Black Hawk War
Lesson Goals:
1. Students will learn about the Black Hawk War
2. Students will understand the significance of the movement of people into Wisconsin and how that affected the people who already lived there
3. Students will compare primary and secondary sources
4. Students will be exposed to the gruesome effects of war
MMSD Standards:
· Examine primary and secondary sources of Wisconsin’s history
NCSS Standards
· Time, Continuity, and Change
· People, Places, and Environments
· Power, Authority, and Governance
Materials:
· Computers
· Primary sources of the Black Hawk War
Activities:
Day 1
This lesson will take up multiple days to do. On the first day of the lesson, the students will come into class and the teacher will explain what they will be doing for the next couple of days. The teacher will tell the students that they have been learning a lot about Native Americans, but that they haven’t talked about the Native Americans in relation to Wisconsin. The students will have learned about how white settlers forced the Native people out of their land, and that today, they will start to learn about the Native American tribes that were forced out of their land in Wisconsin. The movement of white settlers into Wisconsin caused conflict with he Native Americans and the conflict resulted in a tragic war known as the Black Hawk War.
The teacher will explain that the students will be going to the computer lab to do some research on the Black hawk War. However, their first task will be to read documents that were created during the time of the war (primary sources), so they can later compare it to resources that were created from those original sources that they find while researching on the internet (secondary sources). The teacher will explain that the students should take well organized notes because they will be using the information for the next part of their project.
Once the students have completed reading the primary sources that the teacher has provided, they will be asked to get into groups to discuss those documents. Questions that they should address are:
· What did you learn about the Black Hawk War from these documents?
· Were each document’s accounts the same? Were they different? If so, in what way?
· What questions do you still have about the war after reading these documents?
After the groups are done discussing these questions, the teacher will ask the students to individually write answers to the questions to turn in as a means of assessing what the students got out of the documents.
Day 2
On the second day of the lesson, the students will do their research in the computer lab. The teacher will tell the students that they expect them to find at least two other resources to comp are to the original documents that they had read for the previous lesson. The students will be given the whole class period to do this research. At the end of the class period the teacher will require the students to fill out an exit ticket with the following questions to answer:
· What are one or two things you are confused about from doing your initial research?
· List three things you learned about the Black hawk War that you didn’t learn from the previous day?
· How was the content different in these sources than the ones you had previously read?
Day 3
Start class by getting together in groups of 5 and discussing some of the information that they came across. They should compare the information they found with their classmates and talk about how these accounts differ from one another. Questions that the students should address in their discussions are:
· Is the information you found different from those in your group? If so, why do you think that is?
· What information is the same?
· Who’s perspective is being captured in the accounts that you read? Who’s isn’t?
· Are their biases that you found while researching this war? What were they?
Once the students are done with their discussions, the teacher will tell the students that they will now write a song (any genre of music they chose), or a poem, to show their understanding of the events that occurred during this war. The students will be given twenty minutes to do so. Once they are done, each group will be required to present it to the class. While each group is performing, the teacher will take notes on the content that the groups present. This will serve as a way to assess the students knowledge of the Black Hawk War and to see what the teacher might have to address when all of the presentations are over. When all of the groups are done, the teacher will address anything that may need clarification. Before ending the class, each group will be asked to turn in their song/poem they wrote so the teacher can reassess their presentations.
1. Students will learn about the Black Hawk War
2. Students will understand the significance of the movement of people into Wisconsin and how that affected the people who already lived there
3. Students will compare primary and secondary sources
4. Students will be exposed to the gruesome effects of war
MMSD Standards:
· Examine primary and secondary sources of Wisconsin’s history
NCSS Standards
· Time, Continuity, and Change
· People, Places, and Environments
· Power, Authority, and Governance
Materials:
· Computers
· Primary sources of the Black Hawk War
Activities:
Day 1
This lesson will take up multiple days to do. On the first day of the lesson, the students will come into class and the teacher will explain what they will be doing for the next couple of days. The teacher will tell the students that they have been learning a lot about Native Americans, but that they haven’t talked about the Native Americans in relation to Wisconsin. The students will have learned about how white settlers forced the Native people out of their land, and that today, they will start to learn about the Native American tribes that were forced out of their land in Wisconsin. The movement of white settlers into Wisconsin caused conflict with he Native Americans and the conflict resulted in a tragic war known as the Black Hawk War.
The teacher will explain that the students will be going to the computer lab to do some research on the Black hawk War. However, their first task will be to read documents that were created during the time of the war (primary sources), so they can later compare it to resources that were created from those original sources that they find while researching on the internet (secondary sources). The teacher will explain that the students should take well organized notes because they will be using the information for the next part of their project.
Once the students have completed reading the primary sources that the teacher has provided, they will be asked to get into groups to discuss those documents. Questions that they should address are:
· What did you learn about the Black Hawk War from these documents?
· Were each document’s accounts the same? Were they different? If so, in what way?
· What questions do you still have about the war after reading these documents?
After the groups are done discussing these questions, the teacher will ask the students to individually write answers to the questions to turn in as a means of assessing what the students got out of the documents.
Day 2
On the second day of the lesson, the students will do their research in the computer lab. The teacher will tell the students that they expect them to find at least two other resources to comp are to the original documents that they had read for the previous lesson. The students will be given the whole class period to do this research. At the end of the class period the teacher will require the students to fill out an exit ticket with the following questions to answer:
· What are one or two things you are confused about from doing your initial research?
· List three things you learned about the Black hawk War that you didn’t learn from the previous day?
· How was the content different in these sources than the ones you had previously read?
Day 3
Start class by getting together in groups of 5 and discussing some of the information that they came across. They should compare the information they found with their classmates and talk about how these accounts differ from one another. Questions that the students should address in their discussions are:
· Is the information you found different from those in your group? If so, why do you think that is?
· What information is the same?
· Who’s perspective is being captured in the accounts that you read? Who’s isn’t?
· Are their biases that you found while researching this war? What were they?
Once the students are done with their discussions, the teacher will tell the students that they will now write a song (any genre of music they chose), or a poem, to show their understanding of the events that occurred during this war. The students will be given twenty minutes to do so. Once they are done, each group will be required to present it to the class. While each group is performing, the teacher will take notes on the content that the groups present. This will serve as a way to assess the students knowledge of the Black Hawk War and to see what the teacher might have to address when all of the presentations are over. When all of the groups are done, the teacher will address anything that may need clarification. Before ending the class, each group will be asked to turn in their song/poem they wrote so the teacher can reassess their presentations.
