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: Visible Thinking Routines - Generate, Sort, Connect, Elaborate

'Tis the season for research! Thankfully our visible thinking routines have helped students to make connections between the topics in both their novels & American life in the 1950s.

An overview of the routine, courtesy of the Harvard Project Zero website:

The process in progress:

1) Students used primary source research to generate ideas about three distinct topics:

A) The Cold War and The Red Scare

B) The American Dream & 1950s Women

C) The American Dream Deferred & The Montgomery Bus Boycott 

2) Students broke-out into idea teams to sort through the potential topics for research and discovery.

3) Students made connections between topics--truly reaching beyond their comfort zones to connect big ideas prevalent in American culture at this time period. Examples from their novels were seamlessly integrated within the study of American life in this decade.

4) Students eelaborated upon these connections by writing mini thesis statements and bulleted lists of potential research materials. Our bounty of sources and ideas grew as the routine continued.

I'll update this post with pictures, but I am happy to report that the activity helped our students to generate thoughtful ideas--the lifeblood of solid research!

Video Pick: Carol Dweck's Growth Mindset - An RSA Animated Talk

Developing a growth mindset entails developing a predisposition to learn constantly and continuously. Carol Dweck's extensive research in this field leads the way in our investigation of what it means to develop a growth mindset.

In this animated talk, Dweck investigates the effects of praising intelligence vs. process.

A few items to take-away:

1) Praising intelligence leads children to develop a fixed mindset...

Thus, a student grows to believe that s/he is "smart" or "dumb" when it comes to a certain academic subject or skill that s/he is in the process of developing.

2) Astonishingly, praising intelligence turns kids off to learning...

Furthermore, these children often reject the chance to learn in favor of the chance to do well at something much less challenging.

3) Those praised for the process overwhelmingly want to take-on hard tasks...

Undaunted by momentary setbacks, these students work-through challenges, remain confident, and often enjoy tackling problems

This video features Harry Potter All Stars... not too shabby!
-j

Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra Visits Holy Family Academy

Bringing classical music into our midst, we were honored to welcome the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra to perform in our chapel. It was a spectacular day for a performance--quite a treat for our high school students.

The music speaks for itself:

Hoe Down (Aaron Copland)

Remember that 1990s beef advertisement???

Theme from Ken Burns' The Civil War

Theme from Star Wars

To bring classical music into our midst was an absolute treat. The visit coincides with the symphony's 120th anniversary. Truly our school and our city are privileged to have such an organization that we can claim our own.

Tech Tips: Update - Class Dojo REALLY Works in Learning Hub

Nearly one month has passed since we introduced Class Dojo to shape-up our morning routines. I'm pleased to announce the success of our venture! Initially greeted with suspicion, our sophomores took less than a week to buy-in.

Now, Class Dojo has become part of our morning routine. Students are rewarded for being prompt, productive, and positive. 

The introduction of these videos helped, too:

Growth mindset: training your brain!

Our learning hub students connected with the cartoon avitars introducing us to class dojo. This includes Mojo, the adorable little guy orbiting the earth, pictured above.

Growth mindset: the magic of making mistakes

The intro videos teach lessons on how to develop a growth mindset. This includes forming the habits, skills, and dispositions necessary to be successful in school and in life.

To incentivize the process, as our students earn dojo points, they qualify for small rewards--cheese sticks, juice boxes, and little healthy snacks.

Contrary to their latest protest, I don't think offering potato chips will get them into Learning Hub faster...

Here's to your health, kids!

-j

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