Author:
Connecticut Department of Education
Subject:
Arts and Humanities, U.S. History, World History
Material Type:
Syllabus
Level:
High School
Grade:
9, 10, 11, 12
Provider:
CT State Department of Education
Tags:
Language:
English
Media Formats:
Text/HTML

Education Standards

UNIT 1: At-A-Glance

UNIT 1:  At-A-Glance

Overview

Semester 1: Unit 1 At-A-Glance: Where We Come From: Introduction to African Origins and Contributions of Ancient African Empires to World Civilizations and the African Diaspora

In this unit, students will:

•Examine the impact of various aspects of African culture world civilizations in the past and present.

•Analyze the factors that have contributed to racialized global conflict and change in the modern world; and

•Develop a positive and accurate identity, including an awareness of and comfort with ones’ membership inmultiple groups in society.

Compelling Questions: What impact did the people of Ancient Africa have on early and modern civilizations, and why has this impact been largely ignored through much of history? How has the concept of race been socially constructed over time?

Pre-Assessment: Students complete a course self-assessment to gauge interest, comfort level, and current knowledge.

Relevant Content Standards and Related Supporting Standards

From Connecticut Elementary and Secondary Social Studies Framework

Dimension 2 - Applying disciplinary concepts and tools

HIST 9–12.1 Evaluate how historical events and developments were shaped by unique circumstances of time and place as well as broader historical context.

HIST 9–12.3 Use questions generated about individuals and groups to assess how the significance of their actions changes over time and is shaped by the historical context.

HIST 9–12.6 Analyze the ways in which the perspective of those writing history shaped the history that they produced.

GEO 9–12.2 Use maps, satellite images, photographs, and other representations to explain relationships between the locations of places and regions and their political, cultural, and economic dynamics.

GEO 9–12.8 Evaluate the consequences of human-made and natural catastrophes on global trade, politics, and human migration.

From CT Core Standards for English Language Arts (i.e., Reading, Writing, Listening, Speaking)

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.11-12.1 Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources, connecting insights gained from specific details to an understanding of the text as a whole.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.11-12.2 Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary that makes clear the relationships among the key details and ideas.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.11-12.8 Evaluate an author's premises, claims, and evidence by corroborating or challenging them with other information.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.WHST.11-12.9 Draw evidence from informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.

From CT English Language Proficiency (CELP) Standards (i.e., Reading, Writing, Listening, Speaking and Language)

CELP.9-12.1. RI.7. Analyze various accounts of a subject told in different mediums (e.g., a person’s life story in both print and multimedia), determining which details are emphasized in each account.

From Social Justice Standards from “Learning For Justice”

Identity

1. Students will develop positive social identities based on their membership in multiple groups insociety.

From Teaching Hard History A 6–12 FRAMEWORK FOR TEACHING AMERICAN SLAVERY

Key Concept 1: Slavery, which Europeans practiced before they invaded the Americas, was important to all colonial powers and existed in all North American colonies

SUMMARY OBJECTIVE 1: Students will recognize that slavery existed around the world prior to the European invasion of North America, changing forms depending on time and place. The enslaved often were perceived as outsiders: captives in war, the vanquished or colonized, or ethnic or religious others

1.C In many African societies, people became enslaved when they were captured during war. Thestatus of enslaved people changed as they learned the customs and integrated into their captors’community. Slavery was not always intergenerational; the children of enslaved parents were notnecessarily enslaved.

Key Concept 2: Slavery and the slave trade were central to the development and growth of the colonial economies and what is now the United States.

SUMMARY OBJECTIVE 2: Students will describe the nature and extent of colonial enslavement of Indigenous people.

2.A Throughout the Americas, Europeans enslaved between 2.5 million and 5 million Indigenouspeople. In much of what is now North America, Indigenous people were bought and sold until thelate 19th century.

Learning Outcomes

LO1 UNDERSTAND the construct of race, why, and how it was developed.

LO2 INVESTIGATE the evolution and development of African American/Black and Puerto Rican/Latino identities, including intersections with Indigenous and other identities.

LO3 ANALYZE how race, power, and privilege influence group access to citizenship, civil rights, and economic power.

Overarching Course Essential Questions

EQ1 RACIAL FORMATION How and why was the concept of race constructed? What is its impact on African American, Puerto Rican, Latino, and Indigenous people?

EQ3 POWER What do African American, Puerto Rican and Latino histories reveal about the United States, its foundation, and how power is structured today?

EQ4 FREEDOM, JUSTICE, RESISTANCE How have African American, Puerto Rican and Latino people fought for freedom and justice throughout history and today, and in what ways have their struggles been in solidarity with various other groups?

EQ5 SOCIETY, ECONOMY, AND CULTURE How and in what ways have African Americans, Puerto Rican and Latino people shaped American society, economy, and culture?

Theme/Content Specific Enduring Understandings

For this Unit of Study, students will know and be able to...

Knowledge:

•Compare and contrast the development of various African civilizations.

•Evaluate Africa’s contradiction to the false narrative of African inferiority and racial stereotypes.•Analyze West Africa’s wealth, geographical and ethnic diversity.

•Evaluate the characteristics and achievements of the African peoples discussed in this unit.

•Analyze the construct of race and its impact on world civilization.

Skills:

•Contribute to and maintenance of a safe classroom space

•Develop a historical frame-of-reference of Ancient Africa’s contributions to world culture.•Evaluate available primary sources to compare and contrast beliefs and historical background of early African civilizations

Theme/Content Specific Inquiry

For this Unit of Study, to support self-discovery, identity development, and civic preparedness/actions, students will explore...)

•In what ways did Africa contribute to the evolutionary development of humanity?

•How has the concept of race been constructed over time and what role has the concept of race had in world conflict?

Evidence of Learning

 

Pre-Assessment: Students complete a course self-assessment to gauge: interest in taking the course, comfort level in talking about race, comfort level participating in challenging and difficult conversations, comfort level in learning about other cultures, what they know and want to learn more about. (Will do post assessment at end of semester.) Common

Misconceptions:Blacks, Africans, AfricanAmericans and African descendants are primitive, sub-human, and racially inferior to whites.

Formative Assessments/Checks for Understanding

  • Class Discussions
  • Short Essay Responses/Reflections
  • Exit Tickets
  • Journal Entries
  • Presentations

Performance Tasks and Criteria/Project?Based Applications (Aligned to Compelling Question)

This unit concludes with an End-of Unit Performance Task in which students collectively draw from their research to create and present a representation addressing the compelling question of the impact of the people of Ancient Africa on the development of humanity and civilization (e.g., presentation, descriptive PowerPoint, visual depiction such as poster or concept map or matrix, etc.). Introduction of Course Projects: Radical Imagination Through the Arts and Be the Change Project