Imperialism: Lesson 1 What is Imperialism?

Length of Lesson: One Class Period (70 minutes) Context of Lesson: This is the beginning of our unit on Imperialism. The unit follows a unit on Progressivism and will be followed by a Unit on WWI. The students have just wrapped up learning about the Progressive Era and the lasting reforms that came out of it. This particular unit coincides with the previous unit as Imperialist America and Progressive America coexisted. This particular lesson is a concept formation lesson asking students What is Imperialism? Overview: This lesson will serve as a deductive concept formation lesson, as well as a hook, to help students gain a firm understanding of what imperialism is and what it is not and how Early Modern America participated in imperialism. We will examine a clip from the movie Avatar as a medium to hook students into the content and ultimately the unit problem. Moreover, I will present students with the concept (imperialism) along with its key attributes. After students have had an opportunity to observe these attributes, they with test their knowledge of the concept using provided scenarios. Intellectual Problem: What is imperialism? Objective(s): Students will: Identify the key attributes of Imperialism and use those attributes to determine whether or not a given scenario is an instance of imperialism. Anticipated student misconceptions of challenges to student understanding: Students may already have a vague understanding of what imperialism is from pop culture and previous experiences in the history classroom. They might see colonization and imperialism as one in the same when they are not - as imperialism in the 19th Century was more organized and more aggressive, than that of the [colonial] period, and grew out of more complex motives. (Fenton 204) Materials/Evidence/Sources: Avatar film Examples and non-examples handout Powerpoint presentation?

Instructional Sequence:

Imperialism: Lesson 1 What is Imperialism?

Scripted Intro: Last unit, we took a look at the Progressive Era and the legacies left by the reformers of that time. This was essentially an observation of the attempts to cure societal ills that occurred domestically. But, at the same time, the US wasnt only interested in fixing itself on the inside. Simultaneously, Americans were also interested in securing their interests abroad, primarily in the Caribbean and Pacific. With that, we start our unit on imperialist America which brings us to our Unit Question: Did the US wander from its ideals during and after the Spanish American War? The goal is to be able to develop an intelligent response to this question at the end of this unit. Before we do so, we need to figure out what imperialism actually is, and what it is not. (3-4 minutes) 1. Right now Im passing out a quick reference to the Core Democratic Values that we reviewed at the beginning of the trimester. We are going to use this list as the ideals that America wandered from or did not wander from during and after the Spanish American War. Keep this for reference as we will look back to it throughout the unit. (2-3 minutes) 2. Today we ask the question, What is imperialism? After the lesson well ask, does imperialism wander from American ideals set forth in the Core Democratic Values? With that, here is todays handout. Please fill in the prompts as we progress through the lesson. (2-3 minutes) Right now we will watch a clip from the film Avatar. Before we watch this clip, I want you to think about this question and continue to think about it through the duration of the clip: a. What does it mean to win the hearts and minds of people? b. Why would a nation want to win the hearts and minds of another nation? c. After students have had the opportunity to watch the clip, ask them what they think Selfridge meant by the particular phrase: win the hearts and minds. Also, ask what Selfridges motive is behind winning the hearts and minds. (5-10 minutes) Bring class back together and ask them what they came up with. If necessary, use these prompting questions: a. What does it mean to win the hearts and minds? i. If students present a vague response, ask them what they mean by that. Ask them to be more specific. b. Have you ever heard this phrase before? If so, where? c. What would be someones/a nations motive in doing this? (5-10 minutes) This idea of winning hearts and minds may be extended to the notion of imperialism. With that, heres a definition of imperialism with its key characteristics. Present students with the definition and its criteria on the powerpoint as well as a handout. Tell them that this is how scholars define what imperialism is. Now we will take a look at some case examples - some clear cut and others ambiguous - to test our definition and understanding of the concept. Are there any questions about the criteria of this concept? (3-5 minutes) Tell students to take a look at these scenarios with a partner next to them and answer this question: Is this an instance of imperialism? Why or why not? Our task is to use our definition with each scenario to determine whether or not the given instance is imperialism or not. For it to serve as an example, the scenario must coincide with one or more of the criteria. Otherwise the scenario is a non example. Some of these scenarios will be clear cut, while others will seem ambiguous. Work with a neighbor close by on these scenarios. When everyone has had an

2.

3.

4.

5.

Imperialism: Lesson 1 What is Imperialism?

opportunity to respond to each of the prompts we will bring it back together and discuss each scenario individually. (10-15 minutes) 6. After students have had time to work on these situations together, bring the class back together to discuss each instance one by one. This will allow students to complete any portions of the handout they couldnt complete in the small group. Moreover, it will ignite discussion over the ambiguous cases that help concretize what imperialism is and what it is not. (10-15 minutes) Scripted Conclusion: So today, we learned what imperialism is and what it is not. Moreover, were one a step closer in developing a meaningful response to our unit question. Monday, well ask the question: Is the Spanish American War an example of American imperialism? (2-3 minutes) Assessment: Completion of the Scenario handout. This will include explanations of what serves as an example and what does not along with why each scenario is an example or non example.