<p>This lesson learning lab is to be used as an introductory activity for students who will be reading the texts <em>Killers of the Flower</em> <em>Moon</em> and/or stories written by Zitkala-Sa.  Full details of the lesson are attached within the learning lab.</p>

<p>These pieces will be used to examine interpretations of the universe by comparing artwork and literature.</p>

<p>This learning lab was created to help students reflect on the importance of voting and representation. Students should think about the struggles and discrimination that others in both the past and present have endured in order to assert their right to vote. </p> <p></p> <p>FIRST DAY</p> <p>Students will complete a See/ Think/ Wonder thinking routine for the following three items:  </p> <p>"Let America Be America Again" by Langston Hughes<br></p> <p>Alice Paul's "Jailed for Freedom" pin</p> <p>Mary Church Terrell portrait </p> <p> (For the portrait students can focus on the elements of portrayal during the "See" of See/ Think/ Wonder)</p> <p> Information about the objects can be shared in the accompanying texts.  End the session by going back to the poem.  How can students connect all three items together?  </p> <p> Ask students to write a headline about voting for their exit ticket.</p> <p></p> <p>SECOND DAY</p> <p>Have students look at the Ballot Box and then complete a Connect/ Extend/ Challenge thinking routine. </p> <p>What connections can you make with the three artifacts from yesterday and this ballot box? Students  should connect the ballot box to themes from yesterday's routines. </p> <p>Show the first  film from Young People Shake Up Elections.</p> <p>How did the artworks and film extend your thinking about the themes of the poem?</p> <p>Did any of the artifacts challenge your thinking about voting rights?  How so? </p> <p></p> <p>CHALLENGE ACTIVITY OPTION:</p> <p>Have students develop an action plan to help marginalized people with their voting rights. </p> <p>Have students write a poem to inspire people to assert their right to vote. </p> <p>Students can look at other resources in this lab or conduct their own research or curate their own learning lab that would exemplify such a plan or poem.</p> <p></p> <p>#SummerSessions #voting #elections #discrimination #suffragettes #Langston Hughes #voter suppression, </p>

<p>This collection is to be used with an accelerated/gifted eighth grade class quarter on leaders and heroism.  The anchor texts will be first be a unit on <em>The Iliad</em> followed by a unit on African American poetry. </p> <p><em> </em>As we read <em>The Iliad </em>each student will focus their reading on a particular leader or hero of their choice who could be regarded as  a leader or hero.  However, we will focus our observations through the lens of Beauty and Truth.  How do we show the beauty of leaders/heroes, and what is the truth at the foundation of their leadership or heroism?   This collection has four broad components:</p> <p>I.  To introduce the  topic students will have a whole group discussion using the visual thinking strategy Beauty and Truth with the the artwork <em>Achelous and Hercules <span></span></em> by Thomas Hart Benton.</p> <p>Il.  As students begin the text they will be assigned a character from the story, such as Achilles, Agamemnon, Helen, etc...  They will first look at an artwork concerning this character and fill out on a Beauty/Truth chart what they see as beautiful in this hero or leader.  Then as they read they will cite with examples from the text what they see as they truth (most likely negative) behind each character.</p> <p>III.  As we finish reading <em>The Iliad </em>students will analyze their charts and possibly create  rubric of what qualities in Beauty and Truth reflect or does not reflect effective or positive leadership and/or heroism.  They should see these qualities in the activism of African American poetry.   Using art that reflects social activism students can create poetry art on vellum.</p> <p>IV.  In the final activity students in small groups will use the visual thinking strategy Beauty and Truth using artwork representing various American Leaders, such as <em>Washington Resigning his Commission </em>or <em>Marian Anderson.</em> Then students will bring their own photo of themselves and will use vellum paper to superimpose their own artwork which should reflect their views on how they can show effective leadership or selfless heroism in today's society.  As students share their work, we will discuss the Beauty and Truth that they exhibit in their own pieces. </p><p>Extension:  Another possible flow-up activity would be for students to research an individual who they think should be memorialized.  Students can then create a proposal and a design for a monument/memorial for this person.   Students could write their local officials and/or representatives about this. </p><p><br /></p> <p><br /></p> <p><br /></p> <p><br /></p>

<p>These pictures will be used to introduce a brief history of World War II before exploring communism with the novel <em>Animal Farm.</em><em></em> Students can either do one of the visual thinking strategies See / Think / Wonder or a Perceive / Know / Care About using the piece <em>We Can Do It.</em> The class can then proceed into the background overview of World War II.</p> <p>As students read <em>Animal Farm</em> and study techniques of propaganda, students can then explore the other posters listed in this learning lab. They can first do the sorting activity to differentiate between the Soviet and American posters followed by the discussion about whether the posters more alike or more similar to each other. Connections to the novel can be made throughout this lesson.<br /></p> <p>This lesson can also be extended by doing a See / Think / Wonder Activity with the photos of the Soviet Propaganda chess set.  Also the Chinese Cultural Revolution posters make a great connection if continuing your study with non-fiction memoir such as <em>Red Scarf Girl</em> by Ji-li Jiang. </p> <p><br /></p> <p><br /></p>

<p>This collection will look at how jazz and blues developed from the 1920s, to the Great Depression and beyond.</p><p>This lesson pairs well with a literature unit on the Great Depression novel <em>No Promises in the Wind</em>. In this story, a young teenage boy who is an improvisational pianist eventually composes and plays music which comes from his experiences of being homeless. </p><p>Students will do a whole group See / Think / Wonder on Lily Furedi's <em>Subway. </em>As the discussion revolves around the variety of people in the scene, they may begin to focus on the musician with the violin case who is the figure of the center of the painting. </p><p>The discussion can than transfer tot he music of the times. Students will then listen to each of the pieces in the collection while writing down the mood, tone and images that they see in their mind's eye as they listen. (The chart is included). The class can then discuss themes of hope, desperation, loneliness, etc...</p><p>Student can then write their own lyrics to their own blues composition and share with the class.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>

<p>This lesson will provide catalysts for students to write their own third-person omniscient stories. Some instruction on different points of view should be completed before this activity.</p><p>The whole class will do a See / Think / Wonder with <em>Tenements Flats </em>after reading the first chapters of <em>The Westing Game </em>by Ellen Raskin. Students should be able to make coherent connections between the picture and themes of the book, such as class disparity, isolation, community, etc...</p><p>After the See / Think / Wonder put students in groups of two to three. Tell each group that they are going to write a third person ominscient story inspired by the painting, but each person in the group is going to write the narrative of a particular figure in the picture which will all link together into one story. Students can work on this story as we read the novel.</p><p>As the class continues reading the novel, do a whole group See / Think / Wonder with the other three paintings in this collection as themes of culture, patriotism, and strategy emerge in the story. At the end of the novel, each child should then pick one of these three pictures to do their own independent third-person omniscient story. </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>

<p>Subject: Language Arts <br /></p> <p>Age: 6th gifted - 8th regular classroom<br /></p> <p>Objectives:<br /></p> <p> 1. Students will be able to relate to the working class struggles of people living during the Great Depression.<br /></p> <p>2. Students will be able to use this understanding as an introduction to themes from the historical fiction novel No Promises in the Wind by Irene Hunt.</p>