Technology-Infused Lesson Plan

© Marion Truslow

Name(s)

 

Marion A. Truslow, Jr.

School Location:

 

Rabun Gap-Nacoochee School, Rabun Gap, Ga.

Lesson Title:

Machiavelli Project

Grade Level/Subject Area:

Advanced Placement European History

 

Student Profile:

 

10th and 12th Grade

 

Number of Students:

 

11 students in one section—this is a guess because we have no class role yet

 

Number of Students with Special Needs:

None

 

Area of Specialties:

Not applicable

 

Performance Objectives:

Understanding of the thesis and the concepts of the great books of Machiavelli stressing THE PRINCE but being conversant with THE ART OF WAR, THE DISCOURSES, THE LETTERS and the placing of those in the context of the Italian Renaissance and of today

 

Curricular Connections: (QCC/IEP/Local or National Standards)

From  the AP European History Course Description provided by The College Board:

http://www.collegeboard.com/ap/pdf/cd_euro_history_02-03.pdf

 

The outlined themes that follow indicate some of the important areas

that might be treated in an AP course in European History. The ideas

suggested do not have to be treated explicitly as topics or covered inclusively,

nor should they preclude development of other themes. In

addition, questions on the examination will often call for students to

interrelate categories or to trace developments in a particular category

through several chronological periods.*

1. Intellectual and Cultural History

Changes in religious thought and institutions

Secularization of learning and culture

Scientific and technological developments and their consequences

Major trends in literature and the arts

Intellectual and cultural developments and their relationship to social

values and political events

Developments in social, economic, and political thought

Developments in literacy, education, and communication

The diffusion of new intellectual concepts among different social groups

Changes in elite and popular culture, such as the development of new

attitudes toward religion, the family, work, and ritual

Impact of global expansion on European culture

 

Rabun Gap-Nacoochee School objectives in the school curriculum map include:

 

 Understands significant individuals and ideologies that emerged during the Renaissance and Reformation (e.g., the basic arguments in "The Prince" by Machiavelli; works of Renaissance writers and elements of Humanism in these works; individuals and factors that contributed to the revival of Greco-Roman art, architecture, and scholarship; differing ideas on women’s roles in the Protestant household; social oppression-and conflict in Europe during the Renaissance, as contrasted with humanist principles of the time)

 

Understands sources of military buildup of the 17th and l8th centuries (e.g., how they compare with the advice of Machiavelli on the use of mercenaries)”

 

 

Assessment:

One filmed debate on “Machiavelli’s ideas were endorsing immorality in political and daily life”; one typed five page expository essay on : attack, defend , or  modify: the PRINCE, the DISCOURSES, and THE ART OF WAR are inherently amoral books”; one objective test.

 

 

Technology Connections:

Links to primary sources and Renaissance background sites: internet  links

http://www.historyguide.org/intellect/machiavelli.html

http://www.ilt.columbia.edu/publications/Projects/digitexts/machiavelli/the_prince/chapter01.html

 

 

Materials:

Students have purchased THE PRINCE and will use e-books of the others; computers for each student; a teacher work station; white board; Microsoft word for the essay and Microsoft Outlook for emailing essay; digital camcorder for the debate

 

 

Related URLs:

 

http://www.csupomona.edu/~jcclark/emusic/  for Renaissance Music;

http://www.wwp.brown.edu/texts/rwoentry.html

Renaissance texts—women;

http://www.whitehouse.gov for the relevance of Machiavelli for today

 

 

 

Procedures:

(Use group sizes that are applicable)

 

Whole Group: debate is boys v. girls (instructions—initial group work for 10 minutes preparing the arguments by using existing primary sources online and their paper copy of THE PRINCE with the boys saying that Machiavelli is simply telling it like it is while girls argue that he is endorsing immorality as the means to the end of power acquisition at all costs.  This covers one 60 minute class, one time.  The teacher selects the team captain; coin toss decides which team starts and which ends.  Two minutes per round. Teacher is the referee. These are typed directions posted on the class door and on the web assignment page in the event of my demise.

Small Group: hervuta method--  In this small private school the total class will not be larger than 16, so thus two groups of eight constitutes which instructions are given in the frame above.

Cooperative Group: not applicable with Advanced Placement

Individual: homework preparation—they have read the PRINCE

 

Classroom Management:

 

Technology Management: RGNS History Lab has 16 individual workstations for students and is conducive to the learning process

With 16 students total I even know the names of their dogs.  I call the roll online at the beginning of every class so I know who is there.

 

Instructional Groups: not applicable with Advanced Placement