Melissa Merritt – PPLM Plan

My target audience will be students that I currently teach at Georgia

Southern in an American History survey course. I asked 10 students who I thought

would be good candidates to do online work to participate. They ranged in age

from about twenty to about fifty. They ranged in cultural background as well and

included African Americans, Caucasians, and Hispanics. Nine of the ten did

complete the work. I talked to them to address their learning exceptionalities and

there were no specific accommodations that had to be made. None of the students

received accommodations from the Student Disabilities Resource Center, but I

planned my lesson to accommodate as many types of learning as I can. My goal is

that the students will be able to learn just as much in this online module as they

would have in class. I am going to give them the option not to come to class during

this time. I hope the outcome is that they perform as well on the exam as

everyone else in class when we get to that exam and perhaps that they even do

better than they did on their previous exams. I also hope that they do well on the

online quiz.

It is feasible to deliver a module over the Civil War in two weeks because it is

a theme of study and is easily put into module format. I will make a PowerPoint

presentation lecture. I will require the students to do reading. I will have other

websites for students to use to learn about the Civil War and see photographs and

first hand stories. I will require the students to post an answer to a discussion

question, reply to two other students’ posts, and to interact with me by responding

to questions I post on their discussion answers. If students have questions over the

material, they can contact the instructor via Blackboard e-mail or on the discussion

board. The students will also be required to take an online quiz and this is how I will
evaluate achievement. I will also look at their test scores and compare them to the

previous scores. I will communicate electronically with my students to evaluate

their opinions on the module and its effectiveness.

My mentor is Dr. Lisa Denmark, Assistant Professor of History at Georgia

Southern. She has a PhD in history. She taught me as an undergraduate and as a

graduate and she helps me with my questions now that I am teaching. She is the

go to person for technology in the history department. I will consult her for ideas

about how to deliver the material in an online environment. She uses Blackboard

and other online tools a great deal in class.

I plan to use Blackboard because my students already have access to that in

my history class. They can do their work from home or school. Instruction will be

asynchronous. I only need permission from the students themselves because they

are adults. I chose Blackboard as my technology because I am familiar with it and

both my students and I have access to it. I chose PowerPoint to deliver the lecture

also because it is a familiar medium. I chose Camtasia and www.screencast.com to

make my audio PowerPoint because I have used both in a previous class. I chose to

use my textbooks because they are required for my class and provide a good

introduction before the student listens to the PowerPoint. I chose my online links

because they review the material and provide information not in the lecture or the

book. I gave the instructor my username and password for Blackboard so she could

view my work.

This class is aimed at a college level and therefore we do not have specific
standards, but the GPS standard is as follows:

SSUSH9 The student will identify key events, issues, and individuals relating to the causes,
course, and consequences of the Civil War.
a. Explain the Kansas-Nebraska Act, the failure of popular sovereignty, Dred Scott case, and John
Brown’s Raid.
b. Describe President Lincoln’s efforts to preserve the Union as seen in his second inaugural address
and the Gettysburg speech and in his use of emergency powers, such as his decision to suspend
habeas corpus.
c. Describe the roles of Ulysses Grant, Robert E. Lee, “Stonewall” Jackson, William T. Sherman, and
Jefferson Davis.
d. Explain the importance of Fort Sumter, Antietam, Vicksburg, Gettysburg, and the Battle for
Atlanta and the impact of geography on these battles.
e. Describe the significance of the Emancipation Proclamation.
f. Explain the importance of the growing economic disparity between the North and the South
through an examination of population, functioning railroads, and industrial output.

These are the NETS that I will address:

1. Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity

Teachers use their knowledge of subject matter, teaching and learning, and
technology to facilitate experiences that advance student learning, creativity, and
innovation in both face-to-face and virtual environments.

Teachers:
a. promote, support, and model creative and innovative thinking and inventiveness
b. engage students in exploring real-world issues and solving authentic problems
using digital tools and resources
c. promote student reflection using collaborative tools to reveal and clarify
students’ conceptual understanding and thinking, planning,
and creative processes
d. model collaborative knowledge construction by engaging in learning with
students, colleagues, and others in face-to-face and virtual
environments

2. Design and Develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences and Assessments

Teachers design, develop, and evaluate authentic learning experiences and
assessments incorporating contemporary tools and resources to maximize content
learning in context and to develop the knowledge, skills, and attitudes identified in
the NETS•S.

Teachers:
a. design or adapt relevant learning experiences that incorporate digital tools and
resources to promote student learning and creativity
b. develop technology-enriched learning environments that enable all students to
pursue their individual curiosities and become
active participants in setting their own educational goals, managing their own
learning, and assessing their own progress
c. customize and personalize learning activities to address students’ diverse
learning styles, working strategies, and abilities using
digital tools and resources
d. provide students with multiple and varied formative and summative assessments
aligned with content and technology
standards and use resulting data to inform learning and teaching

3. Model Digital-Age Work and Learning

Teachers exhibit knowledge, skills, and work processes representative of an
innovative professional in a global and digital society.

Teachers:
a. demonstrate fluency in technology systems and the transfer of current
knowledge to new technologies and situations
b. collaborate with students, peers, parents, and community members using digital
tools and resources to support student success
and innovation
c. communicate relevant information and ideas effectively to students, parents, and
peers using a variety of digital-age media and formats
d. model and facilitate effective use of current and emerging digital tools to locate,
analyze, evaluate, and use information
resources to support research and learning

4. Promote and Model Digital Citizenship and Responsibility

Teachers understand local and global societal issues and responsibilities in an
evolving digital culture and exhibit legal and ethical behavior in their professional
practices.

Teachers:
a. advocate, model, and teach safe, legal, and ethical use of digital information and
technology, including respect for copyright,
intellectual property, and the appropriate documentation of sources
b. address the diverse needs of all learners by using learner-centered strategies
and providing equitable access to appropriate digital tools
and resources
c. promote and model digital etiquette and responsible social interactions related to
the use of technology and information
d. develop and model cultural understanding and global awareness by engaging
with colleagues and students of other cultures using
digital-age communication and collaboration tools

5. Engage in Professional Growth and Leadership

Teachers continuously improve their professional practice, model lifelong learning,
and exhibit leadership in their school and professional community by promoting and
demonstrating the effective use of digital tools and resources.

Teachers:
a. participate in local and global learning communities to explore creative
applications of technology to improve student learning
b. exhibit leadership by demonstrating a vision of technology infusion, participating
in shared decision making and community
building, and developing the leadership and technology skills of others
c. evaluate and reflect on current research and professional practice on a regular
basis to make effective use of existing and emerging digital
tools and resources in support of student learning
d. contribute to the effectiveness, vitality, and self-renewal of the teaching
profession and of their school and community

My plan for the learning module:

The Civil War

____________________________________________________________________________

Goal of this Module:

Students will demonstrate their understanding of the Civil War including the
causal factors such as slavery and sectionalism and the aftermath including
an introduction to Reconstruction by answering a discussion question and
taking a quiz.

Objectives of this Module:

The activities in this module should be completed by the end of week two.
The American History Survey Student will understand:
- The causes of the Civil War
- The course of the Civil War
- Aims and Strategies
-North and South compared
- Emancipation
- Receive an introduction to Reconstruction which will lead us into the
next module.

_____________________________________________________________________________
_
Activities Check List:
1. Read textbook:
If you are using the U.S. Narrative History book, read chapters 13, 14,
15, 16, and 17.
If you are using the America: A Narrative History book, read chapters
15, 16, 17, 18.
2. Print PowerPoint handout
3. Listen to PowerPoint Lecture via www.screencast.com
4. Review Links
5. Discussion Question: Using your textbook, lecture notes, and the
websites provided, answer the discussion question. In a meaningful way,
respond to the posts of at least two other students and respond to
instructor’s feedback.
6. Quiz

The Assessment:
1. (Points: 10) Why did the election of Abraham Lincoln cause several southern
states to secede in 1860 and 1861?

1. many southerners equated the radicalism of John Brown with Lincoln

2. Lincoln advocated immediate emancipation

3. Lincoln campaigned on a platform of war if the Southern states did not refrain
from expanding slavery

4. Lincoln was known to be a religious zealot

false

2. (Points: 10) John Brown was a radical abolitionist and is famous for attempting
to arm slaves and promote a rebellion by raiding:

1. Fort Sumter
 2. Nebraska

3. Atlanta

4. Harper's Ferry
false

3. (Points: 10) The cause of the Civil War can most simply be attributed to:

1. Manifest Destiny

2. Division over tariffs

3. the radicalism of Abraham Lincoln

4. the institution of slavery

false

4. (Points: 10) When the Civil War broke out, the North:

1. had a greater population than the South

2. was more industrialized than the South.

3. had more food producing farms than the South.

4. developed the Anaconda Plan.

5. All of the above.

false

5. (Points: 10) Neither side wanted to be the aggressor and begin a war. What
event led to the outbreak of the Civil War?

1. Bleeding Kansas

2. Fort Sumter
 3. Battle of Bunker Hill

4. Lincoln's election
false

6. (Points: 10) When the Civil War broke out, how did people react to and / or
perceive the war?

1. Both sides realized the war would drag on for years.

2. Both sides had difficulty obtaining recruits early in the war and had to
immediately impose a draft.

3. Each side believed they would win a short and glorious war

4. Lincoln and the Union forces immediately sought to emancipate all slaves in
the Union.
false

7. (Points: 10) Why did the South have such a difficult time fighting the war
considering that they didn't have to actually win?

1. They lacked a national bank and had difficulty generating revenue.

2. They had an infant nation with no established government or bureaucracy.

3. They received no diplomatic recognition from other countries and thus could
not borrow money.

4. They were fighting against the third greatest military power of the time.

5. All of the above

false

8. (Points: 10) Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation freed how many slaves?

1. All slaves in the Union

 2. No slaves at all

3. All slaves in the Confederacy

4. All slaves in the Border states

false

9. (Points: 10) Lee surrendered in April of 1865 at:

1. Appomattox Courthouse

2. Savannah

3. Bull Run

4. Fort Sumter
false

10. (Points: 10) The process through which the American South was reintegrated
into the Union after the Civil War and through which freed African Americans tried
to take advantage of their new status was called:

1. The Antebellum Period

2. Reconstruction

3. Emancipation

4. The Corrupt Bargain

false