Kelley Hundley and John Miller

Collaborative Interactions in Three Lesson Sample

The following interactions were designed and integrated into the course, The American Civil War, 1861-1865.

Forum Discussion

We will use a discussion forum following an in-class lesson (lesson one) on the strengths and weaknesses of political positions taken by both sides at the beginning of the war. Students will be asked to speculate about actions taken by both sides and what their outcomes might be. They will then communicate with their peers by responding to other posts while the instructor promotes discussion and feedback. Forums offer a high degree of interactivity and collaboration. They also promote higher level thinking skills such as analysis and evaluation.

Students will be asked to reply to the following prompt: Based on your research, predict the success of each side in this war. In other words, do you think the North will win swiftly, or do you think it will take a long time and a lot of energy for the North to wear down the passionate Confederacy? Your answer should be at least three (3) sentences.

Chat

After creating a circle map identifying important events and connecting them to famous individuals during the war's early years in lesson two, students will enter into a moderated chat session led by their instructor. Socratic style discussion will be encouraged while students learn chat etiquette and defend their positions on the major players and events of the time period. Chats also promote structured communication and interaction in a format most teens have prior experience with, while the chat history (or log) will provide reference for later assignments.

Students will be asked to chat after considering the following prompt: You have read about the Battles of Bull Run, Merrimack vs. Monitor, Antietam, and Shiloh. Discuss in this chat how in each battle, both the Union and Confederacy tried to carry through with their war strategies.

Upload a File

After collaborating in pre-writing activities in lesson three, students will create an essay using MS Word as a homework assignment and turn it in via this feature to the instructor. A submission window will open and close requiring students to turn their work in on time.