Unit Packs / Industrial Age & Progressive Era
Industrial Age & Progressive Era
Students look at industry from both the factory floor and the board room, read the case for free markets from Smith to Hayek, weigh the arguments of business leaders, Populists, and muckrakers, and follow the campaign for the vote.
Unit question: Did industrial growth and the reforms that followed make life better for ordinary Americans?
Suggested grades: 8, 11
Day-by-day calendar
- Day 1
Launch the unit
TimelineWalk the era timeline; students note three turning points.
MapLocate the places in this unit on the source map.
QuestionPost the unit question: Did industrial growth and the reforms that followed make life better for ordinary Americans? Students write a first-guess answer to revisit on Day 14.
- Day 2
Investigate: Was the Industrial Revolution progress?
Source setWork through the suggested sequence of 6 sources with the graphic organizers.
Leveled readingsUse grade 4, 7, or 10 versions of key passages next to the original wording for readers who need support.
- Day 3
Lesson: Rank-the-Evidence Card Sort
Teach itRun the lesson kit (copy the Slides and Lesson Plan from the set page).
Quick checkClose with the 5-question Quick check (copy the student Doc; answer key included).
- Day 4
Investigate: How do free markets create prosperity?
Source setWork through the suggested sequence of 9 sources with the graphic organizers.
Leveled readingsUse grade 4, 7, or 10 versions of key passages next to the original wording for readers who need support.
- Day 5
Lesson: Historian’s Lab: Where Does Prosperity Come From?
Teach itRun the lesson kit (copy the Slides and Lesson Plan from the set page).
Quick checkClose with the 5-question Quick check (copy the student Doc; answer key included).
- Day 6
Investigate: Captains of industry or robber barons?
Source setWork through the suggested sequence of 7 sources with the graphic organizers.
Leveled readingsUse grade 4, 7, or 10 versions of key passages next to the original wording for readers who need support.
- Day 7
Lesson: Four Corners Debate
Teach itRun the lesson kit (copy the Slides and Lesson Plan from the set page).
Quick checkClose with the 5-question Quick check (copy the student Doc; answer key included).
- Day 8
Investigate: Did Progressive Era reformers make life better for workers?
Source setWork through the suggested sequence of 8 sources with the graphic organizers.
Leveled readingsUse grade 4, 7, or 10 versions of key passages next to the original wording for readers who need support.
- Day 9
Lesson: Historian’s Lab: Station Rotation
Teach itRun the lesson kit (copy the Slides and Lesson Plan from the set page).
Quick checkClose with the 5-question Quick check (copy the student Doc; answer key included).
- Day 10
Investigate: How did women win the right to vote?
Source setWork through the suggested sequence of 9 sources with the graphic organizers.
Leveled readingsUse grade 4, 7, or 10 versions of key passages next to the original wording for readers who need support.
- Day 11
Lesson: Gallery Walk: Seventy Years to the Ballot
Teach itRun the lesson kit (copy the Slides and Lesson Plan from the set page).
Quick checkClose with the 5-question Quick check (copy the student Doc; answer key included).
- Day 12
Gallery Walk
Gallery WalkPost the Gilded Age cartoon stations; students label parts A, B, C and write what they see.
- Day 13
DBQ workshop
DBQ builderBuild a DBQ packet from “Was the Industrial Revolution progress?”: pick 5 to 7 sources and print.
DBQ builderBuild a DBQ packet from “How do free markets create prosperity?”: pick 5 to 7 sources and print.
DBQ builderBuild a DBQ packet from “Captains of industry or robber barons?”: pick 5 to 7 sources and print.
DBQ builderBuild a DBQ packet from “Did Progressive Era reformers make life better for workers?”: pick 5 to 7 sources and print.
DBQ builderBuild a DBQ packet from “How did women win the right to vote?”: pick 5 to 7 sources and print.
WorkshopStudents annotate the documents and outline an answer.
- Day 14
Final writing task
Writing taskWrite an argument: Were the decades from 1870 to 1920 mostly a time of progress for ordinary Americans? Use at least five sources from at least three sets, and include one source that disagrees with your position.