Teacher- Anna Riggs

Class- U.S. History

Grade Level- 11
Unit- Gilded Era
Time- 40-45 Minutes
Goals-

To show students the importance of unbiased analyzing of political cartoons

to look for partisan politics in what the student reads or is told.
To link the gilded era and one of its products to current day.

Objectives-

The student will identify the origin of political cartoons (Standard 2.2, 3.6)
The student will be able to use the provided four steps to analyze political
cartoons. (Standard 3.6)

Standards-

USH.2.2 Identify key ideas, movements and inventions and explain their impact on
rural communities and urban communities in the United States. (Economics,
Sociology)

USH.3.6 Identify the contributions to American culture made by individuals and

groups. (Individuals, Society and Culture)

AssessmentFormative- the students will work in groups to work out what each political
cartoon is trying to say and then report back on one assigned cartoon.
Summative1. Name one of the four steps of assessing political cartoons.
2. Why would assessing political cartoons be important?
3. Who is responsible for creating political cartoons?
Materials1. Political Cartoons
2. Powerpoint of steps to assess political cartoons
Procedure1. Introduction- through questioning, the teacher will quiz the students
over what had already been covered in class about the gilded era:
Monopolies, Silver and Gold standard.

2. The teacher will transition into talking about political cartoons and what
they are (OB 1)
3. The teacher will begin questioning as to what is the point of political
cartoons. (OB 1)
a. Messages they give?
b. Biases?
4. The teacher will explain the four steps to analyze a political cartoon while
giving an example of the first political cartoon in the packet given to the
students. (OB 2)
5. The teacher will separate the students into small groups where the
students will analyze the meaning of all six given cartoons. (OB 2)
a. The teacher will walk around the room assisting where needed and
assigning one main cartoon to report back to the class about.
6. The class will reconvene and each group will give their assessment of the
cartoon their group was assigned. (OB 2)
Closing activity- The teacher will hand out the last political cartoon and a copy of
the four steps to assess at home and bring back the next day.
Accommodations-

Group instruction

Self- reflectionKnow- Questioning, report back to class

Change- if the whole group is smaller, remove one or two of the cartoons to
make a better balance of groups.