Activities
This unit will take five weeks for individual reading away from school, three weeks for coverage of historical material and checking for reading, and then an additional twoweeks for students completing projects at home.
Pre-Activity: This is done at the start of the school year. I am listing this because students will have completed these several times already and these activities scaffold into the ensuing activities that I will do with this new unit. As they do this throughout the year I can smoothly transition into new material without having to explain it again. Some of the activities done earlier in the year come from Teaching Tolerance. The activities I do include a reading of "Sure You Can Ask Me A Personal Question" by Diane Burns.
- Take a quiz on facts and attitudes about Native Americans from pbs.org/weshallremain/libraries that was designed for the PBS series We Shall Remain. Examine editorial cartoons from the "Using Editorial Cartoons to Teach Social Justice" lessons http://www.tolerance.org that detail strategies in teaching editorial cartoons: What do you see in the images, what does the text say, what events from past or present are within the picture, and what is the artist trying to say?
- I also use their lesson at this time on hate, racism, and FRAME (facts, reflection, assumptions, maintain open mind, expand your experiences). We do a lot of these same activities within the context our chosen historical era many times. What the students are comfortable with, having done it before, allows me to move on more efficiently. I will also utilize the OATs, responding to writing, SOAPSTONE, and diamond analysis fold from August on. There would be no surprises when they have to do it in the activities listed below.
Activity one: ½ hour needed. Supplies: A copy of the five books being read, eBook web addresses for Kindle/Nook users, web addresses for used books, new book prices, donation box, student reviews from the one class who read The Landlast year, reviews from New York Times, goodreads.com, and Scholastic Books.
- I will introduce the books, talk about content, main characters, discuss Lexile reading levels, give them ways to buy the book, solicit donations of books for kids who won't be able to get a book or check one out at the library, and let them see student and news reviews. They will ask me questions while this is going on and I will also hold a whole class question and answer period. Emails discussing the assignment will be sent home that day so parents and students can talk about the choices.
Activity two: 10 minutes – 20 minutes every Tuesday for the next five to six weeks. Supplies: Their book, interactive notebook (for storage of papers) and alternating KWL, diamond analysis fold, responding in writing sheet, and OATS sheet.
- Each Tuesday (not Friday because things tend to pile up with tests in other classes) students will answer questions that I have chosen in regards to each book. The first time we start the activity with a KWL as to what they know about their particular time period historically. They can fill these in throughout the book study period. K=Know, W=Want, L=Learned. So, what they already know, what they want to learn, and what they ultimately learned.
- The other forms will be used to check on reading as students progress. For instance, what do the laws mentioned in The Land orChildren's Blizzard mean? What is said about the Jim Crow Laws or the 15 th Amendment in The Land? In The Children's Blizzard, the author mentions the Homestead Act. What does that mean for the immigrants and why does it matter? The diamond analysis could be used for descriptions of the major characters in all the books with the center diamond being reserved for how the traits of the characters compare/contrast or overlap. OATS would be perfect for observations on the particular region that is the key character in each book. The sight, the smell, the feel, and the taste (food from the land) of the land can all be described. All the major characters have an attachment to the land. How do the kids translate this? The visual, smell, taste, and hearing of O and A combined trigger memories. What can the students discover from these? I would like to alternate the forms not only each week but in different classes on the same day. I have a system for checking to see that they did their reading before too much sharing might occur. Forms will be stored in the novel section of their interactive notebooks.
Activity three: 15 minutes a week every week for the next five to six weeks on a Wednesday. Supplies needed: Interactive notebooks, novels, and forms they worked on during the previous class.
- I will put kids in groups of like-books. They will elect a reporter each time they do this so as to spread around the opportunity for sharing with the class. After a short compare and contrast discussion, the reporter will share with the other groups in a whole class discussion. A good reporter needs to remind the rest of the class what their book is about so as to alleviate confusion between the five different books being read.
Activity four: five minutes every day. Supplies needed: Political cartoons and primary source drawing, photos, and paintings 1865-1900 along with the SOAPSTONE and Library of Congress rubrics.
- I will utilize these as warm-ups. The cartoons and primary source drawings will be taken from the vast collection of Harper's Weekly (especially those of Thomas Nast), Library of Congress Political Cartoon Collection 1865-1900, and the National Archives Political Cartoon Collection. There are thousands! Every subject is touched upon – nothing is held sacred. I will switch out and put in some letters, journal entries, shipping bills of lading for immigrants, etc. Some are disturbing but my students have been looking at these since the second week of school. The idea is to look at everything about US History, not just the pretty parts. SOAPSTONE and Library of Congress both have worksheets that engage students with political cartoons and primary sources. I would have students put the blank forms in their notebook – saving paper – and then just answer the questions about each cartoon or photo/illustration in their notebook. Sample primary source sheets are also posted on large boards in my room. Here are some of the examples I am going to use:
- The Land – Political cartoon "One Vote Less" Richmond Whig (www.learnnc.org/onevoteless)and "Worse Than Slavery" Thomas Nast from Harper's Weekly
- Geronimo- Before and after photos of the Apache, before and after assimilation, "Educating the Indians" front cover Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper Library of Congress, "School Begins" political cartoon Library of Congress
- The Children's Blizzard Illustration for "Thirteen Were Saved" Song and Chorus published by Lyon Healy, Chicago
- My Antonia Homestead Act of 1862, Freeman's Homestead Application, Proof of Improvements, and Certificate of Eligibility from the National Archives, photo of the Central Pacific Train 1880's National Archives, History of the American West Photographs from the Denver Public Library
Activity five: Five minutes several times a week. Supplies needed: Same cartoons and primary sources used in the previous lessons and a choice of the authority of the writer, logic of writer's argument, and ways in which the writer gets your interest worksheets. I can switch these up as I go. I now want to take these same items used in the previous lesson (and any other primary source pieces) and have the students interpret the authority and logic of the author/illustrator. With drawings and political cartoons an excellent worksheet is the way in which the writer gets a person's interest.
- How does the writer/illustrator get the student to identify with him? Give examples
- Does the writer/illustrator assume that you have particular interests or maybe values?
- What does the writer want you to believe? And what supporting evidence does the author provide?
- What information do you have about the writer? Is he/she knowledgeable? Why/why not?
- What biases might be present?
These questions can be asked of any of the written, photographic, or illustrated materials used in the class. I will have students work with shoulder buddies once or twice a week. One week it is the person to the right of you, next to the left of you, etc. Change it up before they get too comfortable.
Activity six: Three weeks Supplies: Videos (Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman, My Antonia, Geronimo, We Shall Remain series), lecture/discussion materials on Reconstruction, Movement West, second wave of the Industrial Revolution, and Native American displacement, paper, online text Discovery Education, color pencils.
- We will watch only bits and pieces of the videos as we discuss this time period and the immense changes taking place. Our school system is in the process of purchasing the online text through Discovery Education. There are many resources, lesson plans, questions, quizzes, and activities that can be utilized by the students. Students will also be constructing a foldable booklet illustrating various new vocabulary words found in this unit.
Activity seven: Two weeks Supplies needed: Project rubrics. These will be started in the classroom with groups meeting about project choices. About 95% will be done at home. Some students will want to partner with another to work on a project. They will meet with me individually or as group to discuss their potential choice. I am interested in what resources they want to use and whether or not they are "dreaming too big or not enough." Some students go overboard and then get overwhelmed. Others will do the bare minimum. I know them well by now and will try to coach them in the right direction. Here are the project choices:
- Life size character paper dolls with character traits and personality illustrated onto the doll. Some students may choose to do a change of clothes for their doll in order to illustrate changes in the main character as the book progresses.
- Interactive videos with scenes from the book. Students have done split screen in the past and answer questions from the audience (only a few allowed) and then the answer is chosen and the video played according to the question choice. A regular recreation of a scene(s) is most typically done. This can be a group of two to five.
- Acting out in a skit the goals, dreams, motives behind a particular character(s).
- Historic personification through an inanimate object in the book.
- Creating and illustrating a comic book about the novel.
- Creating a soundtrack for the novel using music from that time period. They would have to do modern renditions of the songs or music, which can be done.
- Create a newspaper with all the characters and events in the paper. Ads, editorials etc would be in this newspaper.
- Re-write the story for a second grader and illustrate it. Computer generated on illustrations are ok
- EMH resource students will do a little foldable book called a snail. It has sixteen tiny panels that can be illustrated with the characters and events.
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