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Colonial Social Media

Lesson Author
Frieling, Derek
Course(s)
American History
Required Time Frame
5-10 minutes of each class over 2-3 weeks.
Subject(s)
Cold War
Colonial Era
Grade Level(s)
9
10
11
12
Lesson Abstract
Applying a historical figure to modern social media.
Description

Students will take on the role of a character in the American Colonial era and make social media posts in the persona of the character they represent.

Rationale (why are you doing this?)

  • Students will develop a greater in depth analysis of leaders during the colonial era and an understanding of the emotions and struggles in day-to-day life of individuals in the emerging colonies.

  • Students will evaluate primary source documents and media.

Lesson Objectives - the student will

  • Review content material discussed in class.

  • Enhance research skills for necessary additional material.

  • Practice debate and public speaking skills.

District, state, or national performance and knowledge standards/goals/skills met

  • MO 1Ad:  Describe the historical foundations of the United States governmental system as reflected in the following documents:  Mayflower Compact 

  • MO3aA:  Describe the migrations of people from many regions of the world and the interactions of cultures and religious traditions that have contributed to America’s history.

  • MO 3aN:  Describe the historical development of the American economy, including: 1. impact of geographic factors 2. role of the frontier and agriculture 3. impact of technological change and urbanization on land, resources, society, politics and culture 4. changing relationships between government and the economy.

  • MO 5Cc:  Explain how and why different people may perceive the same place in varied ways.

  • MO 5D:  Distinguish major patterns and issues with regard to population distribution, demographics, settlements, migrations, cultures and economic systems in the United States and world.

  • MO 6 K:  Compare and contrast the major ideas and beliefs of different cultures 

  • MO 6L:  Analyze how the roles of class, ethnic, racial, gender and age groups have changed in society, including causes and effects.

  • MO 7A:  Distinguish between and analyze primary sources and secondary sources.

  • MO 7C:  Distinguish between fact and opinion and analyze sources to recognize bias and points of view.

Secondary materials (book, article, video documentary, etc.) needed

 

Primary sources needed (document, photograph, artifact, diary or letter, audio or visual recording, etc.) needed
Fully describe the activity or assignment in detail. What will both the teacher and the students do?

  • See last page for specific instructions.  This will be the handout for students.

  • The activity will be introduced the first day of the colonial unit.  Students will choose their colonial character and hang their Facebook poster by the second class.  Students will make Facebook posts each day during class.

  • Each day of class, the teacher will choose one or two of the articles in the primary and secondary source list to use as news feeds.  Students will read the documents and react to them as the historical character they represent by making tweets via Post-It notes.

Assessment: fully explain the assessment method in detail or create and attach a scoring guide
  • Students will be evaluated based on the completion of the required number of posts and tweets.