Megan M
Life On The Plains Through Photography
Unit Overview: In this Unit, students will work in small groups to find a photo from The Plains (time frame is 1850-1900) that details either an event, prominent person, or family that occurred while living there. If the photo in question has people, the better. After finding their picture, students will work to recreate the photo and build a presentation with the focal point being the recreated picture. The presentation must detail the event, individual, or family and answer (in theory) all questions of Why, Where, When, Who, What, and How. Examples include:
Why was this picture taken?
Where was the picture taken?
When was the photo taken?
Who is in the picture/Who took the picture?
What is going on in the photo/What led up to the photo being taken?
How is this picture significant?
Presentations are open to interpretation and can be anything from a PowerPoint, skit, collage, poster, etc. The only aspect that contains no leniency is that the picture must be the leading focal point of the presentation.
Leading Question: The driving question for the Unit is: How does media create/influence meaning and why is it important?
Unit Purpose: "Life On The Plains Through Photography's" unit purpose is to teach students the knowledge to identify the 5W and H Questions when doing research using different medias; such as photography. Being able to identify these questions will, in turn, create inquiries into finding accurate and inaccurate features that may be in art and how these different portrayals can impact peoples' understanding of different events.
"I Can" Statement: From here, the competency that students are working towards through their “I Can” statement by the end of the unit is, “I can decipher the deeper meaning of a photograph rather than just see it for the surface value while being able to take the historical context of surrounding events into consideration.”
Standards for this Unit are:
RI.9-10.7 Analyze various accounts of a subject told in different mediums (e.g., a person’s life story in both print and multimedia, payingspecific attention to cultural nuances), determining which details are emphasized in each account.
RI.9-10.8 Delineate and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, assessing whether the reasoning is valid and the evidence isrelevant and sufficient; identify false statements and fallacious reasoning.
SL.9-10.5 Make strategic use of digital media (e.g., textual, graphical, audio, visual, and interactive elements) in presentations
to enhance understanding of findings, reasoning, and evidence and to add interest.
Calendar for Unit:
12/4/23 Monday
Lesson 1, Day 1
Brief overview of what we will be doing for the next two weeks:
Analyzing photography and art surrounding those who lived on The Plains (~1850s-1900) and learning how it affected/affects certain groups of people then and now. At the end students will present on their findings in groups and surrounding a picture they have taken in ode to recreate an event or picture they have found in the time period form above.
Edward Curtis Photographs Lesson Plan. Go through Slide 6. Pass out Docs A-E to all groups of students, and answer Questions 1-2 of the Guiding Questions first individually, and then as a group.
Lesson 1 Day 1 (Detailed Lesson Plan)
12/5/23 Tuesday
Lesson 1, Day 2
Recap over the day before. Answer any questions that may have arisen.
Repass out Docs A-E to groups and have them answer Guiding Question 3 as a group. Have all groups present their answers to the class.
Explain to Students about accuracies and inaccuracies through media and have them spot them in the photographs. Explain how this could be unintentional with Edward Curtis and how most the time we will never truly know due to the times.
Have students answer Guiding Questions 4-6 in their groups. Discuss as a class after the questions were answered (every group must say something).
Lesson 1 Day 2 (Detailed Lesson Plan)
12/6/23 Wednesday
Lesson 1, Day 3
Recap over the day before. Answer any questions that may have popped up.
Have students re-answer Guiding Questions 3 and 4 individually with the following questions from the final page of the Edward Curtis Photograph Lesson Plan in mind. Following this, there should be a group discussion over how students' answers have changed or stayed the same with the new set of questions. Students will turn in answers at the end of activity.
Have students pick their work groups. Pass out rubrics to everyone.
If there is time, hand out a resource packet and have students start doing some light research on events and photography of The Plains.
Lesson 1 Day 3 (Detailed Lesson Plan)
12/7/23 Thursday
Lesson 2, Day 4
Introduce, “My Life On The Plains,” by George Armstrong Custer.
Pass out handouts of excerpts of the book and assign different groups to read Excerpts 1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8, and 9-10.
Have each group give a synopsis to the class over what they read/learned and how it applies to what they previously knew about Custer and to the Lesson from earlier in the week.
Assign a final Excerpt to the whole class to read from Custer and the introduction of “Prairie Fires” by Caroline Fraser (hand out printed copies). For Homework, students need to finish the reading and write a one page reflection paper on how the reading has affected their idea for the project.
12/8/23 Friday
Lesson 2, Day 5
Collect Homework and answer any questions about the reading from the night before.
See what students were familiar with the “Little House” series. Discuss Fraser’s book and, same as the day before, assign Excerpts 1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8, and 9-10 to groups.
Each group will give a synopsis on the reading and how it applies to the information from the week so far.
The rest of the day is a work day.
Homework is to read through The Museum of the Rockies page, “Enduring Peoples,” and to write a half page analysis on what they learned, what surprised them, and how they can apply either this information or similar information to their project (if it is feasible and makes sense!). Each group should also finish their final idea for the project and turn it in to the teacher.
12/11/23 Monday
Lesson 3, Day 6
Collect homework and answer questions from the homework and final project.
Introduce 1883 and its excerpts (~20 minutes).
While watching these in class students should write down some notes/ ideas they gather from the show in regards to their project.
Have students finish their thoughts when the shows are over and share with their groups. Discuss as a class and find similar observations that were repetedly brought up.
For homework, students will need to come up with at least one more (reliable) resource that I have not provided for their project (One per student. If a group has 4 kids in it then there will need to be 4 added resources).
12/12/23 Tuesday
Lesson 4, Day 7
Recap the day before, ask for any new thoughts/questions that students came up with.
Introduce Manifest Destiny. Give a brief overview of the topic as a whole (In general students should be familiar with it). Show the three depictions of Manifest Destiny and have students write a min. of a paragraph on their favorite and why. Each group will share with each other and will come up with a consensus on which picture they liked best and tell the class why.
Discuss how biases can arise and how to dissuade them from happening.
Next, students will be directed to look up Lyle Shwabauer and his art. There are many different resources detailing how he comes up with his art and they should look up at least two and make notes on each webpage.
Homework will be to turn in the web pages and notes correctly cited.
Lesson 4 Day 7 (Detailed Lesson Plan)
12/13/23 Wednesday
Work Day, Day 8
Students should utilize this time to work on their final projects and ask questions.
If done with all work, students may work on other classes’ work or read a book quietly. Helping peers is greatly encouraged.
12/14/23 Thursday
Presentations, Day 9
Students will present in their groups in 10 minutes on their project.
12/15/23 Friday
Presentations, Day 10
Students will present in their groups in 10 minutes on their projects.
After everyone is done presenting from both days students will fill out a self evaluation form as well as a group form to detail how they felt their group members did and contributed to the project.
If there is time, the rest of class will be used as a study hall for the rest of the period.
Every picture/presentation is due by the end of the school day to the teacher otherwise it is considered LATE. Typical classroom rule for late work of one letter grade being deducted by each day the assignment is late will apply.
Materials Needed:
Access to a camera (Students)
Computer (Teacher/Students)
Writing Materials (Students)
Lesson Plan Handouts (Every Day) (Teacher/Students)
Art Supplies (Teacher/Students)
Notes (Students)
Ways to communicate with peers (Students)
Rubrics (Teacher/Students)
1 Presentation Rubric
1 Self Evaluation Rubric
1-3 Group Evaluation Rubrics (depending on group size)
ASSESSMENT/RUBRICS:
Assessment Plan is for homework to be turned in daily for participation points while the final presentation will be the biggest score with it being worth 20% of students' overall grade for the semester.
The "Pulling Weight" part of the presentation's rubric will be averaged by student's input and their group's input on how they did.
Work will be turned in daily for daily participation and effort points (In class work ex: Bellringers) and nightly homework for participation and effort (Ex: Citation page). All work, in the timespan of this unit, being turned in will count towards the final grade of the overall project.
MYC Lesson Sequence:
Resources:
Original Manifest Destiny
(From Lesson 4, Day 7)
"Dark" Manifest Destiny
(From Lesson 4, Day 7)
Reversing Manifest Destiny
(From Lesson 4, Day 7)
Pre-Manifest Destiny Map of the American Tribes
(From MYC Lesson 1)
Additional Resources for Student Use:
I chose the TV show, "1883," for two reasons. The first is because it does have some valid points and adventures based upon true events. The second reason is because of its popularity. The likelihood that students will be familar with the reference will create some repour between the project and the students rather than something stuffy that they "have" to learn.
The "Enduring Peoples" exhibit from the Museum of the Rockies in Bozeman, Montana, I thougth would be a good resource for students to utilize due to the fact that it is in their state, some students will have likely visited and be familar with the concept, and the fact that students can explore the website and get a good understanding for the exhibit as a whole without havign to go to the museum.
Lyle Schwabauer is an artist who lives in Helena, Montana, and specializes in sculptures of people. Many of his works include the Native American tribes of Montana and he has a slew of stories to tell of how he became inspired to do Native-inspired work. I thought this was a nice tie in to the Edward Curtis Lesson Plan but modern day and using a different medium.
Buffalo Bill Center, Cody, WY
Home to 5 museums in 1, the Buffalo Bill Center was an amazing resource to explore and find information on all aspects of the Wild West and I know could prove to be beneficial to not just students but all people alike.
PBE Video Detailing This Web Page: