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MULTIDISCIPLINARY PROJECT BASED LESSON PLAN

Multidisciplinary Project Based Lesson Plan Assignment 4.1a Lara Landry

MULTIDISCIPLINARY PROJECT BASED LESSON PLAN

Lesson:

The Mussel Slough Tragedy: Conflict between Farmers and Railroad Companies in 1880 4

Grade:

Content Standards: History/Social Science Content Standards: 4.4 Students explain how California became an agricultural and industrial power, tracing the transformation of the California economy and its political and cultural development since the 1850s. 4.4.6. Describe the development and locations of new industries since the turn of the century, such as the aerospace industry, electronics industry, large-scale commercial agriculture and irrigation projects, the oil and automobile industries, communications and defense industries, and important trade links with the Pacific Basin. 4.4.7. Trace the evolution of Californias water system into a network of dams, aqueducts, and reservoirs. California Common Core State Standards English: Reading Standards for Informational Text 1. Refer to details and examples in a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text. 3. Explain events, procedures, ideas, or concepts in a historical, scientific, or technical text, including what happened and why, based on specific information in the text. 7. Interpret information presented visually, orally, or quantitatively (e.g., in charts, graphs, diagrams, time lines, animations, or interactive elements on Web pages) and

MULTIDISCIPLINARY PROJECT BASED LESSON PLAN

explain how the information contributes to an understanding of the text in which it appears. Writing Standards: 2. Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and information clearly. 2.d. Use precise language and domain-specific vocabulary to inform about or explain the topic. 9. Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research. 9.d. Apply grade 4 Reading standards to informational texts (e.g., Explain how an author uses reasons and evidence to support particular points in a text). Speaking and Listening Standards: 1. Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 4 topics and texts, building on others ideas and expressing their own clearly. 1.c. Pose and respond to specific questions to clarify or follow up on information, and make comments that contribute to the discussion and link to the remarks of others. Speaking and Listening: 4. Report on a topic or text, tell a story, or recount an experience in an organized manner, using appropriate facts and relevant, descriptive details to support main ideas or themes; speak clearly at an understandable pace.

MULTIDISCIPLINARY PROJECT BASED LESSON PLAN

TEACH: LESSON BACKGROUND: Students have learned about the effects of the Transcontinental Railroad. The teacher will review with the students some of the effects. Students have learned the word monopoly and about the monopoly the railroad companies had in California. Review with students that railroad companies were able to charge high prices for transportation of both people and goods. Ask the critical thinking question: "How does the high price of transporting goods affect farmers in California?" Review with students also how the railroad companies had obtained land from the government; the railroad companies were granted land by the government to lay railroad track. Play the 7-minute NPR podcast on "How Trains 'Railroaded' the American Economy". This podcast is from July 11, 2011. The author of the book Railroaded: The Transcontinentals and the Making of Modern America, Richard White, discusses corruption in the building of the Transcontinental Railroad with NPR journalist Steve Inskeep on the NPR radio show Morning Edition. Ask critical thinking question: How did corruption play a role in the building of the Transcontinental Railroad? INTRODUCTION: The teacher informs the students that one-eighth of all land in California was owned by the railroad companies by 1880. The Southern-Pacific railroad company offered land to settlers for $2.50 an acre and then invited the settlers to begin farming

MULTIDISCIPLINARY PROJECT BASED LESSON PLAN

before the sales were final. Thinking they owned the land, the farmers built irrigation systems, houses, fences and barns, plowed the land, and planted crops. Then the CentralPacific Railroad Company decided to raise the price of the land to $35 per acre. Southern Pacific attributed this to increasing property values because of the laying of the railroad, but the settlers believed it was due to the improvements they had made. Settlers protested in court, but to no avail. Because settlers thought the Supreme Court would rule against the railroad company, some people took the opportunity to move onto Southern Pacific Railroad land during the dispute thinking they might get the land for free. The court ruled against the settlers though. Most farmers refused to pay or leave the land and fighting broke out. Seven men were killed on May 11, 1880 when a group of settlers approached four railroad men who were attempting to evict settlers. Because this happened at Mussel Slough, a part of the San Joaquin Valley near Hartford, it is called the Mussel Slough Tragedy. Ask the critical thinking questions: 1. Why would people move into Mussel Slough during the time the land was disputed? 2. Why would the railroad company offer land at such a low price and then turn around and increase the price after the railroad tracks were made? Introduce the vocabulary to the students. Have students write down the word and definition on the back of the Student Record Sheet for easy reference while reading and answering the questions. 1. slough- n- a place of deep wood or mire, a swamp 2. retribution- n- punishment for doing something wrong 3. deed- n- a legal document that shows who owns a building or a piece of land

MULTIDISCIPLINARY PROJECT BASED LESSON PLAN

4. squatter- n- someone who lives in a building or on land without the permission of the owner and without paying 5. altercation- n- a noisy angry heated dispute 6. muckraker- n- someone who searches out to publicly real or apparent misconduct of a prominent business or individual

In groups of 2-3, students take turns reading the blog Mussel Slough: Searching for the Gray Area. While one student reads the others follow along and search for the answers to the questions provided on the Student Record Sheet. History Is Elementary is a blog dedicated to history teachers and anyone who enjoys reading history and history education. It is written by ElementaryHistoryTeacher, or EHT for short, a blog pseudonym for the author. She is a history teacher from Georgia. This is a student-teacher friendly blog with advertisements only for education. Students then view the political cartoon "The Retribution Comet" from The Wasp on July 8, 1881, which is mentioned in the blog. In their groups, students collect information from the cartoon using The Cartoon Analysis Sheet. PRACTICE: Students switch groups by numbering off. The groups are rearranged as 1s, 2s, 3s, and 4s. In these groups, students will create a T-chart on a lined piece of paper listing the arguments for each side in one column and the rebuttal/argument from the other side next to it in the other column. Students are then broken up into two groups, farmers and railroad agents, and pose a debate over the issue of the rising price of the land. All 1s and 2s are railroad agents, all 3s and 4s are acting the role of the farmers. Students elect

MULTIDISCIPLINARY PROJECT BASED LESSON PLAN

representatives as spokespeople for original statements and rebuttals. Each group has 1-2 minutes to talk with one another before a rebuttal/response is made. Each time a valid point is made the teacher rings a bell and the team earns a point. If students are not civil, no point is made. The teacher announces the winner of the debate at the end by adding up points. INDEPENDENT PRACTICE: Students are instructed to view the class blog during the days the lesson is presented (before the last day) and answer two questions posted by the teacher. The questions pertain to the blog read in class from historyiselementary.blogspot.com. There is a link to the blog so students can reread it if necessary. Access to a computer is available in the classroom before and after school. Students also have access to the computer lab during break and lunch, before and after school. Two creative thinking questions are asked: 1. What if the railroad company had offered to come down in price from $35/acre to meet the farmers half way between $2.50 and $35 at $16.25/acre? Would this have been a fair compromise? 2. What are some other possible solutions to the issue? APPLY: Students create a political cartoon from the railroad company's side. They use another Cartoon Analysis Worksheet to plan their drawings first. Students take information from the blog, the debate and the notes from the teach part of the lesson to use in their drawing. Creating a new cartoon depicting the other side's stance is a conceptual right brain activity that develops imagination.

MULTIDISCIPLINARY PROJECT BASED LESSON PLAN

Students write a paragraph explaining their design and why they chose what they did. They should use facts from the article, debate, and/or notes from the teach part of the lesson to explain their cartoon drawing.

MULTIDISCIPLINARY PROJECT BASED LESSON PLAN Student Record Sheet

Answer the following questions on the Mussel Slough Tragedy from the blog Mussel Slough: Searching for the Gray Area from historyiselementary.blogspot.com. 1. What is a slough on the west coast of North America? 2. Where is Mussel Slough? 3. When did the Mussel Slough Tragedy occur? 4. Near what modern day city did it occur? 5. How much is the Southern Pacific Railroad advertise the land they were selling for? 6. Why did the Railroad Company not legally record a deed? 7. What improvements did the farmers make to the land? 8. To which president did the Settler's League make an appeal? 9. Why did more settlers move into this area during the dispute? 10. What did the railroad company call these people? 11. At who's homestead did the altercation take place? 12. What was the Tragedy Oak? What happened to it? 13. What was the muckrakers "tool of the trade"? 14. Why are details confusing about the events leading up to the fight and the fight itself? 15. What do many historians today argue?

MULTIDISCIPLINARY PROJECT BASED LESSON PLAN

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References California Common Core State Standards (2013). California department of education. Retrieved from http://www.cde.ca.gov/be/st/ss/documents/finalelaccssstandards.pdf Cartoon analysis worksheet. National Archives. Retrieved from http://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/worksheets/cartoon.html ElementaryHistoryTeacher (2011). Mussel slough: searching for the gray area. History Is Elementary. Retrieved from http://historyiselementary.blogspot.com/2011/10/mussel-slough-searching-forgray-area.html HistorySocial Science Content Standards for California Public Schools (2000). california department of education. Retrieved from http://www.cde.ca.gov/be/st/ss/documents/histsocscistnd.pdf Inskeep , Steve & White, Richard (2011, July 11). How trains 'railroaded' the american economy. NPR: Morning Edition. Podcast retrieved from http://www.npr.org/2011/07/11/137497772/how-trains-railroaded-the-americaneconomy Keller, Frederick (1881). The retribution comet. The Wasp. Vol. 7 No. 258. San Francisco: The Wasp. Retrieved form http://sophia.smith.edu/~maldrich/companies/southernpacific_railroad/1881waspj uly8.htm Ventriglia, L. D. (2010). Best practices: Differentiated instruction. (8th ed.). Mexico: Younglight Educate.

MULTIDISCIPLINARY PROJECT BASED LESSON PLAN

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Ventriglia, L. D. (2009). 21st century questioning & problem solving: Infolinking. Mexico: Younglight Educate.

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