Memory, Mastery, and the Age of Jackson

Andrew Jackson’s Presidency is a dead sprint in terms of the scope and sequence on my pacing calendar. I spend five days teaching, one day of review, and one day of testing to wrap it up. Seven days from start to finish. It’s quick, but there’s a ton of material for students to understand and analyse. In years past, in addition to notes, students would read and answer questions, complete a puzzle, and submit a weekly quiz. There’s truly nothing wrong with those activities, but now I look back and wonder, did my students really understand the majority of what was taught?

Now, I find myself not really focusing solely on the assignment or task each day. My focus is now more fixed on the retrieval practice for the day. How will students show me what they know? My retrieval plan for the unit was the following:

Day 1: Election of 1824; Jacksonian Democracy notes

Everybody Thinks: Word Association (Spoils System, Democratic Party, Whigs, Suffrage)

*Full Transparency: For Word Association, I include words that are important on that day and see what words (historically!) can students connect with it. Also, I had sentence stems with subordinating conjunctions ready, but after notes, it felt clunky. So I audibled to word association. Nothing wrong with switching to a different plan if it’s not working.

Day 2: Jackson and the National Bank notes

Everybody Thinks: 3-2-1 Prompt

3 Key facts about the bank, 2 arguments Jackson made about the bank, and 1 consequence of his decision.

*Full Transparency: This was the first time I’ve used the 3-2-1 Prompt. It was a winner. Students were engaged and shared their thoughts with a partner before they shared with me. This gave students that might only have two facts to get an idea for a third.

Day 3: Nullification Crisis notes

Everybody Thinks: Compare Perspectives Sketch and Tell (sketch two viewpoints of event or issue and then explain contrast)

*Full Transparency: The Nullification Crisis is one of my more difficult days of teaching. There’s so much for students to know: protective tariff, regional strife, political figures, compromise. It’s a full day of information. A day that I worry about overload. This type of sketch and tell was truly a difference maker. Students shared with a partner first. Then I asked for volunteers to share with the whole group after I viewed several great options from my perusal.

Day 4: The Great Triumvirate notes

Everybody Thinks: Two Truths and a Lie

Full Transparency: With Two Truths and a Lie, I need to place better parameters with this retrieval practice—I had a student write Andrew Jackson took a helicopter to the White House; the lies were over-the-top. Moreover, I had a Because, But, So as a backup, but didn’t get to it due to time. I’ll probably exchange the two next year.

Day 5: Indian Removal Act and the Trail of Tears notes

Everybody Thinks: Hot Seat: Andrew Jackson Unit + A-Z

*Full Transparency: The Hot Seat Activity is absolutely perfect for the Age of Jackson! I had several volunteers who all played a great Jackson. They answered all kinds of questions from their fellow classmates. This activity provided a great summary of the Jackson Presidency. Afterwards, students had a well constructed bandwidth of knowledge that they were able to show in a quick A-Z activity.

In addition to notes and retrieval practice, the students and I worked through a Document-Based Question packet where we studied primary and secondary sources.

Overall, it was a compelling unit and one that I believe made learning more permanent. On the unit test, the average score was an 88. That’s a five point upswing compared to last year.

We covered a lot, but the students learned a lot…and I can take that to the bank.