Giving voice to history
http://www.artsedge.kennedy-center.org/content/3432/
A lesson plan for Grade 5 and 11 United States History, Advanced Placement United States History, Theatre Arts: All Other High School Electives, and English III
About this resource
- Appropriate grades
- 5 and 11
- Subjects
- arts (theater), English language arts (writing), social studies (United States history), thinking skills (critical literacy, higher order thinking, information literacy, research skills), diverse learners (multiple intelligences), teaching methods (experiential learning)
- Provider
- The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
Legal
This catalog record is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 License. This license applies to the content of this page only and does not apply to the referenced website.
In this ARTSEDGE lesson, students explore a somber period in American history. During World War II the U.S. government ordered more than 120,000 Japanese Americans to detainment camps. Drawing upon research and analyzing a variety of sources, including the historical novel The Journal of Ben Uchida, firsthand accounts, government documents, and select portions of the Bill of Rights to the U.S. Constitution, students will write dramatic monologues that testify to some of the injustices of this period.
Students will:
- conduct research and analyze primary and secondary historical sources as background for script writing;
- work in groups to discuss topics with others in order to help clarify and define to their own opinions; and
- write theater scripts based upon actual people, places, and events.
ARTSEDGE provides detailed instructions for completing the lesson, a supply list, suggestions for assessment and extension activities, and links to related web resources, student handouts, and an assessment rubric.
North Carolina Curriculum Alignment
Theatre Arts Education (2001)
Grades 9–12 — Theatre Arts: All Other High School Electives
- Goal 1: The learner will write based on personal experience and heritage, imagination, literature, and history.
- Objective 1.01: Understand, discuss and/or write about the form and structure of scripts.
- Objective 1.02: Understand, discuss and/or write about the basic content of plays.
- Goal 5: The learner will research by finding information to support informal or formal productions.
- Objective 5.01: Analyze the impact history and theatre have had upon each other.
- Objective 5.03: Explain theatre's role in society and the world.
Social Studies (2003)
Grades 11–12 — Advanced Placement United States History
- Goal 13: World War II (1930-1945): The learner will trace the reemergence of the United States in world affairs, including analyzing the causes and effects of the United States involvement in World War II.
- Objective 13.04: Analyze the impact of World War II on political, economic, and social life of the United States.
- Objective 13.05: Summarize the results of war-time conferences, the impact of the war on U.S. domestic and foreign affairs, and the rise of the United States as an international super power.
Grades 11–12 — United States History
- Goal 10: World War II and the Beginning of the Cold War (1930s-1963) - The learner will analyze United States involvement in World War II and the war's influence on international affairs in following decades.
- Objective 10.03: Describe and analyze the effects of the war on American economic, social, political, and cultural life.
- Objective 10.05: Assess the role of organizations established to maintain peace and examine their continuing effectiveness.
English Language Arts (2004)
Grade 11 — English III
- Goal 1: The learner will demonstrate increasing insight and reflection to print and non-print text through personal expression.
- Objective 1.01: Create memoirs that give an audience a sense of how the past can be significant for the present by:
- elaborating upon a significant past episode from the student's current perspective.
- projecting the student's voice in the work through reflective interpretation of relationships to people and events.
-writing for a specific audience and purpose. - Objective 1.02: Reflect and respond expressively to texts so that the audience will:
- discover multiple perspectives.
- investigate connections between life and literature.
- explore how the student's life experiences influence his or her response to the selection.
- recognize how the responses of others may be different.
- articulate insightful connections between life and literature.
-consider cultural or historical significance.
- Objective 1.01: Create memoirs that give an audience a sense of how the past can be significant for the present by:
- Goal 2: The learner will inform an audience by using a variety of media to research and explain insights into language and culture.
- Objective 2.01: Research ideas, events, and/or movements related to United States culture by:
- locating facts and details for purposeful elaboration.
- organizing information to create a structure for purpose, audience, and context.
- excluding extraneous information.
-providing accurate documentation. - Objective 2.02: Examine and explain how culture influences language through projects such as:
- showing the evolution of forms of communication in the United States (e.g., the Pony Express, telegraph, telephone, fax, e-mail).
- tracing the development of technology in a particular area such as audio or video recordings, radio, television, and film.
- demonstrating proficiency in accessing and sending information electronically, using conventions appropriate to the audience. - Objective 2.03: Respond to informational texts by:
- using a variety of strategies for preparation, engagement, and reflection.
- paraphrasing main ideas and supporting details present in texts.
-explaining significant connections among the speaker's/author's purpose, tone, biases, and the message for the intended audience.
- Objective 2.01: Research ideas, events, and/or movements related to United States culture by:
