TitleofUnit

CurriculumArea
DevelopedBy

EnlightenmentFrenchRevolution
WorldHistory
NathanBrandsma

GradeLevel
TimeFrame

9thGrade
3weeks

IdentifyDesiredResults(Stage1)
PlanningtheUnit
WithDemocracyandSocialJusticeattheCenterofInstruction
FocusingontheNationalNetworkforEducationalRenewal(NNER)Mission
TheFourPartMissionoftheAgendaforEducationinaDemocracy
EqualAccessto
Enculturationina
NurturingPedagogy
Stewardshipofthe
Knowledge
DemocraticSociety SafeandCaringforAll
Mission

WhatareyouandyourstudentsdoinginthisunittoadvancetheFourPartMission?Withwhich
part(s)oftheAgendadoesthisunitconnectwithmoreclearlyandhow?
Thisunitincludesequalaccesstoknowledge,astheunit
includeslessonsthatspeaktoavarietyoflearningstyles.
Thisunitalsoincludesenculturationinademocraticsociety,asstudentswillneed
toworktogetherfrequently,aswellasdebateanddecideaboutpolicies.

ContentStandards

Content:

1.b.
Gatherandanalyzehistoricalinformation,includingcontradictorydata,fromavarietyofprimaryandsecondarysources,includingsourceslocatedon
theinternet,tosupportorrejecthypotheses.
1.c.
Constructanddefendawrittenhistoricalargumentusingrelevantprimaryandsecondarysourcesasevidence
.
2.b.
Investigatethecausesandeffectsofsignificanteventsinworldhistory
2.c.
Analyzethecomplexityofeventsinworldhistory
3.a.
Discussthehistoricaldevelopmentandimpactofmajorworldreligionsandphilosophies.Topicstoincludebutnotlimitedtotheenlightenment.
3.c.
Evaluatethehistoricaldevelopmentandimpactofpoliticalthought,theoryandactions.

LiteracyandNumeracy:
Employstandardenglishlanguageproperlyandfluentlyinreading,writing,listening,andspeaking
Accessanduseprimaryandsecondarysourcestoexplainquestionsbeingresearched
Uselogicandrhetorictoanalyzeandcritiqueideas
ReasonAbstractlyandQuantitatively

st
21
CenturySkills:
Read,Write,listenandspeakeffectively
Developnewconnectionswherenonepreviouslyexisted
Generate,evaluateandimplementnewideasandnovelapproaches
Constructclear,coherent,andpersuasivearguments
Cooperateforacommonpurpose
Managetimeeffectively

Understandings

EssentialQuestions

OverarchingUnderstanding
Powerfulideasleadtorevolutions
Revolutionsspurredotherrevolutions
Revolutions and coups are the result of a variety of political, economic,
social and intellectual causes.
Revolutions often (usually) follow a pattern (early/moderate stage, crisis
period and recovery).

RelatedMisconceptions

TheFrenchRevolutionwasunrelatedtotheAmericanRevolution

Overarching

Whatisarevolution?
Howhavephilosophical

ideasaffectedthe
developmentofpolitical,
socialandeconomic
institutions?
Whydoideasleadto
actions?

Knowledge

Skills

Studentswillknow

Studentswillbeableto

ThecauseandeffectsofEnlightenmentandFrenchRevolution.
Enlightenmentphilosophesandtheirideas
ThestagesoftheFrenchrevolution

Topical

Was the French Revolution

primarily a social, political,

intellectual or an economic
event?
Why were the
enlightenment thinkers so
influential?

Evaluatethehistoricaldevelopmentandimpactofpolitical
thought,theoryandactions.
Differentiatebetweenfactsandhistoricalinterpretations,
recognizingthatahistoriansnarrativereflectshisorher
judgmentaboutthesignificanceofparticularfacts.
2

 Analyzeprimaryandsecondarysourcestoanswerquestionsand
constructarguments

AssessmentEvidence(Stage2)
PerformanceTaskDescription:CreateanenlightenmentandFrenchRevolution
Timeline
Goal
Role
Audience
Situation

Product/Performance

Standards

Tobeabletoputintotheirlearningsintoasequentialorderbymakingatimeline
ThestudentisahistorianputtingtheeventsoftheenlightenmentandtheFrenchRevolutionintocontextand
sequence
Theaudienceisthepeoplewhoareconfusedabouttheimportanteventsandsequenceoftheenlightenmentand
theFrenchRevolution
YouhavebeenstudyingtheEnlightenmentandtheFrenchRevolution.THerearemanyconfusedpeoplewhoneed
clarificationaboutthesequenceandtheimportanteventsinthisera.
Content:ThetimelineincludingimportanteventsoftheEnlightenmentandtheFrenchRevolutionandhowthey
impactedeachother

Literacy:Thetimelinerequiresquantitativethinking,aswellaswrittendescriptionsofeachmajoreventandits
importance.

21stCenturySkills:ThetimelinewillbemadeinaprogramcalledTimelineJS,whichusesagooglespreadsheetto
generatethetimeline.Thisincorporatestechnologicalandresearchskills.

OtherEvidence
Eachlessonhasanassessment,includingwrittenresponses,presentations,articlesandreflections

LearningPlan(Stage3)
Where
areyourstudentsheaded?Wherehavethey
been?Howwillyoumakesurethestudentsknow
wheretheyaregoing?

Howwillyou
hook
studentsatthebeginningofthe
unit?

Whateventswillhelpstudents
experienceandexplore
thebigideaandquestionsintheunit?Howwillyou
equipthemwithneededskillsandknowledge?

Studentswillstartwiththequestionsthattheenlightenmentphilosophersaddressed,then
learnaboutthosephilosophers.Finally,theywillapplythatknowledgetotheirown
experiences.Next,studentswilllookattheFrenchRevolution,wheretheywillworkto
connecttheenlightenmentthinkerstotherevolution.Theywillthenworktounderstand
theFrenchrevolutionthroughsimulation,readingsanddiscussion.
FortheEnlightenment,Iwillshowacartoonwithalightbulbgoingonoversomeones
head.IwillthenhavestudentsfreewriteinresponsetothequestionWhatdowethinkof
whenwesaysomeoneisenlightened?
FortheFrenchRevolution,Iwillbringinpopcornanddistributeitaswealthwasdistributed
amongthethreeestatesintheAncientregime,thenIwilltaxthestudentsinthemanner
oftheancienregime.
Studentswillexperiencethroughsimulationssuchasadiscussionlikethephilosophes,the
taxationoftheancienregime,debatethekillingoftheking,anddecidewhetherthereign
ofterrorwasjustified.Studentswillexplorebyresearchingthedifferentenlightenment
thinkersandtheirideas,readingprimarysourcedocumentsofthetime,andexploring
Napoleonsexploitsanddeterminingifhewasaherooratyrant.
3

Howwillyoucausestudentsto
reflectandrethink?
Howwillyouguidetheminrehearsing,revising,and
refiningtheirwork?
Howwillyouhelpstudentsto
exhibitandselfevaluate
theirgrowingskills,knowledge,andunderstanding
throughouttheunit?
Howwillyou
tailor
andotherwisepersonalizethe
learningplantooptimizetheengagementand
effectivenessofALLstudents,withoutcompromising
thegoalsoftheunit?
Howwillyou
organize
andsequencethelearning
activitiestooptimizetheengagementandachievement
ofALLstudents?

Thefirstlessonhasstudentsdiscussingtheideasthatthephilosophesgrappledwith,,and
studentswillreflectontheconversationandifthebelievedthesamethingsatthe
beginningandtheendofthediscussion.Studentswillalsobrieflyreflectoneachofthe
lessonsthroughouttheunit,inordertoconsiderwhattheylearnedthatday.
Studentswillexhibittheirresearchonanenlightenmentthinker,theirheadlinesonthe
exploitsofNapoleon,andtheirtimelineoftheFrenchRevolution.Studentswillself
evaluateontheirunderstandingoftheenlightenmentideas,ontheirexperienceofthe
ancienregimesimulation,theirunderstandingofthefrenchrevolutionoverall,and
Studentsmustanswerthequestionsthatenlightenmentthinkersgrappledwithfor
themselves.Theywillalsodrawtheirownimagesoftherightsfromthedeclarationofthe
rightsofman,andtheywillcreatetheirownpresentationsfortheclass.Iwillalsouse
modifieddocumentsforstudentswhoarenotasexperiencedreaders
Theunitbeginsbyaskingthestudentstodecideforthemselvesregardingthequestionsof
theenlightenmentthinkers,discussthosequestions,thentieeachofthethinkerstothe
discussionanddecidehowtheywouldanswerthequestionsposed.Finally,studentswill
thenapplytheirlearningabouttheenlightenmentthinkersandanswerhoweachthinker
woulddescribetheirschool.TheFrenchRevolutionwillgoinsequence,withanemphasis
onthechangesintherevolutionovertime.

From:Wiggins,GrantandJ.McTighe.(1998).
UnderstandingbyDesign
,AssociationforSupervisionandCurriculumDevelopment
ISBN#0871203138(ppk)