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Rob Nelson
CRIN S-00
Prof. Stoddard
18 October 2010
Concept Formation Lesson
Topic: Imperialism
Grade/Class: 9th Grade World History II
Length: 45-60 minutes
Overview/Background Information:
Imperialism is a concept that is weaved throughout all eras of world history.
Simply put, Imperialism entails dominance. For thousands of years, dominant
empires/countries all across the world have been imposing on others their authority and
their structures. Essentially, an imperial policy enables the dominant to create and
maintain an external system of effective control. This subjugation could be exerted by
economic, political, and military means.
One of the earliest historical examples of Imperialism was the Roman Empire,
whose conquests throughout Europe and the Mediterranean in the beginning centuries of
the Common Era allowed them unprecedented control over a massive proportion of the
world. In fact, Rome was so influential that the term ‘Imperialism’ itself is derived from
the Latin word Imperator, meaning Commander. About a millennium later Genghis
Khan and the following Yuan Dynasty of East Asia became another quintessential
Imperialist empire. In modern times, Imperialism begins with France’s Napoleonic
Empire and shortly thereafter to Britain’s colonial expansion of the late 19th and early
20th century. This time period of 1870 to 1914 (often referred to as the “Age of
Imperialism”) was when many countries (including the United States, Japan, France,
Great Britain, Germany and Italy) all pursued Imperialist policies. As a result, Africa,
Latin America, Asia, and India were “carved up” and ruled by these powerful nations.
Overall, Imperialism spreads the economic, political, and social philosophies of dominant
powers throughout the world. Furthermore, resistance to Imperialism is frequent
throughout history and includes many forms such as armed conflict and intellectual
movements.
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In this lesson, students will develop an understanding of the concept of
Imperialism. They will be presented with various historical examples of Imperialism
(without explicitly being told what the concept is) to help them determine its critical
attributes. Next, the students will come up with a definition of the concept based on the
aforementioned characteristics. Then they will label the concept as Imperialism and
apply their new knowledge to different forms of assessment.
Rationale:
Teaching about Imperialism via a concept formation lesson is appropriate for
many reasons. To begin, Imperialism is a concept that students in a World History class
will encounter frequently over the entire scope of their World History II course.
Virtually every era that is studied during the scope of the class will present students with
example of Imperialist actions. Yet even though it is a concept so frequently discussed,
students have a difficult time explaining exactly what it entails. Ultimately,
“Imperialism” is a term that has simply lost its meaning even though students use it in
their vocabulary. For the purposes of serious analysis and genuine understanding of
World History it is important to first know exactly what the concept is. A concept
formation lesson is very appropriate in this sense because it helps students understand the
critical attributes of a concept that is difficult to define. Furthermore, it will enable the
students to be able to label examples of Imperialism across history (past as well as
present) accurately. In the end, the purpose of this lesson is to help students form a
robust understanding of a significant concept in World History.
Objectives:
1) Students will be able to define Imperialism according to its 3 critical attributes
after working through the examples in the Data Chart Worksheet. (WHII.1a)
2) Students will be able to distinguish examples of Imperialism from non-examples
by answering all 4 questions in the Classifying Worksheet correctly. (WHII.2,
WHII.5)
3) Students will find an example of Imperialism not mentioned in class for
homework and write a 1-2 paragraph response on “why” it is imperialist.
a. All 3 critical attributes of Imperialism should be mentioned.
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Assessment:
Since this sort of lesson is something 9th grade students might not be familiar with
it is important that the students be explicitly told they are participating in a concept
formation lesson. This will occur after the Hook section of the lesson. In addition,
students must be told that they will be evaluated on the quality of their participation.
This informal evaluation will be in the form of a Check-Plus/Check scale, which the
teacher will mark next to every student on a class list. A check-plus contribution is for
students who are able to demonstrate exceptional skill at analyzing, interpreting, and
making connections between the Data Chart Worksheet and the concept topic. In
addition, they are able to communicate their thoughts in a logical, descriptive way and
build off of what others in the class have shared. A check should be given to a student
who is unable to clearly articulate his or her interpretation of the Data Chart Worksheet,
but still positively contributes to the class discussion. To evaluate group discussion, the
teacher will need to walk around the classroom and observe each individual group, noting
who is working well with others, who is actually sharing their thoughts, and who is being
quiet. Grades can be taken, but it is recommended to rather act as a facilitator to make
sure those who aren’t speaking are able to get involved in the discussion.
At the end of the lesson the teacher will collect the Data Chart Worksheet and
the Classifying Worksheet to grade each student’s grasp of Imperialism in class.
Furthermore, the students will be required to write a short 1-2 paragraph essay for
homework due the next day. They will need to find an example of Imperialism that we
did not discuss in class and write about why this is an example of Imperialism, noting the
three critical attributes. To complete this essay the student will be allowed to keep the
Defining the Concept Worksheet, as well as be provided with a list of the examples
already used in class. Overall, both the essay and the quality of student participation will
provide insight into the students’ ability to meet the lesson objectives. The essay, as well
as the two collected worksheets, will be returned to the students with feedback on their
writing skills, communication skills, and interpretation skills.
Resources:
1. This lesson is very easy to deliver; all that is required is the appropriate amount of
copies of the worksheets for the specific number of students in the class.
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Content and Instructional Strategies:
I. Concept Definition
a. Imperialism is (1) when a powerful nation establishes its dominance over
a less-powerful nation (2) by force (3) for the purpose of controlling
economic and political affairs.
II. Engagement (Hook)
a. The students will be given a handout of Theodore Roosevelt’s speech
before Congress (1904) when he made a case for intervention in Latin
America (located on p. 8) This speech is sometimes called the Roosevelt
Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine and it is a very tangible example of
American Imperialism. In addition to an excerpt from his speech, there is
also a political cartoon depicting Roosevelt (carrying his “big-stick”)
leading a chain of U.S. warships around the Caribbean Sea.
b. In a whole class discussion, students will be asked to interpret both the
cartoon and the quote. The teacher will frame the interpretation toward
the concept of Imperialism, without explicitly mentioning the term.
i. This opening part of the activity will enable the students to dig into
understanding the concept of Imperialism without identifying or
defining it.
III. Data-Retrieval Chart and Example Analysis
a. Students will be divided up into groups of 3-4 based on proximity.
b. Students will be handed out the Data Chart Worksheet (located on p. 9),
which contains 4 examples of Imperialism.
i. The Data Chart is structured in a way that students will be able to
successfully identify the information related to the critical
attributes of Imperialism.
1. Since it is a 9th grade class, many students might not feel
comfortable extracting the attributes. This is why I have
framed three focus questions that will assist students in
identifying and extracting the vital information.
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Furthermore, two of the three critical attributes can be
answered with a simple “yes/no” response.
c. The Teacher will explain the activity and model the first example of as a
class.
d. Following the first example, the teacher will instruct the students to begin
working on the other three examples by themselves.
i. Once they have finished the chart they will be allowed to meet
with the rest of their group to discuss each others answers
IV. Defining and Labeling the Concept
a. Following individual group discussion, the students will be handed out the
Defining the Concept Worksheet (located on p. 10).
b. The teacher will model one difference and then have the groups work
together to fill in the rest of the worksheet.
i. Differences include: time, place, number of countries, and scale
ii. Similarities are the critical attributes
c. Following the group work, the teacher will lead a whole class discussion
and list the groups’ differences and then similarities on the board.
d. The teacher will instruct each individual student to then write down their
own critical attributes of the concept in the given box on the worksheet.
e. The Teacher will then synthesize student responses to fit the
aforementioned critical attributes:
i. (1) A powerful nation establishes its dominance over a lesspowerful nation
ii. (2) By force
iii. (3) For the purpose of controlling economic and political affairs
f. Students will then place the critical attributes in definitional form in the
appropriate box in the worksheet.
g. The teacher will then lead a brief discussion to see if any student knows
what the concept is and then reveal it to be Imperialism.
V. Classifying
a. The students will be given the Classifying Worksheet (located on p. 11).
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b. With this handout the students will individually apply their newly formed
concept knowledge to four historical events using the critical attributes of
Imperialism.
c. The class will then regroup and discuss each example, correcting the nonexamples with hypothetical situations to turn them into Imperialism.
d. This worksheet, along with the Data Chart Worksheet will be collected at
the end of class.
e. For homework, the students will be passed out the Concept Formation
Homework Sheet (located on p. 12), which requires them to find an
example of Imperialism (not mentioned in class) and write a 1-2 paragraph
response about “why” it is an example of Imperialism.
Differentiation:
Differentiation within lesson plans is important because it challenges and supports
various styles of student learning in the class. To accommodate various learning styles,
this lesson incorporates individual, group, and class work and different sets of data. This
allows students to perform well in the style best suited to them, while at the same time
exposes and challenges them to improve on what they are not completely comfortable
with. For example, a student might be too shy to volunteer to participate in the wholeclass discussion, but he/she might excel at individual and/or small group work.
This lesson plan also represents a differentiation to traditional curriculum.
History teachers these days too often resort to simple call and response lecturing to get
through the large curriculum standards set by the state. This lesson, on the other hand,
allows for students to become engaged with the material and develop analyzing skills.
Rather than just taking notes on what the teacher says, concept formation lessons allow
students to actively construct their own knowledge, which helps drive the content
knowledge deeper by making it personal.
Adaptation:
This lesson can be adapted to meet the needs of students with 504 plans,
Individualized Education Programs, or other needs. One way to help students with
special needs is to have the students read the examples out loud rather than silent,
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individual reading. This helps everyone be on the same page and be ready to complete
the worksheets. Another way to adapt the lesson is to reframe to become even more
explicit about what is expected from the students. This could include techniques like
switching the blank answer spaces to fill-in-the-blank answers or something along those
lines.
Reflection:
I can foresee a few potential problems that could arise with this concept formation
lesson. The biggest issue that jumps out to me is staying on task. There are a lot of
transitions from individual to group work or group work to coming back together as a
whole class. This could prove to be tough for a novice teacher to manage. Keeping this
in mind, the teacher should first move around from table to table during group analysis to
ensure the students are staying on topic. This is also a great time to informally grade
participation. Next, the teacher should make it very explicit when there are transitions. I
think I’ll try verbally first and if problems arise, resort to flashing the lights when I need
to get their attention.
Another issue that could arise is competing ideologies. I give a present day
example of the Iraq War, which is a contentious issue amongst differing political groups.
I could foresee igniting a biased political debate over the war. So far, the students seem
to be very polite to one another in class, but debating politics always seems to bring about
issues. As a teacher I will take a neutral stance and try to make sure the students can
understand both sides of the spectrum and not simply their own point of view.
Post Teaching:
I believe this lesson scores very highly in terms of PASS framework. It involved
higher order thinking because the students were involved in personally manipulating the
information and ideas. The content was presented to them in a creative way that enabled
the students to synthesize, generalize, explain, and arrive at a conclusion that produced
new meaning and understanding for them. I can tell that this lesson also provided a deep
understanding for the concept of Imperialism because the students were able to find an
example from the text and tell me why it was Imperialism by using our class’ definition.
All students were able to make connections and relationships between the examples and
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non-examples of Imperialism to produce a relatively complex understanding. As for
substantive conversation, this lesson scores very high because the students were able to
share their ideas with each other and myself, and it was not completely scripted or
controlled by anyone. Furthermore, the dialogue was coherently built by the students,
which promoted an improved collective understanding about the topic. This lesson
scored high on connections to the world beyond the classroom because with the example
or non-example worksheet we were able to talk about the Iraq War. The class shared a
variety of personal beliefs and we came to a consensus. Unfortunately, I didn’t take this
a step further in terms of a value-based issue discussed, but in the future I could easily
dive into the ethics of Imperialism. The lesson did score high in terms of integration
because it incorporated interdisciplinary and curricular content, as well as practicing the
relevant skills embedded in the learning of the new content and technology.
As the second major lesson I taught this semester, I was much more comfortable
and effective as a teacher. I feel like this lesson went extremely well because I was able
to use what I learned from my inquiry lesson to improve this one. I divided up the desks
beforehand and labeled each seat with a Post-It note of each student’s name. This was
very effective because the students just came in and sat where their name was and we
could start the lesson much quicker than my last one. There were also fewer handouts,
which was a big plus. One thing that I might consider modifying is instead of a
worksheet with written descriptions, I think I would want to also have a powepoint going
with images to go along with the text. Some students needed a lot of support to get them
to read the text, so I figure that spicing up the content with some powerful images will
motivate them more.
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Hook
“All that this country desires is to see the neighboring countries stable, orderly, and
prosperous. Any country whose people conduct themselves well can count upon our
hearty friendship. If a nation shows that it knows how to act with reasonable
efficiency and decency in social and political matters, if it keeps order and pays its
obligations, it need fear no interference from the United States. Chronic
wrongdoing, or an impotence which results in a general loosening of the ties of
civilized society, may in America, as elsewhere, ultimately require intervention by
some civilized nation, and in the Western Hemisphere the adherence of the United
States to the Monroe Doctrine may force the United States, however reluctantly, in
flagrant cases of such wrongdoing or impotence, to the exercise of an international
police power.”
-Theodore Roosevelt, 1904 - delivered in a speech to Congress
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Data Chart Worksheet
Name: ___________________
Historical Example:
In the scramble to exploit resources from foreign lands,
France, Great Britain, Spain, Portugal, Germany, and
Italy had claimed nearly every part of Africa by 1914.
Many African people resisted these European powers;
however, they were largely unsuccessful because the
Europeans used direct rule over the local inhabitants
through military and economic dominance.
In the 1800s the eastern part of Southeast Asia contained
three small and unstable nations (known today as Laos,
Cambodia, and Vietnam). The French military took over
the region and claimed it for France. To stabilize the
region and extract resources, the governments of the
three nations were run by France. It was not until the
1950s that these three countries regained their
independence.
During the early to mid-1800s, the British East India
Company controlled a large area of India as a private
colony. In 1857 Indian soldiers rebelled against the
company. After this event, the British government took
direct control, ruling about 60% of the Indian
subcontinent. The British built railways, roads, and
canals so that raw materials could be transported more
efficiently to ports for export to England.
After its war with Spain in 1898, the United States
military gained control of the Philippine Islands, Guam,
and Wake Island. Many Filipinos did not want the U.S.
to take control of their country, so they fought for a
guerrilla-style war of independence for 3 years.
However, the Filipinos were defeated in 1902, giving
the U.S. a chain of islands the Pacific. To maintain
control, the U.S. government controlled the political and
economic affairs of these territories for many years.
Which nation
was more
powerful?
(can be more
than one)
How did the
dominant
nation gain
power or
control?
What is the
relationship between
the two countries?
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Defining the Concept Worksheet
Name: ________________
Differences:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Similarities:
1.
2.
3.
4.
My Critical Attributes:
Our Classes’ Critical Attributes:
1.
1.
2.
2.
3.
3.
My Definition:
Our Classes’ Definition:
Concept Name:
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Classifying Worksheet
Name: _________________
Directions:
Determine if each description is an example or non-example of Imperialism. If it is a
non-example, explain what critical attribute(s) it is missing.
1. The Romans: In 27 B.C.E., Rome had established its dominance throughout the
Mediterranean world. Emperor Augustus began a series of military conquests that greatly
expanded the empire’s frontiers (from Spain in the west to Syria in the east, and from Egypt in
the south to Britain in the north). The Roman government helped keep order and enforce laws.
The emperor ran the government, made all policy decisions, and appointed officials of the
provinces, including provincial governors. These officials were responsible to the government of
Rome for the effective and profitable administration of the provinces.
2. The American Civil War: Although unified politically, the United States was hurt by
competition among regions of the country in the early to mid 1800s. Many southern states
seceded from the Union, which President Lincoln argued was not allowed by the Constitution.
As a result Americans fought a Civil War from 1861-1865 that cost more than 600,000 people
their lives. Following Northern victory, Congress passed new amendments to the Constitution
that the South would be required to follow. These amendments abolished slavery and guaranteed
rights to former slaves.
3. The Iraq War: The United States invaded Iraq in 2003 and with overwhelming power
(sometimes referred to as “Rapid Dominance” or “Shock and Awe”) overthrew the existing
political system. In the following years, America began to rebuild Iraq’s political and economic
structure. Today, Iraq has a new constitution and holds their own legislative elections. On the
surface, Iraq governs itself; however, 50,000 American troops currently remain in the country in
an “advise and assist” role and the Iraqi government relies heavily on American support to
maintain its authority.
4. The Panama Canal: In the late 1800s the United States began talks with Columbia (which
controlled Panama at the time) to lease land to build the Panama Canal, but Columbia did not
approve. Both the U.S. and Columbia realized how economically valuable a quick route from the
Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean would be. The Panamanian Separatist Movement, led mostly
by business leaders, revolted in 1903 against Columbia. American warships stationed in Panama
intervened and stopped Columbian troops from putting down the rebellion. The new government
in Panama gave the U.S. rights to build and indefinitely administer the canal. The U.S.
eventually returned full control of the canal to Panama in 1999.
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Concept Formation Homework Sheet
Name: _______________
Directions:
-Find an example of Imperialism that we did not talk about in class (they are listed below
just in case!)
-Write a short 1-2 paragraph response about “why” it is Imperialism.
-Remember to use our definition of the critical attributes of Imperialism in your response:
Imperialism is (1) when a powerful nation establishes its dominance over
a less-powerful nation (2) by force (3) for the purpose of controlling
economic and political affairs.
-The examples we discussed in class:
1. European countries in Africa
2. British in India
3. French in South East Asia
4. U.S. in the Philippines
5. Roman Empire
6. U.S. in Panama