"The Significance of the
Antebellum Period Transportation Revolution"

III. CONCLUSION & ANALYSIS

A. Our teacher question focused on how to create an academically rigorous lesson and we received clear results from the analysis of student work.  The teacher question was about how to structure a lesson, any lesson, to give students the chance to reflect on their learning process, rather than on any specific content.   By thus focusing on the form of the lesson instead of solely on the content, the teacher question helped us pay attention to the general structure of the lesson, so that we did not get permanently bogged down in the details of the particular information we hoped to convey.  One of the great consequences of having such a teacher question, we realized, is that it made the entire lesson planning process more transferable to future lessons.

B. Revisions

I. Technical

1. Have overhead transparencies of all worksheets
2. Before you teach students should know what the term “urban” means
3. Before you teach students should know how to read and analyze maps, or plan for more time to use the maps included in this lesson to help teach students how to read informational maps.
4. Prepare questions t o help students analyze photographs

II. Extension

1. Make connection to Civil War by showing future implications – Focus especially on the maps from 1860 and the differences between North and South.  Ask students to predict what impact these differences might have if a war were to break out between the North and the South.
2. Ask, “Why is studying transportation at this time important to the economy?”
3. Add historical context and specificity/related to time period.  This may come in the way of brief historical narratives about the building of the railroads, the experiences of individuals as the they either worked on or traveled on the railroads.
4. Add a map with econonomic symbols for students to see after simulation has ended, allowing them to reference this information in their reflection (either on blackboard or at student’s desk).

C. Impact on Curriculum and Instruction

1. By repeating content through varied methods of delivery (including discussion, map and image analysis, role play, and written reflection), we saw that the majority of students were able to access the curriculum.  This lesson supported the idea of teaching through multiple intelligences. – (Evidence = comments about what they learned and how they learned it)
2. At the end of the lesson, students looked back at their notes, reflected on what they learned and how their thinking had changed since the start of the lesson.  This process promoted metacognition, an important process in solidifying understanding. – (Example = comments about how thinking changed)
3. Scaffolded and guided notes supported different learning needs and kept students organized and focused throughout the lesson.  We observed the majority of students attempted to complete the guided notetaking worksheets as the lesson progressed.
4. Showing the photographs of the port and hills of Oakland connected the lesson to students’ lives nicely as a hook to the lesson.  Students seemed actively engaged by calling out observations and asking questions. There were also several comments of surprise and interest in seeing Oakland in the past.