SDAIE WWI Propaganda Lesson Plan

Transcription

1 Tenth Grade CP World History SDAIE WWI Propaganda Lesson Plan Context for Learning: This lesson is designed for a tenth grade, college preparatory, world history class at Dos Pueblos High School. The class the lesson will be taught in is fourth period (directly before lunch). The class consists of thirty students whose age ranges from fifteen to sixteen. Twelve of them are females and eighteen of them are males. According to my cooperating teacher, two of the students have IEP s (one has auditory memory issues and the other has ADHD), four are English learners, and three are re-designated English learners. All of the students have taken a world history course in seventh grade and all but two have been in their current world history class since September Lesson Rationale: I am teaching this lesson because it teaches students about propaganda, which is an important aspect of World War One, and it is a state standard. Many of the students have never been taught about propaganda so the first part of the lesson is strictly concept attainment followed by an in depth analysis of the use of propaganda during World War One. There are various visuals to provide students with concrete examples and ample time for discussion. Students will begin by creating a definition of propaganda in pairs. I will pair students strategically so each pair should be able to come up with some sort of a working definition. Afterwards, as a class, we will come up with a list of the critical attributes of propaganda and apply them to a series of slides that students should recognize from popular culture. Their task will be to verbally tell me when called upon what characteristic the slide has or does not have of propaganda. Now that students have arrived at their own definitions in pairs and as a class I will tell them the dictionary definition and have them write it down. Students will write their above definitions and list of attributes on a what is propaganda handout I will provide. This will be followed by a terms and definition exercise in which students match the correct terms with definitions as a group. When they are finished I will go over the correct answers and ask for thumbs up, thumbs down to assess what areas I need to focus on. Once the exercise is complete the students will receive a sheet of notes detailing common objectives of wartime propaganda and common tools used in war time propaganda. Definitions will be given on the notes sheet and will be discussed as a class. This will be followed by eight groups of four (strategically created) analyzing eight examples of propaganda from four countries. Students will use a graphic organizer to list the country, objective of the poster, and propaganda tool used. Besides teaching students what propaganda is and its uses in the war, students will build their vocabulary and further develop their writing and analytical skills. This lesson builds upon previous lessons that deal with the war, its causes, and its effects on the home front. This lesson will be further developed in the World War Two unit. The requisite skills students need in order to access the lesson fully are the ability to read, write, discuss ideas with a partner and the class, and to analyze examples of propaganda. 1

2 Content Standards: Analyze the arguments for entering into war presented by leaders from all sides of the Great War and the role political and economic rivalries, ethnic and ideological conflicts, domestic discontent and disorder, and propaganda and nationalism in mobilizing the civilian population in support of total war. ELD/ELA Standards: Listening and Speaking: Speak clearly and comprehensibly using standard English grammatical forms, sounds, intonations, pitch, and modulation. Listening and Speaking: Negotiate and initiate social conversations by questioning, restating, soliciting information, and paraphrasing. Reading: Apply knowledge of language to achieve meaning/comprehension from informational materials, literary text, and texts in content areas. Learning Objectives: Academic Content o Given a pair share and a brief PowerPoint with positive and negative examples of propaganda, students will be able to define propaganda, list its attributes, and identify positive and negative examples of it. o Given eight examples of propaganda from four different countries during World War One and a notes sheet, students will be able to identify the objective(s) and propaganda tools used in each poster by filling out a graphic organizer. Academic Language o Given a pair share and a brief PowerPoint with positive and negative examples of propaganda, students will be able to define propaganda, list its attributes, and identify positive and negative examples of it by completing the what is propaganda worksheet. o Given a Propaganda Objectives and Tools Notes Sheet and a terms and definitions exercises to accompany it, students will be able to provide definitions of the following terms: demonization, emotional appeal, name calling, patriotic appeals, half-truths or lies, catchy slogans, evocative visual symbols, and humor or caricatures by participating in the group. Academic Language: Functions: Students will compare and contrast (this slide has characteristics, while the other slide has characteristics), justification (I think this poster is an example of propaganda because ), analyze and describe various propaganda posters from World War One. They will also create a working definition of propaganda and its attributes. Forms: o Brick: Brick terms will be shown in the PowerPoint, which will include many photos to help further understanding, and they will also be on the Propaganda Objectives and Tools handout students complete. Propaganda, recruitment, soldiers, draft, enlist, loans, taxes, dissent, conservation, resources, war, home-front, demonization, patriotism, slogan, caricature. 2

3 o Mortar: Students will need to use sentences to identify what propaganda tools are used in the posters and what the objectives are. Students will be given sentence frames ( This poster used the tool to achieve the objective of ) to use during class discussion. An example will be done as a class to familiarize students with the language. Fluency: Students will be able to employ the target academic language forms and functions in order to develop fluency in their handout, graphic organizer, and discussion in partners, as a group, and as a class. The sentence frame for the compare and contrast function as well as the justification function will be written on the board for students to refer to during the discussion. I will assess students developing mastery of the target academic language forms and functions by grading their handouts, graphic organizer, and listening to their use of vocabulary during their discussions. Assessment: Formative Assessment (Process): o I will assess students prior knowledge by hearing student s definitions of propaganda. I will tell students to create a definition of propaganda in pairs. I expect some students to have no idea, and some to have a very clear idea. Either one is ok as long as they get their brains thinking and get something on paper. I will ensure that everyone is on the same page before moving on to analyzing the placards by creating a list of the critical attributes of propaganda as a class. This list should include things like a catchy slogan, evocative imagery, emotional image, and the objective of trying to get people to think, act, or feel a particular way. It is particularly important that students understand the difference between advertisement and propaganda, which is what the aforementioned list is for. To make sure that students understand the definitions and terms for the tools used in propaganda they will complete an exercise in which they match terms and definitions. I will assess by thumbs up, thumbs down from groups based on whether they matched the correct definition. During the group analyzing of placards it is important to have mixed ability groups to ensure students are productive so I will strategically create them. I will circulate throughout the group work to make sure students are correctly matching objectives and tools from their handout with posters on their graphic organizers. There are specific answers for each poster, which is on the master, so that is the criteria for student responses. As I circulate, I will provide feedback and give students any extra assistance they may require. If many students seem to be off task or confused about the activity and instructions, I will address the class as a whole, answer any questions and give my instructions in a new way. I will video tape the lesson for my content class and also take notes as I walk around, which will enable me to record what I see and hear. Summative Assessment (Product): o I will collect two documents as evidence of student learning: the handout with definitions and critical attributes of propaganda and the graphic organizer for analyzing World War One propaganda posters. For the first half of the first handout, I am looking to see that students at least attempted to create a definition of propaganda. Basically, if they put effort forth they will receive credit for this portion. 3

4 I am expecting to see a few responses that are entirely inaccurate, but as long as they attempted it is ok. However, I am expecting that many students know propaganda has something to do with persuasion. For the second half of the worksheet I will be looking to see that students copied down the list of critical attributes of propaganda the class creates, which will depend on what the class comes up with, but should include some of the following: a catchy slogan, evocative imagery, emotional image, and the objective of trying to get people to think, act, or feel a particular way. o For the graphic organizer I will be looking to see that students accurately identified a country, objective, and propaganda tool used for each placard. As long as students back up their responses with evidence they will receive full credit. However, there is generally only one correct answer for each, which is on the master that is included at the end of the lesson. If students do not use the proper terms, but describe the method accurately, they will get partial credit and I will give written feedback on how to employ the vocabulary. Materials: What is Propaganda Handout Propaganda PowerPoint Envelope with definitions Paper with terms Propaganda Objectives and Tools Notes Sheet Graphic Organizer: World War One Propaganda Posters 8 propaganda posters Teacher s Guide to Slides Lesson Procedures (Total Time: 57 Minutes [11:17-12:14]): Time Activity Purpose 11:17-11:22 (5 Min.) Starter The starter will be for students to move into their assigned group (mixed ability) Keeps students on a routine and prepares them for the days lesson. Helps to ensure groups will be productive. Pass out What is Propaganda HO 11:22-11:27 (5 Min.) 11:27-11:34 (7 Min.) As a pre-assessment of students prior knowledge students are asked to pair with someone in their group and come up with their best definition of propaganda to write on the What is Propaganda handout. No pressure, but Ss should try their best even if they do not have a clear idea of the concept. Discuss student definition and come up with a list of traits for propaganda as a class. Have Ss write them down. What are some things that are always present in propaganda? The list may vary depending on what the students come up with, but I expect it to include the following: objective of making people Allows students to arrive at their own definition and lets the T see Ss prior knowledge. Furthers the concept attainment by narrowing down characteristics and creating a clear definition. 4

5 11:34-39 (5 Min.) think, act or feel a particular way; biased; catchy slogan or image; directed at a viewer. Ss write the dictionary definition and discuss its similarities and differences with the definition they created. Then show 4 slides that are positive and negative examples of propaganda. Call on students to explain if the slide is a positive or negative example and why: What characteristics does this slide have or not have that fit in with propaganda? Do you consider it propaganda? What does this slide have that makes it propaganda that the other lacks? When comparing and contrasting Ss will respond using a sentence frame: This poster used the tool to achieve the objective of. When they are justifying their claim they will also use a sentence frame: I think this poster is an example of propaganda because (Two slides are positive examples because they are trying to influence how the reader feels and acts while the other two are advertisements that are enticing the reader to purchase something.) Provides students with a chance to identify examples of propaganda and clears up confusion about propaganda and advertisement. Visuals help to understand the definition. Students also gain an opportunity to practice academic language. 11:39-11:44 (5 Min) Pass out envelopes and terms sheet (1 per group) In groups, students partake in a terms and definitions exercise by matching propaganda tools definitions with terms. Students learn definitions through trial and error as a group. Helps them to become familiar with the terms. 11:44-11:49 (5 Min) 11:49-12:12 (24 Min.) As a class, T briefly goes over the correct definitions. For each term T asks for thumbs up, thumbs down from each group based on whether they had the correct definition or not. Pass out Graphic Organizer, Propaganda Objectives and Tools Notes Sheet and placards (1 per group) Students now apply the knowledge by analyzing a placard for approximately 4 minutes as a group, filling out the graphic organizer, and passing the placard on. Clarifies the definitions and allows T to see what areas need to be reinforced or re-taught. Allows students to work in groups and familiarizes them with primary sources. Hands on examples and visuals with a graphic organizer and definition worksheet helps with comprehension and academic vocabulary. 5

6 12:12-12:14 (2 Min.) Ss clean up and get back to seats. They will finish tomorrow Closes lesson. Lesson Procedures (Total Time: 47 Minutes [11:47-12:34]): Time Activity Purpose 11:47-11:52 (5 Min) Starter: What propaganda tool do you feel is the most effective and why? Give an example of where you have seen it used other than the posters we have been analyzing. Keeps students on a routine and reviews the previous day s lesson. 11:52-12:02 (10 Min) Students get into groups and finish up the last two or three placards. Ss are able to complete the activity from the previous day. 12:02-12:12 (10 Min) Review of the placards. What propaganda tool did you find occurred most often? What objective did you find occurred the most? T will hold up and discuss whichever placard the Ss mention and go over the information Ss should have on the graphic organizer. Which techniques would you use if you were a propagandist and why? Ss are able to discuss and share their ideas. Concept it clarified further and Ss have an opportunity to fill in missing information. 12:12-12:27 (15 Min) Quiz Project Section Quiz Summative assessment for section. 12:27-12:34 (7 Min) Collect Quizzes Review responses So Ss learn the correct answers and can ask questions. 6

7 Analysis of Student Work There are two worksheets I collected for student data. One is the What is Propaganda Worksheet that asks students to create a definition with their partner, list the critical attributes the class comes up with, and copy the dictionary definition. The second worksheet is a graphic organizer that students use to analyze propaganda posters by filling out the objective of the poster and the propaganda tools it uses. I chose ten student work samples to analyze five for the first worksheet and five for the second worksheet. The reason I chose these samples to analyze is because they accurately represent the range of student work I received. Between the five samples for each worksheet, almost every student response is illustrated. The What is Propaganda worksheet yielded interesting results. I expected the first task (with a partner, decided upon a definition for propaganda. Make sure it is a detailed definition that does not leave out any parts) to illicit a wide-range of responses. While the answers I received varied, none were entirely wrong. Certainly some responses were lacking, but I expected to find at least a few outlandish responses. However, this was not the case and each group listed at least one factual thing about propaganda. While I explicitly stated that I wanted students to create a detailed definition that does not leave out any parts, I received some responses that read more as a critical attribute than a definition. For example, student A wrote Misleading information, and student B wrote Information to advance a cause. While neither one is incorrect, neither is detailed. However, I gave them credit for at least trying since I expected they had no prior experience with the concept. Students D and E gave sophisticated responses that incorporated critical attributes into a definition. Student D wrote: It is biased or one sided information is given to a people in order to create a common opinion that is generally not the truth. Student E wrote: Propaganda: information or material spread to advance a cause or to damage an opponent s cause. These two responses as pre-assessments show that the students already had a fairly good grasp of the concept. They understood that the information is biased and address the purpose. In the future, I would make my instructions more explicit by asking students to include the purpose and nature of the propaganda in their definition. This way they have specific prompts to address to help focus their responses or spark prior knowledge. The second part of the worksheet was completed as a class. Every student wrote down what I wrote on the board. Students did a good job of discussing the merits of the attributes of propaganda. The list they created was fairly comprehensive and they were able to apply the characteristics to the slides I showed them. However, not every student gave an attribute or discussed them. Therefore, in the future I would have students come up with attributes, pair share, and then address the class. This way every student has the opportunity to participate. Part three was also completed by every student. However, in analyzing the What is Propaganda worksheet I found I do not know for certain that all of the students understand the concept of propaganda. I know that many do because they were able to analyze the slides I projected and create an accurate list of critical attributes, but there were still some students who did not create detailed definitions for their first task and did not participate in the creating of the critical attributes list. Because of this, I would alter the worksheet by adding a fourth task: now that you have completed the above three tasks, create your own definition that a younger sibling could understand (do not say biased instead explain what bias is in simple terms). This way I can see that students understand the concept by creating a definition in their own words after learning the critical attributes. As a whole students did well on analyzing the posters using their graphic organizer. They were able to use the Propaganda tools notes to fill in the objectives and tools. There are three typical 7

8 examples of students work; one, incomplete, two correct but only wrote down the numbers that correspond to the notes handout, and three, correct. The terms and definitions activity seemed to help the students flesh out the definitions and as a result the academic vocabulary was correctly applied in the vast majority of cases. Students met the academic language goals because they applied the terms correctly and matched them correctly in the terms and definitions activity. However, the students who wrote the numbers did not fully achieve my academic language goal. For example, student A and C wrote down the number of the correct objective, but did not write their responses out using the vocabulary. Therefore, they did not gain the practice I intended for them. If I were to teach this lesson again, I would be more explicit and explain they need to write out the answers rather than match the number. However, it shows they at least understood the terms since they matched them correctly. Student D represents the other type of student who did not use the vocabulary, but clearly understood the terms. For example, instead of writing down the academic vocabulary term recruitment, student D wrote Join the army or Join the Marines. Clearly the student understands the vocabulary, but does not use the actual term. Again, I need to be more explicit in my instructions and explain they need to use the actual vocabulary. While the academic language learning was not complete for every student, the content learning is high because the correct answer is matched with the posters in most worksheets, even if it does not use the correct vocabulary. Besides the students who wrote nothing down, almost everyone wrote down the correct information for each poster. The only problem was they did not always use the academic language for the objectives. Interestingly though, the same students who did not use the vocabulary on the objectives section, used the academic vocabulary on the tools section. In fact no student tried to use their own words for the tools section. Perhaps the students were more comfortable and familiar with the tools vocabulary than the objective vocabulary. The analysis of the student work samples taught me how necessary differentiated instruction is. Some of the students came in with a lot of accurate prior knowledge, while others came in with very little. It is important to find away to keep the first type of student engaged while teaching the second type of student. This is something I am struggling with. The analysis of student work also taught me how necessary SDAIE is. Had I gone into class and given a lecture on propaganda, I am sure I would not have the same success rate with students who are English learners or who learn differently. 8

9 Reflection There are various features in the propaganda lesson that make it SDAIE: think pair share, group and class discussion, strategic pairing and grouping, sentence frames, thumbs up thumbs down, graphic organizer, handout with key vocabulary, terms and definition exercise, and numerous visuals. All of these things make the lesson SDAIE because they lower the language dependency and allow students to access material without heavy reading and writing. I integrated academic language into the lesson first by spending the first part of class on concept attainment of propaganda. I allowed students to create their own definitions in groups and pairs and discussed critical attributes as a class. I also integrated academic language with content instruction by having students participate in a terms and definition activity and by providing them with a notes sheet with the terms and definitions written on it. Students prior knowledge was accessed by holding a brief class discussion about what students had heard about propaganda and then by having students create a definition with a partner. This allowed me to see that most students had a pretty good idea of propaganda, but that there were large holes and many ideas needed to be expanded upon. I also used students cultural backgrounds as context for the instruction by providing students with many positive and negative examples of propaganda they were familiar with from popular cultural. Students were also asked to provide examples they have seen in their daily lives. Many cited the 2008 election. This also was a way to enhance the affective domain since it got them interested. Differences among learning styles was addressed by catering to the needs of many different learning styles. I used group, pair, and individual activities, hands-on activities, visuals and discussion. I also made sure to spend time dealing with students one-on-one who were struggling and grouped the students based on ability. I created groups that were a mix between students who I thought would have prior knowledge and those who would not, and those who have a strong work ethic and those who do not. I also kept friends seperated. The SDAIE lesson on propaganda was taught as planned. The lesson procedures were appropriate for most of the students and the content I was teaching. The lesson applied to the content standard: Analyze the arguments for entering into war presented by leaders from all sides of the Great War and the role political and economic rivalries, ethnic and ideological conflicts, domestic discontent and disorder, and propaganda and nationalism in mobilizing the civilian population in support of total war. However, some of the students came into the class with prior knowledge. For example, for task one on the What is Propaganda worksheet student D wrote: It is biased or one sided information is given to a people in order to create a common opinion that is generally not the truth and student E wrote: Propaganda: information or material spread to advance a cause or to damage an opponent s cause. These two responses as pre-assessments show that the students already had a fairly good grasp of the concept. They understand that the information is biased and address the purpose. However, student A only wrote: Misleading information. Therefore, the lesson was appropriate for many of the students who were at a similar place as student A, but there were some students like D and E who already had a good grasp of the material. My next steps instructionally will be to move on with the World War One and the home front lessons. The majority of students did well on applying the concept of propaganda by using their graphic organizer. I define well as having the correct objective and tools next to the placard. However, for the few who may still be struggling I will have a warm-up asking students to write which of the propaganda tools they think are most effective and why. Afterwards, I will have students discuss their responses and I will review the concept and ask for student questions. 9

10 The terms and definitions exercise was successful because almost every group completed the activity correctly and were able to apply the terms in one way or another to the posters by using the graphic organizer. The graphic organizer also worked very well in organizing students thoughts. Had I asked students to write down their responses on a lined piece of paper I am confident I would have received some very unorganized and scattered thoughts. (see the analysis of student work for more specifics on what went well). Next time I will first and foremost be more explicit in my instructions, both written and verbal. Giving clear written instructions is imperative and also saves my voice because I can refer students to the written instructions. Being explicit and clear is something I am struggling with, but it is getting much better with practice since I am becoming able to anticipate questions and problems. The other major thing I would do differently is add a fourth task to the What is Propaganda worksheet that asks students to create their own definition to read to a younger sibling. The reason for this is that I realized the first part was an assessment of prior knowledge, the second part was created as a class, and the third part was a copied definition. Nowhere was there a summative assessment of the term propaganda. Students were able to apply the term in the last activity, but were not able to produce the knowledge they gained about the term. I have learned a lot about myself as a teacher. Mainly I need to be more explicit in my instructions. Rubrics are helpful in this area, but I do not feel it is necessary or very useful to use a rubric in an assignment like this one. I need to write clearer instructions and get in the habit of asking students to repeat instructions to me. I have also learned a lot about teaching SDAIE. Mainly that it is not easy and that is very time consuming. However, it is beneficial and many students who usually struggle produced high quality work. I can only assume it is because of the various activities I incorporated, visuals and scaffolding. 10