[LM_NET] SEC: Alternatives to biography reports for Black History Month

["R. Deutsch" <rdlibnyc@GMAIL.COM>]

Original query:
We need an alternative to the biography report for Black History Month.

Thank you to everyone who responded to my query (hope you got my individual
thank you note!)
Here are the suggestions:


What about looking at black history thematically?  There are several books
that just were named Sibert winners or BBYA or Notables that deal with Black
History. For Civil Rights there is  Freedom Walkers, and the John Lewis
book...



Or, you could choose some questions.  For instance, you  could look at
something like Deborah Hopkinson's Up Before Daybreak Cotton and People in
America and ask: how did the lives of African Americans change from slavery
to freedom, and look at cotton farming and sharecropping?



Using American Memory from the Library of Congress and the Federal Writers
Slave Narratives might be interesting as well, and help students understand
primary sources....

Get _Henry's Freedom Box_. Yes, I know it is a picture book (reading level
about fourth grade), but the story is superb and so are the pictures. I am a
history major but had no idea about Henry "Box" Brown. Put the picture book
on the big screen page by page and read it together. Have the students
research to see whether this story is true or not. This would require
students reading newspapers from the time. I'd be interested in what your
researchers uncover. There are some important questions left hanging. What
became of Box's wife and children? Are any of his descendents still living,
etc. What a fascinating story! Have your students write a reader's theater
for this book. Present the reader's theater to a younger group of students.

How about speeches (either fictional and student originated writing as what
a speech a famous personage MIGHT have given, or verbatim from a truly
delivered oration) given in dramatic form, with accuracy in dress, and
dramatic interpretation acting!) of the personage portrayed.

You could have them done in real-time delivery as a live event, or your
class could invoke the "make a film" mode and videotape these interpretive
portrayals, and allow them to be re-done as often as necessary to each
student's satisfaction by the use of videotape (each could choose their
preferred portrayal,) and then edit them together into one DVD production.

One could have a "host" or narrator, which would be a unifying and
professional factor in the overall "show."

Using editing software, like Pinnacle (PC) or iMovie (Mac), music and sound
effects and so forth could be added, since they support multiple tracks.

Perhaps you could collaborate with a another class and teacher, such as a
tech class full of "techno-wizards," who would provide tech support and
training!!! They would get a class grade out of it as well.

The final project output would be like a "Biography" channel special show or
something like that.



Our Upper School history teacher is very big on simulations.  The
students will certainly need to know a significant amount of information
about the person's life in order to create a dialogue in the skit that
will be a good representation of the great.





[do]

Inventions --Explorers--Black "firsts"

When all the projects are complete, the class could do a "timeline".



how about a timeline that has hypertext that opens to webpages about people
places events

With my 8th graders we did a piece of installation art modeled on Judy
Chicago's *Dinner Party, *but we called it *A Place** at the Table.*   We
took the same idea, but they created place settings for famous inspirational
Black men and women.



Here's a link to Judy Chicago's homepage where you can read the history of
her original art and see it.



http://www.judychicago.com/judychicago.php?p=dinnerparty1





Dress as the character and give a talk.  Prepare a video or power
point...Keynote is easy to use.  Write a letter to the group introducing
self and accomplishments.





-- 
Rena Deutsch, Librarian
Seward Park Campus Schools
350 Grand St.
New York, NY 10002
rdlibnyc@gmail.com

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