Cooper Smith

Vilification in Social Studies

11th Grade History
45min
A Case for The Colonies

Standards (include NCTE/NCSS/NGSS/NCTM):

● SS.H.5.9-12: Analyze the factors and historical context that influenced the perspectives
of people during different historical eras.
● SS.IS.1.9-12: Address essential questions that reflect an enduring issue in the field.

Educational Objectives:
● The students will be able to identify actions taken by the British Empire that lead to the
American Revolution.
● The students will be able to evaluate the reasoning for the American Revolution to
determine if the British were actually “intolerable.”

Assessment on Learning:
● Students will write a short paragraph (4-5 sentences) arguing whether or not the British
Empire actually did anything wrong when governing the American colonies. Students
will support their argument using evidence from class.

Central Focus
● This lesson will challenge students’ prior knowledge about historical events and
institutions, as well as how to properly research a topic using reliable sources and proper
citations.

Accommodations for students with specific learning needs:

● Students with language needs will have access to the following accommodations:
o Research materials and readings can be provided in students home languages or in
a larger text size.
o Students will be able to have texts read aloud to them.
o Students will be able to submit their work in their home languages.

Vocabulary:
 Primary Source
 Secondary Source
 Vilification
 Misconception
 Credible and Reliable sources
  Intolerable

Plus at least one of the following:

Syntax
Discourse

Materials:
Students will need:
 Laptops & internet
Teacher will need:
 “Were the British really ‘Intolerable?’” reading

Anticipatory Set/ Attention Getter:

What makes someone evil? A villain? Think of the Joker or Thanos. What makes these
characters villains? Let’s look at one of the biggest villains in US History, the British Empire,
and see if they deserve their villainous reputation.

Questions to Ask
1. Why do we consider the British to be the bad guys in the American Revolution?
3. What do our villains say about us?
4. Should we have villains in history?

Sequence of Events (include time needed):

1. Intro presentation (5 - 10 min.)
 Teacher will give a short presentation introducing the idea of villains in history and about
the British Empire in the colonial era.
2. Class discussion (5-10 min.)
 Teacher will lead a two-part class discussion. Part one, students will be asked to talk to
their table groups and make a list reasons for why we consider the British to be villains.
Part 2, These table groups will share their lists with the class, while the class shares their
lists, the teacher will be making one giant class list.
3. Student Research Time (10 – 15 min.)
 Students will have the rest of class to research the reasons on the class list to determine if
that reason is valid or not. Students will be asked to submit at least two sources, properly
cited, before they start writing their answers.

Conclusion/Summary:
We are going to continue working on these essays tomorrow, so keep brainstorming what you
are going to talk about and what sources you will use to justify your argument.