The Progressive Movement—what was its impact?

Lesson 3

Days 3, 4 and 5

Title: Students work in groups using primary source packets on one of five topics to identify and describe their Progressive topic in exhibit form.

NOTE: Suggested time frame might be:

• Day 3: Understand guidelines, expectations and rubric, get into groups and select a topic, receive their packets with sources and questions, and begin work individually on primary sources.
• Day 4: Finish work individually on primary sources, pool findings on primary sources as a group and decide what they’ve learned about the problems, people, methods and solutions of their topic.
• Day 5: Select the photos, cartoons and documents they want to exhibit and write captions for each in their own words, decide who will “be” historical figures and plan what they will say to visitors, and begin to put the exhibit together.

Objectives:

Students will:

1. Use what they have learned about working with photos, cartoons and documents and apply this to additional sources not yet seen.
2. Share their findings from the primary sources with their group and problem-solve in order to make sense of their sources.
3. Work with their group to put together their group’s exhibit—selecting primary sources to exhibit, writing captions for their primary sources, and arranging and presenting this in an accurate and attractive presentation.
4. Select two group members to “be” Progressives and/or opponents to speak with visitors about their roles.
5. Work effectively in these small groups to produce their portion of the class exhibit on the Progressive Movement.

Materials (online primary sources, student reading, activity sheets, supplies)

• Rubric for the exhibit that includes criteria for selection and use of primary sources, grasp of the connection to the Progressives, organization, presentation, and group work skills
• Five packets with sources on each of the five topics: each packet to include selected photos, cartoons and documents, questions on analyzing primary sources and questions on problems, people, methods and solutions of Progressives. Primary sources from the five topic categories
1. Child labor: Lewis Hine photos (assortment from mills, mines, and factories) as well as background info on Hine, excerpt from John Spargo on the work of a 12-year old boy in a coal mine, photos from the work at Hull House and a description of Jane Addams’ contribution.
2. Working Conditions: Excerpt from Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle, excerpt from Annie Daniel document on work done in tenements, excerpt from Florence Kelley on women workers, and photos, cartoons and document excerpts from Triangle Fire website.
3. Rise of Organized Labor: two excerpts on the Knights of Labor, a political cartoon on “the labor question,” a political cartoon about the American Federation of Labor, a bar graph on membership of the American Federation of Labor, and an excerpt from AFL appeal in 1893 to provide relief for workers.
4. Women’s Suffrage: pro and anti suffrage cartoons and a photo and arguments, and an excerpt from the N.Y. Times about the leadership of Carrie C. Catt.
5. Temperance Movement: an excerpt from Frances Willard on battling alcohol in the late 19th century, prohibitionist political cartoons from The Ram’s Horn, and excerpts from documents of the Anti Saloon League
• Five flip chart pages and markers
• Five three-panel display boards, colored paper, glue or tape and scissors

Strategies (include opening or hook and closing)

1. Explain that students will be working in small groups each on one topic of importance to Progressives—child labor, working conditions, the rise of organized labor, women’s suffrage or the temperance movement. Each group will be expected to:
   • Work together fairly and cooperatively
   • Examine, read and discuss the primary sources in their packet practicing the skills they have learned in the last few days to make sense of these sources.
   • Put their findings on a three-panel display board selecting political cartoons, photographs and documents and writing their own captions.
   • Use the Progressive Unit Timeline to correctly sequence the events for their topic.
   • Select two students from their group to “be” people they have learned about—including Progressives. These two will speak in character with visitors to the exhibit. The other students will also speak with visitors, pointing out key parts of their exhibit and answering questions that visitors might have.
   NOTE: Your audience or visitors can be students and teachers from another class or classes at the same grade level or from a different grade level, and/or parents and families of the students in your class. Or, you might consider working with your school librarian to set up your exhibition in the school library either for the live visit or afterwards to post students work there.
2. Share the Assessment Rubric with students so that they will know what is expected.
3. Divide students into five groups so that each group contains students with varied skills—in reading, focusing on task, being creative and getting along.
4. Write each topic on a small piece of paper, fold it and put it in a container. Then ask one representative from each group to come up and pick out a piece of paper. This will be the group’s topic.
5. Once groups are settled, distribute to each a packet of sources on their topic. Each group’s task is to use their sources to answer these questions:
• What problems do Progressives seem to be trying to solve?
• Who—individuals and organizations—were the Progressives?
• How did Progressives get people to care about their problems?
• What solutions did they advocate?
6. Students in each group can decide how to proceed—as long as each member gets a chance to work with each source.
7. Once that has been accomplished, the group should decide on three or four sources they will use for their exhibit. This should be a mixture of photos, political cartoons, and documents.
8. Students in each group will then create a caption of two or three sentences that explains what the source says and means, and why it is important to understanding the Progressives.
9. Students in each group should use the flip chart paper to practice how they will set up their exhibit board.
10. Each exhibit board should tell the story of their topic in the Progressive Era—and use their selected primary sources to explain or illustrate
• The problem as they saw it
• Who the Progressives and their opponents were
• Their methods and solutions
• Their connections to today’s world.
11. Tell students to look for dates and use the timeline included in their packet to create a timeline on their exhibit board.
12. Once each group has planned their exhibit and practiced it on a flip chart, give them a three-panel display board and materials to create their exhibit.
13. Ask each group to select two members who will “be” Progressive reformers—or a Progressive reformer and an opponent. Have these students meet with you to plan what they will say on exhibit day to visitors. See Tips for “being” a historical figure at the exhibit.
14. Best to complete all these steps by the end of Day 5’s lesson in order to give students a weekend to catch up with and complete the parts of their group’s exhibit.
15. Homework for Days 3, 4 and 5 will be to work on the sources in their packets. Allow students to take these home but the MUST bring them to class each day. At the end of Day 5, if not completed in class, the homework will be to write the captions for their selected primary sources—consisting of three to five sentences using their own words to explain the significance of the primary source. Students who will “be” historical characters will be required to prepare on note cards the main points they want visitors to understand about their historical person.

Differentiation

Best to accommodate various reading levels as follows:

• Assist lower ability readers by selecting and defining more challenging words ahead of time and providing more guidance and attention to check for understanding.
• Provide higher level readers with more challenging materials such as larger excerpts and showing them how to check the websites for additional information.

The exhibit provides a variety of options for multiple intelligences such as: verbal work developing and revising captions, artistic/creative work on the layout and arrangement of the exhibit, and dramatic by “being” or role playing an historical figure.

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