Experiencing the '60s via GCI - Malcolm X

Marshall McLulan said "The media is the message", but is it possible for the media to distort a message? Some historians might contest that Malcolm X's militant legacy is more of an invention of the media... 

Admittedly this point of view is on the opposite end of the spectrum of JFK's legacy--but it says something about the 1960s.

Perhaps at this great period of social change, people craved a basic storyline. When the figures of society are too complex to be summarized in 140 characters, the media will craft a message they deem suitable to print.

Malcolm X - Cultural Literacy Portal to GCI 

-Check out the archives of primary sources featuring Malcolm X & additional readings for independent exploration.

As we continue our exploration of primary sources from the 1960s Civil Rights Era, please consider the role that new forms of media have in shaping public opinion during the 1960s (tv, radio, increased print media publications across the country).

To help students form a nice historical comparison, you may want to also consider how social media and the immediacy of the 24/7 news cycle shapes our perspective today.

Google Translate + The Space Race: "I See... I Think...I Wonder..."

Visible thinking routines help students make the most of primary sources, especially when dealing with a text that is from a foreign land.

In Cultural Literacy, our sophomores began class by analyzing the text above. The stamp commemorates Soviet Cosmonaut Yuri Gregarin becoming the first human to orbit the earth. Many scholars suggest that it is this act that compelled President Kennedy to push for a "Space Race" instead of attempting to work in tandem with the Soviets. 

I know--I was just as shocked as you are... Reading those lines floored me and made me realize how little I learned about this time period prior to taking the lead in the classroom. It's amazing what you can discover when you and your students collectively chart a course for personalized learning and discovery.

To get the most out of this visual text, we used the "I see... I think... I wonder..." visible thinking routine. 

Students chart observations, inferences, questions, and general comments that come to mind. The important element is getting students to genuinely pause and take notice--to take it all in and marinade in your thoughts for a while... An act so often overlooked, but the most necessary ingredient to authentic learning. 

Allanis wondered what the stamp actually said--so, we downloaded the Google Ttanslate App to check it out for ourselves. Give it a try sometime, your students will crave more ideas to discover.

Experiencing the 1960s via GCI - Civil Rights Act 1964

An observant student noticed MLK in this photo of the Civil Rights Act signing. This opened the doors to an awesome morning of inquiry.

The conversation was wide ranging and lively. Our students had many theories as to why MLK was invited to take part in such a historic moment, yet Malcolm X is noticeably missing. 

Their rationale for why King found favor with the government was as nuanced and insightful as their hypotheses for Malcolm X being persona non grata...

File this moment under "I wonder why...?"

Yes, and it was a very, very good day!

Talk about putting on your #AcademicEyeblack

Our kids came to play hardball and they're taking on the tough topics in history.

Exploring the 1960s via GCI - The March on Washington

The perspective captured in this snapshot provides a beautiful portal to students' thoughts on the Civil Rights Movement. The subject is nuanced--do we focus on the number of busses, the Capitol Rotunda, the African American women, the white men?

As you may imagine, students have many issues to ponder when beginning to reaearch the March on Washington.

The Google Cultural Institute's archives of the March for Jobs and Equality has images and documents, but an added bonus is the personal artifacts surrounding arguably the greeted social movement of the decade.

Students can check out buttons and pins worn by those assembled, as well as hear the voices of the demonstrators reflecting upon this period of history.

Experiencing the 1960s via GCI - Space City Archives

Those moments of awe and wonder that make learning relevant, personal, and thought-provoking came to life in our independent exploration of the Space Race. Our CL students had so many questions about space exploration, the Cold War, scientific advancements, and more.

We used the photo above to generate initial thoughts via the Visible Thinking routine "I see - I think - I wonder"

At one point, we found clusters of students gathering around their post-it note "idea factory", debating the merits of space exploration vs exploring the depths of the ocean... Or fighting poverty affecting inner-city families.

It was a beautiful day to gain perspective and formulate insights. Our sophomores made us proud...

First Drafts: 1950s American Life YouTube Videos

The critics agree--our 1950s YouTube videos came along nicely. I am encouraged to say the least.
Though our timeframe for production took a little longer than anticipated, we put the finishing touches on this first draft.

Chris, Riley & Chuck - Life in the 1950s, featuring commentary on The Cold War and the emerging Civil Rights Movement

Destiny(Dee Dubs) and Javian on Racism in the 1950s, featuring two teens' perspective on segregation and racism

Kent & Dwayne's take on The Red Scare and links to the Civil Rights Movement

Teacher Resources: Overview of 1950s YouTube Video Project

High-Fives and Hand Grenades: I’m blown away that this crazy notion to make YouTube videos about the 1950s is actually coming together. It’s the decade that coined the term “TV Dinner”, so we darn-well-better make our next digital media project something that could rival Howdy Doodie Time...

Overview of “Annotating YouTube Videos”

CL 10 - 1950s American Life & Culture

*rough draft*

Learning Goals

1. Confidently make claims about American life in the 1950s
2. Use expert websites and digital media to support your statements and address counter-claims
3. Use literature to support ing awareness of audience

Skills

1. Source curation: identifying quality YouTube videos and expert websites on a topic
2. Filming / uploading videos to HFA YouTube channel
3. Annotating YouTube videos

Class 1

1. Pick topic of YouTube video annotation (pre-class)
1. 1950s American Life & The Red Scare
2. 1950s American Life & The American Dream (consumerism / gender roles)
3. 1950s American Life & The American Dream Deferred (segregation / Montgomery Bus Boycott)
2. Select a video source to cite for historical context or expert info (pre-class)
3. Save an image that will represent this topic/theme (pre-class)
4. Begin to write three “working claims” for the video description (written) and voice-over (spoken)
1. topic / time period - general claim about American life in the 1950s as it relates to this topic
1. MLA: cites an expert or authoritative source - website, primary source, secondary source
2. Analysis: student uses evidence from expert source to support the claim
2. video source - use the video source to make and address a counter-claim… teaches audience-awareness, responds to a potential critique of the student’s original statement
1. hyperlink: Text summarizes an expert or authoritative YouTube video
2. Analysis: student uses evidence from expert source to refute counter-claim
3. connecting 1950s culture to lit - use the book you read to support the defense of your counter-claim and wrap-up with a definitive statement about 1950s American life
1. Note: cites an example from Catcher, Song of Solomon, or The Bell Jar
2. Analysis: student explains how the text example supports their claim about American life
5. For class 2 = finish writing claims and analysis: come prepared to record video
1. Have 3 claims written w/ bullet point analysis
2. Have image printed
3. Practice reading claims and analysis, prep for recording

Class 2

1. Use iPads to film image while reading claims and bullet-point analysis
2. Upload recording from iPad to a shared project folder
3. Use laptops to upload file from shared project folder to YouTube account
4. Use enhancements to add 3 annotations (day 1 #4 a,b,c bullet-point version)
5. Use info and settings to type a description of the video (day 1 #4 a,b,c essay version)

Iteration #1 due ________

Lesson: The American Dream Deferred - The 1950s African American Experience

Digital media and primary sources from the Montgomery Bus Boycott introduce our students to the civil rights movement in America. As historical problem solvers, we joined the ranks of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr and Rosa Parks--as well as Claudette Colvin, Bayard Rustin, Jo Ann Robinson, and Virginia Foster Durr... Names we may not (yet) know, but probably should.

We began our inquiry (historical problem solving) with two pivotal questions:

1) "What might this poster suggest about the people and organizations behind the Montgomery Bus Boycott?"

2) "How might an act of civil disobedience, like breaking an unjust law, spark a nationwide movement?"

A demanding challenge and a hard-fought victory:

The students' responses were thought-provoking and very well reasoned. Their ability to cite specific evidence is emerging, and as our exercise continued, they confidently referenced details from both the bus boycott flier as well as Rosa Parks' booking photo and accompanying question.

It gave me such pride to share this experience with our students' corporate work study supervisors--approximately twelve visitors happened to be on tour while we were discussing the warm-up questions and image above.

The ensuing scene was inspiring, magical, and reminiscent of a Morgan Freeman movie about a school "turning lives around and opening hearts in the process". The students and their supervisors took turns playing off of each other, bringing up points about the style of the poster, the size of the font, the homemade details... Truly, it was one of those moments that make you feel the electricity that comes from engaging in the learning process. 

Our students collaborated in groups of up to three people, working through a textbook entry (A) and four additional primary sources (B-E). 

In each round, they constructed a claim addressing the question "Why was the Montgomery Bus Boycott successful?"

To answer this, our students needed to cultivate reasons that the artifact used to suggest that the protesters would prevail and specific evidence that they could cite in support of their claim.

Again, working with primary sources poses a far greater challenge than textbook entries, as students must construct meaning and place the ideas within a historical context. It's a sophisticated task that requires patience, skill, and above all else, practice.

I'm incredibly proud of our students and the work that they have accomplished. It gives me joy to share this lesson with you in the hopes that you may find the inspiration to work with primary sources and integrate this Monthomery Bus Boycott playlist into your class, too.

Digital media: 

- Montgomery Bus Boycott Playlist

- Archives: Civil Rights Digital Library - The Montgomery Bus Boycott

- Archives: National Civil Rights Museum - The Year They Walked

- Archives: Amistad Digital Resources - The Montgomery Bus Boycott

Curriculum & teacher resources:

- Stanford History Education Group: Reading Like a Historian MBB Lesson

- Google HyperDoc: MBB Notes

(links to primary and secondary sources)

On the horizon:

Our students will begin production of YouTube videos about 1950s American life. We are collaboratively constructing claims, sourcing the best digital media and primary source evidence to support the assertions, and we will roll out our first iterations in the week to follow. It's incredible to witness how far we have come in this short amount of time together.

Invaluable resources:

@SHEG_Stanford

@PSNTPS

@TeachingLC

@librarycongress

@pbsteachers

Lesson: 1950s American Life & The Happy Housewife Archetype (+YouTube Playlist)

The past is a foreign country--historical inquiry requires a passport unlike any other: stamped with empathy, understanding, the willingness to believe that many actions were guided by well-meaning intentions, and some decisions are shrouded in ignorance. 

It is what it is. And in the study of Cultural Literacy, the past comes to life as we devour novels, primary sources, and historical accounts from experts in the field.

This past week, we continued our investigation of 1950s American life and focused on "The American Dream". Our inquiry centered upon American consumerism and the role of women in the 1950s.

Our sophomores responded to this lively discussion. It was another impressive display of teenagers grappling with the foreign-nature of historical inquiry. On more than one occasion, debate turned to pondering the legitimacy of gender stereotypes of the time and the silent dissatisfaction among many in the 1950s. 

One of our awesome sophomores, Leah, sent me a music video from the band the Neighbourhood. Her observations, that the dissatisfaction and turmoil of the homemaker in the video, resembles the discontent voiced in the Feminine Mystique and other primary sources that we examined.

Classroom Resources:
Stanford History Education Group: Reading Like A Historian
Primary Source Readings: Women in the 1950s

Videos:
Cultural Literacy Class Playlist - 1950s American Life: American Consumerism & Women
Makers: Women Who Make America (PBS) - 1950s Housewives

Collaborative HyperDoc: 

-"Women in the 1950s" notes sheet

Two primary sources:

-A) Harper's Weekly daily household routines

-B) Betty Friedan's Feminine Mystique

Two secondary sources:

-C) Women & political participation

-D) Consumerism & the rise of double incomes

Additional Video Resources:

USA Economy in the 1950s

The Feminine Mystique via PBS Makers: Women Who Make America

The Levittown Story - America's First Working Class Suburb

Crisis in Levittown - Segregation and Discrimination

The hyperdoc and resources from Reading Like a Historian are great for collaborative learning across the spectrum... appropriate for learners of varying reading levels.
-j

Lesson: Sketchnoting The Cold War & An Introduction To Audience Awareness

Recently I was overjoyed to share with my students a mutual affection for sketchnotes and Soviet era art and propaganda. I should preface this post by sharing that once upon a time, I felt the wrath of a a handful teachers growing frustrated with my unorthodox style of note taking... 

I'm not claiming that kids like me were persecuted for busting-out the multi-colored pens to take notes, draw pictures and charts, and jazz-up an extra few sheets of wide-rule filler-paper. We were just misunderstood... And, what we once referred to as doodling in our notebooks has now found legitimacy in today's classroom: Awesome Possum! 

A student's sketchnote of Churchill's "Iron Curtain Speech".

I like to read speeches aloud--they are meant to be savored by the ear. I really like coupling this delivery method with the processing that sketchnotes afford. Think about it: the act of slowing down to incorporate both words and images helps students to personalize the lesson and make the take-away a very unique experience for every learner in the classroom. 

The materials for this lesson came from the unit "Cold War Culture" via Stanford History Education Group's Reading Like a Historian series. I will dedicate a future post to singing their praises--the resources are spectacular.

Above, we used an excerpt from Churchill's speech. The full text is available online--just register for a free account on the Stanford History Education Group's site. The readings come with accompanying guides, too. I incorporated the questions from the guides and used them to supplement class discussion. 

I especially liked the way that the questions prepared by SHEG focused upon audience-awareness. This is a sophisticated step for students to make--the jump from "What is Churchill saying?" to "Why is he saying it this way?" or "Why is Churchill addressing an American audience in the first place?"

The benefit of introducing a sophisticated notion such as audience awareness in tandem with a seemingly juvenile technique as sketchnoting is that the student drawn images can help to articulate this difficult concept--that the substance of a speech is only part of the equation... It's the audience's ability to receive that message that is telling.

A thoughtful illustration can bring that concept to light in a way that a developing writers' voice is still sounding-out.

To complete the analysis, I created a Google Doc note taking sheet... Because sketchnoting all four primary sources would be just too much of a good thing.

The sheet above is appropriate for individual efforts and collaborative endeavors, as with all GAFE resources. If you plan to have your students work in cooperative learning groups, dividing the readings is a must:
-Documents A & B suggest that the Soviets are primarily responsible for starting the Cold War
-Documents C & D suggest that the US shoulders the burden for starting the Cold War


Hope you check out both sketchnotes & Stanford History Education Group's resources!

-Jennifer Sylves Lanas

Note:
In hindsight, my doodles were not taboo in every single subject when I was in school. I recall making a cartoon series in high school starring my AP Bio teacher as a studio wrestler our entire class named "The (protein) Inhibitor, and his collection of side-kicks from the lab--including a cameo appearance by the fabled Three Little Pigs... And who could forget the comics I drew and posted in the Saint Vincent College Philosophy Tutor's office--Philososaurus Rex...

Lesson: Be kind to those students who color outside the lines.
You might end up reading their blog one day...

Tech Tips: Embed Google Drawings for Instant Updates to Websites & Assignments

We begin each class with a warm-up activity--students write discussion board posts, reflections, or submit questions. Our learning management system, Canvas, makes it pretty easy to set-up...

But what happens if you need to make a quick change? Do you really need to update the assignment for every class?

No... And that is one of the big advantages of using and embedding Google Drawings in your online assignments and websites.

Google Drawings can be used to combine images and text in a variety of ways. In the example above, our students used primary sources--a Cold War propaganda poster (left) and a "Duck and Cover" photograph from the 1950s (right) to write a discussion board post about "The Red Scare".

Designing engaging graphics in Google Drawings is easy--think of it as the "best-of" Paint and PowerPoint with the best image and clip art database on planet Earth. I like to create a basic template with which to work and then "make a copy". This way, I can replicate ideas and plug-in new question prompts and images. 

See previous posts tagged GAFE to see examples: the PEEL paragraphs on writing about primary sources is an great starting point. I used one template to make a half dozen unique writing prompts, and posting a "view only" template enables students to take the idea and customize it with their own visual.

To help you to get started, I've posted a few how-to tutorials below. Using Google Drawings and the publishing tool is a true time-saver that enables revisions to be made and updated with no effort at all.

Check out this quick video on publishing a Google Drawing and embedding it on a discussion board or website.

Check out this video showing you how changes are automatically updated once a Google Drawing is embedded. No matter how many times you paste the code on a number of sites and assignments, you will never have to update the post. Any revision made to the Google Drawing is automatically recorded.

Think about all of the times that you "finish" a document, only to revise it thirteen times after "you're already done"... Okay--maybe that is my own personal OCD, but I can't be alone here!

At any rate, this makes it that much easier to make changes in one place and have the updates materialize everywhere. Now that's how we rapidly prototype in style!

Student Showcase: WWII Animoto Videos on Cultural Literacy YouTube Channel

We now have a YouTube playlist dedicated exclusively to our WWII Media and Makerspace projects in Cultural Literacy. Below is a sampling of some of the Awesome Possum Animoto videos that our sophomores produced.

African American Women in WWII - Lakin & Destiny

Dr. Seuss and WWII Political Cartoons - Destiny, Haylee & London

The Holocaust (music video set to "This is War" by 30 Seconds to Mars) - Amanda

D-Day Invasion - Leah & Derek

Pearl Harbor - Shauna & Marquise

WWII Lego Kits - Frank

Music Boosts Morale On the Battlefield & On the Homefront - Alex

What Are Victory Gardens? - Tyera

This would not have been possible without the generous resources available from the National WWII Museum's digital archives of primary and secondary sources. I cannot say enough good things...
I will need to begin a "spare change jar" dedicated to making a pilgrimage to the museum in New Orleans. If there's a will, there's a way!

Lesson: Students Take Over & Teach WWII History Using Digital Media & Maker-Ed

Students whom create and present media & makerspace projects before an audience are empowered with the creative confidence to make, build, and tell a story that goes far beyond the covers of a dusty history book.

We began with the expertly curated resources available on the National WWII Museum's website. It's loaded with a myriad of primary sources and easy to access and understand secondary sources. I do not have a lexile-level for their PDFs, but I will say that everyone in our learning community used these resources with relative ease, especially when chunking and conducting pair-share check ins.

Our Learning Goal: 

-To make something that would teach an audience, between the ages of 10-110, about WWII - It's was an ambitious, personalized approach that paid off in a big way. The agency the students developed in the making of this project took our classroom to a new level.

-Students browsed the digital archives and used the resources labeled "WWII at a Glance".

-The four topics branch out into mini lessons on more specific events--slices of time that give our students access to the past in a way that they have never been exposed to: to be living participants in WWII history.

Students were encouraged to use the WWII Museum's online collection. However, for special-focus topics, we accessed materials from other institutions, including the Holocaust Museum and the Smithsonian, both in Washington DC.

The most critical part was guiding students to tell the story of how this event or movement might be historically significant. It's tempting, as a teacher, to want to step in... Ample feedback from peers helped to reinforce the message that the WWII Media & Makerspace project was an opportunity for students to "take over and teach". I took notes on the feedback that students received, and passed them along so groups could get started on the next iteration.

The use of templates and agile resources that get students to reflect upon the process of storyboarding and pacing their research and curated content... This is an area that I would like to improve upon in my next iteration. I realized at this phase that I did not establish a set guide or a few options for students to use for this phase of the project. 

My fear was that if I did, it would feel overly scripted--as a worksheet. However, I think that students would have benefitted from seeing the thinking process made visible via agile resources that make us slow down and take pause to reflect and take purposeful action.

I love exercising student voice and choice. The students were free to select their groups, topics, and learning object that they would create. The majority elected to use digital media to make Animoto videos. A handful opted for a more maker-centered approach and crafted memory boxes, scrapbooks, and mobiles. One student even used Tinker CAD to design 3-D printed WWII style propaganda empowering modern women.

It's amazing to see what our students come up with when we get out of the way and equip them with the agency to take over and teach.

Lesson: Writing w/ PEEL - Analyzing Primary Sources

Solid analysis begins with students focusing on the "point" or purpose of the text that they are examining. I like to use the PEEL method to help novice writers get to the heart of the matter.

Learning to observe and critically reflect upon details in primary sources is integral to making inferences. In turn, this leads to students developing the confidence and skill to develop strong claims.

Check out some of the observations that our students made.

This works with PEEL paragraphs and can easily be adapted for other forms of creative expression.

Check out the templates below. The focus of these propaganda posters deal primarily with women in WWII

Tech Tips: Google Drawings & Primary Source Analysis

Annotating primary sources with Google Drawings is an excellent tool for focusing classroom discussion and zeroing in on in-depth analysis. Students are drawn to words and images in a way that is sure to spark imaginative debate and inspire original thought.

Let's get started by familiarizing ourselves with Google Drawing, one of the lesser appreciated Google Apps for Education #GAFE.

Google Drawing is more than "MS Paint" for the new millennium--though I was known to rock the paint back in the days of Windows 95, "Buddy Holly", and a 28.8 modem. When it comes to performance, we look to Google as a standard bearer. Drawing measures up, for sure.

For instance, the ability to search for images and/or add images by inserting a url makes this user friendly and intuitive. Again, we would expect nothing less from GAFE and this app certainly delivers.

Once your image is in the drawing, editing the visual is a breeze. Shapes, circles, arrows & call-outs can be made with just a few clicks.

I especially like to use Google Drawings when looking at strong visuals such as advertisements or propaganda. The WWII propaganda poster above is successful in conveying a message with both words and images. 

Highlighting a few key features helps students to focus their attention on the message that is being conveyed via subtle details. This might lead to nuanced observations, such as pointing out the significance of the phrasing and the body language exhibited by Airman Diez.

Once you show your students how much fun it is to analyze primary sources using Google Drawing, it's only a matter of time before they will feel confident enough to create examples of their own. And just like all GAFE, Google Drawing is perfect for working collaboratively. You can track changes and see contributions from all contributors.

At the end of the day, we want to empower our students to take the lead. When our students develop the strength and confidence to take over and teach, we have succeeded as educators.