Guide to Writing with TCI Grade 8 History Alive! The United States Through Industrialism Writing for Understanding Writing for Understanding is one of the six main TCI strategies. There are five lessons that use this strategy in The United States Through Industrialism. However, two of them involve the time period that does not fall within our scope. While we all know that it is necessary to review, or teach at a deeper level, the colonial period and the Declaration of Independence, we have not included those lessons for writing. This strategy taps into students multiple abilities so that learners even those with lesser linguistic skills have something memorable to write about. Purposeful writing assignments motivate students to write with style and meaning. Use writing to help students learn key concepts Give students rich experiences to write about Have students record their ideas, thoughts, and feelings in prewriting activities Provide students with authentic writing assignments Guide students through writing process Lesson 13 A Growing Sense of Nationhood: Summary In this lesson, students learn about American society, culture and politics in the early 19 th century by gathering evidence from geography, politics, art, music, and literature. Writing Students write song lyrics to tell about what they have seen, done and heard. Chapter 20 African Americans at Mid-Century Summary This lesson presents a 19 th century portrait of African American life prior to the Civil War, including the role that African American slaves played in the Southern states and a discussion of living conditions and the rationale for slavery, with a focus on primary and secondary sources from Frederick Douglass to W.E.B. Dubois. Students analyze primary sources, images, and secondary text related to various aspects of life under slavery. Writing: Students create a story quilt and write journal entries from the perspective of a slave. Lesson 26 The Great Wave of Immigration Summary Students learn about the wave of immigration that occurred in the United States at the turn of the century. Writing Students create a scrapbook to explore the experiences of Italian, Jewish, Chinese, or Mexican immigrants. Students will become experts on one of the four immigrant groups. Then, students share scrapbooks with one another to learn about the other immigrant groups. 6/08
Processing Processing takes place after preview, active learning strategies, reading, and interactive note taking and before assessment. Processing is an opportunity to use knowledge in a novel way in order to take it in more deeply. The processing sessions that use writing, particularly persuasive writing, are listed below. Processing 3 Assume the role of a colonist writing and write persuasive postcards to a friend in Europe, stating three reasons why the writer moved to the colonies and two reasons why he or she did not settle elsewhere. Processing 5 Write a dialogue between a Loyalist and a Patriot, identifying three reasons for opposing and three reasons for supporting independence. Processing 8 Create a poster that includes reasons for supporting the ratification of the Constitution. Could be developed into a persuasive essay. Processing 9 Write an essay that completes the following statement: The Constitution works because.... Students must include the following terms in the essay: three branches of government, executive, legislative, judicial, checks and balances, federalism and amendment process. This is identified as persuasive writing, but it would be difficult to argue. At this level of instruction, this essay seems more expository than persuasive. Processing 10 Create a comic strip that tells a story about how difficult life might be today in your community if there were no Bill of Rights. Processing 11 Create a storyboard for a television commercial to represent the political ideas of either the Federalists or the Republicans. Processing 12 Write brief tombstone inscriptions to commemorate what those presidents accomplished in foreign affairs. Processing 14 Create a hero s commemorative plaque and a Wanted poster that evaluate Andrew Jackson s impact on American society. Could be developed into a persuasive essay. Processing 16 Create a folk song that details the experiences of the people who moved to the West. Processing 17 Annotate a map. Processing 18 Create an illustrated timeline 2
Processing 19 Label and caption Processing 21 Write a letter in which you accuse one side or the other of causing the Civil War. Exchange notebooks with a student who has written from the opposing perspective, and write a rebuttal to what he or she has written. Persuasive practice. Processing 22 Write thought bubbles Processing 23 Labeled illustration Processing 24 Write two acrostic poems using the word frontier, one reflecting the attitude of the white settlers and the other reflecting the attitude of the Native Americans toward the settlement of the West. Investigating History Located in the back of textbook Investigating History, a section of primary source documents and response assignments that provide extensions to the chapters. Response assignments include analyzing data, creating charts, and drawing cartoons and caricatures. Only those assignments that involve writing are included here. Chapter 9 We the People? Reading Letters from Abigail Adams to her husband John Adams. Writing Write a passionate letter to the editor of the local newspaper, trying to persuade people to adopt your views promoting women s rights. Chapter 14 Native American Policies Leave a Trail of Tears Reading Background on positions of colonists and Native Americans and excerpts from primary sources. Writing Write an editorial for the Washington Times, protesting the removal of the Cherokee along the Trail of Tears. (Persuasive) Chapter 15 By Land or by Sea: Settling an Immense Land Reading Background information and journal entries Writing Write a postcard on the journey west. Chapter 16 Women Meet the Challenge of the West. Reading Background information and journal entries. Writing Write a research paper about a pioneer woman Chapter 17 Importance of Great Rivers and Conflicts over Them Reading Background information geologist John Wesley Powell, a geologist and explorer of the Southwest 3
Writing Write a paragraph explaining how the six terms historians use help them study the past. Chapter 18 Women Speak Out for Equal Rights. Reading Background provided on four women s rights leaders, along with quotes from their writing. Writing Write a eulogy for one of these four women s rights leaders: Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucretia Mott, or Margaret Fuller. Chapter 20 Voices of Opposition to Slavery Reading Background and arguments from abolitionists Fanny Kemble, Harriet Beecher Stowe, William Lloyd Garrison, Theodore Dwight Weld, David Walker and Frederick Douglas. Writing Persuasive speeches convincing audience slavery is wrong. Chapter 22 Generals and Soldiers of the Civil War Reading Brief biographies and statements of four men who served. Writing Write a statement that expresses why you are willing to die for what you believe is right in the form of a personal letter to a family member or a friend, a letter to the editor or a wartime newspaper or a report to their commanding officer. Chapter 23 Jim Crow Laws: A Legacy of the Reconstruction Era Reading Background of Jim Crow laws Write a letter to persuade officials to change laws-from the perspective of an African American citizen of Mississippi in the late 19 th century. Online Resources TCI Online Resources for The United States Through Industrialism include Enrichment Essays and Activities and Internet Projects and Connections. Enrichment Essays provide depth and complexity extensions on selected topics, and individual and discussion activities follow each. The essays may be read on the screen or printed out. 4
Internet Projects and Connections Many of the chapter connections are internet resource links, but some include activities. Chapter 9 The Constitution: A More Perfect Union E-mail a letter to one of your U.S. senators or to your House representative. In your letter, you will share what you have learned about the three branches of government and ask a related question that you would like your senator or representative to answer. Chapter 14 Andrew Jackson and the Growth of American Democracy Create a pamphlet advertising the current status of one of the Five Civilized Tribes (Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Muscogee, or Seminole) displaced by the Indian Removal Act. The pamphlet should be created using a standard sized (8 1/2" x 11") piece of paper folded in half. Chapter 15 Cost Benefits Analysis Create a cost benefits analysis of the six territorial acquisitions of the United States. Chapter 20 African Americans at Mid-Century Create a timeline that details the rise and fall of slavery in America based on the four sections found on PBS s Africans in America Web site: The Terrible Transformation (1450 1750), Revolution (1750 1805), Brotherly Love (1791 1831), and Judgment Day (1831 1865). Each of the four sections contains a historical narrative of the period and a bank of primary resources, documents, and images. Chapter 22: The Civil War Write a short story from the point of view of an ordinary person or object that was present at a major event of the Civil War. 5