FOOTPRINTS OF FREEDOM
Elementary
UCI History Project
Fall 2012
Agenda September 20
 Model lesson for reading and writing
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Slavery in the colonial period
 Developing a teacher question aligned to the
Common Core
 Lesson Study planning time
How do you teach about slavery in the
colonial era?
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5.4 Students understand the political, religious,
social, and economic institutions that evolved in
the colonial era.
 Describe
the introduction of slavery into America, the
responses of slave families to their condition, the
ongoing struggle between proponents and opponents
of slavery, and the gradual institutionalization of
slavery in the South.
Change over time Reading and Writing
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How do you teach about change over time?
What historical content topics have you explicitly
covered with the concept of change over time this
year?
Setting the purpose
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Setting a purpose for reading and writing allows
students to focus on the task at hand.
Teachers can use the purpose to guide instruction
and selection of primary sources
Often historical texts are written in challenging
language with a purpose teachers can excerpt to
support students
Labor in America
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Setting the stage—provide some context for the
reading
Setting a purpose for reading
Today we will look at work, or labor, in colonial America
and consider how African Americans and work changed
over time. Our focus question for this reading is to consider:
 What work were indentured servants expected to do?
 What benefits did they receive from indenture?
 Were white, Native American, and black women treated
differently?

Context: Setting the stage
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How do you define “context” for your students?
What types of activities do you engage in to provide
context?
6 C’s: What was going on in the world, the country, the
region, or the locality when this was created?
 Lesh: What was going on during the time period? What
background information do you have that helps explain
the information from the source?
 Stanford History Education Group: Imagining the setting
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Slavery emerges in America
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Interactive timeline
Maps
Slave trade in the Americas
Discovery Education, “Slaves in America”
What are the big ideas you share with your
students?
What are big moments or trends?
Describing slavery
Argumentative question for slavery
What was the most important change for African
Americans in the colonial period?
 Explanatory question for exploration
How did African Americans lives change over time
during the colonial era?
 What categories do you provide students with (time
period, location, type of labor)?

Common Core for Writing in History
Write opinion pieces on topics or texts,
supporting a point of view with reasons and
information.
Write informative/explanatory texts to
examine a topic and convey ideas and
information clearly.
a. Introduce a topic or text clearly, state an
opinion, and create an organizational
structure in which ideas are logically
grouped to support the writer’s purpose.
a. Introduce a topic clearly, provide a
general observation and focus, and group
related information logically; include
formatting (e.g., headings), illustrations,
and multimedia when useful to aiding
comprehension.
b. Provide logically ordered reasons that
are supported by facts and details.
c. Link opinion and reasons using words,
phrases, and clauses (e.g., consequently,
specifically).
d. Provide a concluding statement or section
related to the opinion presented.
b. Develop the topic with facts, definitions,
concrete details, quotations, or other
information and examples related to the
topic.
c. Link ideas within and across categories
of
information using words, phrases, and
clauses (e.g., in contrast, especially).
Common Core for Reading in History
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Use multiple sources: primary and secondary
Analyze the arguments and claims in each source
Read multiple sources to corroborate claims
In small groups, examine a source
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What do these tell us about slavery in the colonial
period?
Develop a mini-thesis
Timeline
Move sources in chronological order
 Consider what each image says about slavery in the
Americas
How did African Americans lives change over time
during the colonial era?

Explanatory writing
Topic Sentence describing slavery in colonial America
Include concrete examples of slavery from 3 sources
1.
2.
1.
2.
3.
1.
2.
Source __ describes slavery in America as… This is important
because…
Source __ describes slavery in America as… This is important
because…
Source __ describes slavery in America as… This is important
because…
Describe how African Americans lives changed over time in colonial
America (How did their status as free or unfree change? How did
the type of work they did as slaves change over time or location? )
In conclusion, as a result of legislation and labor expectations
African Americans in colonial America became increasingly unfree.
Extension Activity
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Where in Africa did slaves come from?
http://www.inmotionaame.org/migrations/topic.cfm
?migration=1&topic=7&tab=image
Break
Lesson Study: The Big Picture
Lesson Study:
 Focuses on steady, long term, instructional improvement
 Maintains a constant focus on student learning
 Focuses on the improvement of teaching in context
 Is collaborative
From Stigler and Hiebert, “The Teaching Gap”
Knowledge Development and Use through
Lesson Study
1. STUDY
Consider long term goals for
student learning and
development
Study curriculum and standards
4. REFLECT
2. PLAN
Share data
Select or revise research lesson
What was learned about student
learning, lesson design, this
content?
Do task
Anticipate student responses
Plan data collection and lesson
What are implications for future
teaching, for the field?
3. DO RESEARCH LESSON
Conduct research lesson
Collect data
What Makes a Good Teacher Question?
What Questions are Worth Investigating?
The Big Picture:
Is there a gap between where students are – in terms of
historical knowledge, academic skills, and personal qualities and where you want them to be when they leave your class?
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"How do you move students from where they are to where
you want them to be?
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"How can this lesson help accomplish that goal?”
What Makes a Good Teacher Question?
What Questions are Worth Investigating?
Some criteria for a good teacher question include:
1) It leads to an investigation of an instructional question you don't know
the answer to
2) It leads to an examination of whether some instructional assumptions
and practices are effective, or how they might be made more effective.
3) It has both theoretical and practical implications.
4) It leads to an investigation of an instructional issue, idea, or strategy
you've struggled with. Its answer is important to you and your students.
5) It has the potential to identify and generate enough evidence to
develop an answer.
Teacher Question Focus:
Suggested Questions
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Can/do primary sources help students learn change over
time?
Does analyzing primary sources help students understand
the importance of context related events/people/eras?
Does citation allow students to understand point of view?
Does close reading of texts (texts/subtexts) allow students to
understand point of view?
What scaffolds can we use to get students to read the text?
What scaffolds best support students to develop
argumentative or explanatory writing? E.g. historical
context, 6 C’s, primary source analysis tool, outlines, thesis
lessons, graphic organizers.
Connecting Data Sources and the Research
Questions – An Example
Student Question:
What were the causes of American expansion in the
Pacific?
Teacher Question:
Does a focus on close reading of primary sources
(using the concepts of text and subtext) allow
students to identify and explain multiple causes and
points of view?
Lesson Study Share Out
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Lesson topics and date
Student learning objectives
Teacher question
Common Core connection
Lesson Study Planning
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Collaborate with your colleagues to create a lesson
for your fall lesson study.
Be ready to share out where you are this afternoon
at 11:30