1. Running head: CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
Unit Conceptual Framework
Lisa M. Gault
EPPL 612 Curriculum and Instruction of Gifted Learners
October 29, 2016

2. CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK 2
Unit Title: “Voices of Reconstruction (1865-1877)”
Brief Description of Unit
This unit is designed for 7th grade gifted students enrolled in the inclusive course,
“English Language Arts Grade 7 Honors” and the inclusive honors course, “United States
History II: 1865-Present.” The honors courses in which the gifted students are enrolled are open-
enrollment courses, meaning it is imperative to differentiate units for gifted learners. While the
students gain knowledge of important dates, people, and places in their social studies course, this
interdisciplinary unit gives dimension and authenticity to that information. Students read
speeches, journal entries, legislation, and articles written by and about people they know of, and
people they have yet to “meet.” Texts are complemented by documentaries, film, audio
recordings, and other multimedia that provide further context and authenticity for historical texts.
While discovering the rich content, students analyze diction and syntax as tools for
communicating an author’s purpose to his or her intended audiences. More specifically, we
investigate evidence of authors’ biases and agendas. We examine texts written during the
American Reconstruction period. Students learn and analyze use of the rhetorical appeals of
ethos, pathos, and logos by studying exemplars and, in turn, crafting their written and oral
discourse based on their understanding of the three. Paired texts are implemented throughout the
unit for a variety of purposes. For example, in one learning activity, students compare Black
Codes with the U.S. Constitution in order to discover the inhumanity and unconstitutionality of
Black Codes. The unit concludes with students presenting a speech, activism, and/or multimedia
project in which they use rhetorical skills to appeal to decision-makers regarding a self-selected
social issue.

3. Running head: CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK 3
Concept Map
Key Concepts: Change, Context, Rhetoric
Find a full-page version of the unit concept map here: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B_6GDS63zr_BSmsxWXN3d0t4Z0U

4. Running head: CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK 4
Unit Universal Concept:
Perspective
Generalizations about Unit Universal Concept:
 All perspectives influence one another.
 Every human being has perspective(s).
 Perspectives may be positive or negative.
 Political perspective is most informed by the other perspectives.
 Political perspective is the most impactful perspective.
Unit Content Essential Understandings
English Language Arts:
 A speaker’s rhetoric includes his or her diction, figurative language, literary devices,
sentence variety, syntax, and tone.
 A speaker’s tone is the attitude he or she conveys regarding themes and/or topics. Tone
can range from subjective to objective and from serious to humorous—even within a
single text.
 Allusions are intended for specific audiences possessing a certain perspective and
possessing adequate knowledge to notice the allusion and to grasp its significance.
 Historical figures most often are judged by their caricature rather than by their character.
 Rhetoric is essential to political success.
 Speakers employ the rhetorical appeals of ethos, pathos, and logos to convey messages to
specific audiences.
 Speakers’ rhetorical choices reveal their perspectives, biases, and agendas.
United States History 1865-present:
 President Lincoln’s assassination negatively affected the success of Reconstruction.
 Reconstruction was ruined by Northern and Southern stakeholders.
 Reconstruction gave rise to white supremacist terrorism, including the Ku Klux Klan.
 The Reconstruction Amendments (13th
, 14th
, and 15th
) were intended to provide African
Americans equal protection under the law.
 Black Codes, direct violations of the U.S. Constitution, limited the freedom and infringed
upon the rights of African Americans.
 Propaganda and rhetoric led Southern Democrats and their sympathizers to support white
supremacy through de jure and de facto racism in political, social, economic and
educational systems.

5. CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK 5
Related Standards from the Virginia Standards of Learning (SOL)
Grade 7 English Language Arts:
7.6 The student will read and demonstrate comprehension of a variety of nonfiction texts.
a) Use prior and background knowledge as a context for new learning.
b) Use text structures to aid comprehension.
c) Identify an author’s organizational pattern using textual clues, such as transitional
words and phrases.
d) Draw conclusions and make inferences on explicit and implied information.
e) Differentiate between fact and opinion.
f) Identify the source, viewpoint, and purpose of texts.
g) Describe how word choice and language structure convey an author’s viewpoint.
h) Identify the main idea.
i) Summarize text identifying supporting details.
j) Identify cause and effect relationships.
k) Organize and synthesize information for use in written formats.
Middle School U.S. History II: 1865 – Present:
USII.1 The student will demonstrate skills for historical and geographical analysis and
responsible citizenship, including the ability to
a) analyze and interpret primary and secondary source documents to increase
understanding of events and life in United States history from 1865 to the present;
b) make connections between the past and the present;
c) sequence events in United States history from 1865 to the present;
d) interpret ideas and events from different historical perspectives;
e) evaluate and debate issues orally and in writing;
h) interpret patriotic slogans and excerpts from notable speeches and documents;
i) identify the costs and benefits of specific choices made, including the
consequences, both intended and unintended, of the decisions and how people and
nations responded to positive and negative incentives.
USII.3 The student will demonstrate knowledge of the effects of Reconstruction on American
life by
a) analyzing the impact of the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments to the
Constitution of the United States;
b) describing the impact of Reconstruction policies on the South and North; and
c) describing the legacies of Abraham Lincoln, Robert E. Lee, and Frederick
Douglass.