This lesson was taught towards the end of the week and during it students were asked to compare the historical evidence of the conditions of factory workers during the Industrial Revolution with modern day factory works in Taiwan. Students were asked what similarities and differences they saw between the documents about American workers during the Industrial Revolution, and the documents about Taiwanese workers in the 21st century.
Essential Question: There was an essential question for the entire unit, “What is oppression? What makes people advocates for themselves or others?” However the essential questions in this unit were a little too focused and therefore harder to apply to other subjects. If I were to change them for the future, I would keep “What is oppression?” but change “What makes people advocates for themselves or others?” Instead I think I would ask, “What characteristics does an advocate have?” While this is still specific the results of the question, namely a list of qualities or actions, is something students can implement in other areas of their life (Wiggins & McTighe, 2005, p.106).
Historical Lesson: The historical aspect of this lesson was not well thought out. There is no Central Historical Question, CHQ, and the enduring understanding I have listed is weak and inarticulate at best. Students were not asked to think critically about the artifacts I gave to them. I asked the following questions about one of the primary sources:
1.What were conditions like in factories?
2.Why would the factory workers strike?
3.What was the reaction of the owners of the factories?/What would the reaction be based on this document?
These are very surface level questions and while they work for getting brief understanding, these questions to not ask student to think deeply or critically.
Modern Connection: This section was better than the Historical Lesson section because students were asked to draw connections between factory workers in the US in the 1800’s and factory workers in Taiwan today. Students were given detailed descriptions in order to help them empathize with the factory workers. The article that students read about modern day did include a portion that told readers what they could do to help the conditions of the workers. What was missing was the deep cyclical connection. There was a surface level connection but I did not push students to dig deeper and find more connections.
Historical Lesson: The historical aspect of this lesson was not well thought out. There is no Central Historical Question, CHQ, and the enduring understanding I have listed is weak and inarticulate at best. Students were not asked to think critically about the artifacts I gave to them. I asked the following questions about one of the primary sources:
1.What were conditions like in factories?
2.Why would the factory workers strike?
3.What was the reaction of the owners of the factories?/What would the reaction be based on this document?
These are very surface level questions and while they work for getting brief understanding, these questions to not ask student to think deeply or critically.
Modern Connection: This section was better than the Historical Lesson section because students were asked to draw connections between factory workers in the US in the 1800’s and factory workers in Taiwan today. Students were given detailed descriptions in order to help them empathize with the factory workers. The article that students read about modern day did include a portion that told readers what they could do to help the conditions of the workers. What was missing was the deep cyclical connection. There was a surface level connection but I did not push students to dig deeper and find more connections.