The World In 1750 Lesson Set: 

Essential Question: How were societies organized in the 1700s?

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.9-10.1 Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources, attending to such features as the date and origin of the information.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.9-10. Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary of how key events or ideas develop over the course of the text.

Rational: The first unit taught in World History is about the structure and society of the 1700s. My district focuses curriculum on the inequality in society and the divine right of kings. During this virtual school year, the district staff and my PLC have worked to incorporate lessons that assist student understanding on the structure of society. In addition to understanding content, we focus on helping students to achieve literacy standards with historical texts, etc. 

Lesson 1: 

1. Students will receive background knowledge on “Who held power in the 1700s?”

2. Teacher will guide the lesson and provide a powerpoint lecture embedded with checks for understanding questions throughout the lesson. 

3. Students will be asked to complete an exit ticket to show their understanding of the content 

Lesson 2: 

1. Teacher will review annotations with students and determine the difference between a primary and secondary source. 

2. Students will be presented with material from the district: Visuals from the Forbidden City and Catherine the Great. 

   1. Visuals from the Forbidden city will provide students with background information about the “Yongle Emperor of the Ming Dynasty” and will see visuals of the forbidden city. 

   2. The Catherine the Great document will be “Decree on Serfs” (1767)

3. Teacher will model annotations from the first document and assist students where needed 

4. Students will annotate document 2 on their own, while the teacher assists. 

5. At the end of the lesson, students will be asked to use the information from the text and images to answer the question: How was society organized in the 1700s. 

Lesson 3: 

1. Students will continue to look at the structure of society in the 1700s by completing a primary source analysis worksheet. The students will read and be asked questions about The Narrative of Venture Smith. 

2. The teacher will guide students through the document and questions during the class period. 

Lesson 4: 

1. Students will engage in a socratic seminar to answer the question: How was society organized in the 1700s. 

2. Students will be asked to use material from the introduction lecture, primary source documents (Forbidden City, Decree on Serfs, & Venture Smith).

3. Teacher will direct questions to students and help facilitate discussion.