Student Resources:

• Cyber Sandwich Summary Review Graphic Organizer

Teacher Resources:

• Cyber Sandwich Slide Deck or printed copies of the slide for a paper-based version
• Polling tool

Anticipate

Opinion Polling

• In the lesson, students will explore five major events in westward expansion. Try to choose a good variety of questions spanning the topics so students can preview and activate prior knowledge. The topics students will explore are:
  • Indian Removal Act
  • Manifest Destiny and Texas
  • Mexican-American War
  • Gold Rush
  • Gadsden Purchase
• For each topic, share a poll question with students (below are some questions you may use for this activity.) You can display them on a slide or read them aloud. Then, use a polling tool to collect responses (Google Forms, sticky notes, whiteboards, etc.)
• Give students time to independently craft their response. Have students respond depending on your chosen response method with:
  • Yes/No
  • A brief written explanation
  • “Not sure” with a question they have

Polling Questions

• If your family had lived on the same land for generations, would you leave if the government offered you money and land elsewhere?
• Texas wants to join the U.S., even though Mexico says it still belongs to them. Should the U.S. let Texas in?
• Should the U.S. be able to take land from another country if they win a war?
• You hear there’s gold in California. You’d have to leave your home and face danger for a small chance at wealth. Do you go?
• If you struck gold, would you share your wealth to build the new community-or keep it all for yourself?
• If buying land helps trade and travel but hurts the people already living there, is it still worth it?

Engage

• Before beginning the CyberSandwich activity, prepare the slide deck.
  • Create enough slides in the deck for each pair to have their own slide. For example, with 30 students you will need 15 copies of the Cyber Sandwich slide.
• Prepare the assignments. Each group will be assigned an event. Multiple groups may have the same event. For example, with a class of 30 students, each event will be assigned to 3 groups.
  • Indian Removal Act
  • Manifest Destiny and Texas
  • Mexican-American War
  • Gold Rush
  • Gadsden Purchase

Cyber Sandwich

Adapted from: EduProtocols 

• Transition: Group students into pairs and assign each pair an event on the timeline to investigate in more detail.
  • Individual Reading
    Students read and analyze their assigned timeline event independently and take notes.
  • Partner Share
    Students pair up and add their summaries to the shared cyber sandwich slide, sharing what they learned from the reading. Then students share, one talks while the other listens and adds to their notes-then they switch. This promotes active listening and accountability.
  • Partner Synthesis Writing
    After the discussion, students work together to write a summary or synthesis paragraph using what they learned from both their own reading and their partner’s input.

Teacher note: This activity can be modified for a paper-based activity by printing the CyberSandwich slide.

Explore

Cyber Sandwich Summary Review

• Turn the cyber sandwich deck to “View only” so students can no longer edit the deck. Then, distribute the Cyber Sandwich Summary Review graphic organizer. On the organizer, students collect the 5Ws (Who, What, Where, When, Why) of each event, using the timeline to fill any gaps as needed. Then, they summarize all five events and explain their collective significance.

Assess & Reflect

• Completed Graphic Organizer
  • The completed graphic organizer can serve as a check for understanding or formative assessment, especially if completed independently.

AND/OR

• Exit Reflection: Then & Now Connections
  • Students reflect on how the events they studied still affect people or decisions in the U.S. today.
  • Ask students to choose one of the five events and respond to the following prompt in a short paragraph or bulleted list response:
    • “How do the decisions made during this event still shape the United States today?
    • What lessons or ideas from this event do you think are still important for Americans to remember today? Why?