Rationale:
· This lesson is intended to expand upon that subject matter and highlight the contemporary belief of inherent physical, mental, and spiritual superiority of English speaking white men.
· I will be utilizing a mini-lecture about this “Social Darwinist” mentality that pervaded much of western culture at the time and the examination of Rudyard Kipling’s classic poem indicting the U.S. and other western powers for their believed superiority over indigenous peoples.
· I am using this particular strategy of examining the poem to help students truly understand the “Social Darwinist” mindset, so they will be able to link the suffering of the native peoples to times in their own pasts where they have been mistreated by an individual or institution with authority over their lives. I believe this will be particularly effective given the student population of my placement. Moreover, I believe that by having the students engage in content driven class discussion they will improve their public speaking skills in a discussion based format which is one of my overarching unit goals.
· This lesson is intended to expand upon that subject matter and highlight the contemporary belief of inherent physical, mental, and spiritual superiority of English speaking white men.
· I will be utilizing a mini-lecture about this “Social Darwinist” mentality that pervaded much of western culture at the time and the examination of Rudyard Kipling’s classic poem indicting the U.S. and other western powers for their believed superiority over indigenous peoples.
· I am using this particular strategy of examining the poem to help students truly understand the “Social Darwinist” mindset, so they will be able to link the suffering of the native peoples to times in their own pasts where they have been mistreated by an individual or institution with authority over their lives. I believe this will be particularly effective given the student population of my placement. Moreover, I believe that by having the students engage in content driven class discussion they will improve their public speaking skills in a discussion based format which is one of my overarching unit goals.
· SWBAT engage in a class discussion of the racial/cultural superiority mindset known as Social Darwinism that dominated the populations of most western powers.
· SWBAT write about an incident in their lives when they have been mistreated by an individual or institution with authority over their lives to better sympathize with the plight of the indigenous peoples that were conquered and exploited during the age of imperialism.
· SWBAT write about an incident in their lives when they have been mistreated by an individual or institution with authority over their lives to better sympathize with the plight of the indigenous peoples that were conquered and exploited during the age of imperialism.
· Students will be assessed in a summative fashion during the group and class examinations of the poem and the Social Darwinist mindset.
· Students will also be assessed formatively at the beginning of the class with short quiz based upon the two prior lessons. This will let me gauge the level of content comprehension the students are achieving in the unit as well as how detailed their notes/graphic organizers have been up till now in the unit, since it is school policy that they can utilize their notes and other resources during assessments.
· Students will also be assessed formatively at the beginning of the class with short quiz based upon the two prior lessons. This will let me gauge the level of content comprehension the students are achieving in the unit as well as how detailed their notes/graphic organizers have been up till now in the unit, since it is school policy that they can utilize their notes and other resources during assessments.
· HS.3. Explain the historical development and impact of major world religions and philosophies
· HS.6. Analyze ideas critical to the understanding of history, including, but not limited to: populism, progressivism, isolationism, imperialism, communism, environmentalism, liberalism, fundamentalism, racism, ageism, classism, conservatism, cultural diversity, feminism, and sustainability
· HS.63. Engage in informed and respectful deliberation and discussion of issues, events, and ideas.
· HS.6. Analyze ideas critical to the understanding of history, including, but not limited to: populism, progressivism, isolationism, imperialism, communism, environmentalism, liberalism, fundamentalism, racism, ageism, classism, conservatism, cultural diversity, feminism, and sustainability
· HS.63. Engage in informed and respectful deliberation and discussion of issues, events, and ideas.
Time: This lesson should take one standard fifty minute class period to complete.
· Copies of The White Man’s Burden by Rudyard Kipling Handout.
· Reflective Writing Activity Handout
· The White Man's Burden Image
· The Jungle Book Image
· Social Darwinism Video
· Content Check Quiz
· Reflective Writing Activity Handout
· The White Man's Burden Image
· The Jungle Book Image
· Social Darwinism Video
· Content Check Quiz
· The students will be made aware of the purpose & goal of the lesson prior to my beginning any instruction. These will be written on the board so I and the students can refer back to them should we lose focus or get off track. It will also inform the many late arrivals in my class of what we will be doing today if I do not have an opportunity to engage them as soon as they enter the classroom.
· I will then administer a brief open-note and materials quiz so I can assess the student’s progress in internalizing the content of the unit so far in a formative fashion. I will allow them to utilize these materials so they have the greatest possibility for academic success.
· My anticipatory set for this lesson will be to project an image from the Disney cartoon the Jungle Book on the screen and ask if any of the students are familiar with this story/movie. I will then ask the students what kind of message they think the story tells about indigenous peoples. I will further ask them what type of writing do they think the author went on to do after The Jungle Book. Hopefully the students will answer with responses akin to variations on children’s stories. I would like to shock them a bit by going to articulate that the author went on to write a poem that was not only popular, but a scathing indictment of the U.S.’s gaining colonial possessions. I will also play a video clip concerning the topic of Social Darwinism in case they have not been introduced to this topic. This video will also show the students that "The White Man's Burden" was not only in regards to the United States, but Great Britain and other imperial powers.
· I will then progress to telling the students that we will be examining this poem so that we can gain greater insight into the mind-set of a Social Darwinist, but not before we briefly review the tenants of this pseudo-scientific theory, this will help the student connect this material with the brief discussion we held on the topic in the first lesson of this unit.
· I will also project a primary source document, which demonstrates the condescending and racist attitudes held by many westerners concerning the indigenous peoples in the nations their homeland has conquered. I then will continue with a mini-lecture on Social Darwinism and how it was utilized during the age of imperialism.
· I will then administer a brief open-note and materials quiz so I can assess the student’s progress in internalizing the content of the unit so far in a formative fashion. I will allow them to utilize these materials so they have the greatest possibility for academic success.
· My anticipatory set for this lesson will be to project an image from the Disney cartoon the Jungle Book on the screen and ask if any of the students are familiar with this story/movie. I will then ask the students what kind of message they think the story tells about indigenous peoples. I will further ask them what type of writing do they think the author went on to do after The Jungle Book. Hopefully the students will answer with responses akin to variations on children’s stories. I would like to shock them a bit by going to articulate that the author went on to write a poem that was not only popular, but a scathing indictment of the U.S.’s gaining colonial possessions. I will also play a video clip concerning the topic of Social Darwinism in case they have not been introduced to this topic. This video will also show the students that "The White Man's Burden" was not only in regards to the United States, but Great Britain and other imperial powers.
· I will then progress to telling the students that we will be examining this poem so that we can gain greater insight into the mind-set of a Social Darwinist, but not before we briefly review the tenants of this pseudo-scientific theory, this will help the student connect this material with the brief discussion we held on the topic in the first lesson of this unit.
· I will also project a primary source document, which demonstrates the condescending and racist attitudes held by many westerners concerning the indigenous peoples in the nations their homeland has conquered. I then will continue with a mini-lecture on Social Darwinism and how it was utilized during the age of imperialism.
· At this point I will lead the class in an examination of the poem the White Man’s Burden by Rudyard Kipling. I will first read the short explanation/introduction to the poem that I found online and felt would help put the poem into context for the students. Without this context the students might believe that Kipling was genuinely endorsing this type of racist/culturally paternalistic crusade. I will however point out to the students that many influential individuals of the time missed the irony of the poem and took it to be a true ringing endorsement of this imperialist policy of the United States.
· I will then explain the students that not only will we be reading, analyzing, and discussing the poem, but we will be collaboratively creating our own poem by reordering the lines of the poem as we see fit.
· I will go on to explain that I will first read the poem aloud to the students one time all the way through; as I do so they are to read along with me and to underline or otherwise mark lines that you feel are especially powerful, speak to them personally in some fashion, they find interesting or beautiful, best expresses the overall message of the poem, etc. These will be helpful, when we begin the second phase of the activity where we will read lines out of order. I will further explain that the students can arrange lines to follow one another because they feel that they sound nice, complement one another, or even make the message more powerful.
· I will then read the poem once all the way through. I will then pause and let the students absorb the powerful words reaching out across time; next will quickly reiterate the protocols for this collaborative poem, ensuring the students understand the activity procedures including that before we begin we must first get up from our chairs and stand in a circle facing one another, and then read my first chosen line from the poem and then allow the students to carry on with the activity, with me adding my own contributions to the poem.
· I will then quickly debrief the students on how they felt the activity went. Did they feel that they could make the message clearer or more powerful by reordering the lines, or did they feel like we were messing with a classic? Could they hear the sarcasm and satire of the author better or worse through this activity? Did they like it?
· I will then direct the students to return to their seats.
· I will then explain the students that not only will we be reading, analyzing, and discussing the poem, but we will be collaboratively creating our own poem by reordering the lines of the poem as we see fit.
· I will go on to explain that I will first read the poem aloud to the students one time all the way through; as I do so they are to read along with me and to underline or otherwise mark lines that you feel are especially powerful, speak to them personally in some fashion, they find interesting or beautiful, best expresses the overall message of the poem, etc. These will be helpful, when we begin the second phase of the activity where we will read lines out of order. I will further explain that the students can arrange lines to follow one another because they feel that they sound nice, complement one another, or even make the message more powerful.
· I will then read the poem once all the way through. I will then pause and let the students absorb the powerful words reaching out across time; next will quickly reiterate the protocols for this collaborative poem, ensuring the students understand the activity procedures including that before we begin we must first get up from our chairs and stand in a circle facing one another, and then read my first chosen line from the poem and then allow the students to carry on with the activity, with me adding my own contributions to the poem.
· I will then quickly debrief the students on how they felt the activity went. Did they feel that they could make the message clearer or more powerful by reordering the lines, or did they feel like we were messing with a classic? Could they hear the sarcasm and satire of the author better or worse through this activity? Did they like it?
· I will then direct the students to return to their seats.
· I will then handout to the students a writing activity handout with the writing prompt already written for them at the top of the page. I will then read the instructions to the students. The prompt will read “Write about a time you were judged, mistreated, or discriminated against because of who you were, what you believed, or what you looked like. This incident should relate to the idea of privilege or lack of privilege”.
· I will then briefly tell the students about how when I was a boy I would be picked on incessantly by my full-blooded Hispanic relatives for being so white and speaking with what they considered to be a funny accent, and they wouldn't take me hunting with them,or spend time with them without their ridiculing me. Or about the times when I have been discriminated against because of my faith, any of these examples will do.
· The students will then respond to this prompt for the remainder of the class period. I will stop them when we have five minutes left in class to let them finish up whatever thought they are on and stop. I will the debrief the students by thanking them for their participation, and acknowledging that writing about such sensitive topics can be very unsettling and that if any of them would like to talk about the class or what they wrote about I will be making myself available to talk to them during lunch, all they have to do is return to the classroom and I will be there for them. I will then proceed to ask the student how did it make you feel to write about a time like that? Did writing about a time when they were discriminated against make them feel more empathetic to the indigenous peoples who were conquered by our Nation? After this brief debrief I will dismiss the students.
· I will then briefly tell the students about how when I was a boy I would be picked on incessantly by my full-blooded Hispanic relatives for being so white and speaking with what they considered to be a funny accent, and they wouldn't take me hunting with them,or spend time with them without their ridiculing me. Or about the times when I have been discriminated against because of my faith, any of these examples will do.
· The students will then respond to this prompt for the remainder of the class period. I will stop them when we have five minutes left in class to let them finish up whatever thought they are on and stop. I will the debrief the students by thanking them for their participation, and acknowledging that writing about such sensitive topics can be very unsettling and that if any of them would like to talk about the class or what they wrote about I will be making myself available to talk to them during lunch, all they have to do is return to the classroom and I will be there for them. I will then proceed to ask the student how did it make you feel to write about a time like that? Did writing about a time when they were discriminated against make them feel more empathetic to the indigenous peoples who were conquered by our Nation? After this brief debrief I will dismiss the students.