Kalen+Whitehead-Thinking+and+Planning+Big 

Thinking and Planning “Big” 8th Grade American and North Carolina History


 * Rational as a Whole: The idea is that these themed frameworks will build on one another so that the student can learn history as a story, as well as how it affects them in a personal way. **

**Theme One- History and the Self: The exploration of how history affects your life and how you affect history. Will you make history someday? Have you already made history?** These are the questions that students will ponder and develop an ideology on throughout this unit. Students will look specifically at historical events that have happened within their lifetime. For instance, the Presidential Campaigns of both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama (The first African-American President and the first Woman to run for President of the United States). Other events students would look into would be the legalization of gay marriage and multiple terrorists attacks that have occurred across the globe. Though these topics are very controversial, I think it is very important for students to understand why they are controversial and why these events shape their own lives on a daily basis.

Simone Biles: The 19-year-old gymnast that made olympic history in the 2016 summer olympics. This young woman represents overcoming hardship and adversity. Students would take a closer look at her life and how she made herself a part of history. Students will have an interest in this person because of how recent her accomplishments are and because they can all relate to hardships in life. Harriet Tubman: This woman led slaves from the south to freedom by utilizing the underground railroad. This was illegal at the time and she putting other people’s lives (as well as hers) in danger by guiding these slaves to freedom. Students will look at debate when it is appropriate to break the law to better society. This is another controversial issue that arises when society wants to make change. It also personally highlights the minds of students and where their train of thought is on history making. Harriet Tubman was very successful in leading slaves to freedom (GREAT), but she broke the law (not always so great). Brock Turner: This is the man who was caught in an attempt to rape a young woman on a college campus. Because this young man was a highly-successful athlete, he was only give a 6 month sentence. Students will look at this man’s trial and how one horrible, horrible mistake changed his life forever. They will also debate the sentencing of this man as they look at the trial as a whole and the personal story of the young woman he raped.
 * Essential or Highlighted Individuals: **

President Obama’s Inauguration Speech: This is a more recent text/audio of history being made. All of the students will have some sort of recollection of this happening in their life. What has this speech done for the lives of the students? Where do they see this change taking them? The Emancipation Proclamation: This text allows students to gain a deeper understanding of how ONE person can change history. “To be or not to be”-Hamlet: This Shakespearean soliloquy integrates language arts into the social studies classroom. The students will only look at this excerpt from Hamlet and identify the struggle of the human mind. Our minds are what shape history.
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**Theme Two: History and your family: The way in which your family has influenced history.** This theme will give students the opportunity to look at history through the lense of their families. The unit as a whole will look at families who have made history. The unit will focus on the Bush family and its direct influence on the lives of Americans and North Carolinians over the last 16 years. We will also look at the divided family. By this I mean we will look at Duke fans verses Carolina fans in the state of North Carolina and look at the history that started the rivalry many, many years ago. This is will be a light-hearted way to reach students, but then further discuss the division of families and how different they look from 20, 30, 40 years ago. I would also like to look at the royal family and other dynasties that have occurred throughout history and those families affect students today.

Henry the VIII: This man, the King of England from 1509 until his death in 1547, is one of the most interesting men in history. He had six wives and the class will discuss how this abnormal family influenced his kingdom and the rest of the world. This will start great conversation because we will be able to discuss cultures who still believe it is okay to have multiple wives at one time. Family dynamics are a huge part of history and I believe this is a man who can show students just how abnormal families have been throughout history. Maya Angelou: Though this famous civil rights activists and acclaimed author was not born in North Carolina, she spent over 30 years of life in NC. Angelou lived a very harsh childhood. Her family did not treat her the best, but it was from those hardships that she gained her strength and became the famous figure in history. Students will wrestle with how someone of such great hardship can overcome. The Cherokee Indian Tribe: The Cherokee people have spent the majority of their lives fighting to keep the land they spent centuries cultivating. When Eastern Europeans moved into North Carolina, they begin to take over and viciously fight for the land of the Cherokees. Students will take a look at the family dynamics of the Cherokee tribe. This will also start an interesting debate over whether or not it was write for Europeans to take the land from the Cherokees.
 * Essential or Highlighted Individuals: **


 * Core Texts: **

Love You Forever-Robert Munsch: This famous children’s book integrates language arts into the classroom. It allows students to get a glimpse of what society thinks the “perfect” family life looks today. Students will be able to compare themselves to this children’s book and argue whether or not it is valid. Excerpts from the Bill of Rights: Students will look over the first 10 amendments and discuss how their families view them differently. This will provide interesting conversation allow students to understand that people have viewed these amendments differently since they day they were written. Quotes from the Diary of Anne Frank: Students will look over a long list of quotes that come from the Anne Frank’s writing. Before given any background information they will try to piece together who she is and what she is writing about. This will open another door of influential people and texts that describe what families went through throughout history.

**Theme Three: History and the community:** This unit will cover how history has shaped the student’s local community. Students will look at Donald Trump and how his political views are shaping the opinions of North Carolinians. Students will also look at the foundations of their community specifically. Students need a an understanding of what the people in their community want and the idea they live by, so that they know how they are being influenced by those people.


 * Essential or Highlighted Individuals: **

Donald Trump: What does your community say about the political ideals of Donald Trump? Donald Trump represents a new type of politics and a lot of his ideals are very controversial. Students will have the opportunity to debate these views and whether or not he would be a good President. Dr. James Merrill: This is Wake County’s Superintendent of Schools. Students will have the opportunity to look over his policies and his day-to-day life. They will be able to write letters to him either thanking him for all of his hard work or asking him to do better in an area they feel needs improvement. I think this provides students with a great opportunity to discover their community and to feel like they are truly an active citizen. Jim Jones: The famous Kool-Aid Killer is a perfect demonstration of how a community can go terribly wrong. This man formed his own commune that followed his destructive and insane beliefs. Students can relate to this person because they know how influential peer pressure can be.


 * Core Texts: **

Excerpts from The Crucible: This, in my opinion, is one of the best examples of how a community can influence the lives of people. The community puts a group of young women on trial from performing witchcraft. Students will be able to address their opinions on whether the trial was valid or not. MLK’s I Have a Dream Speech: Students will look at his speech and identify whether or not their community has carried out the dream Martin Luther King Jr. had during the civil rights movement. They will be able to construct their own dreams for their community based on a local problem the community may be having at the time. The Declaration of Independence: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.” Students will analyze this declaration specifically and decide if it remains true today.

**Theme Four: History and the State:** This unit will focus on the state of North Carolina and how history has influenced its establishment and how it continues to shape the way the state thinks today.

George Vanderbilt: This man is the owner and builder of the Biltmore house in Asheville, North Carolina. He is an example of why people love this state and want to make a home here. Virginia Dare: The first child born in North Carolina and would later be known to be apart of The Lost Colony. This is a great example of where North Carolina got its bearings. Billy Graham: This is a prominent leader of the Christian community. He is example of where North Carolina continues to reside in the Bible belt/conservative values.
 * Essential or Highlighted Individuals: **

The Old North State: This is North Carolina’s state song. Students would be given the opportunity to discover more about the heart of NC’s upbringing. NC’s HB2 Bill: This is the bill that has received so much tension and controversy over the last several months. This is a great text to get students involved in current events and develop an opinion about the laws that are or are not passed in NC. North Carolina State Constitution: Students will be able to gain a better sense of what our state believes after they read this text. They will also be able to compare it to the U.S. Constitution in a later theme.
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**Theme Five: History and the Country:** This unit will allow students to identify history in a way that compliments the country as a whole. Students will look at how their state influences the rest of the country. Are we united? Essential or Highlighted Individuals: Ben Franklin: Benjamin Franklin played a major role in the constitutional convention. However, he was flawed as person on society terms. He gives students the opportunity to discover the flawed people who make this country run on a daily basis and ponder whether or not a government can ever be perfect. Trayvon Martin: This young man, who was fatally shot in 2012, has left a huge impact on the country. It is, perhaps, the shooting that began the recent Black Lives Matter movement. Students will be able to look at the case and discover how this incident has shaped the U.S. over the last few years. Christopher Columbus: Would he be proud of the successful country the United States has come to be?

I Hear America Singing- Walt Whitman: This is a great poem to show the one’s feelings of America. U.S. Constitution: As I mentioned, this will be used a tool to compare the NC constitution to. Students will also be able to identify some of the amendments as controversial because of the recent current events that have taken place. “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness”: Students will look at this specific quote from the Constitution. They will dissect what these words mean to them and for the rest of the country.
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**Theme Six: History and the World:** The most broad of all the topics, how has history shaped the world? How will it continue to shape the world? Will you be apart of history one day?

Liliane Bettencourt: This is the richest woman in the entire world. Students will be able to identify just how far the world has come. Ibtihaj Muhammad: This is the Muslim-American woman who wore her hijab under her fencing uniform at the 2016 summer olympics. She represents diversity and growth for her this country, as well as her culture. Hitler: Perhaps one of the poorest representations of the human race. Students will discover how a man such as him came to rule and entire country and perform the acts that he did.
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Cuneiform: Students will look at the Ancient Mesopotamian form of writing. They will try to understand how this came to be and how far writing and literature has come since the earliest civilizations. Excerpts from The Giver: This, again, crosses language arts with social studies and allows students to look at this author’s perception of another world. What would life be like if we were all apart of The Giver? Magna Carta: Students will analyze the difference between the Magna Carta and their country’s doctrines.
 * Core Texts: **