Annotated Lesson Plan -- AMST 201, Introduction to American Studies

Puritan Migration and Mission (lower level, undergraduate, General Education course; typical enrollment of 60 students, overwhelming majority of whom are non-majors; lesson plan for 75-minute class meeting) Objectives --Students will recall prior knowledge about Puritans and synthesize with new material --Students will identify the economic, political, and religious factors that influenced the European migration to North America --Students will define the meaning of John Winthrops city upon a hill idea and explore and assess its influence on American national identity --Students will apply new knowledge to independent reading and demonstrate comprehension and analysis of this new knowledge on the midterm exam Anticipatory Set --In your notes, draw a city upon a hill (different learning styles: MI: visual) --Hold up your drawing so students sitting around you can see it --Discussion: what would it be like to live in a city on a hill? advantages? disadvantages? (different learning styles: MI: intrapersonal) --Discussion: What was your perspective? did you draw from bottom looking up, top looking down, far away? How does each perspective change the meaning of the drawing? (different learning styles: Blooms: evaluation) Review/Connect As we discussed last week, this course will look at four different time periods using an interdisciplinary American Studies approach that focuses in particular on the relationship between culture and identity (personal, social, and national identity). Today, we begin our survey of the first time period: Puritan New England, 1630-1692. The Puritans have been of particular interest to American Studies scholars because of the ways in which they articulated an earlyand very ethnocentricconception of American cultural identity: the city upon a hill. Today, we will focus on the factors that caused the migration from England to New England in the 17th century, and we will analyze an excerpt from a primary source document from the time period: John Winthrops sermon, A Modell of Christian Charity. Todays lesson will provide a context for your reading of Jill Lepores In the Name of War: King Philips War and the Origins of American Identity, which you will start for our next class meeting. Activate Prior Knowledge --Teacher writes Puritan on the board. --Question: What do you already know about Puritans? Brainstorm, write on board (different learning styles: Blooms: recall). --Think about how your prior knowledge connects to the material we will cover in class today. Direct Teaching Lecture on the Puritan migration and mission, briefly covering the English Reformation; the political, religious, and economic factors in England related to European migration to North America; biographical background on John Winthrop (different learning styles: MI: linguistic and logical)

Guided Practice Excerpt from Winthrops Modell of Christian Charity on screenthe quote that begins, We shall be as a city upon a hill --Ask for student volunteer to read aloud --Discussion: According to Winthrop, what made them special? What were they obliged to do? What would happen if they failed? What were the stakes? Who is the implied we? What are the assumptions here? What are the silences here? (different learning styles: MI: linguistic; Blooms: recall, comprehension, analysis; analytical learners) --Discussion: How would you feel hearing this sermon on board a ship sailing to a new world? (different learning styles: MI: intrapersonal) Guided Practice In groups, discuss the extent to which you think the United States still sees itself as a city upon a hill today. Use specific examples. (different learning styles: MI: interpersonal; Blooms: application, evaluation, synthesis; global learners). Discuss as a whole class. Summary/Independent Practice Review main points of lesson. Students should keep this context in mind when they start reading Lepores In the Name of War. The first midterm will ask you to assess the relative success or failure of the Puritan attempt to create a city upon a hill. Teacher Reflection Strengths: What went well? What did you do well as a teacher? Next Steps: What can be improved the next time you teach this lesson? More broadly, how can your own teaching being improved?