will have the goal of obtaining United States citizenship. The lesson will
provide a comprehensive overview of the American Revolution and the subsequent

Declaration of Independence.
English skills will be used for academic purposes. As a set up for the days lesson,
students will write a one to two page essay on their struggle to come to the United States
reflecting on the themes of freedom and independence.

LESSONPLAN:AMERICANREVOULTIONREVISITED
Curriculum Standard 2 ESL Instruction integrates language components vocabulary,

grammatical structures, language functions, and punctuation in units on topics that are
important to the students. (California Department of Education 1992, p. 4)

Students will read and edit to the best of their ability a peers essays. The teacher will reedit the essays and return them students so they can utilize them in creating their own

declarations.
The advanced/low lesson is a unit on the American Revolution. The vocabulary taught
will be based upon modernized versions of terminology found in documents such as

the Declaration of Independence, British Loyalists pamphlets, and the Book of Negroes.
Students will compare and contrast the language of the Declaration of Independence in its
traditional form and in modern English. Students will notate differences in punctuation
and capitalization.

Curriculum Standard 3 In the design of the curriculum students levels of literacy skills
whether in their primary languages or English are an essential consideration. (California
Department of Education 1992, p. 4)

The students will be introduced to variety of visual, auditory, and written materials.
Written materials will be from a variety of sources including books, websites, historical

documents, and their own written essays.

Students will be given extra time if necessary, including the next lesson for reading
comprehension.

Instructional Standard 1 Instructional activities integrate the four language skills (listening,
speaking, reading and writing) to emphasize the holistic nature of language (California
Department of Education 1992, p. 5).

Students read a peers two-page paper and then create a mini-presentation where they
come up with one sentence about the essay on freedom and one about independence.

LESSONPLAN:AMERICANREVOULTIONREVISITED
Students read a variety of texts from the perspectives of the four chosen groups:

Americans, British Loyalists, enslaved and free Africans and Native Americans.
Students will watch and listen to excerpts from two films.
In groups, students will present the key arguments for or against the American

independence from the perspective of their respective groups.

Students will read biographies of key or representative figures of the four groups.

Instructional Standard 2 Language tasks in the classroom consist of meaningful

interchanges that enhance students communicative competence (California Department of
Education 1992, p. 5).

Students read one anothers initial papers, then interview peers in preparation for their
mini-presentations.

Students will divide into teams to play American Revolution Jeopardy.

Students will remain in assigned teams and debate the pros and cons of one of the four
groups with one another.

Instructional Standard 3 Instructional activities focus on the acquisition of communication

skills necessary for students to function in real-life situations (California Department of
Education 1992, p. 5).

Students ask and answer questions about an important person from history prompted by a
time line about key events in the life of that person or representative person.

Students identity, discuss the American Revolution within the context of their own
refugee experiences.

Instructional Standard 4 Instruction focuses on the development of the receptive skills

(listening and reading) before development of the productive skills (speaking and writing)
(California Department of Education 1992, p. 6)

LESSONPLAN:AMERICANREVOULTIONREVISITED
Listening before Speaking
o Students listen to excerpts from films about or that referenced the American

Revolution listening for key terms and names of historical figures.

o Students listen to peers speak about their own struggles to leave their countries
after having read their essays and then do a one to two minute presentation on

what they heard.

Reading before Writing
o Students read excerpts from historical text than write three to four bullet points on
the themes presented.

Learning Objectives

Learn facts about the American Revolution from the perspective of the enslaved and free
Africans, British Loyalists and Native Americans.

Compare and contrast what is traditionally taught about the Declaration of Independence and
American Revolution and with a more comprehensive view.

Compare and contrast the American Revolution with their own countrys struggles for
independence and/or personal stories as refugees

Compare and contrast the Declaration for Independence in its original form with its modern
English equivalent

Write a their own declaration of independence based on the structure of the original.

Learn a variety of research methodologies from low to high technology platforms.

Learning Theory Application

Cognitive theory can be seen in this lesson plan through the use of specific learning
strategies, which are, procedures undertaken by the learner, in order to make their own
language learning as effective as possible (Mitchell & Myles, 2004, p. 105). Two of the

LESSONPLAN:AMERICANREVOULTIONREVISITED
assumptions of cognitive theory are meaning is constructed by the learner and prior

knowledge and beliefs play a major role in the meanings. Part of the lesson plan allows
students to use the prior experience as refugees to learn little known facts about the American
Revolution through the exploration of multiple sides of the conflict. Ideally, the students will
be able to see similarities in their own experiences with one of the four groups. The lesson
incorporates multiple learning strategies, which are central to the instructional framework in
cognitive theory. For example, the cognitive strategy of imagery, which is, using visual
images to understand and remember new verbal information (2004, p. 106) is facilitated
through use of websites and historical pictures of people and events of that time. The
affective strategy of co-operation which is, working with peers topool informationor
get feedback is utilized in the various types of group work including the peer review of
essays and the debate preparation. The other learning strategies that will be utilized will be

rehearsal, monitoring, summarizing, deducing, and transfer.

Sociocultural theory can be seen through the required group work. One of the assumptions of
sociocultural theory is that language practices develop from social, cultural and historical
interactions. This lesson allows the students to bring their cultural and historical experiences
directly into the classroom. Learners will be in essence connecting relevant personal
knowledge with academic subjects, (Ortega, 2009, p. 237.) Since the learners will be
engaged in the lesson from the viewpoint of their own personal experiences they engage in
negotiations of meaning of the text.

Learning Accommodations
The following learning accommodations will be used:

Multiple visuals aids will be utilized.

LESSONPLAN:AMERICANREVOULTIONREVISITED
Students will have the option to access a recording of the lesson as an aid for

completing their assignment.

Students will be provided with reading materials either via website links or physical

handouts if needed.
Students will be taught specific key vocabulary terms.
Students will engage in a debate as the various parties.
Students will be provided with a background on what is traditionally known about the

American Revolution.
Students will have the option of hand writing or typing their assignment based upon
their writing abilities.

Students with disabilities will be provided with the following accommodations:

Blind Provided the student is proficient in Braille, Guidelines and Standards for
Tactile Graphics (Braille Authority North America, 2012) will be utilized. The teacher
will also verbally describe any visuals or will ask a translator to assist the student

with visuals in their native language.

Deaf & Hard of Hearing The teacher will make sure to face the student and speak
slower so they can lip read. The teacher will remind the students within the students
group to do the same. Teacher will provide the student with a written transcript of the
lesson.

Content-Based Literacy Skills

Reflective & creative thinking skills will be used when students write about and then
discuss their own experiences as refugees. Learners will analyze, evaluate and make
judgments about the four viewpoints presented by reading the writings of each of the four
groups. They will identify the positions of each of the four groups as well as compare and
contrast the viewpoints presented. Learners will also assess the motives and values of the
members of the four groups.

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Traditional literacy skills will be used by providing the students with reading materials
such as books and websites. Students will be required to write their initial reflective

paper, edit the papers of their peers, and write their own declarations.
Multiliteracy skills will be used when the students watch and listen to excerpts from
films. The instructor will also teach basic research skills by showing the students how the
research was done to create the lesson. This will include but will not be limited to the
following: why the topic was chosen; Google searches; evaluating sources for critical
literacy; and citing sources.

New Media Literacy Skills

Performance Students in groups will engage in a debate where they will argue the pros

and cons of the historical group to which they have been assigned.
Collective knowledge Students will gather information from the resources provided and
discuss with the peers in their group their own experiences as refugees and as they

prepare for their debate.

Judgment After the debate, the teacher will encourage the students to discuss and
evaluate the types of source material utilized. The students will discuss the differences
between scholarly text, newspapers, and political pamphlets and critically evaluate their

uses.
Distributed cognition Students will interact in groups during their initial conversation
about their refugee experiences and when they work on their own declarations.

Learning Materials

The teacher will have a computer and flat screen connected to the Internet to bring up
websites and show excerpts from films. Students will have laptops connected to the
Internet as well. Students will be provided with the resources below but will be
encouraged to look for their own sources as well:

LESSONPLAN:AMERICANREVOULTIONREVISITED
o Images from Google of the following during the Revolutionary War: British

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Loyalists, Native Americans, free and enslaved Africans and white Americans
signing the Declaration of Independence (online).
o British & Black Loyalists pamphlets and broadsides (images and text from the
web).
o The Declaration of Independence (images, text of the original and modern English
found online). The National Archives will be a primary source.
o The Book of Negroes (online) Referenced in The Black Loyalists Directory:
African Americans in Exile After the American Revolution by Graham Russell
Hodges, Susan Hawkes Cook and Alan Edward Brown.
o Loyalist Literature: An Annotated Bibliographic Guide to the Writings on the
Loyalists of the American Revolution by Robert S. Allen.
o Black Loyalists: Southern Settlers of Nova Scotias First Free Black
Communities by Ruth Holmes Whitehead.
o Black Loyalists Heritage Society (website).
o The American Revolution in Indian Country: Crisis and Diversity in Native

American Communities by Colin G. Calloway.

o Revolutionary Limits: Native Americans (website U.S. History.org)
Films
o National Treasure, http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0368891/?ref_=nv_sr_1
o The Crossing, http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0210628/
Lesson Plan Procedures

Phase 1: Motivation Activity

The teacher will show a scene from the film National Treasure which features Nicholas
Cage stealing the Deceleration of Independence from the Library of Congress. The teacher will
ask learners if they are familiar with the document. The teacher will project a large copy of the
Declaration of Independence on the screen. The teacher and learners will read the preamble
together. The teacher will ask the students what words, themes or concepts stand out. The teacher

LESSONPLAN:AMERICANREVOULTIONREVISITED
11
will write these on the board and will ask students to infer the meaning. The teacher will then
show scenes from the film The Crossing of George Washington crossing the Potomac. The
teacher will ask the learners if they know who the man is. Learners will respond. The teacher will
pull project images of the various signers of the Declaration of Independence. Learners will
identity the individual with whom they are familiar. The teacher will then show pictures of
British loyalists, Native Americans and enslaved and free Africans. Learners will identify what
they know about the second group of individuals if anything. The teacher will have them
speculate on why or why not they dont know about these individuals.
Phase 2: Input (Teacher Driven Activity)

Teacher will ask students to read through the Declaration Independence.

Teacher will ask students to identify key words in the Declaration of Independence and
write these on the board.

Teacher will state the positions of the British Loyalists, Native Americans, enslaved
Africans, and free Africans.

Teacher will identify key figures in the above groups.

Teacher will present documents (position papers, pamphlets, newspaper articles from the
period) from that time period that represent the positions of the little known groups.

Teacher will ask students to discuss in small groups the Independence struggles in their
own country and/or struggles with which they are most familiar.

Teacher will ask students to search for YouTube clips or news stories, etc. on their
countries independence struggles.

Teacher will provide scaffolding throughout the lesson.

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Teacher will actively monitor group discussions and debates to ensure cultural sensitivity,
English speaking, and make sure students are comprehend the various texts they are
engaging.
Phase 3: Output (Learner Driven) Activity

Learners will discuss in groups their papers on their own refugee experiences.

Learners will discuss in groups what they know about the Deceleration of Independence
and the American Revolution.

Learners will discuss future aspirations if any for citizenship.

Leaners will research online the positions of the four groups.

Learners will take notes.

Learners will ask questions.

Learners will identify individuals from their own countries who would be considered
founders.

Phase 4: Culmination

Students will play a Jeopardy style game with the following categories: Founding
Fathers, British Loyalists, Native Americans and Free and Enslaved Africans.

The lesson will cumulate in a debate with the students in groups taking on the roles of the
following: Founding Fathers, British Loyalist, Native American and Free and
Enslaved Africans.

Phase 5: Extension

Based on the questions they created for their own Jeopardy style game, students will
create a presentation based on freedom struggles within their own country.

LESSONPLAN:AMERICANREVOULTIONREVISITED
In groups, students will read their own version of the Declaration of Independence.

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Students will learn extensive research skills, engage in reading different type of English (original
Declaration of Independence and its modern English equivalent), writing skills (writing their
own declarations for their respective countries), and critical theory (examination of how
independence for one group lead to the subjugation others.)
Lesson Plan Analysis
The learning plan descried will give refugee students a deeper and more complex
understanding of the origins of the American Revolution. The learning plan assess what the
students already know about the American Revolution and compare that with more holistic
historical overview though group work and activities. The students will learn the four sides of
the debate about the American Revolution and read in in depth the Declaration of Independence
as well as writings and perspectives of those opposed to independence. The assessment will be
multifaceted. Students will play a Jeopardy game highlighted the main arguments of the four
groups and then engage in a debate. The final assessment will be a paper or project where they
create their own Declarations of Independence based on their personal stories as refugees.
The lesson plan has several weaknesses and strengths. One of the weaknesses is that there
is a significant amount of material to be covered and may have to be done over several weeks.
The lesson will have to be implemented to determine its viability. It might have to be adjusted
accordingly. Also, students depending upon the country and their refugee experiences may not be
open to discussing the circumstances of their having to leave their home countries.
The lesson plan has several strengths. It provides an opportunity for students to tell their
personal stories and examine them from a historical context. It also provides ample time for
students to engage their conversational skills. Students will have access to variety of texts, which

LESSONPLAN:AMERICANREVOULTIONREVISITED
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will provide them with research skills. The lesson can also be an introduction to new viewpoints
that can be explored in more detail in single lessons in later weeks. Students will also have
multiple opportunities to practice what theyve learned: through discussions, the Jeopardy game
and the debate. It also engages a key aspect of participatory culture in which students believe
their experiences matter and feel connected to their peers (Jenkins, 2006, p. 7).
Sociocultural and cognitive theories were used throughout the learning plan. Cognitive
theory will be used during the motivation phase when the students watch the film, the teacher
writes vocabulary terms on the board, and when the teacher discusses the meanings of words,
themes and concepts. It is used in the input phase when the teacher states the positions of the
four groups and presents source documents. Sociocultural theory is demonstrated when the
students engage in the peer-to-peer exchange when they discuss, edit and present their refugee
essays. It is also demonstrated during the Jeopardy game and the debate.
Choosing to use two theories in teaching this unique view of the American Revolution
helps to balance the weaknesses of theories. Cognitive learning strategies help to balance out the
sociocultural weakness of imbalances of power demonstrated in group work. Sociocultural
theory allows for the consideration of individual experiences and language abilities, which are
often overlooked, in cognitive theory. In the end, students will be better able to access this
history from their own personal perspectives.

LESSONPLAN:AMERICANREVOULTIONREVISITED
References

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Jenkins,H.,Clinton,K.,Purushotma,R.,Robison,A.J.,andWeigel,M.(2006).Confrontingthe
challengesofparticipatoryculture:Mediaeducationforthe21stcentury.Chicago,IL:
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