MEDIA TOOLS PROJECT
Zoe Fite, Edward Byrne, Kylie Bullin, Sarah Gardin, Johnathan Cilone, Shannon Casey
CONNECTION TO BK-12 CONTEXT AND CONTENT / REFERENCES
AH2.H.4 Analyze how conflict and compromise have shaped politics, economics, and culture in the United States.
NC Digital Competency Standard: Immerse students in exploring relevant issues and analyze authentic problems through digital tools and resources
Our activity reflects the American History standard of analyzing how conflict and compromise have shaped politics, economics, and culture in the
The United States. Students are interacting with the culture of a period to gain an understanding of attitudes surrounding important historical movements at the time. Students do this by interpreting four pieces of media, two poems and two songs, investigating the impact of the author's construction of their work on their overall message. We created a Prezi to be used as a tool to teach students the perspectives of the Civil Rights Movement. After the students interpret and analyze the media, they will be tasked to create their own reflection meant to react to the perspectives they just learned. The students will create their reflection using a classroom shared Padlet, this will demonstrate their use of digital tools to exhibit their new understanding of these issues. Our lesson is geared toward High School students. Firstly, we assume that these students have seen this historical subject before. Given that they already have context, we can expand on their preexisting knowledge. The lesson also relies on the ability of High School students to analyze and interpret media on their own. Our goal is to have the students develop their own understanding of the material while being guided by the lesson.
Blowin in the wind:
MEDIA BEING INTEGRATED
A change is gonna come- Sam Cooke: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEBlaMOmKV4
Protest song written by Sam Cooke inspired by the Bob Dylan Classic. Students will see the civil rights movement through the plight of an African Man who has experienced the day to day challenges of racism. Students will do a lyrical analysis, and then explain how they relate to the civil rights movement/ Jim Crow laws.
Blowin' in the Wind- Bob Dylan: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMFj8uDubsE
Blowin’ in the Wind is a song about many social issues in the 60s. By looking at Bob Dylan’s lyrics, we see his commentary on social movements like the one for Civil Rights. Students will be asked to analyze the song’s lyrics, specifically its chorus and the second verse. They will then be asked to connect Dylan’s lyrics to the Civil Rights movement.
I Too Sing America-Langston Hughes: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/47558/i-too
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5qC-Ncn6rg
Students will read I too sing America and then discuss the poem’s meaning in small groups. We will then have a discussion as a class about the meaning of the poem as well. Students will then connect the poem to the other songs and media, and finally to larger historical events pertaining to the Civil rights movement.
Caged Bird - Maya Angelou
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZzOxWAxde0
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/48989/caged-bird
Maya Angelou’s famous Caged Bird poem is meant to articulate attitudes many African Americans had at the time. Students will be asked to interpret Angelou’s use of figurative language to represent these ideas in the piece. Then the students will be asked to connect Angelou’s message with the rest of the media.
Each of these pieces of media provides a different but similar perspective on the complicated issue of Civil Rights. By using media from a variety of authors with different backgrounds, we have a diversity of opinion students could learn from.
BK-12 STUDENTS MEDIA CREATION
Students will begin their media exploration by collectively listening to the songs and poems provided on the Prezi. If needed students can be provided individual time with the Prezi to listen and review the visual knowledge and information provided. Additionally, if needed students research more about the songs/ authors. Students will also take time to independently explore more rhyme and poem structures.
Students will use their shared digital space (Google classroom, canvas, asulearn etc.) to access the padlet link in order to continue in their digital product making. Their prompt to lead into the media creation will be:” After viewing the media provided in the lesson, students will compare and contrast the media in regards to the impact the civil rights movement had on their art. Students will then post their observations to the padlet, which must be at least two paragraphs.”
PLAN FOR LEARNING EXPERIENCE
Class will begin with open discussion about the civil rights movement. What do students know, what do they not know? After viewing a short introductory video about the Civil Rights Movement, we ask the students two questions to determine how effective art media is in portraying the impact of social movements like the Civil Rights Movement. Then we will move into the lesson. As a class we will listen to the songs and poems which are embedded in the Prezi presentation. Students will then have small group time to discuss meanings and themes. Then we will have a large group discussion, to connect topics to historical happenings.
Students will then access the classroom padlet. An example will already be posted for them to understand the assignment. Students will individually write their own reflection inspired by the writers of the integrated media used. They will start by picking 1 or 2 of the writers above and examine their writing. They will individually take time to research the writing and historical context of each piece, students may also research biographical information on their respective writers.
QUESTION SETS WITH MODEL STUDENT ANSWERS
Set 1
What role do you think artists and celebrities have when it comes to social movements? Should they be involved in political movements?
Student answer: Celebrities and artists, especially today, have huge platforms and voices. Whether they get involved is largely up to them, but like anyone they have a job to stand up to injustice, and use their large platform for good.
How effective, in your opinion, are music, poetry, or art as mediums for the sharing perspective and point of view?
Student answer: Poems and Music can be excellent mediums for sharing perspectives. Especially for touchy subjects, poems and music can be a fantastic introduction to the experiences of different people. The general nature of poetry and music is very personal, so you get great insight into the feelings
Set 2
What is the significance of the author's identity? Does it have an impact on the meaning and significance of the piece?
Student answer: On issues centered around oppression, whether the narrator is the oppressor or the oppressed is incredibly significant. Hearing stories of the oppressed from the oppressed, ensures that the story accurately depicts their struggle.
In what ways can you see the evolution of Bob Dylan’s ideas in Sam Cooke’s song?
Student answer: Dylan’s sentiments surround the lack of solutions to obvious and repetitive problems. Cooke takes this a step further by reasoning that the necessary change is inevitable and oncoming.
Set 3
How does a Caged Bird represent the experience of African Americans in the Jim Crow South?
Student answer: Maya Angelou’s poem is a juxtaposition of a free and caged bird. This juxtaposition represents the difference between Black and White people in the south. Because the caged bird must watch the free bird fly, it shows the longing African Americans have for equality.
What can be said about Hughes' tone and its contribution to his overall message in “I, Too”?
Student answer: Hughes’ tone is not one of anger or sadness, but of determination. Hughes is showing that African Americans can continue to take the abuse they’ve come to expect. The promise of change is not an empty one, and Hughes is showing how patient he can be.
Set 4
Do these songs have any significance today? How do they connect to modern political issues?
Student answer: Both songs were written because of specific issues, yet their message can be applied to many of the issues we face today. Especially given that the issues we face stem from a similar place.
Can you think of any other pieces of song or poetry that relate to the issue of civil rights? How do they relate?
Student answer: There are plenty of other Bob Dylan songs that relate to the Civil Rights Movement. The first one that comes to mind is The Times they are a Changin’. Dylan here talks about how things are changing and we need to be ready for the change. He calls Senators and Congressmen to answer the call of change, and to not “Stand in the doorway, or block up the hall” This is a reference to the Little rock incident.
REFLECTION
In our selection of a topic, our group has a few History Ed majors, so we decided to center our lesson in History. Most of us are centered around High Schoolers as well, making them a clear choice for a target audience. Initially, we were under the impression we needed two standards from two different disciplines so we were gonna focus on an English and History standard. Ultimately we narrowed it to just a History standard but the focus on English inspired our media choices. We didn’t have much conflict within our group that needed resolution, everybody had a good attitude and was open minded. We split the work up to individual tasks, but always worked together to help make each part a whole. We had to focus a lot on our questions in our revisions, as we had repetitive questions that weren’t higher order in nature. We combined our title and visual after seeing another group do this with some success. We feel that our revisions helped to focus the lesson more specifically and guide the student to the intended learning. Our group is tentatively confident in the ability of our lesson to be used to teach High Schoolers Perspectives of the Civil Rights Movement.
SOURCES
Bob Dylan. “Blowin in the Wind.” Youtube. Bob Dylan, January 25, 2019. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMFj8uDubsE
Sam Cooke. “A Change Is Gonna Come.” Youyube. Sam Cooke, January 22, 2016. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEBlaMOmKV4 .
I, Too. Langston Hughes, 2020. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5qC-Ncn6rg.
Angelou, Maya. “Caged Bird.” Youtube. CBS Evening News, May 28, 2014. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZzOxWAxde0.
Protest Picture: https://unsplash.com/photos/9RbdjQ3nCEk
Bob Dylan Picture: https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/10-greatest-bob-dylan-songs-152077/ sub_action=logged_in
Sam Cooke:
https://www.abkco.com/news-feed/celebrating-sam-cooke-at-90-vinyl-releases-announced/
Langston Hughes photo: https://www.vox.com/culture/2019/2/1/18206803/langston-hughes-115th-birthday-let-america-be-america-again
Maya Angelou: https://failurebeforesuccess.com/maya-angelou-success-story-of-the-talented-american-poet/