THEMATIC U.S. HISTORY

Major Themes -Expansion -Government/Political Parties -Presidents -Movements -Wars -Economics -Culture -Minorities

Why use thematic?  Topics come up repeatedly in various themes – constant review as opposed to doing it and moving on to the next thing.  Can follow the relationship over time more easily  Helps students see the big picture  Able to cover a greater amount of material more quickly  Have hit all time periods and most major events by the time of the GHSGT in March – not true if going chronologically  Easy to incorporate projects for each unit and add that type of assessment to traditional tests.  May help you leave out some information! It’s hard to cut things out. This makes it easier.

EXPANSION  Colonization  Northwest Ordinance  Louisiana Purchase  Erie Canal  Western Expansion  Manifest Destiny  War with Mexico  Railroads  Imperialism  Panama Canal

Example of Project  Students create a travel brochure  Convince someone to leave one of the first 13 states and move to a newly acquired territory  Must explain when, how they will get there, problems they will face, what they will need to take with them, who will be there when they arrive  Include map, pictures appropriate to the time (no high rise hotels in Hawaii)  Brochure format  Can have them present as review

Government/Political Parties  Common Sense  Declaration of Independence  Revolutionary War  Articles of Confederation  Constitution  Political Parties  Nullification  States’Rights  Major Supreme Court Decisions

Example of Projects  Skits – Court Cases  Act out background, act out court scene, question witnesses, act out Supreme Court presentation of case and decision

Presidents  Association of key events domestic and foreign policies with presidents  Whiskey Rebellion  Neutrality  Louisiana Purchase  War of 1812  Monroe Doctrine  Jacksonian Democracy  Dough faced presidents  Missouri Compromise  Nullification  Compromise of 1850  Preservation of the Union  Gettysburg Address

Presidents  Emancipation Proclamation  Reconstruction  Impeachment  Roosevelt Corollary  Panama Canal  Fourteen Points  New Deal  Marshall Plan  Cold War Policies  Bay of Pigs  Cuban Missile Crisis  Kennedy/Nixon Debates  Great Society  Conservative Movement  Foreign Policy since 1968  Domestic Policy since 1968

Examples of Projects  Power Points on Presidents  Background, domestic policy, foreign policy, quotes, visuals  Commercials for Best/Worst President  Videotape – have to have three reasons why they are best/worst  Story Boards – draw out commercial for best/worst

Movements  Nationalism  Sectionalism  Abolition  After-effects of the Civil War  KKK  Black Codes  Progressives  Women’s Movement  Temperance  Civil Rights  Counter Culture  Environmentalism

Example of Projects  Presentation on Movement  Music/lyrics/how it illustrates the movement  Power Point on Movement  How it began, goals, leaders, timeline, music, lyrics  Skits on a major event in a movement  Seneca Falls, March on Washington, etc.

MODERN WARS  Spanish-American War  World War I  World War II  Cold War  Korea  Vietnam  War of Terror

Example of Project  Newspaper Front Page  A major battle, uniforms, generals (interview), interview a soldier  Presentations on topics such as changes in strategy, changes in technology  Presentations on famous battles or generals  Interviews with relatives who served  Staged interviews with generals, soldiers, etc.

Economics  Mercantilism  Triangular Trade  Industrial Revolution  Sectional economic disparity  Growth of Railroads  Big business  Labor Unions  Strikes  Great Depression  New Deal

Example of Project  American Inventor – background, invention, how it changed the country

Culture  Individualism  American identity  Benjamin Franklin  Education  Founding of colleges  Modern cultural expression  Harlem Renaissance  Film  Phonograph  Radio  Television  Technology

Example of Project  Decade Project  Students choose a decade and do a presentation that shows changes in the country during their decade – emphasis on culture

Minorities  African American Culture  Ellis Island  New Immigration  Native Americans  Asian Americans  Chinese Exclusion Act  Red Scare  Immigrant Restrictions  Japanese Americans Internments  Hispanic American

Example of Project  Research famous immigrants  Research your own family tree

Problems?  Students sometimes forget what is happening at the same time in another theme.  Suggestion – TIMELINE  Keep a big one across one wall of the room and have students add events as you study them. Color code events for themes.  Keep individual timelines and add to it in the same way.