My Lesson Plans for Teaching Georgia's Land Policies SS8H4b
I’m excited to share my lesson plans for teaching Georgia’s early Land Policies (SS8H4b)! My plans are designed for 3 days of class periods lasting around 55-60 minutes. Remember, you know your students best! Your students may complete tasks at a different pace from mine.
As you’ll know soon, I love to incorporate ELA and Reading standards into social studies lessons. So, many activities revolve around nonfiction reading and R.I. Standards.
We’re covering SS8H4b: Evaluate the impact of land policies pursued by Georgia; include the headright system, land lotteries, and the Yazoo Land Fraud.
Day One
Bell-Ringers
Post this prompt for students to answer.
After the American Revolution, Georgia gained access to a large amount of land from the American Indians who sided with the British. What is the best way to distribute this land? Should it be for sale? Should all land be the same price? Should certain groups of people, such as veterans, get priority or discounts to the land?
After students answer on their own, discuss this whole-group.
Reading Activity
Partner Read a nonfiction text about the Land Policies using the PALS strategy. To learn more about PALS reading strategy, read this blog post.
Students will partner read and answer multiple choice prompts.
Summarizer
List one fact about each of the following.
Headright System
Yazoo Land Act
Land Lottery
Day Two
Bell-Ringers
Post for students to answer.
What purpose did the following serve: Headright system, Yazoo Land Act, and Land Lottery?
Match the following to their description.
2. ______ fairest and best system of distributing land
3. _____ too many people claimed the land, and there was not enough land for everyone
4. ____ politicians were bribed to sell land
a. Headright system
b. Land lottery system
c. Yazoo Land Fraud
Chart
Students will complete this chart based on the reading from yesterday.
Game
Students will play the digital simulation game. The game is a choose-your-fate style game that takes students through each of the three land policies.
Summary
What was the purpose of the headright system, Yazoo Land Act, and Land Lotteries?
Which system seemed the most fair? Why?
Day Three
Assessment Writing Activity
Describe the Headright system. Include a description and one weakness of the system.
Describe the Yazoo Land Fraud.
Describe the Land Lotteries. Include a description and why it was successful.
Differentiation Ideas
Assessment differentiation ideas:
Instead of constructed response, you could have matching for the descriptions of each system. Add a constructed response for the weakness and/or successes.
Give a word bank for students to use in their response. Strategically choose these words to help guide a student’s answer.
Give sentence starters to guide students in their constructed response.
Create a fill-in-the-blank paragraph instead of a full-on constructed response.
For more differentiation ideas, check out my blog post.