Provide "acknowledged body of knowledge" related to the concept. Emphasize the most significant aspects of the concept in an organized, organic manner. Present information sequentially so students see continuity. Draw attention to important, discrete details; don't swamp students with myriad facts.

Lectures & Readings. Historians' Logs.

Objective: To define and characterize the "peculiar institution of slavery" that buttressed southern antebellum society betraying the ideals of liberty and equality expressed in the Declaration of Independence.

Activity: 1) Teacher structures mini-lectures, leads class discussions, and employs a variety of media in order to provide learning experiences accommodating the need for and interest in specific information generated in Quadrant 1. As questions raised during the K-W-L process are answered, expanded or discarded, note the changes. As new questions arise, add them to the "Want to Know" column. Major Concepts/Themes: the institution of slavery as the foundation of southern antebellum society; the lifestyles, roles and status of individuals and groups living within that society; modes of social control and the means of coping, avoiding, and/or rebelling employed by master and slave, the role of religion in plantation life, and the conflicting attitudes and viewpoints toward the ideals of liberty and equality inherent in antebellum society. 2) To increase student comprehension of how historians approach the study of history, pose questions that enable students to compare divergent views expressed by the experts and the manner in which each supports his/her arguments. e.g., Was the institution of slavery an essentially benign system or one that perpetuated racial injustice? Read or have students read brief excerpts from the American Negro Slavery by U.B. Phillips (1918) or The Peculiar Institution by Kenneth Stampp (1956). What factors might account from their widely divergent views on slavery? Invite a historian to give a guest lecture on some aspect of slavery and to discuss his/her work as a historian. 3) Students maintain a "historians log" in which they record basic factual information presented, answers to questions raised in the K-W-L process and additional ones raised in class, personal reflections and notes to guide individual research/study, etc.

Assessment: Teach checking for understanding/level of student questions; notebooks.