Grade 8 Lesson at a Glance: Chapter 6, Lesson 3

Houghton Mifflin Social Studies
A More Perfect Union

Lesson at a Glance
Chapter 6, Lesson 3: How Others Saw Us (pp. 179-183)

The Big Idea
Framework Concept: Culture Observers from Europe noted qualities of American thought and life that differed from those in Europe.

Outline Trollope's, Crèvecoeur's, Martineau's, and Tocqueville's views of Americans. Organize the views into positive and negative columns so that students can see what is similar and what is different.

Discuss with students the differences between Europeans and Americans these observers noted. Explore the observation that public opinion was extremely important to Americans and explain how this affected political life.

Lesson Outline
Use the Lesson Outline to preview the content of the lesson. You may wish to print it for your students as a guide during reading.

Check for Understanding

Divide students into four groups and assign each group one of the European observers discussed in this lesson. Have each student write a journal entry as an American who has just spent an evening with the European visitor assigned to their group. Ask them to state the European's views and their reactions, if any.
Ask small groups of students to choose one person to play the part of a European observer discussed in this lesson. Each "observer" should state his or her views, both positive and negative, of the United States.

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