Lesson Plan: Day 1

  

Grade: _11_

Unit: The Rise and Fall of a Textile Empire:  Lowell, Ma 1820-1861

 

 

Goal (enduring understanding):

 

Massachusetts has a rich history.  Among one of the many events of historical significance is Lowell’s rise as a textile manufacturing empire, leading to the birth of the American Industrial Revolution.

 

 

Essential Question(s):

 

Does Lowell deserve to be the birthplace of the American Industrial Revolution?

 

Was the treatment of the Pennacooks fair?  Why or why not?  (if time permits)

 

Development and selection of activities and resources:

 

  • Students will be handed out unit journals to answer essential questions
  • Students will be handed out unit schedule of daily activities and permission slip
  • Students will be handed out the novel Lyddie by Katherine Patterson
  • The class will be asked a discussion questions on their knowledge of Lowell
  • Students will be asked what they hope to get out of this unit
  • The class will be given a brief lecture on the Pennacook tribe prior to white settlement (if time permits)

 

Content:

 

  • Geographic location of Lowell to the rest of New England
  • Background on the Pennacook tribe

 

 

Curriculum Standard:

 

Economic Growth in the North and South, 1800-1860

 

USI.26 Explain the importance of the Transportation Revolution of the 19th century (the building of canals, roads, bridges, turnpikes, steamboats, and railroads), including the stimulus it provided to the growth of a market economy. (H, E)

 

USI.27 Explain the emergence and impact of the textile industry in New England and industrial growth generally throughout antebellum America. (H, E)

a. The technological improvements and inventions that contributed to industrial growth

b. The causes and impact of the wave of immigration from Northern Europe to America in the1840s and 1850s

 

c. The rise of a business class of merchants and manufacturers

 

d. The roles of women in New England textile factories

 

History and Geography

 

5. Explain how a cause and effect relationship is different from a sequence or correlation of events. (H, C, E)

 

6. Distinguish between long-term and short-term cause and effect relationships. (H, G, C, E)

 

7. Show connections, causal and otherwise, between particular historical events and ideas and larger social, economic, and political trends and developments. (H, G, C, E)

 

 

Assignment:

 

In your class Journal answer the following question for homework: 

 

Based on your knowledge of the Industrial Revolution and Lowell, does Lowell deserve to be the birthplace of the American Industrial Revolution?

 

In addition to the journal question begin reading Lyddie pages 1-26

 

 

How will the essential question be assessed?

 

  • Assessment will take place informally during class discussion
  • Formal assessment will take place in the form of student journal entry