Unlocking Alcatraz - Political Prisoners UBD (Understanding By Design)
Desired Results	I
Goals of the Program
Students will ...

Enrich their understanding of place through inquiry.
Experience National Parks as places for learning and recreation and develop a personal connection with their local National Park.
Learn about the consequences of activism against 2oth Century US government policies through the experiences of political prisoners held on Alcatraz.
Transfer

Analyze and synthesize primary and secondary sources.

Engage in an informed and reasoned discussion of the relationship between civil rights and civil disobedience.
Meaning
Essential Question:
Does our democracy support activism or does activism support our democracy?

Enduring Understandings: Students will understand that ...
Individuals and/or groups who speak out against laws and/or commonly held beliefs have faced consequences throughout US history and continue to do
SO.
Historical interpretation is influenced by one's perspective.

Local history enriches and challenges our perception of the national narrative.

National Parks belong to all of us and each of us can play a part in their preservation and protection.

Acquisition
Students will know ...

The historical context of the political prisoners who were held on Alcatraz.

Alcatraz housed political prisoners as well as the general prison population throughout its history as a military prison and federal penitentiary.
The parallels between political activists incarcerated on Alcatraz with political activists serving time today.

Students will be able to ...

Analyze primary sources to determine what the individual believed and why they were contrary beliefs.
Explain the government response in the context of the era.

Synthesize information and opinions about the Alcatraz political prisoners in order to write an argument supporting a specific claim using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.
CA History - Social Studies Content Standards Chronological and Spatial Thinking
Evaluate the consequences of past events and decisions.

Historical Research, Evidence, and Point of View

Students construct and test hypotheses; collect, evaluate, and employ information from multiple primary and secondary sources; and apply it in oral and written presentations.

Historical Interpretation
Students show the connections between particular historical events and larger trends and developments.

Students interpret past events and issues within the context in which an event unfolded.

Analyze the political, economic, and social ramifications of World War I on the home front.

Students evaluate and take and defend positions on the scope and limits of rights and obligations as democratic citizens.

Students evaluate and take and defend positions on what the fundamental values and principles of civil society are for a free society.

Explain how civil society makes it possible for people to bring their influence to bear on government in ways other than voting and elections.

Students formulate questions about and defend their analysis of tensions within our constitutional democracy and the importance of maintaining a balance between- liberty and equality; civil disobedience and the rule of law.