Invisible Cities: The Arts and Renewable Community

Classroom Activities

First Activity: Mind vs. Map

The purpose of this first activity—or small set of activities—is to determine what and where North Tulsa is in terms of popular perception and the geographical map. We may find that they need some reconciliation. It anticipates disagreements students may have about such specifics. This will also be our opportunity to address stereotypes associated with the area. The unit's one preceding activity is the reading and discussion of The Rose that Grew from Concrete.

The Process

My classes are small, so I'll do this in two groups or four, with two groups looking into the same question. One side will make a list determining key characteristics of what they consider to be North Tulsa. The other group will explore what they consider to be the perceptions of North Tulsa by outsiders from South Tulsa or Midtown, for example. We will compare, contrast, and discuss the lists. The following day, we'll pack into one of our vans to explore the area. With the guiding question, "Are we in North Tulsa now?" we'll collect qualifying traits to be compared to the lists we made in class. We'll be sure to drive through the two exceptions I mention. Along the way, we'll take pictures with students.

Resources

Donors Choose will be our source for a set of disposable cameras and the funds to develop them. The vans are easy for us but may be difficult for other schools. This may be a walkable activity in some urban communities.

Second Activity: Pictures to Words

This activity is first for the purpose of reflection from the previous activity. What do they make of our explorations? Additionally, I anticipate problems with organization and development, as these are consistent struggle with my students. This activity will provide practice in both areas which will be essential to their success in writing CCSS assessments and most other kinds of writing.

The Process

After reviewing some descriptive writing techniques we will begin the year with, to get them to think concretely about what they know, I'll put all of the pictures (or a representative selection) out on a table and ask the students to write what they find. After they've completed a paragraph or so, we will sort them, finding categories and groupings that make sense. We will use these classifications or groupings to help us organize our thoughts. They might see paragraphs or an outline in their re-grouped pictures that guide writing. Together we'll create a simple outline that comes out of our picture organizing session on the white board or Promethean board. They will use the common outline to write individual pieces. We'll contrast this process and outcome with the previous attempt at writing and reflect on how much easier the writing is with organized thoughts and planning. I want this to be a process of discovery; I will not use a rubric and we will not revise past the first draft.

Third Activity: Finding the Past through Active Reading

Literacy and writing are the centerpiece of the unit, and the first document we will look at is the first six pages of the 1958 Urban League review of housing problems. It should elicit a variety of emotions and reactions. This should be interesting reading even to my resistant students. We will use several reading strategies followed by an informal written response in their journals or as an independent piece.

The Process

The first thing we'll do is skim through the document to make a list of words or terms that draw our attention for any reason, maybe because they are controversial, maybe because they are unknown. Terms might and should include Negroes, urban renewal, sub-standard, population, sanitary, among others. These words should also pique the interest of the readers before we begin. Along the way, they will have the opportunity to highlight or underline any passage that intrigues them. At the end, we'll discuss some of the commonly highlighted passages. They will finish the lesson with a two-part written piece. Their first task is to summarize main ideas. The second is to respond to how they felt and what they thought as they were reading. I will encourage them to have at least 200 words to encourage development.

Resources

Each student will need a personal copy of the partial document so that she can respond independently. Highlighters or colored pens or pencils will be helpful.

Fourth Activity: Extended Constructive Response Practice

We will have spent time with our full selection of texts by the time we arrive at this writing activity. We will have completed several writings that ask students to make connections between texts and that ask them to cite text for support. This is the last activity of the central and most academic part of the unit. The prompt is modeled after sample extended constructive response questions, which focus on CCSS for writing.

The Process

Each student will have their copies of four selections from our document set. As a group, we will look at their sources, content, intended audiences, subject, and tone. We will use this information to create graphic organizers, one of which will be a timeline of publication (from 1938 to present). Using these documents, their graphic organizers, and any other assignments from the unit, and a rubric, they will respond to the following prompt. Because my classes are small, I have the opportunity to review their work and rubric in a one-on-one meeting.

The Prompt

Describe one problem that is consistent among all of the documents. Trace the development of the problem and solutions as you can infer from each successive document. Explain your findings with at least one citation from each of the documents. Use your rubric to guide your work and revision.

Fifth Activity:

Perhaps the most important section of this unit is the last. My students need to have pride and appreciation for their community even though circumstances and history may have made it difficult. They need to see that as agents of change that they are not beginning at zero. Beauty exists already; they will find it and document it.

The Process

The Rose that Grew from Concrete will be set the tone for this last unit section. Having read the poem to understand it previously, we will discuss what it has to do with the rest of our unit. We will pursue beauty—the roses—in the community by several methods. First, we will go back out looking for it in the season, the geography, and the structures. Again, we will take pictures, but this time we will also take drawing paper. Second, each student will be responsible for finding one citizen of North Tulsa who is an agent of positive change. Third, each student will be responsible for finding a story from North Tulsa's past that entertains or inspires them. As at-risk students some of them are best able to showcase their knowledge and talents through visual means. This part of the unit provides balance in many ways.

Using as a source and inspiration Mapping Manhattan: A Love (and Sometimes Hate) Story in Maps by 75 New Yorkers, students will create their own maps of what they consider to be their beautiful North Tulsa. While they will be artistic and highly individualized, they will each share the purpose of documenting the bright spots in the community. They can use all of the resources they've been collecting.

Resources

Simple North Tulsa maps can be produced by the Tulsa City County Library and reproduced. We will need a variety of art supplies and our photographs.

Sixth Activity:

A few times a year we have after-school dances. We would replace one of these with a simulation of a 1930s dance hall like one of those that thrived in North Tulsa at the time. I would involve the whole school (of sixty students). This likely activity was a suggestion from my seminar leader whose theater experience helped to shape my unit activities to involve all of the senses. This activity engages varied learning styles and ground students in their cultural history.