Students interact with vocabulary words that they will encounter throughout Unit 8: Contemporary United States.
Students interact with vocabulary words that they will encounter throughout Unit 8: Contemporary United States.
Students are introduced to the unit focus on the contemporary United States and the year 2020 as a memorable recent event. They review a list of key vocabulary words and their definitions, then examine the word “contemporary” by breaking it into prefix and root. Students respond to a word cloud prompt by posting another word that begins with the prefix con-.
Teacher MovesPresent the lesson overview, highlight the objective, and read through the vocabulary list with students, clarifying meanings as needed. Explicitly model how to analyze “contemporary” using prefix and root. After students submit word cloud responses, share sample answers and prompt them to connect the root “tempo/tempor” to music (tempo as speed or rate in time) to reinforce word analysis skills.
Students focus on vocabulary related to society and government. They view an image illustrating diversity and respond to a word cloud by naming someone they consider a role model. They answer a short-response question identifying their homeland, then complete a poll to choose the best example of “dependence.” Finally, they answer multiple-choice questions to identify the definition of “terrorism” and a synonym for “diversity.”
Teacher MovesUse the image and prompts to reinforce the meanings of diversity, role model, and homeland, inviting volunteers to explain why they chose particular role models and how they define their homeland. Emphasize that there may be multiple reasonable answers to the dependence poll and ask students to justify their choices. Provide corrective feedback and clarification on the terms terrorism and diversity based on student responses.
Students shift to vocabulary about economics. They draw or upload an image representing something that is scarce and prepare to explain their choice. Next, they complete a drag-and-drop activity matching the words profit, consumer, entrepreneur, and property to their definitions. Finally, they post to a class wall explaining how a sports competition is similar to economic competition.
Teacher MovesInvite volunteers to share and explain their scarcity images, checking that students correctly understand the concept. Review the drag-and-drop matches with the class, clarifying any confusion about profit, consumer, entrepreneur, property, and the unused term enterprise. Guide discussion on the wall prompt by highlighting that in both sports and economics, competitors all want to win or gain an advantage, and reinforce accurate use of the vocabulary in student explanations.
Students complete the exit quiz by answering all the questions.
Teacher MovesFacilitate the assessment and use student data to evaluate understanding, address misconceptions, and identify areas for growth.
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