Summative Essay AssignmentColumbian ExchangeIn a four page essay explain how civilizations impacted each other through the Columbian exchange through a transfer of culture and economics and conquest. In other words, what changed for people of each civilization once they interacted? How did the situations of each civilization at the time of contact with each other impact the outcomes?Things to include:A strong thesis statement that takes a stand based in factsEach question in the prompt is addressed thoroughly and with factual evidence from academic resources (Class notes, scholarly articles and primary sources etc.)Evidence from at least one primary source discussed in classEvidence of proofreading and a professional sounding writing formProficientAbove satisfactorySatisfactoryBelow expectations

A strong thesis statement that takes a stand based in factsStatement can be factually proven but is argumentative in nature. Leaves no doubt about what the paper will be about and requires evidence to be proven trueStatement can be factually proven but is too general and summary based or makes a slightly weaker statementStatement comes off as vague and leaves the reader guessing to what the point isEither no thesis or cannot be factually proven

Each question in the prompt is addressed thoroughly and with factual evidence from academic resources (Class notes, scholarly articles and primary sources etc.)All three aspects addressed with solid factual evidence. Sources are all of academic dependability.All three aspects addressed with mostly factual evidence. Not all sources are reputable. All three aspects addressed but evidence is lacking in objective analysis and from weak sources.Not all aspects are addressed and an overall lack of evidence

Evidence from at least one primary source discussed in class

Primary source analyzed and used in productive ways to address key pointsPrimary source used in a tangential way but well analyzedPrimary source not used to support main thesis but analysis is evident.No primary source cited in paper.

Evidence of proofreading and a professional sounding writing form0-3 grammatical or spelling errors4-5 grammatical or spelling errors6-10 spelling or grammatical errorsMore than 10 or the paper is incomprehensible

Michael McClanathanUBD NarrativeThe unit I have chosen is over the Columbian Exchange. This term focuses on the vast arrays of cultural, economic, political and biological transfer between Western Europe, Mesoamerica and West Africa. This large area is often discussed as the Atlantic World. The purpose of this unit is to introduce students to the massive world changes that came about for several different cultures when the civilizations located in this part of the world began to interact. This is a complex task with a variety of cultures, leaders and interlocking factors that can be analyzed by students. This unit shows students that history does not take place in a vacuum but proves that the events of one group or even one individual can have lasting impact on everyday peoples lives for generations. This topic is appropriate for tenth grade world history students because through this unit, they will begin to analyze more complex texts than at the ninth grade level. This includes primary sources from the era that will need scaffolding and modeling to allow students to read older texts. Also, this unit will allow for a greater worldview about issues and topics that are beginning to matter to young adults. The enduring understandings from my unit focus on the impact civilizations have on each other when they interact, especially for the first time. The first enduring understanding: cultures and civilizations develop along unique lines in different parts of the world. This generalization will be vividly expressed in the differences between Mesoamerican culture and the culture of the Iberian Peninsula. This will be discussed at length and constantly compared and contrasted throughout the three-week unit. The second enduring understanding: When civilizations collide, their culture, disease and economics transfer to each other causing both good and bad results for each party. This will be discussed throughout the unit as we go through the ways in which the Spanish attempted to convert native peoples, conquered cities in the name of God and spread disease like wildfire as well as creating new and exploitative forms of economics similar to a feudal Europe. The essential questions narrow the focus of these understandings to focus on the outcomes of how civilizations react to each other. When civilizations interact, how are there winners and losers in the short and long run? This question is constantly brought new evidence and supporting fact as the unit progresses. Admittedly, the evidence strongly supports one side over the other as who the winner might be; however, it is an important question to ask nonetheless and to examine for our own benefit. Examining why certain civilizations develop in a specific way will be addressed in the unit especially on the first day of introducing each major culture. This question will be how we will assess the differences in progression that each civilization had made up to the point in which the two sides met and realize what implications such differences met for each group. The last essential question for this unit is: How do major explorations from history affect the world as we see it today? This final question asks students to understand the impact that individuals and groups can play on the world simply by stepping into the unknown. The obvious person to reference here is Christopher Columbus. His exploration had such an impact on the world we see today that his story is often changed to fit a comfortable narrative. This impact and retelling of the story will be explored in this unit over the Columbian Exchange. The learning goals this unit will achieve are based on the ones set by the ninth through twelfth grade social studies standards in the Iowa Common Core. Students will understand the role of culture and cultural diffusion on the development and maintenance of societies. This will be assessed through the final essay in students showing that society changes when cultures collide with each other. The second goal, understand the role of individuals and groups within a society as promoters of change or the status quo. This will be looked at through the profiles of Montezuma, Columbus as well as Hernan Cortes. Students will compare and contrast each of these leaders at some point during the unit and will also be asked about them on their alphabox quizzes. The third goal is that students will understand the effect of economic needs and wants on individual and group decisions. This will be assessed through the quizzes as well as the Prezi activity where students will need to fill in their thoughts and present them to the class. Finally, students will understand the role of innovation on the development and interaction of societies. This will be addressed during the introduction of each culture and discussing how each culture progressed in certain ways. It will be clear in the essays the emphasis put on how important innovation was for some cultures to merely survive while important for others to conquer. Throughout the three week unit, I will use formative assessments such as exit slips, other quick writes, sharing whips and alphabox quizzes to diagnose my teaching effectiveness and what content or skills are lacking in students. Most of the quick writes are used as diagnostic assessments which I will then read and decide which information to reteach the following day or later in the unit. I will also use these diagnostic assessments to decide if students are able to use certain skills in the right ways. Examples would be summarize or analyze primary sources. Also, compare and contrast is a popular writing skill that I will check for both the content and the understanding of the mental skill. Towards the end of the unit, I will use two main summative assessments. The first one being a group presentation based around an introductory Prezi I create at the beginning of the unit. This is a basic overview of the entire unit that students will be able to use to organize their notes and sources. They will work with one of the groups they worked with all unit while reading primary source documents. This activity will help them organize their thoughts and prove their knowledge of the entire Columbian exchange process. This will be graded on effort, accuracy of knowledge as well as a peer assessment on each persons contributions that I will factor into the score of each individual. The main focus is the long essay. This will be used to tie in all the essential questions and the standards to allow students to prove they have grasped all the main topic areas as well as to use the skills they have practiced during the unit.The main source of differentiation in this unit is in the flexible grouping. The groups for think, write, pair shares as well as think, pair shares will rotate based on a clock partner schedule. Also, the primary source document groups will rotate between two groups. This can be adjusted for difficulty of text or for learner differences. The use of different types of assessment will also help differentiate between different learners. The prominent use of formative assessment will help me make further changes as the unit progresses.The UBD process has been an eye opening experience into the planning process. This plan has given me insight as to how much goes into planning farther ahead than just one lesson plan which is all I have had experience with up to this point. I found that once a topic is either given or chosen, working from understandings to questions and then finally to assessments was the easiest path to take. However, there is no clear and easy way to create a unit through this process. This was beneficial because the process constantly made me go back and align everything I wanted to teach with goals and the major questions or topics I needed to cover. It made the purpose of the lesson the forefront and not the daily activities. This is often lost when looking at lesson plans as standalone products instead of pieces of a larger puzzle.