2 | Research + living histories
Essential Questions
Multimedia Texts
Assessments
- How can an event affect someone even if they were not directly involved in it?
- How can an event change an entire community of people?
- How can history be told through stories and images?
Multimedia Texts
- Nine, Ten: A September 11 Story, Nora Raleigh Baskin
- Boatlift: An Untold Tale of 9/11 Resilience (Video)
- 9/11 Memorial and Museum Website: Oral Histories
- 9/11 Memorial and Museum Website: Gestures | Manju Shandler
- NewsELA: A History of 9/11 Attacks, Who Counts as a Terrorist, Prejudice and Progress
Assessments
Stories in transparency project
RESEARCH | Oral Histories
Visit the 9/11 Memorial and Museum Oral Histories page (if you cannot click on this link, type in Google search: 9/11 Memorial Museum Oral Histories). Pick out four different people with four different stories about their 9/11 experiences (survivor, first responder, fire fighter, police officer, relative of victim, etc.).
Unveiling Stories
CREATION | Transparencies
You will make a total of four transparencies that tell the oral histories you studied on the 9/11 Memorial and Museum website. These transparencies will also demonstrate your understanding of the literary elements we have studied in class.
ANALYSIS | Artist Statements
Oral History | Briefly summarize the oral history you listened to from the 9/11 Memorial and Museum website. Be specific as possible with exact details (i.e. the person’s name, their description of what they experienced, etc.)
Theme | Identify what you learned from this person and their story.
Creation | Describe what you created and what your viewer is supposed to understand from your image. Identify the literary element you used and what it represents. For example, you might have used all reds and oranges to symbolize fear, rage, and love, explain that. Maybe you drew a fireman holding the Twin Towers to characterize their bravery and sacrifice.
PUBLICATION | Reading Portfolio
Take a picture of your image. Consider placing your image on top of white paper or holding it in front of a window when taking the photo. Publish the picture and your artist statement on the Academic Artifacts page of your Reading Portfolio. Use the four picture, four text boxes template on the right side of the page. Give your transparencies a title.
Visit the 9/11 Memorial and Museum Oral Histories page (if you cannot click on this link, type in Google search: 9/11 Memorial Museum Oral Histories). Pick out four different people with four different stories about their 9/11 experiences (survivor, first responder, fire fighter, police officer, relative of victim, etc.).
- Listen to their story. Don’t worry about taking notes. Just. Listen.
- Listen to their story a second time. This time complete the Unveiling Stories thinking routine.
Unveiling Stories
- SUMMARY: What is the story? What did the person experience on 9/11? What did they see, feel, think, do?
- INFERENCING: What is the untold story? What do you know about what happened on 9/11 that you can use to fill in some of the missing details of the story? (For example, Story: story is about a first responder that was at the base of one of the Towers when it collapsed. Untold Story: you know that it collapsed because terrorists highjacked a plane and crashed it into the Tower).
- THEME: What is the human story? What does this person’s story help you understand about how humans behave? What will they do or how will they respond in crisis?
- CREATION: Draft transparency image
CREATION | Transparencies
You will make a total of four transparencies that tell the oral histories you studied on the 9/11 Memorial and Museum website. These transparencies will also demonstrate your understanding of the literary elements we have studied in class.
- Characterization: Create a transparency that focuses on the person telling the story and who they are as a character.
- Metaphor: Create a transparency that includes a metaphor (compares two different thing, the plane is like a bird rising into the sky)
- Symbolism: Create a transparency that includes a symbol (an object that represents something else, a flower that represents an explosion)
- Theme: Create a transparency that includes a thematic topic that represents the human experience, reaction, or feeling (thematic topics could include bravery, sacrifice, hope, etc.)
ANALYSIS | Artist Statements
Oral History | Briefly summarize the oral history you listened to from the 9/11 Memorial and Museum website. Be specific as possible with exact details (i.e. the person’s name, their description of what they experienced, etc.)
- Who was the oral history about?
- What did they experience on 9/11?
- How did they react to the events around them? How did they feel?
Theme | Identify what you learned from this person and their story.
- What is the human story?
- What does this person’s story help you understand about how humans behave?
- What will they do or how will they respond in crisis?
Creation | Describe what you created and what your viewer is supposed to understand from your image. Identify the literary element you used and what it represents. For example, you might have used all reds and oranges to symbolize fear, rage, and love, explain that. Maybe you drew a fireman holding the Twin Towers to characterize their bravery and sacrifice.
PUBLICATION | Reading Portfolio
Take a picture of your image. Consider placing your image on top of white paper or holding it in front of a window when taking the photo. Publish the picture and your artist statement on the Academic Artifacts page of your Reading Portfolio. Use the four picture, four text boxes template on the right side of the page. Give your transparencies a title.
Nine, Ten: A September 11 Story Book review
Paragraph 1 | Summary
Paragraph 2 | Characterization
Paragraph 3 | Conflict
Paragraph 4 | Theme
Professional Publication
The book review should be published on the Reading Log page of your digital Reading Portfolio.
- What is the book about?
- When does the story take place? Where does the story take place?
- What is another book that is similar to this story? What makes them similar?
Paragraph 2 | Characterization
- Who are the main characters? Who is the hero (protagonist)? Who is the villain (antagonist)?
- How do the characters interact with each other?
- What do you like about the characters? What don’t you like about the characters? Why?
Paragraph 3 | Conflict
- What is the main conflict in the story?
- How do the characters respond to the conflict?
- What do you think about their response to the conflict? Why do you think they respond the way they do? What do you think they should have done differently?
Paragraph 4 | Theme
- What do you think you are supposed to learn from the story? What is the story suggesting about young adults? About human nature? About society?
- Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why?
- Rate your book. Five stars means it was one of the best books you have ever read. Zero stars means you hated it so much you can’t even comprehend why your teacher forced you to read it. Remember just because you hated the ending or the conflict or a character, doesn’t mean you hated the book. In fact, generally the more impassioned or emotional you are with a book (even a negative emotion) means you enjoyed it in some way.
Professional Publication
The book review should be published on the Reading Log page of your digital Reading Portfolio.
- Title: title of the novel (in italics) and author’s name
- Format: block paragraphs, no indents, spaces between paragraphs
- Image of the book cover