Digital Unit Plan Template

Unit Title: The United States’ Transition to a World Power Name: Ryan Watkins
Content Area: Social Studies Grade Level: 11TH
CA Content Standard(s)/Common Core Standard(s):
11.4 Students trace the rise of the United States to its role as a world power in the twentieth century.
1. List the purpose and the effects of the Open Door policy.
2. Describe the Spanish-American War and U.S. expansion in the South Pacific.
3. Discuss America’s role in the Panama Revolution and the building of the Panama Canal.
4. Explain Theodore Roosevelt’s Big Stick diplomacy, William Taft’s Dollar Diplomacy, and Woodrow Wilson’s Moral Diplomacy, drawing on relevant speeches.
5. Analyze the political, economic, and social ramifications of World War I on the home front.
6. Trace the declining role of Great Britain and the expanding role of the United States in world affairs after World War II.
Big Ideas/Unit Goals:

For students to be able to understand key concepts and ideas of how the United States became a World Power during the end of the 19th century and the
beginning of the 20th century. To understand key questions such as, how did the United States develop its foreign policy towards becoming a world power? Why
did they make these changes? What effect did their change have upon other imperial powers across the globe?

Student Learning Objectives:

1) Students should be able to understand and discuss the developments that played a role in the United States transition on world politics at the turn of the
twentieth century.
2) Students should be able discuss how the United States became a world power by citing key aspects and developments that facilitated this change using online
sources.
3) Finally, students should be able to compare the policies of the United States during this era to its foreign policies today, and should have an educated opinion
on the differences and similarities between the United States in the past compared to the present.

Unit Summary:
During this unit students will learn to understand and develop their own thoughts on the progression the United States made during the turn of the 20th century
towards becoming a world power. They will be expected to fully comprehend and discuss theses developments, establish their own opinions as to whether or not
this notion has merit by providing substantiated evidence, and be able to compare the similarities and differences between the past and the present in terms of
foreign policies. This will involve students engaging in a guided lecture that will encourage discussion and for them to share opinions and questions on the
development of the U.S. involving annexations, the Spanish American War and influence in Latin America. They will also learn how Imperialism played a role in
the development of U.S. policy over the course of the 20th century. Students will also learn how to explain the changes in policy that made the U.S. a world power
through the use of online sources and a structured timeline of events. This will allow them to simplify the big ideas into terms they can easily understand.
Students will also be provided an opportunity to showcase their knowledge of U.S. policies across different eras, past and present. They will do this by working
on a Venn Diagram detailing the similarities and differences across these eras, as well as expressing their own thoughts and ideas on the lesson.
Assessment Plan:
Entry-Level:
The assessment plan begins with a KWL chart that
will gauge how well students understand the
subject of U.S. Imperialism by stating what they
know, what they want to knowand what they will
learn.
Formative:
This will by a number of formative assessment
techniques such as a Venn Diagram that will have
students comparing and contrasting that changes in
foreign policy between the 20th and 21st century.
Students will then be placed in Small Groups to
discuss the provided readings, and will then write
down their own notes on the readings to share with
their group and then the class. As well, a
questionnaire will be provided for students
to answer questions relating to the material and
their own thoughts on the subjects discussed
during U.S.Imperialism, such as annexation and
policy. The last formative assessment technique
will have students create flash cards on Quizlet to
illustrate their understanding of the content by
citing key terms and events relating to U.S.
Imperialism. This will be useful in demonstrating
their understanding of the material in their own
words.
Summative:
The summative portion of the assessment will start
as an essay that will ask students to demonstrate
their knowledge on the material as well as
illustrating their opinions using the readings
provided during the lesson. Will be asked to
use primary and secondary sources. The last
summative assessment will come in the form of
brief presentations on their thoughts on U.S.
Imperialism to illustrate their understanding of the
material. They will be allowed to use their essay to
help them be concise in their discussion ofthe
content

Lesson 1 (Teacher Lecture)

Student Learning Objective:
Students should be able to
understand and discuss the
developments that played a
role in the United States
transition on world politics
at the turn of the twentieth
century. As well. They
should understand the
sentiment of Americans
during this era and the role
imperialism took over time.
Acceptable Evidence
(Assessments):
Students should be able to
cite the changes in U.S.
foreign policy including
amendments to the Monroe
Doctrine, the annexation of
the Philippines/Hawaii,
and the intervention in
Cuba. Students should
showcase a full
comprehension of these
topics and be able to
synthesize them to a
coherent statement on how
U.S. policies changed
during this era.
Lesson Activities:
This lesson will involve a guided lecture surrounding topics such as changes to the Monroe Doctrine, the
Annexation of the Philippines and Hawaii, the Spanish American War, and policies dedicated towards
establishing a global influence for the United States. There will be an accompanying presentation
provided for students to learn and understand the progress of the United States into a world power and
the role Imperialism played. Students will be encouraged to ask questions and will be provided
opportunities to answer guided questions regarding why certain parties would act in such a manner. An
example of this would be why did the U.S. go to war with Spain? How does this newspaper image convey
the sentiment of Americans during this era? These questions will help keep students involved and
encourage them to think when listening to a lecture, rather than just blindly absorbing information. As
well, information on how imperialism influenced the United States’ growth over the 20th century will be
discussed briefly.
Lesson 2 (Webercise/ iPad Lesson)
Student Learning Objective:
Students should be able
discuss how the United
States became a world
power in detail by citing
key aspects and
developments that
facilitated this change with
online sources.
Lesson 3 (Graphic Organizer)
Student Learning Objective:
Finally, students should be
able to compare the
policies of the United States
during this era to its
foreign policies today, and
should have an educated
opinion on the differences
and similarities between
the United States in the
past compared to the
present.
Unit Resources:
A list of documents relating to United States diplomacy between 1898-1914 including Presidential Statements, Government documents and exhibitions on the countries
and topics involved.
https://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/to1914.htm
Acceptable Evidence:
Students should be able to
reference key
developments in the United
States shift towards a world
power. They should be able
to use online
sources/documents to
assist in their arguing for
this statement with
substantial evidence.
Acceptable Evidence:
Students should be able to
categorize the similarities
and differences between
foreign policies between
different eras. This means
dividing it into three
sections, including the early
20th century, the Cold War
era, and today. This will
showcase their
understanding of the
similarities and differences
of U.S. policy from the past
and the present.
Lesson Activities:
Students will be provided with the list of websites noted below in the Unit Resources/ Useful websites
bracket. These will then be divided into different sections for questions relating to information from
specific websites. Students will answer these questions before moving to the next site. Over the course of
this lesson they will learn more about how the United States became a world power through citing
information found on these sites over 25 different questions relating to the subject of U.S. Imperialism. At
the end, they will create a timeline of how the U.S. policies changed, as well as completing a geography
quiz online that will allow them to better understand the width of the American Empire.
Lesson Activities:
Students will be provided a graphic organizer, in this case a Venn diagram of three different circles.
Students will then be asked to point out the differences and similarities between the three different eras
of the first half of the 20th century, the Cold War era and today. This will allow them to see the differences
in policies over different eras, and how some of evolved over time and may be even more relevant in
today’s political world then they ever were previously. They will be provided with online sources to find
the relevant policies and agendas of each era and place them correctly into different sections of the Venn
Diagram. At the end, they will be asked explain their thoughts and opinions as to why these changes
occurred in a paragraph or two, and detail how the crossover between these certain elements were
listed. They will also elaborate on whether they were beneficial, how they feel about these changes, and
how they would shape foreign policy in the future.

A list of quizlet cards used for assessment regarding U.S. Imperialism prior to World War I
https://quizlet.com/286502046/us-imperialism-flash-cards/

A Rubric for the assessment the formative assessment essay demonstrating understanding regarding the evolution of U.S. Imperialism
https://www.quickrubric.com/r#/qr/ryanwatkins6/u-s--imperialism-essay

Student created timeline detailing significant events during the early 20th century.
https://www.shmoop.com/historical-texts/imperialism-speech/timeline.html. Commented [AMW1]:

A geography quiz for students to take so that they better understand the global aspect of this lesson.
https://www.purposegames.com/game/american-imperialism-map-quiz

Political Cartoons of American Imperialism

Useful Websites:
A case by case breakdown of the changes in American policy regarding the annexation of Hawaii, the Philippines, and intervention in Panama and the rest of Latin
America.
http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/disp_textbook.cfm?smtid=2&psid=3157

A State Department database providing an expansive amount of information regarding the United States change towards a world power, using documents, letters and
other media.
https://history.state.gov/departmenthistory/short-history/worldpower

A discussion of the Spanish-American War and the events that occurred during this time and the exchange of territories.
https://www.britannica.com/event/Spanish-American-War

A website that discusses the development of the Philippines and the United States over the course of the early 20th century and the eventual war between the two.
https://unitedstatesimperialism.wordpress.com/the-philippines/

A website discusses the Annexation of Hawaii and how this action came about.
http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/disp_textbook.cfm?smtID=2&psid=3159

A website that discusses U.S. policy during and after World War I and how they compare to today.
http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/world-war-one/america-and-world-war-one/

Website that details and discusses American Exceptionalism and how it affected U.S. policy during this era.
https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-ushistory/chapter/american-imperialism/

Website detailing President Teddy Roosevelt and his policies for the U.S.
http://www.ushistory.org/us/44e.asp

Detailing Big Stick Policy

https://www.britannica.com/event/Big-Stick-policy