Overview

Lesson Procedure

60-75 minutes of class time across 5 phases.

1. Warm-Up5-10 minutes
2. Direct Instruction20 minutes
3. Guided Practice15 minutes
4. Independent Practice15-20 minutes
5. Closure5-10 minutes

1. Warm-Up5-10 minutes

   Start with a word students know in more than one sense.

   Warm-Up Prompt

   "Read the two sentences. 'The party lasted until midnight, and the music never stopped.' 'Each party chose a candidate for governor at its convention.' What does 'party' mean in each one? Which words told you? Which meaning belongs to the vocabulary of politics?"

   Collect answers. Students will point to "music" and "midnight" for the first sense and "candidate" and "convention" for the second. Name the skill: the words around a word, its context, decide which meaning is in use. Tell students that RH.9-10.4 asks them to do this with history texts, including the words a period used for its politics, society and economy, and that old texts add a second question: did the word mean then what it means now?

2. Direct Instruction20 minutes

   Part 1: The routine and the clues. Show Diagram 1 and keep it up all period. A context clue is a word or detail near an unfamiliar word that shows what it means. Stress step 4: a modern meaning that makes the sentence sound odd is a signal to look again. Then put this table on the board; students copy the three categories into their notebooks.

   Three kinds of history vocabulary in RH.9-10.4

   Category	What the words describe	Examples from outside this lesson's texts
   Economic	Work, money, goods, prices, trade and property	tariff, credit, wholesale, mortgage
   Political	Government, law, power and the people who hold it	sovereign, statute, veto, franchise
   Social	Groups, ranks and relationships among people	gentry, peasant, apprentice, guild

   Part 2: Model with Smith. Read T1 aloud. Students number the paragraphs and circle any word that looks familiar but seems odd in its sentence. Work the four examples below, saying the steps of the routine out loud each time.

   1The greatest improvements in the productive powers of labour, and the greater part of the skill, dexterity, and judgment, with which it is anywhere directed, or applied, seem to have been the effects of the division of labour.

   [...]

   2To take an example, therefore, from a very trifling manufacture, but one in which the division of labour has been very often taken notice of, the trade of a pin-maker: a workman not educated to this business (which the division of labour has rendered a distinct trade), nor acquainted with the use of the machinery employed in it (to the invention of which the same division of labour has probably given occasion), could scarce, perhaps, with his utmost industry, make one pin in a day, and certainly could not make twenty. But in the way in which this business is now carried on, not only the whole work is a peculiar trade, but it is divided into a number of branches, of which the greater part are likewise peculiar trades. One man draws out the wire; another straights it; a third cuts it; a fourth points it; a fifth grinds it at the top for receiving the head; to make the head requires two or three distinct operations; to put it on is a peculiar business; to whiten the pins is another; it is even a trade by itself to put them into the paper; and the important business of making a pin is, in this manner, divided into about eighteen distinct operations, which, in some manufactories, are all performed by distinct hands, though in others the same man will sometimes perform two or three of them. I have seen a small manufactory of this kind, where ten men only were employed, and where some of them consequently performed two or three distinct operations. But though they were very poor, and therefore but indifferently accommodated with the necessary machinery, they could, when they exerted themselves, make among them about twelve pounds of pins in a day. There are in a pound upwards of four thousand pins of a middling size. Those ten persons, therefore, could make among them upwards of forty-eight thousand pins in a day. Each person, therefore, making a tenth part of forty-eight thousand pins, might be considered as making four thousand eight hundred pins in a day. But if they had all wrought separately and independently, and without any of them having been educated to this peculiar business, they certainly could not each of them have made twenty, perhaps not one pin in a day; that is, certainly, not the two hundred and fortieth, perhaps not the four thousand eight hundredth, part of what they are at present capable of performing, in consequence of a proper division and combination of their different operations.

   • A familiar word with an older meaning: industry (T1, paragraph 2)

     "a workman not educated to this business ... could scarce, perhaps, with his utmost industry, make one pin in a day"

     Result: Today "industry" usually names a branch of business, such as the steel industry. That meaning does not fit here: one workman cannot have a branch of business. The phrase "with his utmost" tells us that industry is something a person can give more or less of, so it means hard work or effort. Test it: "with his hardest effort, he could scarcely make one pin a day." The substitute fits, so the meaning holds.

   • A word that does not mean what it seems: peculiar (T1, paragraph 2)

     "not only the whole work is a peculiar trade, but it is divided into a number of branches, of which the greater part are likewise peculiar trades"

     Result: Peculiar does not mean strange here. Smith restates the idea twice later in the paragraph: putting on the head "is a peculiar business," and "it is even a trade by itself to put them into the paper." A peculiar trade is a separate, particular trade of its own. The restatement clue decides it.

   • An economic term built from an example: division of labour (T1, paragraphs 1-2)

     Paragraph 1 names "the division of labour" as the cause of improvements in "the productive powers of labour." Paragraph 2 gives the pin factory: about eighteen operations, ten men, "about twelve pounds of pins in a day," and "upwards of four thousand pins" in a pound.

     Result: The example clue defines the term: the division of labour is splitting the making of one product into separate operations, each done by a different worker. The numbers show what "productive powers" means: 12 pounds x 4,000 pins = 48,000 pins, and 48,000 / 10 = 4,800 pins for each man, against fewer than twenty working alone. Since 4,800 / 20 = 240, Smith's "two hundred and fortieth" part is the right fraction.

   • A model glossary entry (four parts)

     Task: write a glossary entry for "trade" in T1 paragraph 2, with its meaning as used, the clue, its category (political, social or economic) and a paraphrase.

     Result: trade (T1, paragraph 2). Meaning as used: a skilled line of work, an occupation that a person is trained for. Clue: restatement, since Smith pairs it with "business" and says a workman must be "educated to this business" before he can do it; "the trade of a pin-maker" names a job, not an act of buying and selling. Category: economic (a job in the economy). Paraphrase: "Pin-making used to be one skilled job; now it is split into many separate skilled jobs."

3. Guided Practice15 minutes

   Read T2 together. It comes from near the end of Smith's chapter on money and from the next chapter, on prices. Pairs use the routine on three terms before the class works the example: "the universal instrument of commerce" (paragraph 1), "exchangeable value" (paragraph 2) and "nominal price" (paragraph 4). Show Diagram 2 when the class reaches paragraph 3.

   1It is in this manner that money has become, in all civilized nations, the universal instrument of commerce, by the intervention of which goods of all kinds are bought and sold, or exchanged for one another.

   2What are the rules which men naturally observe, in exchanging them either for money, or for one another, I shall now proceed to examine. These rules determine what may be called the relative or exchangeable value of goods.

   3The word VALUE, it is to be observed, has two different meanings, and sometimes expresses the utility of some particular object, and sometimes the power of purchasing other goods which the possession of that object conveys. The one may be called 'value in use;' the other, 'value in exchange.' The things which have the greatest value in use have frequently little or no value in exchange; and, on the contrary, those which have the greatest value in exchange have frequently little or no value in use. Nothing is more useful than water; but it will purchase scarce any thing; scarce any thing can be had in exchange for it. A diamond, on the contrary, has scarce any value in use; but a very great quantity of other goods may frequently be had in exchange for it.

   [...]

   4In this popular sense, therefore, labour, like commodities, may be said to have a real and a nominal price. Its real price may be said to consist in the quantity of the necessaries and conveniencies of life which are given for it; its nominal price, in the quantity of money. The labourer is rich or poor, is well or ill rewarded, in proportion to the real, not to the nominal price of his labour.

   • A definition clue: value in use and value in exchange (T2, paragraph 3)

     "The word VALUE, it is to be observed, has two different meanings, and sometimes expresses the utility of some particular object, and sometimes the power of purchasing other goods which the possession of that object conveys."

     Result: Here the author defines the word for us. Value in use is how useful a thing is; value in exchange is how much of other goods it can buy. Smith then tests the two meanings with a contrast: water is very useful but buys "scarce any thing," while a diamond has little use but can be traded for "a very great quantity of other goods." When a history text defines a word, use the author's definition, even if a dictionary gives others.

   Teacher model for the pair work: In paragraph 4, Smith gives two definitions side by side: the real price of labour is "the quantity of the necessaries and conveniencies of life which are given for it," and its nominal price is "the quantity of money." Nominal, then, means "in name" or "as counted in money," as against what the money will actually buy. Check the meaning with a modern case: if a worker's pay doubles in dollars while the price of everything she buys triples, her nominal wage has risen but her real wage has fallen to two-thirds of what it was. Smith's last sentence says which one matters: the labourer is "rich or poor ... in proportion to the real, not to the nominal price of his labour." This is economic vocabulary that students will meet again in economics as the difference between nominal and real wages.

   Practice glossary for Activity 2. The glossary below was written for this page and contains deliberate errors. Pairs will test each entry against T1 and T2.

   Practice glossary for T1 and T2. Each entry gives the word or phrase, where it appears, and a meaning.

   1. trifling manufacture (T1, paragraph 2): a kind of making that is small and of little importance; pins are cheap, everyday goods.

   2. rendered (T1, paragraph 2, "which the division of labour has rendered a distinct trade"): melted down, the way fat is rendered in cooking.

   3. given occasion (T1, paragraph 2, "to the invention of which the same division of labour has probably given occasion"): held a special event or celebration.

   4. straights (T1, paragraph 2): straightens; the second worker makes the wire straight.

   5. middling size (T1, paragraph 2): medium size, neither large nor small.

   6. utility (T2, paragraph 3): a public service such as water or electricity, which is why Smith mentions water.

   7. conveys (T2, paragraph 3, "the power of purchasing other goods which the possession of that object conveys"): carries from one place to another.

   8. popular sense (T2, paragraph 4): the meaning that most people like best.

4. Independent Practice15-20 minutes

   Students read T3, from Smith's chapter "Of the Wages of Labour." It describes how wages are set and what happens when the two sides of the wage bargain disagree. Students use the routine on every term they circle, then take the quiz, which uses T3 and, in Question 14, T1.

   1What are the common wages of labour, depends everywhere upon the contract usually made between those two parties, whose interests are by no means the same. The workmen desire to get as much, the masters to give as little, as possible. The former are disposed to combine in order to raise, the latter in order to lower, the wages of labour.

   2It is not, however, difficult to foresee which of the two parties must, upon all ordinary occasions, have the advantage in the dispute, and force the other into a compliance with their terms. The masters, being fewer in number, can combine much more easily: and the law, besides, authorises, or at least does not prohibit, their combinations, while it prohibits those of the workmen. We have no acts of parliament against combining to lower the price of work, but many against combining to raise it. In all such disputes, the masters can hold out much longer. A landlord, a farmer, a master manufacturer, or merchant, though they did not employ a single workman, could generally live a year or two upon the stocks, which they have already acquired. Many workmen could not subsist a week, few could subsist a month, and scarce any a year, without employment. In the long run, the workman may be as necessary to his master as his master is to him; but the necessity is not so immediate.

   3We rarely hear, it has been said, of the combinations of masters, though frequently of those of workmen. But whoever imagines, upon this account, that masters rarely combine, is as ignorant of the world as of the subject. Masters are always and everywhere in a sort of tacit, but constant and uniform, combination, not to raise the wages of labour above their actual rate. To violate this combination is everywhere a most unpopular action, and a sort of reproach to a master among his neighbors and equals. We seldom, indeed, hear of this combination, because it is the usual, and, one may say, the natural state of things, which nobody ever hears of. Masters, too, sometimes enter into particular combinations to sink the wages of labour even below this rate. These are always conducted with the utmost silence and secrecy till the moment of execution; and when the workmen yield, as they sometimes do without resistance, though severely felt by them, they are never heard of by other people. Such combinations, however, are frequently resisted by a contrary defensive combination of the workmen, who sometimes, too, without any provocation of this kind, combine, of their own accord, to raise the price of their labour. [...] The masters, upon these occasions, are just as clamorous upon the other side, and never cease to call aloud for the assistance of the civil magistrate, and the rigorous execution of those laws which have been enacted with so much severity against the combination of servants, labourers, and journeymen. The workmen, accordingly, very seldom derive any advantage from the violence of those tumultuous combinations, which, partly from the interposition of the civil magistrate, partly from the superior steadiness of the masters, partly from the necessity which the greater part of the workmen are under of submitting for the sake of present subsistence, generally end in nothing but the punishment or ruin of the ringleaders.

5. Closure5-10 minutes

   Exit ticket: On an index card, write one word from T1 or T2 whose meaning in Smith differs from its usual meaning today. Give both meanings and the clue that decided it, with the paragraph number.

   Teacher note on the sources and their language: The passages are quoted exactly as printed in the 1852 edition, with British spellings (labour, favours, authorises) and older ones (conveniencies, straights); "tax-getherer" in T4 is printed so in that edition. Smith's "men" and "workmen" reflect his time; he writes about male workers even where women and children also worked. The measures against workmen's combinations that Smith mentions in T3 were real and were aimed at particular trades; the general Combination Acts came later, in 1799 and 1800, and were repealed in 1824. Smith's claims in T3 are his own argument, which students can test against other sources. The excerpts contain no slurs.

   Homework passage. The opening of Smith's four maxims of taxation, from Book V, used for the homework problems.

   1Before I enter upon the examination of particular taxes, it is necessary to premise the four following maxims with regard to taxes in general.

   21. The subjects of every state ought to contribute towards the support of the government, as nearly as possible, in proportion to their respective abilities; that is, in proportion to the revenue which they respectively enjoy under the protection of the state. The expense of government to the individuals of a great nation, is like the expense of management to the joint tenants of a great estate, who are all obliged to contribute in proportion to their respective interests in the estate. In the observation or neglect of this maxim, consists what is called the equality or inequality of taxation. Every tax, it must be observed once for all, which falls finally upon one only of the three sorts of revenue above mentioned, is necessarily unequal, in so far as it does not affect the other two. In the following examination of different taxes, I shall seldom take much farther notice of this sort of inequality; but shall, in most cases, confine my observations to that inequality which is occasioned by a particular tax falling unequally upon that particular sort of private revenue which is affected by it.

   32. The tax which each individual is bound to pay, ought to be certain and not arbitrary. The time of payment, the manner of payment, the quantity to be paid, ought all to be clear and plain to the contributor, and to every other person. Where it is otherwise, every person subject to the tax is put more or less in the power of the tax-getherer, who can either aggravate the tax upon any obnoxious contributor, or extort, by the terror of such aggravation, some present or perquisite to himself. The uncertainty of taxation encourages the insolence, and favours the corruption, of an order of men who are naturally unpopular, even where they are neither insolent nor corrupt. The certainty of what each individual ought to pay is, in taxation, a matter of so great importance, that a very considerable degree of inequality, it appears, I believe, from the experience of all nations, is not near so great an evil as a very small degree of uncertainty.

   43. Every tax ought to be levied at the time, or in the manner, in which it is most likely to be convenient for the contributor to pay it. A tax upon the rent of land or of houses, payable at the same term at which such rents are usually paid, is levied at the time when it is most likely to be convenient for the contributor to pay; or when he is most likely to have wherewithal to pay. Taxes upon such consumable goods as are articles of luxury, are all finally paid by the consumer, and generally in a manner that is very convenient for him. He pays them by little and little, as he has occasion to buy the goods. As he is at liberty too, either to buy or not to buy, as he pleases, it must be his own fault if he ever suffers any considerable inconveniency from such taxes.

Differentiation Strategies

Assessment Guidance

1. Question 1 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   In T3 paragraph 1, the wages of labour depend on "the contract usually made between those two parties." What does "parties" mean here?

   AThe political parties that sat in Parliament BGatherings held to settle the wages each year CThe workmen and the masters, the two sides DThe owners and the tenants of the land

2. Question 2 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   As Smith uses the word in T3, who are the "masters"?

   ASkilled craftsmen who have mastered every step of a trade BEmployers who hire workmen and pay their wages CTeachers who train young workers in a trade DOfficials who enforce the laws of Parliament

3. Question 3 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   "The former are disposed to combine in order to raise, the latter in order to lower, the wages of labour" (paragraph 1). What does "combine" mean here?

   ATo join together and act as a group BTo merge two businesses into one CTo mix different trades in one workshop DTo vote together in an election

4. Question 4 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   "We have no acts of parliament against combining to lower the price of work, but many against combining to raise it" (paragraph 2). What are "acts of parliament"?

   ASpeeches made by members of Parliament BPlays performed for members of Parliament CCourt rulings on disputes about wages DLaws passed by Parliament

5. Question 5 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   "A landlord, a farmer, a master manufacturer, or merchant ... could generally live a year or two upon the stocks, which they have already acquired" (paragraph 2). What are "the stocks" here?

   AShares in companies, bought and sold on an exchange BThe goods and money they have already built up CHerds of cattle and other farm animals DWooden frames once used to punish offenders

6. Question 6 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   "In the long run, the workman may be as necessary to his master as his master is to him; but the necessity is not so immediate" (paragraph 2). What does Smith mean?

   AMasters need workmen more urgently than workmen need masters BWorkmen and masters need each other equally at every moment CEach needs the other in time, but the master less urgently DWorkmen will not be needed at all once machines are invented

7. Question 7 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   "Masters are always and everywhere in a sort of tacit, but constant and uniform, combination" (paragraph 3). What does "tacit" mean?

   AUnderstood and acted on without being spoken BWritten down in a formal contract CForbidden by the laws of the country DLasting for only a short time

8. Question 8 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   "These are always conducted with the utmost silence and secrecy till the moment of execution" (paragraph 3). What does "execution" mean here?

   AThe putting to death of someone found guilty BThe carrying out of the masters' plan to cut wages CThe signing of the contract between the two sides DThe arrest of the workmen by the magistrate

9. Question 9 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   The masters "never cease to call aloud for the assistance of the civil magistrate" (paragraph 3). Who is "the civil magistrate"?

   AThe officer who commands the army in a district BA master who is known for treating workmen fairly CThe priest or minister of the local church DThe official who enforces the law and judges cases

10. Question 10 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    Smith refers to laws "against the combination of servants, labourers, and journeymen" (paragraph 3). From the context, who are "journeymen"?

    APeople who travel from town to town BMasters who own their own workshops CWorkers who are hired by masters DAssistants who work for the magistrate

11. Question 11 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    The workmen's combinations end in nothing, "partly from the interposition of the civil magistrate" (paragraph 3). What does "interposition" mean?

    AThe magistrate's stepping in to stop the dispute BThe magistrate's position as a leader of the town CThe magistrate's refusal to take either side DThe magistrate's payment of the workmen's wages

12. Question 12 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    The workmen give in "for the sake of present subsistence" (paragraph 3). What does "present subsistence" mean?

    AThe present wage rate that the law sets BThe food and other needs of living right now CA small gift that the masters give at the end DThe current job title of each workman

13. Question 13 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    Which pair of terms from T3 describes the political side of the dispute between masters and workmen?

    A"the wages of labour" and "the stocks, which they have already acquired" B"masters" and "journeymen" C"tacit" and "uniform" D"acts of parliament" and "civil magistrate"

14. Question 14 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    T1 ends with "a proper division and combination of their different operations," and T3 speaks of "the combinations of masters." Which statement best explains the two uses of "combination"?

    AIn T1, the joining of work steps; in T3, an agreement to act together BIn both texts, a labor union formed to raise wages CIn T1, a machine that joins wire and heads; in T3, a law of Parliament DIn T1, a business merger; in T3, a strike by the workmen

15. Question 15 of 20 · Short Answer

    In T3 paragraph 1, Smith says the two sides of the wage contract have interests that "are by no means the same." What does "interests" mean here, and what clue in the paragraph shows it?

    Show model answer

16. Question 16 of 20 · Short Answer

    "The law, besides, authorises, or at least does not prohibit, their combinations, while it prohibits those of the workmen" (paragraph 2). What do "authorises" and "prohibit" mean, and what is Smith saying about the law? Restate the sentence in plain English.

    Show model answer

17. Question 17 of 20 · Short Answer

    In paragraph 3, Smith calls the masters' constant combination "the usual, and, one may say, the natural state of things." What does "natural" mean here? Is Smith saying the combination is right or good? Explain with the words of the sentence.

    Show model answer

18. Question 18 of 20 · Short Answer

    "To violate this combination is everywhere a most unpopular action, and a sort of reproach to a master among his neighbors and equals" (paragraph 3). What do "violate" and "reproach" mean here?

    Show model answer

19. Question 19 of 20 · Short Answer

    Smith writes of "the violence of those tumultuous combinations" and of "the punishment or ruin of the ringleaders" (paragraph 3). What do "tumultuous" and "ringleaders" mean, and what picture of the workmen's combinations do these words give?

    Show model answer

20. Question 20 of 20 · Short Answer

    Choose three terms from T3, one economic, one political and one social, that are not the subject of Questions 1-19. For each, give its meaning as used, the clue with its paragraph number, and why it belongs in its category.

    Show model answer

These standards connect to RH.9-10.4: prerequisites to review first, parallel standards at the same level, and next steps that build on it.

Standard text: Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts & Literacy. © Copyright 2010. National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and Council of Chief State School Officers. All rights reserved.