Discovering Dynamic Decades

Content Knowledge

At the end of this unit, students will know/ understand that…

• Cultural, social and political aspects of the 40’s and 60’s (including WW II and Vietnam through research using electronic media and print resources.
• The various artists of these decades and their impact on shaping the direction of art for that period
• The major writers of the 40’s and 60’s and how their works influenced the period or echoed the mood of popular culture.
• The major musicians of the two decades, their styles, and how they also echoed the mood of the decades
• How to use Power Point
• How to write questions for interviews and conduct interviews

At the end of this unit, students will have the ability to…

• Prepare a report on the social, cultural, and political elements of the 40’s and 60’s.
• Conduct interviews with parents and grandparents about life in the 40’s and 60’s.
• Create a works cited list using the MLA Handbook and other handouts.
• Prepare Power Point presentations on the artists, musicians, and writers of 40’s and 60’s.

Essential Questions

• How do certain decades reflect the idea of man’s inhumanity toward man?
• How, at the same time that decades are filled with discord, do they flourish culturally?
• What do we know about our lives today as a result of the events of other decades?

Connections to Standards

• English Language Arts Standard 1: Students will read, write, listen, and speak for information and understanding
• Students will be able to

• Interpret and analyze complex informational texts and presentations
• Synthesize information from various sources
• Use a combination of techniques to extract salient information from texts;
• Make distinctions about the relative value and significance of specific data, facts, and ideas
• Make perceptive and well-developed connections to prior knowledge
• Evaluate writing strategies and presentational features that affect interpretation of the information
• Write and present research reports
• Use a wide range of organizational patterns (chronological, cause/effect, etc.)
• Revise and improve early drafts by restructuring, correcting errors, and revising for clarity and effect
• Use standard English skillfully, applying established rules and conventions for presenting information

• English Language Arts Standard 2: Students will read, write, listen, and speak for Literary response and expression
• Students will be able to

• Identify the distinguishing features of different literary genres, periods, and traditions and use those features to interpret the work
• Understand how multiple meanings are conveyed in a text
• Evaluate literary merit based on an understanding of the genre, the literary elements, and the literary period and tradition
• Present responses to and interpretations of works of recognized literary merit with references to the principle features of the genre, the period, and literary tradition, and drawing on their personal experiences and knowledge
• Use standard English skillfully and with an individual style

• English Language Arts Standard 3: Students will read, write, listen and speak for Critical Analysis and Evaluation
• Students will be able to
• Analyze experiences, ideas, information, and issues presented by others using a variety of established criteria
• Use oral and written language that follows the accepted conventions of the English language to present, to present, from a variety of perspectives, their opinions and judgments on experiences, ideas, information, and issues
• English Language Arts Standard 4: Students will read, write, listen, and speak for social interaction
• Students will be able to

• Engage in conversations and discussions on academic, technical, and community subjects, anticipating listener’s needs and skillfully addressing them
• Express their thoughts and views clearly with attention to the perspectives and voiced concerns of the others in the conversation
• Use appropriately the language conventions for a wide variety of social situations, such as informal conversations or first meetings with peers or adults
• Use a variety of print and electronic forms for social communications with peers and adults
• Make effective use of language and style to connect the message with the audience and context

• Social Studies Standard 2: Students will Use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their understanding of major ideas, eras, themes, developments, and turning points in world history and examine the broad sweep of history from a variety of perspectives

• Students will be able to
• Analyze changing and competing interpretations of issues, events, and developments throughout world history

• Analyze evidence critically and demonstrate an understanding of how circumstances of time and place influence perspective
• Investigate key events and developments and major turning points in world history to identify the factors that brought about change and the long-term effects of these changes.
• Analyze the roles and contributions of individuals and groups to social, political, economic, cultural, and religious practices and activities
• Plan and organize historical research projects related to regional or global interdependence
• Analyze different interpretations of important events, issues, or developments in world history by studying the social, political, and economic context in which they were developed

• Math, Science, and Technology Standard 2: Students will access, generate, process, and transfer information using appropriate technologies
• Students will be able to

• Prepare multimedia presentations demonstrating a clear sense of audience and purpose
• Access, select, collate, and analyze information obtained from a wide range of sources such as databases, foundations, organizations, national libraries, and electronic communications networks

Links to the Standards

• The Arts Standard 3: Students will be responding to and analyzing works of art
• Students will

• respond critically to a variety of works in the arts, connecting the individual, connecting the individual to other works and to other aspects of human endeavor and thought

• The Arts Standard 4: Students will be understanding the cultural contributions of the arts
• Students will

• develop an understanding of the personal and cultural forces that shape artistic communication and how the arts in turn shape the diverse cultures of past and present society

Initiating Activity

As a class, the students will view clips of Saving Private Ryan, The Last Convertible, and footage of WWII along with clips of the mini-series, The 60’s, and news footage of the Vietnam war. Students will use a graphic organizer to record their individual responses. The teacher will generate discussion of what students can identify about the two different times. Each class will have a recorder who will record the students’ responses on chart paper for class viewing. These will be used for comparison/contrast at the end of the unit.

For a longer period of time, the same procedure can be followed using music such as the big bands, jazz, Peter, Paul, and Mary, Bob Dylan, or any 60’s anti-war song.

Learning Experiences

This unit is a follow-up unit to a unit on Night, by Elie Wiesel, and provides a more creative and challenging approach to research reports.

• Working in collaborative teams, students will
• Be required to select writers, artists, musicians, WWII, or Vietnam and report on the influence of each aspect on the respective decade.
• Create a 2-4-page report with the title page and works cited list that summarizes their findings on that particular aspect.
• Conduct interviews with grandparents and parents regarding lifestyles of the decades.
• Create and design a Power Point presentation for their respective reports.

After the initiating activity, the teacher will divide the students into groups. The teacher will provide lists of writers, artists, and musicians (see sample list at the end of the unit) as well as several topics of interest pertaining to WWII and Vietnam, graphic organizers, and guidesheets that will help students in their research. Each group is to provide a report on an artist, musician, writer, and some aspect of either war. The time frame for the initiating activity and the above section is 1-3 days, depending on the length of the class period.

During the following week, students will receive instruction for creating title pages and works cited lists, as well as for conducting interviews. Teacher-made worksheets, prepared worksheets, Time Traveler, and the MLA Handbook are some of the materials that will be used for instruction. Various handouts on interviewing will be provided, along with samples of questions to use. Students will practice constructing questions until they have a final set of questions designed for the interviews. Once students have their final questions, they may begin interviewing a parent or grandparent or community member about lifestyles of the respective decades.

During the third week of the unit, students will receive instruction for using Power Point. The goal is to connect the overhead or the TV to the computer to demonstrate the program and then allow students to practice in class.

Approximately a week of class time will be provided for students to finalize their reports, which will include extracting information from the interviews to be incorporated in both the reports and the presentations. The presentations will be done for classes and scheduled for a parents/grandparents’ night viewing.

Culminating Performance

Students will give a Power Point Presentation of their reports for their classmates, which will contain information obtained in their interviews. They also will provide a video or audiotape of the interviews that they conducted with their families or other community members.

Modifications

Students who do not have parents or grandparents will have the use of community resources such as senior citizen groups or other organizations that could provide them with the necessary information.

Students will be doing peer editing for their reports.

Special Education students will have the aid of their resource room teachers, scribes, and any other guidance for projects.

Those students identified, as needing remedial help will have the assistance of the remedial teachers. Other students may use a writing lab or seek after-school help.

Internet Access

Lists of Writers, Artists, and Musicians

This is just a sample list of people to research; one could go on and on with the musicians of the sixties. In fact, some of the students might suggest to the teacher which people they might like to study. What I am finding is that not all web sites are reliable so the easiest approach is to search the "history of musicians of the forties", etc., to find sites available. For the forties, there were a few good sites for jazz such as www.traverse.com for John Coltrane or www.totalswing.com for Cab Calloway. Again, these sites might change by the time students or teachers investigate them.

Reflections

The standards are thoroughly integrated into this interdisciplinary unit. After the first time that I teach it, I’m sure I’ll modify some elements. Eventually, I would like to incorporate a museum night that would expand the students’ investigation of their community resources. At this point, I think that the unit as an extension of another unit is sufficient in itself and provides students with a perspective of who we have been, who we are, and maybe - where we are going.

Standards and Criteria for Project Evaluation

Standards

Criteria

Graphic Organizer for Initiating Activity

Footage of WWII