Mid-1800s reform era group presentations

Students will work in groups to present information on the reforms of the mid 1800's. Topics could include the Unitarians, abolition, women's rights, growth in education, treatment of the mentally ill, temperance, and utopian communities.

A lesson plan for grades 9–12 Social Studies

By Angie Panel Holthausen

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Learning outcomes

Students will:

• identify what was achieved by major reform efforts in the mid 1800’s.
• identify those people who played a significant role in achieving large scale reforms.
• compare and contrast the reforms of the 19th century to similar movements taking place in the twentieth century.

Teacher planning

Time required for lesson

3 Hours

Materials/resources

An overhead transparency explaining the assignment

Technology resources

Overhead projector

Pre-activities

Have students identify what the word “reform” means. Ask them to predict what might be possible areas that were in need of reform in the mid-1800s. If they were alive then, what would they seek to change? List their ideas on the board. Identify those that were on target, add those that were not mentioned. You may want to discuss why some areas they felt needed reform were not addressed by the reformers of the period.

Activities

1. Determine what topics you would like to have students study. I usually use seven groups with 4-5 people in each group:
   • religious reform
   • abolition of slavery
   • women’s rights
   • temperance
   • educational reform
   • utopian communities
   • treatment of the mentally ill
2. On the overhead, I explain the assignment as follows:
   • “Your group will create a presentation which compares the reforms which took place in the mid 1800’s to reforms taking place today.”
   • “Given a general topic, you will first investigate and determine what the problem was then (mid 1800’s), what reform was attempted, who the key reformers were, and evaluate the results of their efforts.”
   • “Then, you will examine how that topic is still of interest today. You will examine one aspect of that area that is seen as problematic today, discuss what has been proposed to deal with that problem, tell who the key players are, and evaluate the solutions that have been put forth.”
   • “You will create a visual from your analysis that compares and contrasts the two movements. The visual should be neat, legible, and large enough to be seen by all members of the class.“
3. Suggest that they determine the general focus of each of the reform efforts (past and present), and then divide tasks (one focuses on explaining the problem, one explains the attempted reforms, one identifies the key people, one evaluates the outcome).
4. The biggest challenge might be making connections to present reform movements. Some are fairly obvious, others are not. Below are some of the modern day connections students have looked at:
   • Religion: the growth of the religious right, the growth of “babyboomer churches” which are more modern and casual, the growth of the Mormons in the U.S.
   • Slavery: for this topic, you can generalize to modern day issues with African American rights (affirmative action, a discussion of compensation for past wrongs), or focus on other minority groups which are not receiving a living wage for their work (migrant farm workers, third world sweatshops owned by American companies).
   • Temperance: the war on drugs, legalization of controlled substances, efforts to stop drunk driving, government regulation of tobacco.
   • Education: charter schools, accountability, national standards, block scheduling, Paideia, inequalities in school funding.
   • Utopian Communities: look at modern ideal communities like the one sponsored by Disney in Florida, communal living arrangements like those developments near Chapel Hill, or look at the growth of suburbia, including those communities with strict land use covenants, sign ordinances, etc.
   • Women’s Rights: Title IX funding, single gender classes, admission into military academies, sexual harassment, National Organization for Women.
   • Treatment of the Mentally Ill: Americans with Disabilities Act, poor regulation of nursing home facilities, prison reforms.

   I usually give them one period in the library to do research on their modern connection.

Assessment

I usually count this as half a test grade, or fifty points. It is a group grade. I give them a score of 1-10 on the following categories:

• Explanation of Problems: 10 pts. Identified issues accurately, explained succinctly and clearly.
• Explanation of reforms: 10 pts. Explained accurately, gave clear examples.
• Key People: 10 pts. Chose appropriate people, identified accurately, proper pronunciation.
• Evaluation of Reforms: 10 pts. Weighed pros and cons, supported opinion with facts and logic.
• Visual: 10 pts. Was neat, accurate, could be seen by all.

Total: 50 pts.

Supplemental information

Comments

This is a great activity, but it does take a considerable amount of time. Plan on dedicating three or four days of class time - 2 for preparation, 2 for presentations. I like it because it gives students the opportunity to make links between current events and history.