American History through American Lives

Appendix: Implementing District Standards

Reading

The focus of the American History Through American Lives seminar, led by David Engerman, is reading and discussing individual life stories and family histories to teach American history. Inherent in this work is reading biographies, memoir, and other nonfiction genres; this can also mean viewing film and documentaries, as well evaluating multiple primary sources. This directly aligns with a couple of CCSS:

RI.6.9-Compare and contrast one author's presentation of events with that of another (e.g., a memoir written by and a biography on the same person).⁶⁶ In the unit, students will read and respond to excerpts from multiple biographies about Emmett Till in order to draw conclusions about his life and legacy. While reading, students will think about specific word choices that an author uses, details that are included and are omitted, and other choices authors specifically make related to Till.

RI.6.3-Analyze in detail how a key individual, event, or idea is introduced, illustrated, and elaborated in a text (e.g., through examples or anecdotes).⁶⁷ In this unit, the life of Emmett Till we will be the central focus. Both the students and I will look carefully at specific details throughout a couple of texts to construct an argument about Emmett Till’s legacy.

Social Studies

There are also two key Social Studies standards that are addressed in the seminar and unit as well:

SS.H.1.6-8.MC. Use questions generated about individuals and groups to analyze why they, and the developments they shaped, are seen as historically significant.⁶⁸  Students will do a close reading of each excerpt, looking specifically for central ideas that an author is trying to make, the author’s POV,  and assessing the credibility of and reliability of a source as well as potentially develop questions for further research.

SS.H.4.6-8.MC. Organize applicable evidence into a coherent argument about the past.⁶⁹ Students will use the excerpts of selected readings in class to construct an argument about Emmett Till and his legacy, drawing on the group of readings that I have collated for them.

This unit will complement the work that is expected of students in other units throughout the school year. I envision a three-week unit to be taught towards the middle of the school year. Before this unit, students will need me to teach them a lot of skills to thrive in this unit. These skills include a close reading annotation system, how to incorporate and cite textual evidence, how to organize and outline their thoughts, and how to assess information to ensure that it is credible and reliable. This work will be my first attempt at using a historical inquiry approach with students.