Teaching Guide
Reconstruction: A WebQuest
Produced by

Alfred L. Dean


Web Institute for Teachers, Summer, 2003

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Rationale

Goals and Objectives

Audience                             

Prerequisites

Subject-Matter

Instructional Plan

Materials and Implementation

Assessment and Evaluation

Appendices

Resources

Glossary

 


Introduction
 

Students have completed their study of the chapter on the Civil War and are now ready to delve into the complexities of the Reconstruction Period, from 1865 to 1877.


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Aim
 

To have students use their knowledge and understanding to evaluate the positions  and actions of the leading actors of the  period, and to offer new interpretations on the above.   

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Rationale
To present to students the importance of this period to Afro-Americans and to give them a chance to re-evaluate the choices, achievements, and eventual losses that transpiredduring these years.  

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Goals and Objectives
 

After completion of this lesson the students should be able to:

                                               1)  contrast the three Reconstruction  plans  and  explain which was most advantageous for Blacks
                                                2) state  the impact of the "freedom amendments", 13th, 14th, and 15th
                                                3) present an argument on the status of Afro-Americans if Lincoln had lived
                                                4) explain the role that groups like the carpetbaggers, scalawags, and the klan had on the lives of Blacks
                                                5)  write an essay in which you evaluate the major consequences of the
                                                       presidential election of 1876
                                                6) list the major achievements of Afro-Americans during the period
                                                7) write a screen play dealing with this period, which will be filmed
                                                8) evaluate the status of Blacks after the Civil War end

                             
Audience
  This Web Quest is being prepared for an 8th grade social studies class.
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Prerequisites
                              a) Students should have some background knowledge on the period leading up to
                                   the Civil War as well as the War itself.
                              b) Students should know basic aspects of the Constitution
                              c) Students should know the basics of using a computer and how to access information
                                   on the Internet.

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Subject-Matter

Under Reconstruction, the students will cover these subject areas:
                                      a) Lincoln's death
                                      b) The three Reconstruction plans
                                      c) The Freedman's Bureau and the early attempts to help Afro-Americans 
                                      d) Status of the newly freed people
                                      e) Achievements and successes
                                      f) The consequences of the 1876 Presidential Election
                                      g) New Status?                                 
 
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Instructional Plan
 
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Materials and Implementation
The class will need the following: the history text, "American Nation", access to the Computer Lab , and a notebook to record their notes and other important data.  I developed this Web lesson as a challenge for my eighth grade social studies class to develop their critical thinking skills, as well as their creative abilities. Dyett Academic Center computer labs average 30 computers, and my class currently has 25 members. Implementation of this webQuest probably will not occur until probably the seventh or eighth week of school. Our study begins with the causes leading the nation to war, then the Civil War itself. This lapse in beginning the lesson will allow the teacher to design computer activities that will permit the students to become more adept at browsing the Web and using the computer. Russ Revzan, the school's Technology Coordinator, will be my technical consultant.
I will present this WebQuest as a challenge for the class to learn in a way that will be somewhat different from traditional methods. the lesson is designed to give them a wider variety and access to materials textbooks do not normally have. The students will have a voice in how they learn what needs to be learned;  and how they will present what they have learned. The students will then be divided into groups and allowed to view the lesson  on the computer. If we have technological difficulties, I have a laptop and the school has an Infocus machine that can be used for parts of the Quest. In fact, the last task, "interpreting political cartoons", will be introduced using this method.
the students will be monitored by the teacher inquiring into their progress, getting them to explain what they are learning. I will use a checkoff list to keep track of those who are on target. Plus, group members will sometimes be ostracized by other members if they don't carry their load. A buddy-system will be in place for those who present discipline problems.
Student progress will be assessed weekly based on tasks that are completed, quizzes, an on-line test toward the end of the Quest, and the essays that are products of the lesson.
Finally, if the screen play comes to fruition, the class can perform it for the student body.

                                                           

                                                                  
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Assessment and Evaluation
 
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Appendices (optional, if needed)

Resources
 
Glossary:                                                                  
                                   
                                 

a) freedmen b) Reconstruction c) Ten Percent Plan d) amnesty e) Wade-Davis Bill   f) Freemen's Bureau
g) Thirteenth Amendment h) black codes i) Radical Republican j) Fourteenth Amendment j) Fourteenth Amendment k) Radical Reconstruction
l) Reconstruction Act m) impeach n) Fifteenth Amendment o) scalawag p) carpetbagger q) Conservatives
r) Ku Klux Klan s) sharecropper t) poll tax u) literacy test v) grandfather clause w) segregation
x) Jim Crow laws y) Plessy v.Ferguson z) "New South"



 

 


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