Summary
This is a single-day introduction to key vocabulary related to the Enlightenment period. Students will engage in discussion about general concepts raised by philosophers of the time, sort terms into common themes, and begin to relate them to American life today.
Essential Question(s)
How do principles brought about during the Enlightenment relate to American life today?
Snapshot
Engage
Students will discuss 5 statements related to the Enlightenment using the Always, Sometimes, or Never True strategy.
Explore
In groups, students will organize a Honeycomb Harvest comprised of Enlightenment vocabulary.
Explain
Students will independently justify connections made between terms in their honeycomb on a handout.
Extend
Students will make connections between vocabulary words in their honeycomb and American life today.
Evaluate
As an Exit Ticket, students will revisit the statements from the Engage by connecting them to the Enlightenment period.
Materials
Lesson Slides (attached)
Always, Sometimes, Never True handout (attached; one per student)
Enlightenment Hexagons (attached; one per group)
Food Hexagons (attached; optional)
Honeycomb Harvest Justification (attached: one per student)
Poster boards or sticky easel pads
Sticky notes
Scissors
Highlighters
Markers or Sharpies
Engage
10 Minute(s)
In the attached Lesson Slides, transition through Slides 1-4 introducing the title slide, essential question, and lesson objectives. Move to Slide 5 and deliver instructions for an Always, Sometimes, or Never True discussion. Designate three areas of the classroom to represent Always, Sometimes, and Never.
Transition to slide 6 and read the first statement. Tell students to move to the area of the room that they circled on their handout - Always, Sometimes or Never. After students have moved to an area, have them discuss why they selected that response. Ask for a volunteer to share for each area of the room. Repeat this process with all five statements.
Explore
20 Minute(s)
Place students in groups of four to five. Go to slide 7, and pass out the attached Enlightenment Hexagons handout to each group. Tell students to cut out the hexagons and arrange them based on the connections they have between one another. Provide each group with a piece of poster paper and have students glue their hexagons to the poster paper.
Explain
10 Minute(s)
Pass out the attached Honeycomb Harvest Justification handout to each student. Move to slide 8 and tell students to first choose three terms and write those in the first three hexagons, between the terms, tell students to write how the terms are connected. Have students repeat this with five more terms. Students should complete the handout individually.
If time permits, allow a few students to share their rationale.
Extend
5 Minute(s)
Transition to slide 9. As a group, have students identify three terms that connect to American life today and highlight them on their poster. Have students discuss with their group, and then come up with a rationale to support their choices. Students then write this rationale on a sticky note, and place them next to the terms on their poster. Ask a few groups to share out the terms they chose to highlight and their explanations
Evaluate
5 Minute(s)
Move to slide 10. Explain to students that they are revisiting the statements from the beginning of class, but are relating them to what they have learned. Display slide 10. Instruct students to select one of the statements previously discussed, and explain how it relates to the ideas from the Enlightenment. Have students write their response on a sticky note, and place it in a common location such as the classroom door or whiteboard on the way out of class to be evaluated as a formative assessment.
Resources
K20 Center. (n.d.). Always, Sometimes, or Never True. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/145
K20 Center. (n.d.). Honeycomb Harvest. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/61