Final Project: Modernism for fifth graders
ElonShore
8/18/08
ENGL 775
Introduction: Too often, fifth grade English concentrates on skills rather than the actual material. However, the material can be the best backdrop for the skills as well. This unit will concentrate on Modernism specifically on the early 20th century English Modernist periodicals. Periodical studies will teach the students how to research, understand context, and reading comprehension.
Calendar:
The first part of the unit will concentrate on the definition of Modernism. Modernism is the movement that broke away from the conventional Victorian ideals of literature, art, and music. A key component of Modernism is creativity, expression, and sarcasm. However, this unit will not merely concentrate on the famous Modernist personalities of the age (ex: Ezra Pound, Orage, Joyce). It is for this reason that we will be concentrating on periodicals. Periodical study allows the students to read a variety of different voices as well as gain a context of the era through the advertisements. After the students understand how to look at periodical studies, we will concentrate on some of the key personalities of the time like Pound, Orage, and Sitwell. This will allow the students to create complete biographies.
Goals: The goals of this unit are for the students to:
-Clearly define Modernism and show that definition in the creation of their own magazine
-Use documents (periodicals) to find the context of specific articles
-Read texts clearly and deeply to gain a full understanding of the sarcasm and wit
-Be able to read different types of magazines (poetry, short story, news)
-Sharpen their skills of using documents to answer questions (Document Based Questions- Requirement in fifth grade social studies test)
-Apply the ELA skills like Main Idea, Compare and Contrast, Figurative Language to the articles
Assessment-
After each lesson there will be an assessment based on the goal of the lesson. These individual assessments will be things like writing a definition of modernism using modern day texts and magazines, and writing an article in the same style of a studied periodical. At the end of the unit, there will a quiz and a project for final assessment. The quiz will concentrate on facts about the time period as well as synthesizing the materials using researching skills. The final project will be to create their own modernist magazine. This magazine must have a theme that correlates with the themes of modernism, articles that share this theme, artwork, and advertisements that show the wit and guile of the modernist era.
Lesson Plan #1
L.O. (Learning Objective)- SWBAT (Students Will Be Able To) define modernism as a movement that went against the past. SWBAT apply the definition to different works of art.
Vocabulary- Modernism
Genre
Adjectives
Materials- Two picture of Victorian paintings, Two picture of Picasso, will smith’s song “parents don’t understand”, “Lipstick” or any popular song, paper, ELA notebooks, clock radio, hammer
Motivation- Adjectives are words that describe objects, music, people, really everything. What are some examples of adjectives? (Write them down on the butcher paper) After they have their ideas, write down others like red, cool, weird, colorful, and fun.
Adjectives can be used to describe music as well. Take out your ELA notebook and label it “Describing music and art”
#1- Play Will Smith song- have them write adjectives describing the song
#2- Play “Lip Stick”- Have them write adjectives describing the song
Compare and Contrast- Last week we worked on this skill. What are the similarities and the differences? Specifically look for old and new (will tie into the idea of modernism)
Now we will be describing art
#3- Show Victorian picture
#4- Show the Picasso picture
Again, ask the students to compare and contrast. This visual activity will get them in the right mind frame. After they describe the two types of music and two types of art work, I will take out an old radio. The radio will have the word Old written on it. I will take a hammer and smash it. Going into the lesson, I will have the word modernism written across the board and say. Modernism was a complete break from the old. This ideology was about everything from art, music, politics, and literature.
(While a bit over the top, this tactic will grab the class from the beginning)
Procedure:
After the demonstration, I will have a written definition of modernism for students to copy.
Modernism- a movement of art, literature, politics, and philosophy that broke away from the past and used creativity to challenge their society (Out with old in with the new; be creative)
Now that they have the definition, it is time to apply it. I will have a set of pictures in a slide show. After each picture, each student must label the painting as Modernism or Not Modernism and explain why. When modeling, go over the differences between the two works of art and remind them of what they did in the beginning of the lesson.
Concentrate on lines, whether people look like people, expression, colors
Homework- Using the labels and adjectives of modernism we used in class, draw and describe a modernist painting.
Notes about the lesson- As the first lesson of the unit, I want to use language that the students understand while grabbing their attention in the process. The adjective-description introductory activity presents a base of words that they will use in defining modernism. The breaking of the old with a hammer is meant to grab their attention. The definition of modernism is used here as a starting point using language that the students will understand.
Lesson Plan #2
L.O.- SWBAT identify the importance of periodical study in understanding the context of an era specifically modernism. SWBAT research periodicals using advertisements, articles, and finding the main idea.
Materials- four magazines (Ebony, Skaters, Time, and the New York Daily News), pencils, handouts of advertisements from the New Age,
Vocabulary- Advertisement
Periodical
Liberal
Sarcasm
Motivation- Place four different magazines in front of the classroom: Skaters, Time, Ebony, and New York Daily News.
Begin the activity by asking students questions about magazines:
Stand up if you read magazines.
Ask students who are standing up, why they read magazines?
Have them everyone sit down: What is in a magazine?
Have sentence strips with the words ARTICLES, ADVERTISEMENTS, ART, COVER
Each table will get one of the four magazines. For the activity, they need to work together to find examples of each of the sentence strips. Then, after finding an example of each, define the magazine. What is the magazine about?
To model, do this exercise quickly using Time Out New York
Article- Film review
Advertisement- Restaurant
Art- show a picture
Cover- Show the cover
Theme- This magazine goes over what is happening in NYC. It tries to be hip and always ahead or with the curve
Each group will write out each of these answers in their ELA notebooks. I will walk around the room and inspect how they are doing.
I will ask a few students to share. Then I will ask: how they used the examples to define the theme? Guide them towards the answer that all of the elements paint a picture of that time. Obviously if there are ads for technology or stories about different parks, that tells us a story about what people liked at that time. The key point here is that nothing exists in a vacuum.
Procedure- Hand out a copy of certain pages from the New Age with highlights at certain advertisements; specifically soap, a woman’s leadership conference, and a rally.
Together as a class, read the advertisement for soap. This is the modeling portion of the lesson. Out loud, go through the process of article research. I will model this and have it on the board:
When reading an article-
- Look at the cover of the magazine to understand the overall theme.
- Look at the advertisements to understand the needs and wants of people at the time
- Read the articles looking for the main idea. Also, look where the articles are placed. Layout matters.
- Always look at the magazine as a living breathing part of its time
To demonstrate this process: I will take an article and go through it step by step.
I take the New Age, and I look at the cover. It is sort of bland and looks serious so that means that it will be a serious magazine.
Next, I look at the advertisements, (Soap).
A WRINKLE ABOUT CLOTHES,
ALWAYS have them washed with HUDSON’S SOAP, and
then you can be sure that they are as well washed as
they possibly can be, and it is a washing that doesn’t
wear them. All the wear is left for yourself,
Let’s read it together. What does this mean? What can we learn about this time period by reading this article? The key here is that what is being advertised is important and how it is presented makes a difference. This ad shows that cleanliness is important. Also, that the sentence is a bit silly. What does that mean?
As for the article- I will show them a simple note from the beginning of that same issue-
WE hope the Labour Party will not be disheartened by
the fate of their Right to Work Bill or by the cold reception
of Mr. Clynes’ Eight Hours Day Bill. Both
measures are sure to come in time, and political gratitude
is no impossible thing. Besides, nobody supposed
the Liberals would really marry the Labour Party.
Flirtation with Socialism during the silly season was
one thing ; but a serious union on a Right to Work
Bill was plainly out of the question.
Before this, I will explain and define the Labour Party, Mr. Clyne, Liberals, and Socialism. What does this note mean? What is the tone of the article? Want to emphasize the sarcastic tone and the wit. This needs to be just an overview. I do not want to overwhelm them.
Then after we investigate all three parts, I will ask them to write what type of people they think read this journal. Use all the things that we investigated in class.
This will allow me to assess how much they understand from the overall lesson.
HW- Use this knowledge to investigate a journal or newspaper from your neighborhood. You must write about 1. the cover 2. an advertisement 3. a (short) article 4. your overall opinion of who reads and writes for the periodical
Lesson Plan #3
L.O.- SWBAT read article from a modernist journal and identify the main idea. SWBAT read critically and comprehend the wit and sarcasm of the modernist period.
Materials- Handouts of the New Age, Audio Recording of Mr. Shore saying sentences in sarcastic and serious tones
Vocabulary- Sarcasm
Wit
Socialism
Tone
Motivation- Tone is important when talking to people. What is tone?
Tone – quality of a person’s voice
The tone of voice can change the overall meaning of a sentence.
For example- What do you mean you for forgot your homework? (Said in an authoritative tone) Compare that to me saying the same thing in a more caring way.
There are many different types of tone. Let’s write them out:
Have the students give examples but look for- sad, happy, nervous, eager
Play the CD that will have me say the same sentence in different tones. Students will work in pairs to define the tone.
Then the group will create their own sentence and present it in front of the class. The class will then guess what the tone is for each group
Procedure- Using the new definition of tone, I will write two different types on the board. Sarcasm- mocking or ironic language intended to insult someone
Wit- The ability to perceive and express in a humorous manner the relationship between seemingly two different things.
These are two tones that are used a lot in modernism. It is important that now that we can hear when it is used, when can find out when it is written.
(Handout part of the Bax article)
We will read together this article
Feminism and Female Suffrage.
By E. Belfort Bax.
FIRST and foremost amongst the rights claimed by Feminists for women is the political franchise. The reasons for this claim are based, one on abstract justice, the assumption being that women are, on the average, substantially similar and equal to men in intellectual and moral capacity….
Among all the women’s rights advocates I am not aware of one who, in her zeal for equality between the sexes, has ever suggested abolishing the right of maintenance of the wife by the husband.
Ask for volunteers to read.
Stop after each paragraph to make sure that they understand what he is saying. Then ask to define his tone.
Ask the volunteers to read their section in different tones. How does that change the overall meaning?
Then hand out the response to Bax.
Mr. Bax is like a man who would argue against the possibility of a pontoon bridge because a single plank will not cross the stream. We Feminists (how sick I am of the continued necessity for using this word !) are marching forward over the Bridge of Time on a roadway so solidly built as to withstand the strain of our advancing legions, whether in rhythmic step or broken order. Mr. Bax grasps a bit of scaffolding-
throws it into the water, and defies me to cross the river thereby. I have not the slightest intention
of trying-I ‘m no Captain Webb-and Mr. Bax’s own balance is obviously far too precarious for me to attempt a combat in mid-stream to so little purpose. The bridge will suit me better. To quit metaphor, however, and come
Go over the idea of metaphor and the metaphor here with the bridge.
This gets even deeper into the wit and sarcasm of the time.
This idea is very modernist because it creates a deeper definition.
First definition- Out with old, in with the new; be creative.
Current definition- Using wit and sarcasm to challenge tradition in creative ways.
Assessment in class- have them continue to read the response to Bax in groups. They need to summarize and explain how the author uses sarcasm.
This will show me if the students can read critically and understand tones like sarcasm and wit.
Homework- Write an article about whatever topic of your choosing using sarcasm and wit. It can be about skateboarding, wrap, rules, but the key is that it contains at least two paragraphs of 8 sentences.
Notes about the lesson: This lesson teaches important aspects of modernism. I get to make a more sophisticated definition because the students have more of a basis. I specifically concentrate on wit and sarcasm because without realizing it, many of these students use it on a regular basis. I am using their prior knowledge in order for them to engage with the material.
Lesson Plan #4
L.O.- SWBAT apply their knowledge of reading periodicals and modernism to solve DBQs (Data Based Questions). SWBAT organize the facts given to them by documents to write a full essay.
Notes about this lesson- In order to make this lesson applicable to fifth graders, I have a lesson that deals with DBQs. Data Based Questions comprise an entire section of the fifth grade social studies test. The skills that are flushed out in previous lessons are very useful in this test. Students have to read primary documents (letters, pictures, articles, etc.) about a certain subject and then answer simple questions about the documents. After answering questions for about four documents, they are then asked to write a complete essay that combines all the material they learned. I will be taking modernism and specific periodicals for MJP to make the lesson flow with the unit.
Materials- handouts, string, hooks, 4 note-cards, clock, blank sheets of paper
Motivation- Take the clock and announce to the class that “We have gone back in time. The time is currently 1912 and we are in London, England. As the blank sheets are being passed out. I want you to write down two things. 1. Write down the definition of modernism. 2. I want you to write a title to a modernist article that matches your definition. Then we will present” While this is happening, I should move the clock backwards to make it feel like we are going back in time.
Presentations will be a quick. Each student will yell (extra extra read all about it) and then their title. This will be fun and make sure that they understand what modernism means and how to apply it to real articles.
Procedure- Excellent. We have been working on how to answer DBQs and we will use modernism to help us.
Get four volunteers who will get a note card and will receive a ball of string. The way it will go is that each student will read the step from their note-card and then grab the string. After I explain the step, the student will pass the ball of string to the next student. At the end, they will pass the ball to me and it will be an interconnected web showing how good writing (in general and) for DBQs require that everything be connected.
Steps on the note-cards:
- Read and inspect each document carefully. DO NOT JUST JUMP TO THE QUESTIONS! If it is a letter, read it. If it is a picture, take a few moments to look at it. If it is a story, read it fully.
- Answer the questions USING THE DOCUMENTS! You do not have to do it by heart; the answers are right in front of you.
- As you are answering the questions, try to think of one complete sentence that would summarize the overall theme or idea of the documents
- Before you start the essay, look over the questions. This will help
- (Me-Teacher) When writing the essay, make sure that you use all the information you have found. Like the web we have here in the classroom, your essay should CONNECT all the ideas together.
After the web is explained, I will take the cards and have volunteers explain each step so we write it on the board.
Then we need to model it- the first example is going to be about Feminism in the New Age. This should be on the overhead. After we read each article, I will break down the ideas and go through the process that needs to happen for the DBQs to be answered.
Here is the first document- Woman’s Right to Vote by Teresa Billington-Greig
By the law, and in the minds of the mass of men, women are still regarded as a kind of property… More than among any other class, there exist here two kinds of women, who may be distinguished as protected and unprotected. The protected woman is expected to preside gracefully over a household and to produce heirs, and she is treated with an outward show of conventional consideration. The unprotected woman is expected to be purchasable and entertaining, and is commonly treated with a familiarity and ridicule which in the coarseness of their contempt-are akin to savagery.
Go over this so that they understand the entire passage.
Questions-
1. According to the author, how are women treated?
2. Define protected and unprotected women?
Next document:
I will give them part of the Biefort Bax article that we read yesterday. This will give them confidence because they have already seen the article. This article happened two years later.
Feminism and Female Suffrage.
By E. Belfort Bax.
FIRST and foremost amongst the rights claimed by Feminists for women is the political franchise. The reasons for this claim are based, one on abstract justice, the assumption being that women are, on the average, substantially similar and equal to men in intellectual and moral capacity….
Among all the women’s rights advocates I am not aware of one who, in her zeal for equality between the sexes, has ever suggested abolishing the right of maintenance of the wife by the husband.
- Is Bax in favor of feminism? Why or why not?
- According to Bax, Feminists want both equally and security from the husband. What is his problem with this?
Then I will show the third document, I will show them two different advertisements:
“A WOMAN TALKED.SHE talked about the beauty and cleanliness of her clothes and home -- of the saving of labour, time and money- a-n d of a genial, comforting household brightness. She was a regular user of HUDSON’S SOAP.”
- What image of women does this advertisement create?
In the same issue:
A CONFERENCE ON EMPLOYMENT FOR EDUCATED
WOMEN will be held at CAXTON HALL, WESTMINSTER, on
APRIL 2nd at 2.45 p.m, and APRIL 3rd, at 2.45 p m and 7.45 p.m.
Subjects : The Economic Position of Women. Architecture as a Profession
for Women. The Newer Openings for Women. The Communal
Kitchen. Home Economics (King’s College Scheme). Teaching in Trade
Schools. Civil Service (New Regulations and Openings).
ADMISSIOFNRE E. RESERVED SEATs 1S. each.
Apply to CENTRAL BUREAU FOR EMPLOYMENT OF WOMEN,
9, Southhampton Street, London
1. What image of women does this advertisement create?
2. How does the image from this advertisement compare to the first advertisement?
Last- I will show them these figures about feminist articles found in the New Age year by year (These are estimates):
1907- 120 articles
1908- 121 articles
1909- 130 articles
1910- 140 articles
1911- 100 articles
1912- 20 articles
1913- 90 articles
1914- 110 articles
1915- 45 articles
1916- 39 articles
1917- 21 articles
1918- 20 articles
1919- 30 articles
1920- 15 articles
1921- 10 articles
1922- 10 articles
Questions:
- Which year had the most articles about feminism? Which had the least?
- What was the progress of articles about feminism in the New Age?
Essay Question-
How was Feminism expressed in the New Age? Was it for or against it? Give example from the documents.
Have the students work on this for the remaining part of the class period. Walk around and work with students about this.
Homework- I will pass the finished essays out to each student and they will read, correct, and grade them.
Lesson Plan #5
L.O.- SWBAT identify important personalities in the modernist period. SWBAT identify other modernist journals than the New Age.
Materials- Pom-poms, sheets of paper, handouts, costumes
Motivation- Each table will make a short skit that will show the definition of modernism. For example, get out poms-poms and I will lead the class in a cheer that says “Modernism (clap), using sarcasm (clap) and wit (clap) to create a new idea of the world (Clap clap). Out with the old and in with the NEW.” I will end with a simple leg kick. Each table group will do its own quick presentation.
Procedure-
Now we have concentrated on the New Age so far. Today we are going to concentrate on who wrote it and other journals.
So let’s go over how you interview someone- What is the point of interviewing someone?
What are some of the things you want to find out? Have them list it on the board. Guide them to have these things- Details of life- where they were born, where they live, what they do
What they believe in
Their favorite things
Hobbies
After they have this, pretend that the phone has rung. Get into costume and become AR Orage, editor of the New Age.
Come in with the New Age and introduce yourself. Say that Mr. Shore told you that his class will interview him. Calmly and coolly explain yourself and answer their questions. Make sure that you are lively but close to the chest. Talk about Socialism and about the wit of your journal. Remind the class that they should be taking notes. Then you have to go.
Come back as Mr. Shore. Ask the class what they thought about AR Orage. Was he nice? What was he like? Then say that another person is supposed to come. Make sure to ask the same good questions.
Come in as the boisterous and angry Wynham Lewis. This time, introduce yourself and keep talking. Talk about your magazines Blast and the Tyro. Show the pictures of covers on the board. Have the students ask you questions and talk about your contemporary AR Orage, Edith Sitwell, and Ezra Pound.
Last but not least, either I will dress up or have another teacher come in dressed as Edith Sitwell. First, she will read a poem from Wheels. Then she will take questions.
Assessment- Write a summary of the three individuals they met today
Homework- Tomorrow, you will be meeting Ezra Pound, a great modernist writer. Write 5 good questions for him.
Before you introduce the final project the next day, I will come dressed in a suit to be Ezra Pound and answer their questions.
Final Project
Goal- Create a Modernist Magazine of your creation.
What does that Mean?
We have been studying different types of magazines from the modernist period. We have looked at modernist art, articles, and advertisements. Now it’s YOUR turn to take this energy and make your own modernist journal.
It must have:
2 articles that show sarcasm and wit
2 advertisements
1 letter from a reader (short about 8 sentences)
1 piece of modernist artwork (can be drawing or collage)
Cover and title
Model-
Have a completed journal for them to see with each part of the asignment
Appendix
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