New Orleans
8th Grade Classroom/American History
Big Idea: Natural disasters can affect people economically, politically and culturally, and suffering can be exacerbated by issues such as race and class.
Our unit concentrates on the impact of and response to Hurricane Katrina while bearing in mind the history, culture, politics, racial and class issues of the area. We decided to begin the unit by learning about the history (modern included), culture, and politics of New Orleans during week one, and then move into the actual coming of the hurricane and what happened in the city during week two. After being given this information, we will combine with the English class and have our students write a creative fiction story, putting together historical facts with their English skills.
We will then continue with our class in week three by discussing the response to Hurricane Katrina—by our government, our people, and the world's governments and peoples. The content-learning part of the unit will finish that same week with a viewing of Spike Lee's well-known documentary, When the Levees Broke. During our final week (four), students will be split up into groups to make their own documentaries, which will concentrate on any area of knowledge we have covered; the specific topic is their choice, as long as it is in the scope of what we have covered.
This unit is important to our students in many ways. As a part of modern American history, it will likely be something they are interested in, especially if they remember the event (or their parents do). Hurricane Katrina was a major natural disaster which sent shock waves through the country and the world, exposed inequalities in our nation, and brought intense scrutiny upon on our government, both in terms of our officials and the system itself. It continues to affect the nation and New Orleans today in significant ways, and we believe that our students need to understand this event in order to understand current American issues of race, class, and government's place in the lives of the people.
We will assess our students at the end of the unit by assigning them a group project which will give them the opportunity to make a mini-documentary focusing on any of the topics we have covered in the unit. This will allow for the use of a variety of technology and media by students (internet, editing software, video camera, music, etc.) and cooperative learning where students can contribute as they are able, according to their abilities.
8th Grade Classroom/American History
Big Idea: Natural disasters can affect people economically, politically and culturally, and suffering can be exacerbated by issues such as race and class.
Our unit concentrates on the impact of and response to Hurricane Katrina while bearing in mind the history, culture, politics, racial and class issues of the area. We decided to begin the unit by learning about the history (modern included), culture, and politics of New Orleans during week one, and then move into the actual coming of the hurricane and what happened in the city during week two. After being given this information, we will combine with the English class and have our students write a creative fiction story, putting together historical facts with their English skills.
We will then continue with our class in week three by discussing the response to Hurricane Katrina—by our government, our people, and the world's governments and peoples. The content-learning part of the unit will finish that same week with a viewing of Spike Lee's well-known documentary, When the Levees Broke. During our final week (four), students will be split up into groups to make their own documentaries, which will concentrate on any area of knowledge we have covered; the specific topic is their choice, as long as it is in the scope of what we have covered.
This unit is important to our students in many ways. As a part of modern American history, it will likely be something they are interested in, especially if they remember the event (or their parents do). Hurricane Katrina was a major natural disaster which sent shock waves through the country and the world, exposed inequalities in our nation, and brought intense scrutiny upon on our government, both in terms of our officials and the system itself. It continues to affect the nation and New Orleans today in significant ways, and we believe that our students need to understand this event in order to understand current American issues of race, class, and government's place in the lives of the people.
We will assess our students at the end of the unit by assigning them a group project which will give them the opportunity to make a mini-documentary focusing on any of the topics we have covered in the unit. This will allow for the use of a variety of technology and media by students (internet, editing software, video camera, music, etc.) and cooperative learning where students can contribute as they are able, according to their abilities.
