Grade 7 Unit 4 - Douglass SY19-20

1. Teacher(s) Hannah Ticoras
Michael Langley
Sasha Fletcher
Subject groups &
disciplines
Language & Literature
Individuals and Societies
Unit title
Skeletons in our Closets
(And Below our Streets)
MYP year 2 Unit
duration
(hrs)
Approx. 50 hours
Inquiry: Establishing the purpose of the interdisciplinary unit
Purpose of Integration
The purpose of this unit is to expose students to the history of slavery not only in the South of the United States, but to
make them aware of the history of slavery in the North as well, particularly in New York. Through a study of primary
source documents, personal narratives, students will develop an understanding of the origins of slavery in America.
Students will analyze texts for their use of rhetorical devices, and strengthen their own argumentation skills
Key concept / related concept(s) Global context
Language & Literature
Communication (Self-expression, Genre)
Individuals & Societies
Time, Space, and Place (Power, Equity)
Fairness and Development
Statement of inquiry
The ways in which individuals respond to situations of inequity in power are dependent on their own identities and
place in time.
Inquiry questions
Factual— What is the history of slavery in the United States, and NY in particular? What was daily life like for
someone who was enslaved? Who was involved with the the Abolitionist movement?
Conceptual— How do individuals respond to inequity to affect change? How does who you are as a person
impact what you do (your actions)?
Debatable— In what ways do issues of power, wealth, and morality influence national policy? What does it
mean to be revolutionary?
Summative assessment – interdisciplinary performance(s) of understanding
Interdisciplinary Criteria
AT A LEVEL 7, STUDENTS WILL BE ABLE
TO…
LANGUAGE & LITERATURE
A. ANALYSING​:
i. provides perceptive identification and
explanation of the content, context,
language, structure, technique and style,
and explains the relationship among texts
thoroughly
ii. provides perceptive identification and
explanation of the effects of the creator’s
choices on an audience
Outline of summative task / GRASPS
You are a historian looking back on the history of
changemaking through the Abolitionist movement in America
from the years of 1800-1865.
Consider the tactics and methods used by abolitionists to
attempt to illegalize slavery in America. Which of the
abolitionists do you think were most effective, and why?
Write an essay for submission to the historical journal ​Rising
Phoenix ​comparing and contrasting the methods of 2
abolitionists of your choosing.
Evaluate the effectiveness of the abolitionists’ tactics by:
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2. D. USING LANGUAGE
iii. uses grammar, syntax and punctuation
with a high degree of accuracy; errors are
minor and communication is effective.
AT A LEVEL 7 STUDENTS WILL BE ABLE
TO…
INDIVIDUALS & SOCIETIES
A. KNOWING AND UNDERSTANDING
ii. demonstrate excellent knowledge and
understanding of content and concepts
through developed and accurate
descriptions, explanations and examples.
B. INVESTIGATING
iii. use methods to collect and record
appropriate and varied relevant
information
D. THINKING CRITICALLY
iv. clearly recognize different perspectives
and consistently explains their
implications.
● Introducing two abolitionists and explaining where their
tactics exist on the chart below using evidence from
their lives. If their position on the chart changed over
time, explain how.
● Comparing & contrasting at least 2 of the tactics
● Explaining which is the most effective, using both
evidence and personal opinions
Formatting Expectations:​ ​500-750 words, double-spaced
12pt font, Times New Roman (or some other boring font)
To help you plan for your writing…
Which
abolitionists will
you compare?
William Lloyd
Garrison
Frederick
Douglass
Angelina Grimke
John Brown
Gabriel Prosser
Nat Turner
Denmark Vessey
Harriet Beecher
Stowe
Harriet Tubman
Which
persuasive
techniques will
you use in your
writing?
Pathos
Ethos
Logos
What sources
will you use?
● The
Narrative
of the Life
of
Frederick
Douglass
● The
Abolitioni
sts
document
ary
● Who was
Frederick
Douglass
?
Other places you
can use for
evidence
include:
https://kids.brita
nnica.com/
https://www.gale.
com/
Please ensure
the websites you
use are reliable
and contain
accurate
information.
Approaches to learning (ATL)
Information literacy skills​: Identify primary and secondary sources
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3. Organization skills​: Understand and use sensory learning preferences (learning styles)
Action: Teaching and learning through interdisciplinary inquiry
Disciplinary Grounding
Subject: Language and Literature Subject: Individuals & Societies
Related concepts:
Self-expression, Genre
Related concepts:
Power, Equity
Content
Frederick Douglass’ ​Narrative of the Life of Frederick
Douglass​, Summarizing non-fiction texts, Rhetorical
Techniques including Pathos, Ethos and Logos,
Persuasive writing techniques
Content
Practicing note-taking with PBS documentary “The
Abolitionists,” Primary source documents/accounts
of interaction between slaves, Secondary sources
about other abolitionists
Disciplinary learning engagements and teaching
strategies
● Lesson: Learning about the Abolitionists
○ Skill: Reciprocal Teaching &
Annotation Strategies
○ Formative: Abolitionists Poster…
● Pathos Lessons
○ Skill: Identifying Pathos, Using
Pathos
○ Formative: ​FD Chs 1-5 CER
● Ethos Lesson
○ Skill: Identifying Ethos, Using Ethos
○ Discussion: ​Where do you see Ethos
used today? How does that appear
in the Frederick Douglass narrative?
● Logos Lesson
○ Skill: Identifying Logos, Using Logos
○ Discussion:​ Where do you see Logos
used today? How does that appear
in the Frederick Douglass narrative?
● Persuasive Writing -- putting them all
together
○ Discussion:​ Which persuasive
technique do you use the most in
your daily life? Why?
● Lesson: Essay Writing
○ Discussion: ​What are some ways to
conclude an essay without saying “In
conclusion…?”
○ Formative: 5 paragraph essay about
anything
● Summative Intro & Pointers
○ Summative: ​Tactics essay
Disciplinary learning engagements and teaching
strategies
● Lesson: Learning about the Abolitionists
○ Skill: Reciprocal Teaching &
Annotation Strategies
○ Formative: Abolitionists Poster…
● Pathos Lessons
○ Skill: Identifying Pathos, Using Pathos
○ Formative: ​FD Chs 1-5 CER
● Ethos Lesson
○ Skill: Identifying Ethos, Using Ethos
○ Discussion: ​Where do you see Ethos
used today? How does that appear in
the Frederick Douglass narrative?
● Logos Lesson
○ Skill: Identifying Logos, Using Logos
○ Discussion:​ Where do you see Logos
used today? How does that appear in
the Frederick Douglass narrative?
● Persuasive Writing -- putting them all
together
○ Discussion:​ Which persuasive
technique do you use the most in your
daily life? Why?
● Lesson: Essay Writing
○ Discussion: ​What are some ways to
conclude an essay without saying “In
conclusion…?”
○ Formative: 5 paragraph essay about
anything
● Summative Intro & Pointers
○ Summative: ​Tactics essay
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4. Interdisciplinary learning process
Interdisciplinary learning
experiences and teaching
strategies:
Formative assessments:
● FD​ Chs 1-5 CER
○ Evaluating use of Pathos in Douglass’ narrative
○ Extension for H: Looking at FD speech
● Ethos formative
○ Analyzing Ethos in advertisements
○ Evaluating Douglass’ ethos using quotes from other
abolitionists about Douglass
○ Practicing using ethos in speech writing
● Logos formative
○ Analyzing Logos in advertisements
○ Practicing using logos in speech writing
● FD ​Chs 6-9 + CER
○ Summarizing text
○ Analyzing use of ethos by Douglass
Differentiation:
Scaffolding specific to writing a thesis:
● Fill-in-the-blank walk-through.
● Lists of transition words to connect claims and reasons
● Models
● List of words to complicate (deepen, specify) thesis
● Prompts to deepen thinking (Can you explain… What is the effect of… etc)
● Lists of dead words
● Provide summaries of evidence to be used
Resources
● Primary sources Frederick Douglass’ newspaper ​The North Star
https://www.loc.gov/collections/frederick-douglass-newspapers/about-this-collection
● PBS Documentary ​“The Abolitionists”
● The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass​ ​by Frederick Douglass
●
Reflection: Considering the planning, process and impact of the inquiry
Prior to teaching the unit During teaching After teaching the unit
New summative: Literary
essay? (4-5 pages)
(Real world extension… 10
tweets, 10 IG posts, who would
be tagged)
How can we use NYTimes 1619
Project?
We want to make connections
Ideas for formatives next year: Google
Black History Month commercial (How
does the BHM commercial use
pathos, ethos, and logos to persuade)
The speeches that students are
writing are incredibly powerful. This
needs to be a focus of next year.
Need to allow for more time for
teaching essay writing skills (we ran
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5. to modern-day. How does
slavery still have effect today?
How can we implement Black
History Month - presentations?
Could students write op - eds?
Symposium ?
Skills we want to address:
Research
Lit Analysis (word choice,
Ethos-Pathos-Logos) (teaching
students to categorize different
types of arguments and to
generate arguments of their
own)
Informational Text Analysis
(identifying “main idea,”...)
Argumentative Writing
Letter Writing
Understanding Author’s
Message
Understanding Author’s
Purpose
More specific skills. What will
kids be able to do specifically?
Annotating a novel -- using doc
cam
Answering comprehension
questions
Finding specific textual
evidence
out of time because of the switch to
remote learning this year).
Continuing to use ​The Abolitionists​ to
start the unit, but beginning with
teaching note-taking skills. We did
that halfway through the viewing this
time, and assessing that as a skill
resulted in much higher engagement
and retention.
Including more contemporary texts …
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