Project Narrative

This two-week lesson will have students analyze historical depictions of African-

Americans from the turn of the 20th century for bias, intent, and the perspectives that have

shaped American history and the representations of African-Americans we can see today. This

lesson was designed for high school Sophomores and/or Juniors and references the Arizona

Department of Education High School History and Social Studies content area standards.

Learning Goals and Outcomes

The essential goal of this lesson is to guide students in answering the essential question,

“How can acknowledging and addressing stereotypes help us to understand and empathize with

marginalized communities worldwide?”. On the first day of the problem-based lesson, students

will be asked to think of a time when someone said or believed something about them that

wasn’t true and how it made them feel. Right from the beginning, this lesson is designed to have

students making personal connections to the material and building the historical empathy

referenced in HS.SP2.3. Nonetheless, throughout the lesson students will be asked to deepen

whatever understanding they already possess of how perspectives, contexts, artistic expressions

and national identities have shaped the understanding of history which many of us take for

granted.

By the end of the lesson, students will be able to analyze primary sources for bias and

stereotypes (HS.SP2.2. HS.SP3.3), begin to make connections between the propaganda of an

oppressor and the portrayals of marginalized groups that they see in the media today, present

arguments and explanations that through various forms of media to a group of their peers

(HS.SP3.8), and explain how artistic and interpretative ideas have shaped society (HS.H4.2)..

Description of Learning Activities

 Students will create a piece of art contemporary to the post-Harlem Renaissance era of

American History which uplifts, empowers, or is inspired by the African-American subjects of

the work as those individuals would have seen themselves and their achievements. These student

art projects will be accompanied by a brief, two paragraph didactic panel summarizing the

perspective of their work of art and the aspect of American-American life in the early 20th

century which it represents. Student summaries and art projects will be graded based on the

rubric included with the lesson plan attached in the appendix. These student works will be

displayed either in the hallway or courtyard (pending administrative approval) of the school for

viewing by other students and, specifically, other social studies classes.

Student will build knowledge through a combination of analysis of primary source

artifacts, viewing of historical art samples, and class discussion of key vocabulary including

propaganda, stereotype, and power dynamics. Students will be invited to work independently, in

pairs, or in groups on completing their final art project and encouraged to utilize digital as well

as physical (analog) means of creating their final artifact. Throughout the 10-day lesson, I will

check for understanding and facilitate respectful discussion through bell work, exit tickets, class

discussion, circulation through classroom, and through careful of first and second drafts of the

didactic panels which will accompany student art in the final display.

Assessment

Beyond the formative means of assessment outlined above, the final, student “mini-

museum” will include a feedback box where any students who take the time to view the art can

leave guided feedback regarding how the art made them feel, what it made them think about, and

how it effected their view of history. As a summative assessment, students will review this

feedback as a class (after I have reviewed each piece of feedback for appropriate language) and
reflect within their online journals how their art was received. This will be the final check for

understanding and historical empathy for students and asks them to analyze the effect that

perceptions can have on understanding. This entire exercise will connect the mini-museum

created throughout the lesson to the original learning goals, objectives, and essential question

from the beginning of the lesson.

Sustaining the Project and Innovation

Technology

Technology will be integrated into this lesson from the beginning through to the end and

students will be encouraged to utilize any online or digital resources at their disposal in the

process of researching, composing or presenting their artwork project. To begin with, I will

create a Padlet page with all of the primary source media that students will view in the first

couple of days of the project. This will include previous lesson lectures and slides, samples of

Harlem Renaissance-era dance and music, images from the time of mammys, Jim Crow, and

other African-American stereotypes. Additionally, I will leave there excellent jumping-off points

for research including links to the Library of Congress archive (loc.gov) and the National

Museum of African American History and Culture (nmaahc.si.edu). In this way, I hope to create

a digital homepage for this lesson and a touchstone resource for student understanding.

In addition, I welcome students to incorporate any digital skills that they excel at. If a

student excels in using Photoshop and wants to create an uplifting re-creation of a Jim Crow-era

artwork, I would welcome that. If a student excels at mixing music and wants to create a sample

of jazz or big band music reminiscent of the Harlem Renaissance, I would be thrilled to play it

during the final display of student art. In every way possible, I hope to incorporate modern
technological literacy into my future classroom and allow student creativity to thrive in its use as

well.

After Proposal Period

Shortly after this lesson, the class and I will begin moving into the powerful way that

propaganda was used in both World Wars and how that translated into American gender roles,

pop-culture, and the concept of the nuclear family shortly after. We will expand upon the causes

and effects of propaganda as it applies not only to race, but to religion, nationality, political party

and ideology as well as history moves forward.

Innovation

What I love the most about this lesson is its potential to get students to not only dive deep

into the content, but that the content is uniquely posed at a point in history during which

understanding perspectives, biases, and competing agendas will become especially important.

The lesson is constructed to get students thinking metacognitively about their own biases and

stepping outside of their own comfort zone to exhibit and expand their historical empathy in a

way which will be put in display for their peers. This lesson will require the teacher to facilitate

constructive discussion and have a keen eye for disrespect of racial differences, but the challenge

of doing so would be a truly exciting experience.