Objectives:
- Describe the effects of nineteenth-century colonization.
- Analyze how indigenous residents of colonized regions responded.
Scene 1 — Engage
Student Activity
Students read an introduction explaining how nineteenth-century European powers built empires in Africa, Asia, and the Pacific, often exploiting colonies for labor and resources and leaving them poorer. They view an image of colonial architecture in Kolkata, India, then work in a shared class table to predict how indigenous peoples in Africa, Asia, and the Pacific islands might have reacted to nineteenth-century imperialism, drawing on their knowledge of North American colonization and the American Revolution.
Teacher Moves
Introduce the overall experience and objectives. Provide historical context about the long timeline of decolonization, including that many countries did not gain independence until after World War II, with Zimbabwe gaining independence in 1980 and Hong Kong remaining a British colony until 1997. Use student predictions to surface prior knowledge and misconceptions and to set up later learning about varied responses to imperialism.
Scene 2 — Explore
Student Activity
Students examine an image of indigenous laborers on an Australian colonial sugar plantation, then read Responses to Industrial Imperialism to learn how different communities and nations responded to colonial powers. Using a graphic organizer, they define resistance, collaboration, and accommodation and record at least one example of each, using the reading and, if needed, a dictionary to support their work.
Teacher Moves
Discuss the definitions and examples of resistance, collaboration, and accommodation with the class. Prompt students to consider why there were often multiple, sometimes conflicting, responses within the same colonized society, guiding them toward ideas about survival, family needs, personal advancement, and the pursuit of freedom.
Scene 3 — Explain
Student Activity
In small groups that are further subdivided, each sub-group watches either Asian Responses to Imperialism or African Resistance to Colonialism. Sub-groups discuss their assigned video and collaboratively summarize their discussion in a shared space. They then create a short slideshow highlighting key points from their video to present to the partner sub-group that watched the other video. While listening to the other sub-group’s presentation, students take individual notes on the second slideshow to capture important ideas about responses to imperialism in the other region.
Teacher Moves
Organize students into small groups and sub-groups, optionally using a jigsaw structure so that all students who watched the same video meet to discuss before returning to their original groups. After presentations and note-taking, lead a whole-class debrief that highlights major patterns: for Asia, emphasize intellectuals who advocated adopting Western military, educational, and nationalist ideas; for Africa, emphasize armed resistance and civil unrest such as boycotts, protests, and sabotage of colonial systems.
Scene 4 — Elaborate
Student Activity
Students individually imagine themselves as teenagers living in a colonized region in Africa or Asia and write a diary entry describing one way colonization has affected their lives and how they have responded (for example, through resistance, collaboration, or accommodation). After posting, they read classmates’ diary entries and respond to at least two with a question or a positive comment to extend or connect ideas.
Teacher Moves
If students need more background to write authentically, encourage them to conduct brief additional research on a specific colonized region or to revisit earlier resources and notes. Monitor the diary entries and peer responses to ensure students are accurately applying concepts of resistance, collaboration, and accommodation and are engaging respectfully with one another’s work.
Scene 5 — Evaluate
Student Activity
Students complete the exit quiz by answering all the questions.
Teacher Moves
Facilitate the assessment and use student data to evaluate understanding, address misconceptions, and identify areas for growth.
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