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Robin
Trapani, Lindsey Marzec, Emily
Spielman
09
Project
Summary
Frewsburg Central School
Our Eleanor: A
Scrapbook Look at Eleanor Roosevelt's Remarkable Life
1. General Overview of the Proposed Project:
In order to study human rights
issues of the past and the present, students in 8th and
11th grade will read the book Our Eleanor: A
Scrapbook Look at Eleanor Roosevelt’s Remarkable Life, by
Candace Fleming. The 8th & 11th grade English, Social
Studies and School Library Media Specialist will be collaborating to
develop a cadre of lessons and experiences highlighting the life and
accomplishments of Eleanor Roosevelt and how her views, progressive
for their era, have proven to be timeless. For a culminating event
we are working with Allida Black, Director and Editor of the Eleanor
Roosevelt Papers, for a possible visit to discuss our themes and
topics.
2. Clear Purpose and Objectives
The purpose of the “Our Eleanor”
Project is to enhance and honor Eleanor Roosevelt’s legacy by
bringing her life work into focus for students and highlighting her
contributions to our society. The First Lady once said, “We make
our own history….it is not so much the powerful leaders that
determine our destiny as the much more powerful influence of the
combined voices of the people themselves.”
3. Stakeholders: grade level, who will
benefit, who will participate in this project
All 8th and 11th
grade students will be participating in this project. From their
study of Eleanor’s philosophies we hope to create an environment
that encourages empathy and civil responsibility throughout the
school.
4. NYS Standards
NYS Social Standards
Standard 1-History of
the United States and New York
Standard 2-World
History
Standard 5-Civics,
Citizenship and Government
ELA Standards
Standard 1-Language
for Information and Understanding
Standard 2-Language
for Literary Response and Expression
Standard 3-Language
for Critical Analysis and Evaluation
Standard 4-Language
for Social Interaction
5. Outline Describing Content
·
At least one classroom set of the book Our Eleanor
will be purchased
·
The collaborating teachers involved will develop
activities around 4 major themes present in the book; Human Rights,
Women’s Rights, Civil Rights, & Eleanor Roosevelt’s Work as First
Lady
·
The activities will be based on resources which
include Our Eleanor, databases, the Eleanor Roosevelt Papers
including the My Day columns, clips from PowerMedia Plus, websites,
print resources and others
·
Learning station activities will be created to give
students the opportunity to work collaboratively with their peers to
explore and discover the “Eleanor Effect” and it’s relevance in
today’s society.
·
Students will create an illustrative timeline to be
placed in the library
·
Students will create a display to highlight “Lessons
Learned” from Eleanor
·
The students will use a current event to write an
essay connecting Eleanor’s vision to today’s society
·
A program will be developed to host Allida Black
6.
Software to be used, internet materials, contacts, etc.
Students will use online databases and
approved Internet resources. They will be directed to use the
Eleanor Roosevelt papers, as well as primary sources found on
PowerMedia plus and American Memory. In the realm of technology,
the district has 15 licenses for Garage Band and the Microsoft
program Photostory 3. The completed podcasts or other media
presentations will be posted on the teacher, library, or district
webpages.
7. Level of Student Involvement
Students will be involved in all
aspects of this program. They will be immersed in primary source
documents, Eleanor Roosevelt’s writings as well as researching what
scholars say about her impact on the world.
8. Evaluation process
·
Essays/Projects
·
Rubric
o
Content
o
Grammar/Mechanics
o
Organization
·
Daily Assignment Checks
·
Podcast/Photostory 3
o
Each student will have a role to be assessed
9. The Timeline: how you envision the
project being carried and out between start and conclusion
The timeline for this project is
still in a developmental phase. We plan on creating the lessons
throughout the Fall semester with the intention of using the
material in the Spring of 2009 prior to the event with Allida Black.
Throughout the developmental phase we will submit our curriculum for
review to TAH and Allida.
Frewsburg Central School
School Library Media Specialist 7-12
Final Reflection
TAH Grant
Our Eleanor
By Candace Fleming
The creation of this unit of study
based on Our Eleanor by Candace Fleming has been an
incredible journey. Last summer we were approach by the members of
the TAH staff to create this unit. We had the incredible experience
of meeting with Allida Black, the coordinator of the Eleanor
Roosevelt Papers, at the Corning TAH conference. With Allida’s
inspiration we set out to build a curricular unit that would provide
students with an appreciation and an understanding of the timeless
influence Eleanor Roosevelt has had on our country and the world
stage.
Our original proposal was to
create a collaborative unit for the 8th and 11th
grade students at Frewsburg MS/HS. The level of the curriculum
submitted at the present time is best suited for the middle school
student. The Our Eleanor book, which is the focal point of
our curriculum, is intended for grades 4-8. That is not to say that
many of these activities could not be reworked to be better suited
for 11th grade students.
As we did with our past “Little
Read” project on Robert H. Jackson, we intend to purchase a copy of
the Our Eleanor book for every student in the project. This will be
done by soliciting funds from parents, business partners, district
funds, and local philanthropic organizations. From my previous
experience with the “Little Read,” I believe that when the students
received their own copy of the book a new learning atmosphere was
created. It sent the message that this was a special and important
event, that they were getting the opportunity to participate in. By
involving all of the major players, not only will the students
benefit, but the staff and Frewsburg Community as a whole, will have
the opportunity to learn about Mrs. Roosevelt and reflect how her
message can still be related to current events today.
The Eleanor Roosevelt Project will
be incorporated in the 8th Grade English/Social Studies
curriculum during the 2009/2010 school year. Mrs. Marzec, 8th
grade ELA teacher will spend a week in the classroom doing the
section activities based upon the Our Eleanor book by
Fleming. These activities focus on major areas of Eleanor
Roosevelt’s life growing up, as First Lady of New York, as First
Lady of the Nation and as First Lady of the World. The cadre of
activities will allow the students to explore and learn about Mrs.
Roosevelt through differentiated instructional techniques. Two
subsequent days of class will be spent in the library doing the
outlined learning stations to further enhance the students
experience and learning of Eleanor Roosevelt. The culminating event
of the unit will be a full day celebration of Eleanor Roosevelt’s
125 birthday. The three events are in the planning stages. We would
like to host the author Candace Fleming and Allida Black at
Frewsburg Central. This of course would be the main event. Other
venues would be in place to cycle the students through. For
example, parts of the American Experience Video on Eleanor Roosevelt
would be shown in the auditorium and a dramatic experience with
“Meet the Press” flair will be held in our Community Room. The
Social Studies Department will be invited to participate in
supporting all aspects of this endeavor.
The benefit of this experience for
me personally is the opportunity to create a quality
cross-curricular unit that will impact our students. By engaging
them in reading, use of primary source material, and technology,
they will learn about this very important First Lady. Successes of
events such as these are the result of hard work on the part of the
staff, a commitment on the part of the district, and the support of
the TAH project. Next year’s Eleanor Extravaganza is an event you
won’t want to miss!
Lindsay Marzec
8th and 11th
Grade English Teacher
Frewsburg Central School, Frewsburg,
NY 14738
Our Eleanor
by Candace Fleming
Project Reflection:
Over the course of the last
year, I have been working with my fellow educators on a unit based
around Candace Fleming's Our Eleanor. When we first began to
work on the project, I knew that Eleanor Roosevelt was a very
influential and unique First Lady, but what I didn't know was that
she was almost superhuman in her energy and insight towards American
society.
As we began to work with
the book and in our discussions about what we would focus on in our
teaching, it became obvious that there were many connections between
the society which Eleanor helped to shape on the society in American
today. With the financial crisis, war and social programs being the
main topics of discussion in the news, I couldn't help but
constantly refer back to Eleanor and her efforts to fix these
similar problems during her lifetime. I know that this modern day
connection will be a great way to involve my 8th grade
students in the studies about Eleanor that we have planned for next
year.
As Eleanor's 125th
birthday will be celebrated next fall, we have decided that it would
be a perfect year to teach this biography. The unit includes the
usual chapter discussion questions, graphic organizers and
reflection pieces, but it also includes a 2-day library unit in
which students will be completing a number of stations created
around Mrs. Roosevelt's life. These stations will allow students to
connect to Eleanor in a way that allows them to see the big picture,
and with Eleanor, that picture is very vast and detailed, a mosaic
of life events which almost seem impossible in number and in
magnitude. The unit would wrap up with an essay contest, and an
"event" day. We are hoping to secure Candace Fleming and Allida
Black as presenters for our first event. The remaining two events
will include a "meet the press" group presentation and The American
Experience video on Eleanor Roosevelt.
In creating this unit, as I
stated earlier, I was blown away by Eleanor Roosevelt influence on
the world. There were some struggles in creating this unit as the
book was written in a style that is very different from the norm.
However, I feel as though the scrapbook style will work well with my
8th grade students as it is concise and organized in a
way that allows students to have easy access to the information.
The plethora of information was almost at times overwhelming because
I wanted my students to focus on all the good that Eleanor did in
the world without forgetting that she was a woman with her own
struggles and issues. As a way to approach the overwhelming nature
of Eleanor's life, we decided to focus on Eleanor's efforts in the
fight for human rights, women's rights, and civil rights. This
allowed for a focus for all of our activities.
When thinking about what I
would do differently, I think that I would create more using the
technology available to our students. Because Eleanor was involved
in so many pursuits, she is an easy Internet search. Over the
summer, we will be looking at the almost unending resources on the
computer to create more activities for students to complete.
As the school year is ending, I
find myself thinking about next year and what I want to accomplish
with my students. I know that Eleanor Roosevelt is a great way to
focus on the themes which are essential for students to study. As I
believe character is the number one subject we should be teaching, I
can't think of a better person to study than the "World's First
Lady." Because of the nature of Eleanor's life, I know that this
unit will be successful. I look forward to experiencing Our
Eleanor with my students and with my fellow colleagues as it is
impossible to not fall in love with Eleanor's passion and
enthusiasm.
Emily Spielman
English Teacher
Frewsburg Central School
Final Reflection for TAH Grant
Our Eleanor By Candace Fleming
After our wonderful experience teaching our
students about the life and times of Robert H. Jackson using Gail
Jarrow’s biography, Robert H. Jackson: New Deal Lawyer, Supreme
Court Justice, Nuremberg Prosecutor, we felt compelled to
develop another unit based on a book about a historically important
figure. Eleanor Roosevelt was such a driving force behind many of
her husband’s presidential accomplishments, and so many of the
policies she supported and the causes she championed parallel what
is going on our world today. It therefore seemed appropriate to
choose her, and the book Our Eleanor by Candace Fleming
offers a unique scrapbook look at her fascinating life.
Our plan was
to create another collaborative unit for our 8th and
possibly 11th grade students by incorporating the history
department into our curriculum. While the book is geared toward
grades 4-8, we felt the historical importance and modern
significance of Eleanor and her accomplishments could be expanded
upon with older students as well. When implementing our curriculum,
we hope to purchase a copy of Our Eleanor for each student involved
by fundraising. We will appeal to parents, local businesses and
philanthropic organizations as well as utilizing our own district’s
funds to raise the money to do this. It was amazing last year to
see the sense of ownership and pride exhibited by the students when
they received their very own copy of the Robert H. Jackson book, and
we hope to emulate that next year.
Our proposed
curriculum includes many elements. It will be taught during the
Fall semester and incorporate 8th grade ELA and social
studies classes. Mrs. Marzec will spend the first week in her ELA
classroom doing section activities based on Fleming’s Our Eleanor
and chronicling Eleanor’s life from childhood, through her political
rise using differentiated instruction. The classes will then move
to the library to do learning stations that will build upon their
knowledge of Eleanor’s life and the social issues she tackled.
Finally, we plan on celebrating what would be Eleanor’s 125th
birthday with an all-day event featuring three sections. Hopefully
we will be able to bring author Candace Fleming and Allida Black,
Project Director of the Eleanor Roosevelt Papers to the school to
speak with our students about Eleanor and the process of writing
such a research-rich book for one section. We anticipate using
parts of the American Experience Video in our auditorium for another
section. And for our third section, we would like to do a “Meet the
Press” style activity in our Community Room.
I have
learned so much from simply reading Our Eleanor and designing our
curriculum and I am extremely excited to see what we have created
actually taught and implemented. I didn’t know much about Eleanor
Roosevelt when we first chose the book but now I realize what an
important American icon she truly was, and I hope her incredible
work ethic and zest for life and humanity will leave a lasting
impression on our students. I always look forward to projects like
this one that incorporate reading and history and get our students
into the library to use resources in unique ways.
See the Compilation Document:
site_files/Teacher_Resources/TAH
Teacher Projects_files/Teacher Summaries/Roosevelt Collation.doc
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