Day 1:

Discuss prior knowledge with students about the topic of bullies. Build background and define the word bully. Next children share knowledge and stories about bullying by using a KWL Chart that the class fills out together on the board. Teacher reads: Nobody Knew What to Do: A Story About Bullying After, students discuss cause and effects of bullying, conflict resolutions, and the teacher asks, “How was the problem of the bully in the school finally solved in this book?” Review steps for conflict resolutions and finish KWL Chart together. Student’s journal about how this story affected them and what they would have done if this happened to them.

Day 2:

Assess prior knowledge by asking students this question. “Have you ever moved to a new school before?” “Or have you ever been in a place where you didn’t know anyone there?” “How did you feel?” Discuss together. Build Background and introduce vocabulary words:

·        Segregation

·        Integration

·        Busing

·        Prejudice

Then read Ruby Bridges by Robert Coles. After reading discuss how the children thought Ruby felt on her first day of school. Discuss. Children write thoughts and comments in their journals. Discuss cause and effects. Fill out the cause and effect chart together.

Day 3:

Assess prior knowledge of slavery, abolition of slavery, and The Underground Railroad. Introduce vocabulary words and build background by having students complete a KWL Chart together. Then read Wanted: Dead or Alive: The True Story of Harriet Tubman. Discuss together after reading. Students answers cause and effect questions and discuss.

Day 4 and 5

Using Teaching American History With Art Masterpieces by Bobbi Chertoh, Goody Hirshfeld, and Marily Rosh begin by assessing prior knowledge about slavery. Discuss. Write vocabulary words on the board and discuss.

·        Fugitive

·        Underground Railroad

·        Abolitionists

       Next, read USA Yesterday, a newsletter that has articles from the 1850’s, with the students on page 45. Read “Fugitive Slave Law Passed.” Discuss and ask students their opinions. Read “Cabin Inflames Readers” and discuss the book Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe. Next read the articles, “Underground Railroad: A Path of Peril,” “The Woman Called Moses,” and “Tubman Rescues Known Fugitive.” All of these are in the teacher resource book called Teaching American History With Art Masterpieces. Then share the poster from Teaching American History With Art Masterpieces by Jacob Lawrence. Use questions on page 47-49 for discussion.

Review the poster and vocabulary words. Read “A Voice From the Picture” on pages 50 of Teaching American History With Art Masterpieces, “Dulcie Speaks” Discuss and ask the question, “Now that Dulcie is free, what problems does she face?” Students write answers in their journals.

Day 6:

Teacher assesses prior knowledge of patchwork quilts. Bring a quilt to share or pictures of a quilt. Discuss how members of the Underground Railroad used quilts to identify a safe station. If the color black were hung on the clothesline, escaping slaves would know they reached a safe house. Use page 51 in Teaching American History With Art Masterpieces and discuss with students the meanings on quilts to match the sayings: “This house is no longer a safe station.” “You must follow the river to waiting wagon.” Discuss codes on page 53. Read one stanza to the song “Follow the Drinking Gourd.” Invite students to write a poem or song that contains a secret message about something that is important to them.

Day 7:

Review prior vocabulary words:

• Prejudice
• Stereo- typing
•  

Discuss facts about World War II, the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Use maps to show location of Hawaii and Japan. Teacher reads Hereos by Ken Mochizuki. Discuss how Donnie felt about the way that his friends treated him. Discuss why they always chose Donnie to be the ememy. “How did Donnie feel when his uncle and dad came to school highly decorated with metals?” Show art and photographs by Dorothea Lange.  Discuss people in the photos and Japanese Internment Camps.

Day 8

Discuss Prior Knowledge of immigration, Ellis Island, Statue of Liberty. Read USA Yesterday Newsletter, “Welcome to New York City,” page 71. Read “Escape From Poverty Terror in Russia,” and “Miss Liberty Arrives.” Discuss and show the poster, “The Picture Tells a Story,” “Welcome to New York City.” The author is unknown.  Discuss what is happening in the poster and then the students will answer the questions on page 73 about the poster. Next role-play how the immigrants might have acted when they first saw the Statue of Liberty and also how they felt when they arrived at Ellis Island. Then students will do “Immigrants: Then and Now,” a worksheet that lists the seven countries most United State immigrants came from in 1894 and in recent times. Students will use the lists and the map to answer the questions. This is in Teaching American History With Art Masterpieces, page 77. Cause and effect charts may also be used to discuss what some of the reasons was that caused the immigrants to come to the United States. How did their choices later affect them?

Day 9:

Assess prior knowledge of Native Americans. Use KWL Chart and discuss and fill in together on the board. Read USA Yesterday, The Trail of Tears, in Teaching American History With Art Masterpieces, page 37. Read the articles “Gold Discovered on Cherokee Land.” Show the poster, “The Picture Tells a Story” “The Trail of Tears,” by Robert Lindneux. Discuss and then answer the questions on page 39. Fill in cause and effect charts and/or journal thoughts in writing notebooks.

Day 10:

Read A Voice From the Picture, “’Clarisa Speaks,” on page 41 of the Teaching American History With Art Masterpieces. Discuss and ask, “If you were suddenly forced to leave your home what would you take with you?” and  “ What would your fears and concerns be?” Discuss how the Cherokee had great respect for nature. They honored the seasons, mountains, valleys, rivers, plants, and animals. One way to honor nature is to write about it. Therefore next students write a poem about nature. Discuss a diamonte, a special form of poetry. Go over the steps for writing the diamonte poem and then copy and use the worksheet on page 43 of the form for the diamonte poem.

Day 11:

Discuss how history has repeated itself and how important that it is that we learn from the mistakes that have been made throughout history and not continue to keep making those same mistakes.  Share with the students that the Cherokee were one of several groups suddenly forced to leave their homeland. For example, the Nez Perce’ Indians suffered a fate similar to the Cherokee. During the Holocaust in Europe (1939-1944), the Nazis persecuted and murdered six million Jews. More recently in Bosnia and in parts of Africa, minorities have been forced to flee. Students may select one of these groups and read a related article from a book, newspaper, or magazine. Then they can share with one another what they learned. This and other activities can be found in Teaching American History With Art Masterpieces on page 44.

Extentions: Compare and Contrast different cultures by using a Venn Diagram. Also include more current events such as: September 11^th, the war in Iraq, terrorism today, the bombings in London, etc..

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