Procedures

• SET UP

  This lesson offers several options for you to use with your students whether you are teaching in class, using a hybrid model, or engaging through distance learning. It can be completed in steps as a class or students can move at their own pace and complete the activities independently.

  You can post links to the videos in the lesson along with the related handouts and engage in discussion to share responses on a discussion board or learning management system.

  You can also save and share the following Google resources for students to use with this lesson.

  Handout: Graphic Organizer (Google Docs).

  Handout: Google Slides Activity (Google Slides).

  In Google, choose "File" then "Make a Copy" to get your own copy. You can make any needed adjustments in the instructions such as which activities students need to complete, when it is due, etc. and then make it available to them via Google.

• WARM UP

  Pose the following brainstorming questions to your students, directing them to record their responses in their graphic organizers and share with a partner, a small group, or the whole class:

  • Do you live in a rural or urban community? How do you know?
  • How is your community similar to/different from where your family members live?

• INTRODUCTION

  Play this introductory video clip [Clip #1] (2:06), in which James Madison University Professor Andrew Witmer provides an introduction to his lecture about the evolution of rural areas after the Civil War.

  Direct your students to answer each of the following questions in their graphic organizers and share their responses with a partner, a small group, or the whole class:

  • According to Andrew Witmer, what “big problem” did Monson, Maine (ME) face in 1872?
  • What data does Witmer provide to support his claim?
  • Based on the clip, what did the speaker in 1872 admit?

• VOCABULARY

  Direct your students to their graphic organizers to view the vocabulary terms that will appear in the lesson in the chart in their graphic organizer handout. The vocabulary words are also listed to the right on this webpage. We recommend having your students define and present the terms in a jigsaw activity to save time.

  Depending on time and resources, you may consider having your students define and present the terms in a Frayer's Model activity, where each student takes one or two words. Students can then post their models around the room for reference throughout the lesson. Note: this is not an all-encompassing list of terms included in each video. We recommend you previewing the video clips to determine any necessary additions/subtractions to this list for your specific students.

• GOOGLE SLIDES ACTIVITY

  Have your students access the Google Slides document and follow the directions to watch each video clip, take notes about what they learn, and answer the related questions. Direct your students to prepare to share their responses with their classmates.

• Background - Clip #2: An Emigration Issue (3"38).

  • What had been occurring in New England “for centuries?” Why?
  • According to Andrew Witmer, what were Monson’s founders a “part of?”
  • Based on the clip, when and by whom was Monson founded?
  • What was a “common practice” when granting townships? Why?

• Background - Clip #3: Urbanization (5:01).

  • Why did Monson exist, according to Andrew Witmer? What “concern” began to grow in the town and across the country in 1872, though?
  • Based on the clip, what trends are evident from the chart of Census data?
  • How was rural “defined” during this era?
  • According to Witmer, why would the trend be “terribly hard” for the people who remained behind?

• Background - Clip #4: Urban vs. Rural (7:06).

  • What was “clear” during this time?
  • According to Andrew Witmer, how did cities change from before to after the Civil War?
  • How did “city people” view rural people? What examples are provided?
  • Based on the clip, how did the division go “both ways?”

• Engagement - Clip #5: A Symbiotic Relationship (2:53).

  • What does Andrew Witmer mean when he says cities and rural areas had a “symbiotic relationship?”
  • Based on the clip, what “optimism” did rural people have during the 1870s and early 1900s?
  • According to Witmer, what did rural people “learn?”

• Engagement - Clip #6: A Personal Story (4:32).

  • According to Andrew Witmer, why was Monson, ME chosen for this lesson? What is “helpful?”
  • What do you see in the images of Monson, ME that are shared in the clip?
  • Based on the clip, what is Monson, ME known for today?

• Engagement - Clip #7: Monson, Maine (2:50).

  • What did Andrew Witmer began to “realize” about Monson, ME?
  • Based on the clip, what resources were used in researching Monson, ME?
  • In what four ways did Monson, ME “respond” to its decline in the late 1800s?

• Choice Board (Choose one.) - Clip #8: Industrial Landscape (14:10).

  • According to Andrew Witmer, was was occurring in the U.S. between 1870 and 1900? What evidence does he provide?
  • From the image shown in the clip, what types of industrial activity were occurring in Monson, ME? What did Monson have “that other people wanted?”
  • What was the cause of Monson’s “rural industrial landscape?” Summarize the three pieces of evidence that Witmer provides to support his claim.
  • Based on the clip, what happened in 1880 and what impacts did this development have on Monson?

• Choice Board (Choose one.) - Clip #9: Tourist Landscape (7:45).

  • Who “began to arrive” in Monson, ME? Why?
  • According to Andrew Witmer, what “requirements” existed to take advantage of the “boon?” Who met these needs?
  • Based on the clip, what was “placemaking?” How did the town of Monson meet this goal?

• Choice Board (Choose one.) - Clip #10: Weekly Slate (8:47).

  • Based on the clip, who visited Monson, ME during the summer of 1885, and what was their goal?
  • According to Andrew Witmer, what role did John Francis Sprague take on?
  • Was the Weekly Slate a “local” newspaper? Summarize both perspectives shared in the clip.
  • What purposes did “birds-eye views” serve?

• Choice Board (Choose one.) - Clip #11: Rural Immigration (5:44).

  • How many “foreign-born Americans” lived in rural places in 1900? What drew “waves of immigrants” to Monson, ME?
  • According to Andrew Witmer, how was rural immigration “distinctive?” What examples are provided in the clip?
  • Based on the clip, how did immigrants “transform” Monson? Why were Monson’s immigrants “better treated?”

• REFLECTION

  After your students share their findings from the Google Slides activity, have them view this reflective video clip [Clip #12] (3:51), in which James Madison University Professor Andrew Witmer provides closing comments to his lecture on the evolution of rural areas after the Civil War.

  Direct your students to answer each of the following questions in their graphic organizers and share with a partner, a small group, or the whole class:

  • What was Monson, ME “well aware” of during the late 19th century?
  • How did the town respond to the challenges, according to Andrew Witmer?
  • What does not emerge “spontaneously?” How is locality “created?”
  • What “tragic story” occurred in the 1900s?
  • Summarize the “twist” in Monson’s story.

• CLOSURE

  After your students are finished with the lesson, direct them to complete the final culminating writing prompt in their graphic organizers, and have students share their responses, comparing their perspectives with their classmates' perspectives: Having now learned about the evolution of rural America after the Civil War, describe what you believe to be the most significant factor causing the changes and why. Be sure to include evidence from the video clips in the lesson to support your argument.