Heroes and Villians of the Wild West

Author: Jennifer Roberts

Grade Level: 8th

Time-frame: One 60min. Class Period

Lesson Description or Explanation
In this lesson students will develop and increase their research, reflective practice and technology skills by critically analyzing foes of the Wild West. They will begin the lesson by exploring their own moral feelings and end with empathizing with the selected heroes and villains of the West. This type of transcendence can be quite a powerful form of scaffolding.

Indiana Curricular Standards

• 8.1.23 Describe the conflicts between Native American Indians and settlers of the Great Plains.


ISTE Standards
3b. Students will locate, analyze, synthesize, and ethically use information from a variety of sources and media.

4c. Students will collect and analyze data to identify solutions and/or make informed decisions.
Assessments

Formative/Summative
Formative Closure(10min.): Teacher will ask several guiding questions such as: who in the class struggled with moral obligations? What were you surprised by? What were you not surprised by?

Summative: Students will be given an “exit pass” in which they will be asked to list traits that were discussed in class that were considered honorable in the time of the Wild West and why.



Prior Knowledge
Curricular Knowledge or Skills: Their own moral and societal beliefs on what makes a person a hero or a villain.
Technology Knowledge: They will have worked with the laptops in class several times before, conducting research and presentation activities.

Technology
Internet Resources: www.legendsofamerica.com/LA-OldWestLegends.html

www.thewildwest.org

Hardware: Laptops, DVD player, Overhead projector

Software: Microsoft Word, Internet Explorer


Procedure
Introduction/ Anticipatory Set (10min.): Students will watch a short clip from the movie American outlaws in which the “characters” rob a bank to steal money that belongs to the railroad that has taken over their land and the robbers are shown as heroes, something not commonly seen today. The students will then write a journal entry as to whether they would have sided with the “law” or the settlers and what truly makes a hero or a villain.

Part 1(20 min.): Students will each be given a card with pictures of infamous foes of the Wild West pictured they will also be given a laptop to do independent research of each of these characters, and why they held the rivalry that they did.

Part 2(20 min.): The students will then be instructed to write a brief narrative of their findings, and also create a wanted poster for the member of the rivalry that they determined to be the villain.

Closure (10min.): Teacher will ask several guiding questions such as: who in the class struggled with moral obligations? What were you surprised by? What were you not surprised by?

Assessment/ Evaluation: Students will be given an “exit pass” in which they will be asked to list traits that were discussed in class that were considered honorable in the time of the Wild West and why.

Independent Study/ Homework: For homework students will be required to further develop their character for their final project. They will submit the following day any of their character’s rivals or enemies and why they chose them.

Differentiated Instruction

ESL ESL Students will be given the laptops that have the websites translated using the Google translator function. I will also make sure that they know how to operate this function on their own.

Challenge/Extend
For the students who may need an additional challenge, I will have them create a concept map on Microsoft Word that describes how they made they reached their decisions.

Special Needs
For the special needs students in my classroom, I will give all students the opportunity to work in teams of two to complete this assignment.