• Designate two areas in the room—one with an “Agree” sign and one with a “Disagree” sign.
• Provide an Agree/Disagree Statements handout to each student and give them a few minutes to complete.
• Read each agree/disagree statement aloud to the class.
• After each statement, ask students to quietly move to stand under the “Agree” or “Disagree” sign depending on their opinion.
• Ask for 2-3 volunteers from each perspective to explain their choices.
• When applicable, prompt students to respectfully respond to their classmates with competing viewpoints.

• Have students show what they already know about the Enlightenment by completing the first column of the Enlightenment 5 W Chart and then work in with a small group to complete the second column of the Enlightenment 5 W Chart.

Part 1: Introduction to the Enlightenment

• Show the first 1 minute 30 seconds of the BBC video Heroes of the Enlightenment, Episode 2 (0:00-1:30).
• Have students use a Think-Pair-Share strategy to respond to the following questions:

• What had the most influence on how people in Europe lived and what they thought?
• What changes came about as a result of the Enlightenment?
• How do the ideas of the Enlightenment continue to influence us today?

• Explain that the Enlightenment was a time of new ideas about people’s rights and the government’s responsibilities.

• Have students use a Think-Pair-Share strategy to respond to the following questions:

• • What are the government’s responsibilities to the people it governs?
  • What rights do you value the most?

• Provide students with the Enlightenment Backgrounder and have them revisit their 5 W Chart and add new ideas as they read the Backgrounder.
• Provide students with the Enlightenment Writers Venn and have them work with a partner to compare the ideas of Locke, Rousseau, and Wollstonecraft.

Part 2: John Locke

• Have students use a 3-2-1 Prompt to review the information about Locke in their Venn diagram.

• 3 facts
• 2 questions
• 1 idea they liked

• Provide students with Excerpts from John Locke’s Two Treatises of Government. Provide time to work on questions with a partner and then facilitate a class discussion of their responses.

Part 3: Jean Jacques Rousseau

• Have students use a 3-2-1 Prompt to review the information about Rousseau in their Venn diagram.

• 3 facts
• 2 questions
• 1 idea they liked

• Provide students with Excerpts from Rousseau’s The Social Contract. Provide time to work on questions with a partner and then facilitate a class discussion of their responses.

Part 4: Mary Wollstonecraft

• Have students use a 3-2-1 Prompt to review the information about Wollstonecraft in their Venn diagram.

• 3 facts
• 2 questions
• 1 idea they liked

• Provide students with Mary Wollstonecraft and A Vindication of the Rights of Woman. Provide time to work on questions with a partner and then facilitate a class discussion of their responses.

• Exit Ticket: Who would have benefitted from the ideas of the Enlightenment? Who would have opposed the ideas of the Enlightenment?

Philosophy Slam

• Pose the question: "Are humans naturally good?"
• Have students create a paragraph or poem in response.
• Writing may be based on personal experiences, observations and reflections, and/or research.

Boundless World History. [n.d.] “Age of Enlightenment.”

https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-worldhistory/

Britannica Kids. 2020. “Enlightenment.”

https://kids.britannica.com/students/article/Enlightenment/274185 

Duignan, Brian. 2020. “Enlightenment.” Encyclopædia Britannica. 10 September.

https://www.britannica.com/event/Enlightenment-European-history

History Channel. 2020. “Enlightenment.”

https://www.history.com/topics/british-history/enlightenment

“History of Western Civilization II: Age of Enlightenment.” [n.d.]  LumenCandela.

https://courses.lumenlearning.com/suny-hccc-worldhistory2/chapter/the-age-of-enlightenment/#:~:text=There%20is%20little%20consensus%20on,period%20between%201715%20and%201789.

Jarus, Owen. 2019. “What Was the Enlightenment?” Live Science.

https://www.livescience.com/55327-the-enlightenment.html

White, Matthew. 2018. “The Enlightenment.” British Library.

https://www.bl.uk/restoration-18th-century-literature/articles/the-enlightenment

The Oxford Observer Videos

“The Enlightenment: John Locke.” 2015.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZBs78WQuUc

“The Enlightenment: Moral Revolutions.” 2015.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=33&v=wVWq9zB_3-U&feature=emb_logo

“The Enlightenment: Social Contract.” 2015

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Av6R8QfgZ48&feature=emb_logo