SPRING

UNIT PLAN Jaimie Stevenson MarchApril 2013 UPenn GSE: EDUC657 Advanced Methods in Secondary Social Studies Context Unit Title: Prisons in the U.S. Subject/Topic Areas: African American History (10th grade) Key words: incarceration, prisons, Jim Crow laws, racial profiling, prison narratives, panopticon, social institutions, simulation, Prison Reform Commission Meeting, prison-industrial complex, deliberative debate, creative, reflective, and analytic writing, perspective-making, literacy tools Periods: 1 and 7 School: Northeast High School Time Frame: April 3April 19, 2013 Designed by: Jaimie Stevenson Classroom Mentor: David Sokoloff Penn Mentor: Pam Gallagher

Stage 1: Desired Results Established Goals What content standards and/or mission-related goal(s) will this unit address? PA 8.1.12.A: Evaluate chronological thinking PA 8.1.12.B: Synthesize and evaluate historical sources PA 8.1.12.D: Synthesize historical research PA 8.3.12.A: Identify and evaluate the political and cultural contributions of individuals and groups to United States history from 1890 to present PA 8.3.12.B: Identify and evaluate primary documents, material artifacts, and historic sites important in United States history from 1890 to present CC.8.5.9-10.A, B, D, F, H, I CC.8.6.9-10.A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I What big ideas will the unit address? In the context of a year-long course in African American History, students will investigate the question, What is the purpose of prisons in the U.S.? Students will examine examples from the post-Civil War-era to the presentincluding prison narratives, news articles, academic writings, statistics, visual art and photographs, and protest songsto find evidence of the governmental and social intentions for prisons, the judicial enforcement of those intentions, and the social impact of prisons. Some controversy may surround the question of whether prisons are a mechanism for social control, or social protection, and whether there is a difference.

The unit will last 13 days: The first week focuses on examining historical and current perspectives on the purpose of prisons in society, including at least one case story from another country. The second week will include a proposed visit to Eastern State Penitentiary, during which students will compose both a Eulogy to Eastern State Penitentiary, commemorating the existence and demise of the institution in the historic Fairmount neighborhood of Philadelphia; and a 1-page response to the prompt: What does the architecture of Eastern State Penitentiary communicate to the people inside about who they are and what they deserve in life? In the third week, students will conduct a 2-day simulation of a Prison Reform Commission Meeting, in which small groups of students will prepare positions for various interest groups on the issue of how to deal with prison overcrowding at an actual Philadelphia-area prison, Graterford. Students will represent positions including: a decarceration activist; a man/woman incarcerated at Graterford; an exoneree; the prison superintendent, Michael Wenerowicz; the Mayor of Philadelphia; the construction contractor hired to build the Graterford expansions; the prisons Education Coordinator; a resident of the neighborhood around Graterford. Individual Lesson Topics Day 1: Introduction to unit; view documentary, Slavery by Another Name Day 2: Continue Slavery by Another Name; review traditional Jim Crow Day 3: New Jim Crow Readings Jigsaw Day 4: Racial Profiling & Prisons Today Day 5: Field Trip to Eastern State Penitentiary Day 6: Debrief Field Trip; Prison Narratives Day 7: Dramatic Readings & Tableau Vivant Day 8: Research for Prison Reform Commission Meeting, Day 1 Day 9: Research for Prison Reform Commission Meeting, Day 2 Day 10: Prison Reform Commission Meeting (simulation) Day 11: Prison Reform Commission Meeting (simulation) Day 12: Debrief simulation & unit wrap-up Essential Questions Students will keep considering 1 What is the purpose of prisons in the U.S.? 2 What was the relationship between slavery and state and federal prisons during Reconstruction and the Jim Crow era? 3 Why are African Americans disproportionately represented in U.S. prisons? 4 How do prisons reflect the norms of society? 5 What is the role of racial profiling in who ends up in prison? 6 How does incarceration affect the incarcerated? (experience) 7 How does incarceration affect the families of convicted persons and the communities they live in? 8 What does the extremely large number of prisons in the U.S. say about this country?

What does prison architecture communicate to the people inside about who they are and their personal worth? 10 What arguments support the construction of new prisons today? 11 What arguments go against the construction of new prisons today? 12 What alternatives exist to the prison-industrial complex? Understandings Students will understand that The purpose of prisons is a contested issue in the U.S. The purpose of prisons is different in the U.S. than in different countries worldwide The purpose of prisons is for social control African Americans are disproportionately represented in the populations of prisons in the U.S. Legalized racial profiling affects the racial makeup of prison populations in the U.S. Prisons are a relatively new development in world history The institution of slavery did not disappear with the Emancipation Proclamation, but transformed to a new model to control African Americans: first labor camps, then prisons While crime rates have fallen in recent history, incarceration rates have increased dramatically Some people who are incarcerated are wrongfully convicted Convicted persons lose significant rights as citizens in the U.S.

Students will know (CONTENT, CONCEPTS) Students will be able to (SKILLS, Students will be able to differentiate PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENTS) between traditional and contemporary Analyze primary source documents definitions of Jim Crow laws Analyze visual and audio media (including Students will be able to describe photographs, videos, songs, and radio traditional Jim Crow in terms of slave recordings) patrols, curfews, literacy tests, peonage, Identify perspectives in primary source and convict leasing documents Students will be able to describe Analyze documents for latent messages contemporary Jim Crow in terms of racial Compare different perspectives profiling, the War on Drugs, Participate in group discussion disproportionate incarceration rates, Complete active reading sheets (Cornell stop-and-frisk practices, and felon Notes model) disenfranchisement Compose creative writing Students will be able to articulate Compose reflective writing disparities between crime rates and Synthesize information from multiple incarceration rates in the U.S. sources Students will be able to describe the Condense and summarize texts and impact of architecture and physical space concepts (summarization and notetaking) on prisoners experience using examples Prepare a position for a deliberative from Eastern State Penitentiary discussion Students will be able to correlate changes Engage in deliberative discussion, with

to prison design to larger societal trends using examples from Eastern State Penitentiary Students will be able to describe the psychological and physical effects of incarceration in original prison narratives Students will be able to formulate a position in favor of new prison construction to defend in a class debate Students will be able to formulate a position against new prison construction to defend in a class debate Students will be able to describe the roles of the 6 social institutions in the purpose of prisons in the U.S.

the goal of finding common ground on an issue Negotiate compromise on an issue Reflect upon learning process and give constructive feedback to peers and teacher

Stage 2: Assessment Evidence Performance Task(s) Students will compose 6-word memoirs from the perspective of an imprisoned person Students will compose an original prison narrative in the first person Students will compose a 35 sentence Eulogy to Eastern State Penitentiary, commemorating the existence and demise of the institution in the historic Fairmount neighborhood of Philadelphia Students will compose a 1-page response to the prompt: What does the architecture of Eastern State Penitentiary communicate to the people inside about who they are, what they deserve in life, and who/what has power? Students will complete a research brief on the position they will present at the Prison Reform Commission Meeting (PRCM) Students will participate in the deliberative proceedings of the PRCM Students will compose a 1-page reflection to a classmate in Mr. Muhammed or Mr. Legats class about the PRCM Materials/equipment Teacher Powerpoint Presentation Projector & Laptop Whiteboard or chalkboard Student handouts Student research packets Hand-held timer Field Trip information & permissions Stage 3: Learning Plan

See attached: Lesson Plans for Days 6 & 7 Find more details on lesson plans for all other days here. Summary of Learnings Field trips are not as difficult to organize as they seem. Field trips paired with a meaningful lesson plan are a fantastic means of accessing, and appealing to, students multiple intelligences. Teaching any lesson or unit for the first time reveals more about what the unit is really about than I could ever know without teaching it. Reflecting upon & adapting a lesson or activity after trying it out first period is a sure way to improve my day. Including the topic of prisons in a course on African American History is both obvious and offensiveattention to statistics and the concept of racial profiling early in the unit can clear this up right quick. A thoughtful (and simple) graphic organizer can apply to many lessons in the same unit. Incorporating creative and reflective writing as both formative and summative assessments allows me to see student learning and transfer of understanding occur in more meaningful and diversified ways than simple analytic writing. In the future, I will incorporate more traditional historical analysis in a version of this unit that I teach over 2x or 3x as much time.