Social Studies SIOP Lesson Plan
Teacher: Laura Shafer
Site: Dodge Middle School
Time Required: 4-5 days
Grade: 7th
Unit/Theme/Title
United States Imperialism
Standards
SS07-S2C7-PO4 Describe the impact of American interests in the following areas during the 19th and the
early 20th century: a. Philippines, Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Spanish American War. c. Colombia and the
building of the Panama Canal. d. Hawaiian Annexation
Content Objective(s)
Students will be able to explain how the United States was able to acquire land in the Pacific Ocean as
well as the Caribbean. They will also be able to identify where these lands are geographically. Students
will be able to explain why the US fought in the Spanish-American War and the outcomes of the war.
Students will demonstrate their understanding by completing a geography challenge at the end of the
lesson as well as analyzing political cartoons from the imperialism era.
Language Objective(s)
ELL IV – Advanced Listening and Speaking
Students will respond to requests for facts and evaluate opinions, attitudes, and point-of-view of speakers
in a broad range of persuasive and expressive personal, social, and academic topics when working in
pairs, small groups, or during whole-class discussions.
Key Vocabulary
Imperialism
Annex
Acquire
Assassination
Materials
Empire
Expansionism
Yellow Journalism
Treaty
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One copy per student of “Imperialism T-notes
Student Copy” handout
One copy per group of “Cartoon Analysis
Worksheet” and Cartoons 1-6
PowerPoint Presentation
Technology Integration
The PowerPoint presentation will require a computer and projector setup.
Preparation
Start with the bellwork question: “What is an empire?”. Have students discuss what they think an empire
is. Put the quote “The sun never sets on the British Empire” on the board. Ask students to write down
the quote and what they think it means. Then ask the students “Does the United States have an empire?
Have they ever had an empire?”.
http://ushistory.tusd.us/participants.htm
Lesson Sequence:
Day 1 – The teacher will introduce the concept of imperialism and other key vocabulary to be
used in lecture. The teacher will present a lecture to students on American imperialism in the late
19th century/early 20th century using a PowerPoint presentation provided. The students will take
notes in a t-note fashion, also provided. Every student will need a copy of the t-notes. A master
with answers is provided for the teacher as well. The t-note style allows students to take notes
as you go along in the lecture without getting lost and also getting the most important information
about the subject and providing a study guide for the students. The keywords will appear in the
PowerPoint presentation by right clicking.
Day 2 – Continue PowerPoint lecture.
Day 3 – Finish PowerPoint lecture. Once the lecture is complete there is a Geography Challenge
at the end of the PowerPoint. Pair the students up in any way you like. Have the students get
out a piece of paper, one per group. I allow them to use the atlas part of their textbook, but that’s
up to the teacher. There are ten questions all relating to areas discussed in the lecture. I give
them two minutes per question. After giving them a chance to answer all ten questions we go
over the questions again and give the correct answers. I have students grade their own papers
and correct wrong answers as we go along. I give extra credit to groups who answered all ten
questions correctly.
Day 4 – Political Cartoon analysis activity. Divide the class into 6 groups. Each group will be
given a political cartoon about American Imperialism. The cartoons can be found at the following
website: http://www.oah.org/pubs/magazine/1898/martinez-lesson.pdf. Each group will be given
a handout to analyze their cartoons. The handout comes from the National Archives website:
http://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/worksheets/cartoon_analysis_worksheet.pdf. Then,
each group will present their cartoon and their findings to the rest of the class.
Application/Practice
The political cartoon analysis activity is a chance for the students to apply what they’ve learned about
imperialism.
Review/Assessment
The geography challenge at the end of the lecture is a review opportunity for the students and also allows
the teacher to assess whether the students comprehended the material. The teacher can also assess
student knowledge when the groups present their cartoons to the class.
Reflections
The t-notes are a rough outline of the material. Studying up on the background information will definitely
help when delivering the information and answering students’ questions along the way. To assist
struggling students, I give them a copy of the master for t-notes and have them highlight the words as we
get to them. The information for the PowerPoint was gathered from several sources including two
different textbooks.
http://ushistory.tusd.us/participants.htm