Curriculum Unit Plan

RGD 323
Unit Theme​​:​ ​The Culture of an Emerging Modern America

Grade​​: 11​ Grade

th​

Timeline​​: 4 weeks

Team Members Mirina Higginbothan Scott Holland

English History

Rationale:​​
With the ever changing landscape of American society, it has become more important than ever to
make sure students learn more from the content they attain in school. That is what this
interdisciplinary unit looks to achieve by teaching student the history of modern America by
teaching them not only the events that lead to what America is today, but by also exploring the deep
literary additions many underrepresented minority groups contributed to get us here. With the
collaboration between two different content area teachers, this unit is designed to help students
answer the essential question “How does your culture shape your identity?” As an interdisciplinary
unit, students learn the history of different cultures and how they have made an impact in history as
well as read literature from different cultures.

History:
Using the myriad of primary and secondary sources available, student will answer the question
“Does your culture define you, or do you define your culture?” This is not meant to have an ultimate
answer of course, and is merely a stepping stone to get the students exploring the various cultures
that make up america, and gathering information for a debate that will happen at the end of the
unit.

English:
Students will use the information gathered in their history class to start thinking about how their culture’s
history affects who they are today. They will compare and contrast how their culture was and how it is
represented now. Using this information, students will develop an essay that includes: the prejudices their
culture faced and still face, their culture in the school setting, traditions/norms, their culture in today’s world
vs in history, and how the student represents the culture. This will also be presented with some sort of
presentation platform. This will be during the unit reading of ​A Diary of a Young Girl b​ y Anne Frank. We
will discuss how the culture in the book faced prejudice and how Anne Frank’s culture shaped her identity,
and then make connections to students’ current lives.

Enduring Understanding:​​ (One or two statement on why this is going to matter 40 years from
now?) America is a diverse place with many different cultures and communities that have their own
unique histories and traditions. Having an understanding of what these groups have gone through
will spark empathy and understanding within the student. This is a unit the student can take with
them the rest of their lives.

Essential Questions:
● How can differing rights among groups create conflict?
● Does immigration change the landscape of culture in America?
● How can literature be a used as a weapon for those underrepresented?
Student Learning Outcomes

Learning Objectives:
History:​ Students will explore the economic and social movements of early twentieth century
America in order to construct a reasonable argument concerning the overarching question, “Does
your culture define you, or do you define your culture?”

English​: Students will analyze their culture’s history and explain how it has shaped their current
identity by creating an essay and presentation.

Standards

English 11-12. RL.1 Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis
of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text,
including determining where the text leaves matters uncertain.
11-12.RL.7 Analyze multiple interpretations of a story, drama, or poem
(e.g., recorded or live production of a play or recorded novel or poetry),
evaluating how each version interprets the source text.
11-12.RI.1 Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of
what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text,
including determining where the text leaves matters uncertain
11-12.W.2 Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey
complex ideas, concepts, and information clearly and accurately through
the effective selection, organization, and analysis of content.
a. Introduce a topic; organize complex ideas, concepts, and information
so that each new element builds on that which precedes it to create a
unified whole; include formatting, graphics, and multimedia when useful
for comprehension.
b. Develop the topic thoroughly by selecting the most significant and
relevant facts, extended definitions, concrete details, quotations, or other
information and examples appropriate to the audience’s knowledge of the
topic.
c. Use appropriate and varied transitions and syntax to link the major
sections of the text, create cohesion, and clarify the relationships among
complex ideas and concepts.
d. Use precise language, domain-specific vocabulary, and rhetorical
techniques to manage the complexity of the topic.
e. Establish and maintain a style and tone appropriate to the norms and
conventions of the discipline in which they are writing.
f. Provide a concluding statement or section that follows from and
supports the information or explanation presented (e.g., articulating
implications or the significance of the topic).
11-12.W.6 Use technology, including the internet, to produce, publish, and
update individual or shared writing products in response to ongoing
feedback, including new arguments or information.
11-12.SL.1
Initiate and participate effectively in a range of collaborative discussions
(one-on- one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on
 grades 11–12 topics, texts, and issues, building on others’ ideas and
expressing their own clearly and persuasively.
a. Come to discussions prepared having read and researched material
under study; explicitly draw on that preparation by referring to evidence
from texts and other research on the topic or issue to stimulate a
thoughtful, well- reasoned exchange of ideas.
b. Work with peers to promote civil, democratic discussions and
decision-making, set clear goals and deadlines, and establish individual
roles
as needed.
c. Propel conversations by posing and responding to questions that
probe reasoning and evidence; ensure a hearing for a full range of positions
on a topic or issue; clarify, verify, or challenge ideas and conclusions; and
promote divergent and creative perspectives.
d. Respond thoughtfully to diverse perspectives; synthesize comments,
claims, and evidence made on all sides of an issue; resolve
contradictions when possible; and determine what additional information
or research is required to deepen the investigation or complete the
task.
11-12.SL.4 Present information, findings, and supporting evidence in an
organized, developed style appropriate to purpose, audience, and task,
allowing listeners to follow the speaker's line of reasoning, message, and
any alternative perspectives.

History Strand 1: American History

Concept 7: Emergence of the Modern United States
PO 1​​. Analyze how the following aspects of industrialization
transformed the American economy beginning in the late 19th
century:
a. mass production
b. monopolies and trusts (e.g., Robber Barons, Taft- Hartley Act)
c. economic philosophies(e.g., laissez faire, Social Darwinism, free
silver)
d. labor movement (e.g., Bisbee Deportation)
e. trade
PO 2​​. Assess how the following social developments influenced
American society in the late nineteenth and early twentieth
centuries:
a​​. Civil Rights issues (e.g., Women’s Suffrage Movement,
Dawes Act, Indian schools, lynching, Plessy v. Ferguson)
b​​. changing patterns in Immigration (e.g., Ellis Island, Angel
Island, Chinese Exclusion Act, Immigration Act of 1924)
c​​. urbanization and social reform (e.g., health care, housing,
food & nutrition, child labor laws)
d​​. mass media (e.g., political cartoons, muckrakers, yellow
journalism, radio)
e​​. consumerism (e.g., advertising, standard of living,
consumer credit)

Technology Integration
Interdisciplinary Essay
Unit Performance Task
Common Instructional Strategies
All Learners
● Digital Writing Journals
● Writers Workshops
● Note taking guides
● Socratic Seminars
● KWLs
● Admit/Exit Tickets
English Language Learners
● I See, You Do
● Graphic Organizers
f​​. Roaring Twenties (e.g., Harlem Renaissance, leisure time,
jazz, changed social mores)
PO 3​​. Analyze events which caused a transformation of the United
States during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries:
a​​. Indian Wars (e.g., Little Bighorn, Wounded Knee)
b​​. Imperialism (e.g., Spanish American War, annexation of
Hawaii, Philippine-American War)
c​​. Progressive Movement (e.g., Sixteenth through Nineteenth
Amendments, child labor)
d​​. Teddy Roosevelt (e.g., conservationism, Panama Canal,
national parks, trust busting)
e​​. corruption (e.g., Tammany Hall, spoils system)
f​​. World War I (e.g., League of Nations, Isolationism)
g​​. Red Scare/Socialism
h​​. Populism
PO 4​​. Analyze the effect of direct democracy (initiative, referendum,
recall) on Arizona statehood.
English: Digital Presentation tool. Example: Pear Deck, PowerPoint, etc.
History: Digital presentation tool. Example: Pear Deck, PowerPoint, etc.
Students will develop an essay that includes: the prejudices their culture
faced and still face, their culture in the school setting, traditions/norms,
their culture in today’s world vs in history, and how the student represents
the culture. This essay will be at least 2 pages double spaced and include a
reference page.
The students will participate in a cultural research project with the end goal
being a presentation showing what information was found, and what
impact, if any, it had on a emerging, or modern, America. The classes
taking part will have the option to do the research and presentation
individually, or with a partner if they share the same cultural background.
A minimum of five physical representations of their culture will be
required for the fifteen presentation. In addition, the use of a digital
presentation is required for all students. A minimum of ten sources must be
the last section of the presentation.
 ● Special Grouping if needed
● Repetition of necessary content
● Audio recordings of book

(Resource / Speech Language)

● Daily writing in digital journal
● Extending time to complete assignments if needed
● Modeling the activity

GATE
● Challenge your students by having expanded presentations that include whole class activities.
● Allow options in books to suit the students reading level, still represent the goal of the lesson.

Individual Unit Theme:

Subject: English Grade Level: 11

Focus Standards

11-12. RL.1 ​Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as
well as inferences drawn from the text, including determining where the text leaves matters uncertain.
11-12.RL.7 ​Analyze multiple interpretations of a story, drama, or poem (e.g., recorded or live production of a
play or recorded novel or poetry), evaluating how each version interprets the source text.
11-12.RI.1 ​Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as
well as inferences drawn from the text, including determining where the text leaves matters uncertain
11-12.W.2​​ Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas, concepts, and
information clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization, and analysis of content.
11-12.SL.4​​ Present information, findings, and supporting evidence in an organized, developed style
appropriate to purpose, audience, and task, allowing listeners to follow the speaker's line of reasoning,
message, and any alternative perspectives.

Essential Understandings Knowledge/Skills

Important Concepts: Students will know and be able to do:

Analyzing how culture was represented in
history and how it is represented in today's
world.
Understanding how culture has shaped an
individual's identity
Analyze different cultures in the classroom and connections
how each culture has a different schooling
tradition
Synthesize information from a variety of sources and
cultures
Compare and contrast how different cultures tell stories on
similar themes
Analyze ​Diary of a Young Girl ​and make personal
Conduct research on their culture’s history
Compare and contrast how cultures faced Write using transitions, and precise word choice, and
prejudice in history and in the current world including multiple sources.

Develop a cohesive essay that describes the history of their

Students will use the information gathered in culture
their history class to start thinking about how
their culture’s history affects who they are Develop a presentation that describes the history of their
today. They will compare and contrast how culture
their culture was and how it is represented
now. Using this information, students will
develop an essay that includes: the prejudices
their culture faced and still face, their culture
in the school setting, traditions/norms, their
culture in today’s world vs in history, and how
the student represents the culture. This will
also be presented with some sort of
presentation platform. This will be during the
unit reading of ​A Diary of a Young Girl ​by
Anne Frank. We will discuss how the culture
in the book faced prejudice and how Anne
Frank’s culture shaped her identity, and then
make connections to students’ current lives.

Texts Assessment

​ y Anne Frank
Diary of a Young Girl b Formative: Summative:

Different cultural stories that are to be Admit/Exit Tickets Interdisciplinary essay

analyzed:
Daily Journals relating Presentation related to
The Fox and the Cat (Aesop) to their personal interdisciplinary essay
The Cat and the Fox (France) experiences with the
class and the culture
The Seven-Witted Fox and the One-Fitted unit
Owl (Romania)
The Fox and his Bagful of Wits and the Online discussions
One-Witted Hedgehog (Romania) through Padlet and
Google Docs to reflect
The Fox and the Hedgehog (South on readings and class
Slavonic) days
The Tiger Finds a Teacher (China)
Kahoot and Quizlet
games to track students’
progress with specific
vocabulary terms
Learning Plan: Scope and Sequence Differentiation:

Students will be introduced to the culture unit ELL

where they will learn new vocabulary such as
prejudice.
Students will read ​Diary of a Young Girl ​and
make connections to their own cultural
experiences
Students will read ​Diary of a Young Girl w ​ ith
partners, individually, and in class as a jigsaw. Chunks
of the book will be read aloud for the class. Graphic
organizers and annotating skills will be utilized
throughout the reading. New terms will be introduced
and developed into students normal vocabulary.

Students will read other literature from SPED

different cultures that tell stories on similar
themes
Students will conduct research on their own
cultures in partners or individually
Students will write in their daily journals about
their experiences in the classroom and how
their culture project is coming along
Students will have the opportunity to work in pairs to
complete the culture presentation or they can work
separately. Students will receive additional
accommodations such as additional time to complete
assignments based on their IEPs. Like mentioned
above, students will be reading with partners,
individually, in class as a jigsaw.

Students will write their interdisciplinary essay

as a summative assessment for the unit

Students will create an interdisciplinary

presentation as a summative assessment for the
unit

Individual Unit Theme: ​The Culture of an Emerging Modern America

Subject: History Grade Level: 11

Focus Standards

9--10.RH.1.​​ Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources,
attending to such features as the date and origin of the information.

9--10.RH.2.​​ Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide
an accurate summary of how key events or ideas develop over the course of the text.

9--10.RH.6.​​ Compare the point of view of two or more authors for how they treat the same or
similar topics, including which details they include and emphasize in their respective accounts.
9--10.RH.9.​​ Compare and contrast treatments of the same topic in several primary and secondary
sources.

9--10.WHST.2.​​ Write informative/explanatory texts, including the narration of historical events,

scientific procedures/ experiments, or technical processes.

9--10.WHST.6.​​ Use technology, including the Internet, to produce, publish, and update individual
or shared writing products, taking advantage of technology’s capacity to link to other information
and to display information flexibly and dynamically.

9--10.WHST.9. ​Draw evidence from informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and
research.

Concept 7:​​ Emergence of the Modern United States

PO 1​​. Analyze how the following aspects of industrialization transformed the American economy
beginning in the late 19th century:
a. mass production
b. monopolies and trusts (e.g., Robber Barons, Taft- Hartley Act)
c. economic philosophies(e.g., laissez faire, Social Darwinism, free silver)
d. labor movement (e.g., Bisbee Deportation)
e. trade
PO 2​​. Assess how the following social developments influenced American society in the late
nineteenth and early twentieth centuries:
a​​. Civil Rights issues (e.g., Women’s Suffrage Movement, Dawes Act, Indian schools,
lynching, Plessy v. Ferguson)
b​​. changing patterns in Immigration (e.g., Ellis Island, Angel Island, Chinese Exclusion Act,
Immigration Act of 1924)
c​​. urbanization and social reform (e.g., health care, housing, food & nutrition, child labor
laws)
d​​. mass media (e.g., political cartoons, muckrakers, yellow journalism, radio)
e​​. consumerism (e.g., advertising, standard of living, consumer credit)
f​​. Roaring Twenties (e.g., Harlem Renaissance, leisure time, jazz, changed social mores)
PO 3​​. Analyze events which caused a transformation of the United States during the late nineteenth
and early twentieth centuries:
a​​. Indian Wars (e.g., Little Bighorn, Wounded Knee)
b​​. Imperialism (e.g., Spanish American War, annexation of Hawaii, Philippine-American
War)
c​​. Progressive Movement (e.g., Sixteenth through Nineteenth Amendments, child labor)
d​​. Teddy Roosevelt (e.g., conservationism, Panama Canal, national parks, trust busting)
e​​. corruption (e.g., Tammany Hall, spoils system)
f​​. World War I (e.g., League of Nations, Isolationism)

Essential Understandings Knowledge/Skills

Important Concepts: Students will know and be able to do:

Differing viewpoints of texts. “Is this a
reliable source?” “What motives may this
person have for writing this?” Finding
sources is important, but they must be
reliable and add value to your research.
Analyze primary and secondary sources for reliable
information.
Find links between information they have gathered and their
present day culture. Finding these links are important because
 they essentially sew the students story together. This will help
it make sense when it is presented.

Texts Assessment

This is an independent research project and Formative: An annotated Summative: Cultural

students will have to find their own sources.
Here are some sources that can be used
incase students are having trouble with their
own research.
Trade Books​​:
Ruiz, Viki. (2008). ​From Out of the
Shadows: Mexican Women in
Twentieth-Century America. ​Oxford
University Press. (1430 LEXILE)
bibliography will be required Research Presentation
before students may work on their
presentations.
“What makes a good source”
worksheet.
Independent reading journal
“What did I find out today?”
Bell work

Anderson, James. (1988). ​The Education of Exit tickets

Blacks in the South, 1860-1935.​ Chapel Hill.
(1510 LEXILE)
Informational Text:
Chapman, Carrie. (1917). Address to
Congress on Women's Suffrage. Retrived
Nov 18, 2018, from
https://www.commonlit.org/en/texts/address-
to-congress-on-women-s-suffrage?search_id
=8127174​ (1240 LEXILE)

McBirney, Jessica. (2017). Plessy VS.

Ferguson. Retrived Nov 17, 2018, from
https://www.commonlit.org/en/texts/plessy-v
s-ferguson?search_id=8127294​ (1180
LEXILE)
Online Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t62fUZJ
vjOs
Children's Book:
Stone, Tanya Lee. (2010). ​Elizabeth Lead the
Way: Elizabeth Cady Stanton and the Right
to Vote​. Square Fish. (700 LEXILE)
Online Resources to look at:
Encyclopedia Britannica,
https://www.britannica.com/
The Library of Congress,
https://www.loc.gov/

Learning Plan: Scope and Differentiation

Sequence

Students will conduct research on their
own, or with a partner.
Students will add any sources to there
bibliography.
The students will write why they have
chosen this specific source for their
presentation.
Students will complete a final turn in
copy of their annotated bibliography.
Students will conduct their
presentations.
ELL​​ students will receive special instruction if needed. This
includes, but is not limited to, the pairing of an ELL student
with another student, the use of Google translate for text that
can be difficult to read and any other action the teacher deems
needed for any ELL student to succeed.
SPED
The students required research will be lessened if alone, and
special rules can be made if they are with a partner. Team
work is allowed and the students can talk while conducting
research if any clarification is needed.
The teacher will be available to answer any questions.
Any other special circumstance will be based on a student's
IEP or 504 plan.