Claim Testing - Imperialism

Hi Curt!

I love this activity and have been using it in several units for a while now.  It works so well!!  I usually do it toward the end of the unit so that there is a lot more material for kids to sift through and use when supporting/refuting the claims.  I've added more claims at times to keep group-size small and just to include more information.

Biggest tweaks:

I use a shared Google Doc to streamline the finals steps of the process for kids (instead of the whiteboard), and I color-code the claim cards to make all the transitions easier.  I also have a slide show to keep it organized.  I've attached these materials below, hopefully the links open, feel free to use them.

Materials:

• Colored Claim Cards
• Shared Claim Chart as a Google Doc template for students to compile evidence during the last phase of the activity.  Pre-fill the claims on the left and then post into Google Classroom as an “assignment” that “students can edit.”
• Google Slides presentation to host instructions and keep the pace.  (This example is for the Industrial Rev, but I just change it each time)

I also like to discuss the process with the students afterward, not just the content.  Our state test is now heavily skills-based so I try to be pretty explicit about the skills as we practice them.  So I'll add questions such as: 

• After Round 1 - 
  • Was this a difficult task? How did you make your decisions?
  • Which claims were the easiest to find evidence for and which were the hardest?  
• After Round 2 - 
  • Evaluate the evidence you were provided with - mostly strong/weak/repetitive? What did you use as your criteria to decide?
  • What was the most challenging part of your task? 
• How does this activity further our understanding about the role of a historian?  
• In what ways is this a good exercise for becoming stronger writers? 
• Besides writing, in what areas of our life is the skill of supporting/refuting claims useful or important?

Tell us how it goes

Julianne:

You’re a rockstar!!  Thanks for the feedback and so soon too! We’ve done claim testing, but we’re just pulling into the end of our imperialism unit and thought we would use this to provoke some thought at the end of the unit.  We’re doing this tomorrow, so I’ll give you some feedback after I’ve reflected. We have three weeks of school left in the semester with a week off for Thanksgiving.   I know we can, I know we can, ... whoo, whoo!

With gratitude,

Curt Greeley

Hey Curt!

Did this today as review - I used 5 claims (& 5 groups):

1. Economic gain was the greatest motivating factor for a new wave of imperialism in the late 1800s.
2. Colonized people were unable to effectively resist imperial powers from the mid-19th to mid-20th centuries.
3. Imperialism resulted in the exchange of traditions, cultural ideologies and customs.
4. Imperialism had long-lasting, detrimental effects on the societies of people over whom they ruled.
5. The Age of Imperialism (1880s-1914) represented revolutionary and unprecedented actions by Western nations to control foreign territory. 

Took about an hour to accomplish and go over as a class but it was definitely worth it!  The Shared Doc was a key component - I attached just a row or two of one class' work from today... I'm not sure the Doc fully represents the classroom discussion that this activity bred, but it was a weighty conversation on the content and the skill.  

Overall, they were able to filter their notes effectively and find supporting evidence, but the class as a whole needed more teacher intervention on the counterclaim round (to be expected I think).  Once they got the hang of it I was happy with what they came up with.  Notice the evidence pulled from "Responses to Industrial Imperialism" by Eman M. Elshaikh (1750 course reading)!  

Worked like a charm, the collaborative document is a deal changer in the positive. The kids got really into it, even competitive at times. This is the third time we have done claim testing and it seems as if they are getting more adept.  It was good to get them up and move into other groups 20 or 25 minutes into class, I separated groups by numbering desks and having them report to the same numbered station as their card they randomly chose.  Looking forward to building on this exercise soon.  Thanks for sharing your tweaks Julianne Horowitz, they paid off for me.

This is so great Juliane!

did your students use other sources for the evidence beyond the Elshaik essay?

Yes - the first step in this activity was to take out all of their unit materials.  Many students were leaning on the WHP articles I used (although i didn't use them all) and they also pulled from other lesson materials, handouts, discussion notes, videos, etc.  I did this later in the unit than it appears in the progression on the course site.  Doing it later gives them more to think about and use.  

It's so helpful when teachers like you share the tweaks, as Curt said.  Knowing that you did the project a bit later opens the door for other teachers who might feel constrained by the progression recommended on the course site.

 Julianne Horowitz  , Sharon Cohen and Curtis Greeley , thanks for this thread. I'm getting ready for this activity in a week or so. I love the modifications. However, I had to take it back a step. I've enough students in my classes that coming up with statements would be to great a challenge. I'm posting this 5 years after  the original post -- my, what has changed. I used NotebookLM to review the two sources for this lesson to extract statements to support and refute each claim. All in 5 minutes or so. Here's the list:

DOCX

My plan is to select a few of these statements -- supporting and refuting -- for students to sort on a Google Doc.