Dover-Sherborn Middle School

Curriculum Road Maps

 

Course Title:                 U.S. History                                                     Grade:              8         

 

Unit:                             Reconstruction                         

Month Presented:         May-June                                          Unit Length (in weeks):    3         

 

 

Essential Question (s):

 

  • Did Reconstruction end the Civil War?
  • Is ‘Reconstruction’ still needed?

 

Learning Objectives:

 

1.      Compare and contrast the different Reconstruction proposals for the South.

 

2.      Identify the Reconstruction measures to address the needs of thousands of newly freed slaves. 

 

3.      Evaluate the effectiveness of freedmen’s programs.

 

4.      Compare and contrast the rights of freedmen “on paper” and in actuality, given the resistance of the white South.  

 

Skills:

Primary Document analysis, Mapmaking and analysis, Presentation and speaking skills, Cooperative Group work

 

Instructional Strategies and  Activities: 

·        Limited Prior Knowledge Strategy:       How would you fix the South?
·        Plans for Reconstruction:   Analysis of 10% Plan, Andrew Johnson’s Plan, and Congressional Reconstruction

·        Advertisement Assignment for Freedman’s Bureau, Bank, School

·        “Ku Klux Klan Visits a Negro”  Reader’s Theater

·        Primary Sources:               

                                    Reconstruction Amendments

                                    Black Codes

                                    Jim Crow Laws

·        “We Wear the Mask” 

·        Simulation:               Ku Klux Klan Hearings

·        Reconstruction Letter Assignment-  explain the problems with Reconstruction, outline recommendations to improve life in the South for African Americans

 

Materials Used:   Textbook, various primary and secondary sources

Assessment Strategies:

Content Quizzes

Homework