Summative: Multiple Choice Questions on the Unit Test and on the AP World History Test in May.

Transcription

1 How Shall We Rule China? Lesson Plan Brad Burzumato- Albemarle High School Context 10 th Grade AP World History Class For homework the night before, the students will have read the Textbook chapter on the Mongols and completed a corresponding reading guide. Standards College Board s AP World History Key Concepts Key Concept 3.1.I.E: The expansion of empires facilitated Trans-Eurasian trade and communication as new peoples were drawn into their conquerors economies and trade networks, (a required example of which is the Mongols). Key Concept 3.2.I.B: In some places, new forms of governance emerged, including those developed in various Islamic states, the Mongol Khanates, city-states, and decentralized government (feudalism) in Europe and Japan. Objectives (KUD format) Students will Know: That the Mongols are a Central and Northern Asian (Inner Asia) ethno-linguistic group that came out of the Steppe Lands and conquered almost all of East, Central, and West Asia, before dividing the land into four Khanates. Chinggis (or Genghis) Khan s Grandson, Kublai Khan, ruled the Khanate of the Great Khan, which came to be known as Yuan Dynasty in China. There were several different philosophies on how the Mongols should rule China, due to the Mongols facing a variety of challenges. Students will Understand: that history is not a stagnant story, but rather a serioes of people making decisions that alter the course of history. Students will Be Able To: Describe the challenges facing the Mongols in China. Formulate an opinion on several different topics based on an assigned Point of View. Respectfully, yet thoroughly debate positions on what the right course of action should be for the Mongols in China. Assessments: Diagnostic: At the beginning of class, the students will take a 10-question Multiple Choice Quiz over the textbook chapter they read the previous night. They will be allowed to use their homework to take the Quiz. Formative: Questions for understanding during and after the activity. Summative: Multiple Choice Questions on the Unit Test and on the AP World History Test in May. Instruction (Procedures): minute lesson; 90 minute class period 1. Beginning of Class: Students will spend the first 30 minutes of class taking a quiz over what they read last night. We will peer grade these quizzes and discuss each question. 2. Introduce Activity (5-7 minutes) a. First, I will put the students into 9 groups of 2-3, using the method I call intentional counting, (meaning that I will count them off in a way that seems random, but I have planned the order I count to pair students with the best partner). b. Then, I will distribute the How Should We Rule China Question Sheets, which give them several topics to formulate opinions on. I will then explain the activity and pass out their roles.

2 3. Planning Period (10-15 minutes) a. I will give the students time to talk with their groups to read over their assigned roles and come up with answers to each of the prompts. b. I will encourage them to formulate a well-reasoned argument based on the traits of their role, and remind them that as this is a simulation, thus the more in character they get, the better the simulation will go. 4. The Debate (25-30 minutes) a. The class will then circle up, with one member from each group sitting in the inner circle, with the rest of the group sitting behind him/her. b. They will then try to come to a consensus on how the Mongols should rule China through discussion of each of the topics. One student will be assigned the Role of Scribe, and their job will be to make sure a consensus is reached for each topic (they may contribute to the discussion, but are not bound to the role they were originally designed). c. The inner circle will do the discussing, and I will instruct the outer circle to listen to the discussion, and pass notes and talking points up to their group member, to help them in the discussion. 5. The Debrief (15 minutes) a. After 30 minutes (or all topics have been discussed, whichever comes first), I will step into the circle, assuming the role of Kublai Khan, and ask the Scribe to read the consensus and I will ask follow up questions as needed. b. We will end class by watching the Crash Course World History episode on the Mongols and the Students will complete a SPICE Chart identifying the major characteristics of the Mongol Empire. c. After the video we will have a debrief discussion where we will discuss the lasting effects of the Mongol Empire and to ensure everyone has met the Objectives. Materials: Ch 12 Quiz MC Quiz [Not attached] How Shall We Rule China Question Sheets [Attached] How Shall We Rule China Role Slips [Attached] SPICE Sheet for CCWH [Attached] Technology Use: Projector and Promethean Board for showing CCWH episode Attention to Individual Students Needs Through intentional counting, I will put students into groups where struggling students can be supported by stronger students, particularly with regard to discussion skills. How Shall We Rule China Question Sheets and the SPICE Sheet both specifically outline what the students need to do to successfully answer the questions. *Note: This is a lesson I taught during my student teaching, adapted from

3 How Shall We Rule China? Question Sheet You are going to pretend that you are back in China around the year You are participating in a high-level conference the Mongols are holding in which they are trying to decide what advice to give Kublai Khan about how he should rule China. Some of you are invading Mongols, while others are Chinese advisors whom the Mongols have allowed to participate in the conference. You are all trying to figure out how to rule China. Consider the various issues (see below) and what advice you would offer on those issues. Which answers do you as a group care strongly about and on which issues might you be willing to compromise? Issues to be discussed: 1. What shall be the Mongols relationship with the Chinese? a. Should we stay away from them or should we socialize with them? b. Should we allow Inter-marriage? c. Should we learn Chinese? d. Should we make them work for us or leave them be? e. Shall we have a census to determine who is in the empire and who can pay taxes? f. Should we use the Chinese in government posts? If so, in what jobs? In lower positions only? Should we use them only as advisors? Can we really ever trust them 2. How shall we govern? a. Do we want to appear to be just like the Chinese? b. What kind of bureaucracy shall we create? Should we keep the Chinese bureaucracy in place? If so, do we use the Chinese bureaucrats? Can we trust them? Should we use our own people? c. Should our military leaders govern certain areas? d. How shall we elect the bureaucrats? Should we use some form of an exam system like the Chinese?

4 3. What should we do about the land? a. Should we give it to our own tribal warriors in reward for their loyalty and courage? b. Should we allow the Chinese farmers to stay on the land and farm it? c. Should we turn the land into grazing and hunting areas? d. Should we set a standard tax rate and keep an eye on the people who are collecting taxes or should we leave them alone and let them squeeze as much out of the peasants as they can? e. Should we support trade and make it easier for merchants by improving communication or creating money? f. Can we trust the Muslim Traders going in and out of China along the Silk Road? Should we close the boarders to protect ourselves? 4. Where shall we have as our political center? a. Should we keep our nomadic way of life and have the capital wherever the leader is located? b. Should we build a permanent capital in the steppe land so that we can maintain our nomadic lifestyle and keep good contact with other Mongol groups? c. Should we build a permanent capital in the agricultural area so we can control the Chinese people more effectively? d. Should we have two capitals, one outside the wall and one inside the wall?

5 You are a MONGOL WARRIOR who wants to maintain the nomadic way of life no matter what. You feel the Mongols should take farm land from the Chinese for your herds to graze and turn other farm land into hunting areas. You do not want to have contact with the Chinese, and you think it is a bad idea to build a capital or does anything that might make the Mongols want to be like the Chinese. You do not trust the Chinese! And you wonder if it is ever possible for a Chinese scholar to be loyal to the Mongols. Most of all, you don t want to get used to luxuries as you fear they would make the Mongols weak and more vulnerable. You want to keep your fighting skills and you want Kublai Khan to follow a policy of expansion and attack neighboring areas such as Korea and Japan. You are a CHINESE BUREAUCRAT and the Mongols who know you have learned to respect you. You want to appear to be on the Mongol s side, but your long-range objective it to weaken Mongol rule and to finally see the leave. You suggest to Kublai Khan to act more Chinese because that would make the Chinese obey him more readily, making it easier to govern. You appeal to Mongol vanity by suggesting that acting more Chinese will make the Mongols appear cultured in the eyes of the rest of the world. You believe secretly that the more the Mongols act like the Chinese, the weaker and less militaristic they will become and the less other Mongol groups will respect them or come to their aid. You are smart enough to try and convince the Mongols that becoming like the Chinese is the best policy for themselves, while you really believe it is the best policy for the Chinese. You are a MONGOL LEADER who feels the Mongols should integrate with the Chinese in some aspects of life. You suggest to Kublai Khan to act more Chinese so that the Chinese will respect him and obey him, and thus, easier to rule. You feel everyone should learn Chinese and speak it and you want the Mongols to use Chinese bureaucrats in some of the lower posts in the government. You favor a permanent capital inside the agricultural lands. You want the Mongols to be tolerant of Chinese ways and allow Buddhism and Taoism to be practiced. You feel if the Mongols accommodate the Chinese way of life, they will never be expelled from the country as outsiders, and thus could thrive as a people. You are Kublai Khan s mother, SORGHAHTANI BEKI. You are concerned for the Chinese, especially the farmers. You want the Mongols to protect the farmlands and not to allow their horses and herds to graze on the farmland and destroy the crops. You want to promote farming and then tax it. You think allowing the animals to destroy the agriculture is a bad policy. You want to collect surplus grain and distribute it to people whose land was hurt in the wars and to save surplus grain to distribute in case of famine. You also want projects to insure flood control and that the irrigation works are in good order. You want the government to stock rivers with fish and generally work to improve agriculture. This will ensure a large tax base for the Mongol government, whereas being harsh to the farmers may drive them off the land and leave no one to pay the taxes. You are a MONGOL LEADER who is for tax reform. You feel it is dangerous to allow merchants, especially Muslims, to collect taxes as they please. Harsh tax collection policies will drive farmers off the land (thus destroying the tax base) or tempt them to revolt and try and drive the Mongols out. You want a systematic tax schedule and tax collectors who are watched by the government to be sure they do not exploit the peasants. You are not opposed to using Chinese in the bureaucracy. You favor learning Chinese so the Mongols can communicate better with the Chinese.

6 You are a MONGOL LEADER who favors public works, building a grand capital and extending the canal in order to bring goods, especially food, to the capital. You believe that the Mongols, as the Mighty, Conquering Force of China, should be rewarded for their victory. You think the Chinese should pay taxes and provide unpaid labor for public works projects. You think a large, permanent capital would add prestige to the Mongol ruler. You also want the government to take a census of all the people, placing them in categories so the Mongols know who their friends are. You suggest the categories might be 1) Mongols; 2) outsiders like Muslim merchants; 3) Northerners who have been under outsider rule for several centuries and are less resentful of the Mongols; and 4) the Chinese, particularly those from the southern Song, who cannot be trusted. You are a MONGOL LEADER who opposes a permanent capital. You feel one inside the agricultural area will result eventually in the Mongols becoming too Chinese and one on the steppe land would require too much effort. You want the Mongols to maintain their own nomadic way of life and nomadic values. If the Mongols stay strong, they cannot be thrown out, and can continue extracting resources out of China. You oppose intermarriage, learning Chinese or other forms of accommodation to the Chinese way of life. You do not think Chinese people can be trusted because Confucianism is anti-foreign. You are a MONGOL WARRIOR who knows the importance of information. Although you do not trust merchants and feel as a group they are cheaters and untrustworthy, you favor encouraging trade, especially because of the information the merchants can provide about the outside world. Merchants who have traveled across the Silk Roads can be valuable eyes for the government, either knowingly or unknowingly. They can report on what and who they passed on their journeys. You suggest the creation of paper money and good communication. You favor the postal system, through which merchants can post their messages or goods via horseback riders. You are a MONGOL LEADER who wants to keep the Mongols customs and way of life. You oppose learning Chinese and Chinese customs. You do not like foot binding and think no Mongol woman should ever have her feet bound. You like the Mongol festivals and feasts and do not want to see your people celebrate Chinese ones. You oppose intermarriage. You want to keep your customs and the hunt and fear a capital city, especially one inside the agricultural territories. You do not trust the Chinese and wonder if it is ever possible for a Chinese scholar to be loyal to the Mongols. You want the government to make two sets of laws, one for the Chinese and one for the Mongols. If the Mongols stay strong, they cannot be thrown out.

7 SPICE Sheet CATEGORY/THEME Social: Can include socioeconomic groups; class/caste; racial & ethnic constructions; family & gender roles & relations; systems of unfree labor (indenture, slavery, etc.), associations (guilds, etc.); religious groups CULTURE/CIVILIZATION/PEOPLE: Political: Political structures and forms of governance, legal system, political interest groups/factions, power bases; changes and functions of states; rise of nation states, nationalism; attitudes toward states; relationship between individuals and states; revolts & revolutions; regional, trans-regional, and global structures & organizations Interaction between people and environment: Human impact on environment, environment s impact on culture; natural, human, technological resources; demography, patterns of movement and settlement, disease, pop. growth, decline; rise of agriculture & manufacturing, post-modern technology (computers, internet, cell phones, etc.) Cultural & Intellectual: The arts, literature, philosophy, architecture; mathematics & science; belief systems, religions, ethical and moral values, ideologies Economic: Creation, expansion, & interaction of economic systems; natural, human, technological, & capital resources; agricultural & pastoral production; trade & commerce; labor systems; technology and innovation; industrialization; capitalism & socialism