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The Great War
Arts Integrated Lesson Plans and Materials for Teaching WW1 & Wit & Wisdom Grade 8 “The Great War”
Propaganda Gallery
Pairs with Wit & Wisdom Lesson 3
Students will do a gallery walk viewing multiple images of WWI propaganda to immerse themselves in the messages being spread at the time. Students will dissect the use of images, words, fonts, and colors in multiple pieces of propaganda in order to analyze both the textual and symbolic messages being spread at the time and understand how those messages affected the attitudes and understanding of the Great War.
COMMON CORE STATE STANDARDS
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RL.8.1 – Cite the textual evidence that most strongly supports an analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
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RL.8.2 – Determine a central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text, including its relationship to supporting ideas; provide an objective summary of the text.
NATIONAL ARTS STANDARDS
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VA:Re7.2.8a – Compare and contrast contexts and media in which viewers encounter images that influence ideas, emotions, and actions.
WHY THE ARTS
- This module asks students to put themselves in the shoes of these young soldiers. There is no better way to understand what was influencing them than with the art and media they consumed at the time. People were then and still are persuaded by art. To leave the art out of the story means the story is incomplete.
ASSESSMENT
Since this lesson comes early in the unit, students might not know the toll that the great war would take on British society. Nor do they understand how people their age were actually excited to go off to war.
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Formative:
- Ask students if they would join a war? You’re likely to get overwhelmingly nos. Then why would so many young British men want to? What kind of messages could convince you to join a war? Glory, honor, money?
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Summative:
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Worksheet – With the knowledge you have now, why might someone join the war? What kind of messages did you find most effective?
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LESSON CONNECTIONS
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Lessons 3-4: These lessons focus on why people would willingly join a war. A major reason was the fact that the war was viewed as heroic and gave them a sense of purpose, due in large part to the propaganda of the time.
CONNECTION TO MODULE GOALS/EOM TASK
- The EOM asks students to write an explanatory essay about one of the psychological effects of war described in “All Quiet on the Western Front” and develop that essay with evidence from the text. The shattering of expectations led to the psychological effects Paul experienced in the book. Seeing the positively-framed propaganda juxtaposed with the realities of the war coming up in the unit helps students empathize with Paul and understand those psychological effects more deeply.
WIT & WISDOM INSTRUCTIONAL ROUTINES
- Gallery Walk / Stop and Jot
MATERIALS
STUDENT PREREQUISITES
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While war is broadly frowned upon or seen as a last resort today, students should know this was not always the case. It was good and noble to die for your country and people were excited for the opportunity to do so. Students need that context and to know broadly what propaganda is.
ACCESSIBILITY
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While a gallery walk typically happens with physical images hung around the space, this can easily be done projecting the slideshow images.
INTRODUCTION
Using the slideshow, introduce students to propaganda. If this is a new term to them, take some time to explain slightly more in depth and remind them that they should have discussed propaganda during their 7th grade module on Animal Farm.
ENGAGE
Pass out copies of the Propaganda Worksheet
Remind students that the focusing question for this arc is why countries or individuals would join the war. A major reason could be the messages they were seeing at the time.
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- Linger on each slide and allow students to complete all questions until then. If they are struggling to develop ideas, you can ask additional prompting questions like “What colors do they use? What could that represent? What words are used? Fonts?”
- On slide #8 allow students to compare and contrast U.S. vs U.K. propaganda asking similar prompting questions if needed.
- Once students have had a chance to complete their worksheet, begin the gallery walk portion.
GALLERY WALK
During a gallery walk, students will view each other’s responses. Remember that there isn’t a “right” answer, but rather answers should be justified with evidence.
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- Students can respond to each other’s sheets with a check mark to mean “I agree,” a question mark for “I want to know more,” and optionally an x to mean “I disagree.”
Students will head back to their desks and the teacher will facilitate a conversation about the propaganda as a whole, paying special attention to lead discussions about responses with question marks.
Finally, with the knowledge they’ve gained from analyzing and responding to multiple examples of propaganda, ask the focusing question (FQ1) again:
Why would countries and individuals join WWI?
BRAIN TARGETED TEACHING IN THE CLASSROOM
The Emotional Climate:
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If you know any of your students have active duty family members, be mindful of responses in class discussions.
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Also alert your school counselor or social worker a week ahead of time, as themes in AQWF can be triggering for students and they may need support.
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The Physical Space:
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Having a clear path for students to walk, free of obstacles.
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ROOT BRANCH MEDIA GROUP – BRING ROOT BRANCH TO YOUR SCHOOL!
All video content made in partnership with Baltimore’s Root Branch Media Group.
MITCH HARRIS – BRING MITCH TO YOUR SCHOOL!
Mitch Harris is an educator, actor, and writer with more than 12 years of experience integrating the arts into core subject areas in K-12 schools throughout the country and around the world. As a member of the Inner City Teaching Corps in Chicago, the Program Director of the Paramount Story Wranglers in Austin, and most recently a Resident Teaching Artist Fellow with Arts Every Day in Baltimore, Mitch believes that students learn best when utilizing their bodies, voices, and imaginations to actively embody curricular content in a way that sticks long after leaving the classroom. To connect or learn more about his work, visit www.mitchharris.org.
SHAR HAMPTON
Shar Hampton is a dedicated educator who teaches 9th grade history (World Cultures) and 10th grade history (Making Modern Europe) at the Gilman School. In addition to her teaching role, she also serves as the assistant sprint coach for indoor and outdoor track. Her educational foundation in interdisciplinary learning began at the Asheville School in Asheville, North Carolina, where she was a humanities teacher who taught European Studies through a variety of disciplines. Shar holds a Bachelor of Arts in History from Spelman College in Atlanta.
Poetry Perspectives
Pairs with Wit & Wisdom Lesson 19
Students will read/view various perspectives from poets, writers, and artists involved with World War I to think critically about the concepts of storytelling, who gets to tell these stories, and which story is more credible.
COMMON CORE STATE STANDARDS
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L.8.6 – Acquire and use accurately grade-appropriate general academic and domain-specific words and phrases; gather vocabulary knowledge when considering a word or phrase important to comprehension or expression.
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RL.8.10 – By the end of the year, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poems, at the high end of grades 6-8 text complexity band independently and proficiently.
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RL.8.4 – Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone, including analogies or allusions to other texts.
NATIONAL ARTS STANDARDS
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VA:Re7.1.8a – Explain how a person’s aesthetic choices are influenced by culture and environment and impact the visual image that one conveys to others
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VA:Re7.2.8a – Compare and contrast contexts and media in which viewers encounter images that influence ideas, emotions, and actions.
WHY THE ARTS
- By exposing the students to multiple pieces of art including poetry and visual art, students are able to develop a more holistic picture of the war, instead of the limited perspectives in the unit.
ASSESSMENT
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Formative: Students should be able to find and evaluate textual evidence to support why young boys/men would want to go to war.
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They should be able to demonstrate the shift in tone from Zwieg to Sasson’s poem and the use the psychological vocabulary (disillusionment).
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Students should also be able to make connections from AQWF to the themes in the poems and readings (Suicide in the Trenches; Chapter 6.), (Base Details; Himmelstoss).
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By this point, students will have also seen Gassed by Sargent. If given context and background on Sargent and the painting, students should begin to question the credibility of Sargent’s work vs. Ernst and the writers. Ask if they believe Gassed to be considered an accurate depiction of WWI.
LESSON CONNECTIONS
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Lesson 19 – It connects to the poetry lessons by adding to active recall post Gassed. Because the artist wasn’t “there,” is it evoking the same emotion as the other work?
CONNECTION TO MODULE GOALS/EOM TASK
- The EOM task asks students to write about the psychological effects of war. By seeing varying perspectives from contemporary visual art and poetry from boots on the ground, they can discover differing perspectives on the war and its psychological effects.
WIT & WISDOM INSTRUCTIONAL ROUTINES
- Stop and Jot
TEACHER BACKGROUND
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Refer to Module 1 Lesson 29 – 33 to recall information about collages for help explaining Max Ernst’s The Chinese Nightingale.
INTRODUCTION
Horace Iles – Slide #17
1. Begin the lesson by showing students the portrait of Horace Iles. There are guiding questions for the students to write a creative biography for him on the slide. They may use information they know from AQWF to do so – this is a great moment to check for reading and comprehension!
2. Have students share out in groups and pick their favorites to share with the class.
3. Once students have shared, have them read the real biography of Horace Iles (Slide #18). Listen for reactions and questions. Ask students how old they think he was when he joined the military (he was 14 and turned 15 after joining.)
4. Allow students to sit with that given that a lot of them are about to turn 14 or have friends/siblings who are the same age.
ANALYSIS
Stefan Zweig – Slide #19
1. Allow students to read the excerpt from Stefan Zweig’s World of Yesterday. Ask students to provide textual evidence for why boys or Horace (emphasis on the fact that they are children) would want to go to war. Let students build on their own concepts of what war is without relying so heavily on the book just yet. The textual evidence is objective but their own opinions can be purely subjective.
2. Ask students to choose words the Zweig uses to describe what people thought war was in 1914.
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- Have them come up to the board and circle the words.
- Do they think those are accurate words to describe what war is like?
- Their circles should match the ones on the next slide (Slide #20).
- Have them come up to the board and circle the words.
ANALYSIS
“Suicide in the Trenches” / “Base Details” – Slides # 21-22
As you transition to Suicide in the Trenches, once students have finished reading, ask them if the tone has shifted and if so, to what?
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- What word can they use to describe that feeling (disillusionment)?
- What psychological effect is being described in the poem?
- Can students find textual evidence that supports various stanzas in the poem?
Ask students if they believe Sassoon is a more credible source than Sargent’s Gassed given the history of both poet and artist. Is Gassed an accurate representation of WWI?
OPTIONAL: ADDITIONAL ANALYSIS
“Disabled”
Disabled is pretty straightforward and students should be able to make a connection to Himmelstoss immediately; Kemmerich is a great connection as well! You can prompt students to think about the perspective of the soldier who is wounded since he is not the speaker of the poem.
OPPOSING PERSPECTIVES
Slides #23-24
You’ll end the lesson looking at Opposing Perspectives (Ernst vs. Sargent).
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- What are you looking at? (whole piece) vs. What do you see? (what parts make up the whole?)
Before you give any background about Ernst or the piece itself, let students jot down their thoughts.
BACKGROUND:
Max Ernst was a soldier during WWI as a field artilleryman. He himself was wounded during the war by the recoil of a gun. When Ernst was discharged after four years, he suffered from shell-shock. Ernst used art as a medium to express his experience and perspective on the war. The type of art Ernst made is considered Dadaist art. Dadaist art is a reflection of anti-war sentiments from citizens and soldiers across Europe and the United States. The art is characterized as chaotic and irrational, more often than not having much meaning at all – similarly to how some people felt during the war.
The Chinese Nightingale can be considered multimedia because it’s a collage. Ernst used clippings from a military magazine for the body of the “bird” (it’s an English war plane bomb). A woman’s arms and a fan were also added to create the rest of the bird. Given the materials Ernst uses and what he creates, prompts a conversation about trauma, peace, and war.
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- Once you introduce Ernst and the information about the piece, let them think about opposing views in piece (masculine = war vs. feminine = woman’s arms; war = bomb as main part of body vs. peace = bird being the whole body).
- Now, juxtapose The Chinese Nightingale with Gassed. Ask students now that they have all of this information, how do they view the pieces side by side. Which is more accurate in its representation of what soldiers experienced in the trenches of WWI? Is it from the outside looking in, or from the inside projected to the outside?
BRAIN TARGETED TEACHING IN THE CLASSROOM
The Emotional Climate:
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If any of your students have active duty family members, be mindful of responses in class discussions. Also, alert your school counselor or social worker a week ahead of time, as themes in AQWF can be triggering for students and they may need support.
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ROOT BRANCH MEDIA GROUP – BRING ROOT BRANCH TO YOUR SCHOOL!
All video content made in partnership with Baltimore’s Root Branch Media Group.
MITCH HARRIS – BRING MITCH TO YOUR SCHOOL!
Mitch Harris is an educator, actor, and writer with more than 12 years of experience integrating the arts into core subject areas in K-12 schools throughout the country and around the world. As a member of the Inner City Teaching Corps in Chicago, the Program Director of the Paramount Story Wranglers in Austin, and most recently a Resident Teaching Artist Fellow with Arts Every Day in Baltimore, Mitch believes that students learn best when utilizing their bodies, voices, and imaginations to actively embody curricular content in a way that sticks long after leaving the classroom. To connect or learn more about his work, visit www.mitchharris.org.
SHAR HAMPTON
Shar Hampton is a dedicated educator who teaches 9th grade history (World Cultures) and 10th grade history (Making Modern Europe) at the Gilman School. In addition to her teaching role, she also serves as the assistant sprint coach for indoor and outdoor track. Her educational foundation in interdisciplinary learning began at the Asheville School in Asheville, North Carolina, where she was a humanities teacher who taught European Studies through a variety of disciplines. Shar holds a Bachelor of Arts in History from Spelman College in Atlanta.
All Quiet on the Western Films
Pairs with Wit & Wisdom Lesson 26
Students will compare and contrast the storytelling methods utilized in the book “All Quiet on the Western Front,” using the 2022 Netflix film adaptation in addition to the 1930s film version currently in the curriculum.
COMMON CORE STATE STANDARDS
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RI.8.1 – Cite the textual evidence that most strongly supports an analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
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L.8.1 – Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.
NATIONAL ARTS STANDARDS
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MA:Re7.1.8a, MA:Re9.1.8.b – Evaluate media art works and production processes with developed criteria, considering context and artistic goals.
WHY THE ARTS
- The arts are already embedded in this module. By updating the materials to the 2022 film (in color with actors they may recognize), students may be even more immersed in the material and understand the emotional undertones. Additionally, students who struggle with reading comprehension can participate more fully with the use of video.
ASSESSMENT
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Formative: How does the book depict the war
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Summative: How does the film reinforce or challenge the depiction from the book?
LESSON CONNECTIONS
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Lesson 26
CONNECTION TO MODULE GOALS/EOM TASK
- The EOM task requires students to write about the psychological effects of war. Up until now they have heard about it, read about it, and wrote about it. But seeing the war play out on the screen in front of them can help students take those ideas off of the page and into a different, more vibrant medium.
WIT & WISDOM INSTRUCTIONAL ROUTINES
- Buttons and Boxes
MATERIALS
- Handout 25A
TEACHER BACKGROUND
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There are 3 versions of this movie – 1930, 1979, and 2022. While this lesson focuses on comparing/contrasting 1930 with 2022, feel free to incorporate 1979 as another perspective. This clip, while it does not directly tie in to the scene in the module, gives students a good idea of what different versions and different directorial choices can look like.
SET UP
Slide #26
Materials: Anchor Charts, Post-Its
Create two anchor charts for the two film adaptations of “All Quiet on the Western Front” (three if you want to include the 1979 version as well) with three sections each – acting, audio, and visual.
INTRODUCTION
Inform students that they will be watching clips from these films and using film analysis techniques in Handout 25A, focusing on the visual, audio, and acting choices that impact the film overall.
BOXES AND BUTTONS ADAPTATION
Using an adaptation of the Boxes and Buttons instructional strategy, students will receive 6 post its total. Three for each version of the film.
Students will watch each clip twice and must write one aspect they noticed for each category – acting, visual, and audio – and stick it on the appropriate category on the chart paper.
ENGAGE
Slides #27-28
Start with the 1930 version. Watch it through twice and allow students to categorize their information by placing their sticky note on the chart in the appropriate category.
Repeat this process for the 2022 Netflix version. Watching twice, writing a detail referring to the acting, audio, and visuals and posting it on the appropriate chart.
OPTIONAL: Shot for Shot Comparison (Slide #29)
DISCUSSION
Slide #30
Facilitate a conversation with your class. Since the EOM asks students to provide evidence, make sure each answer from students is backed up with information from the anchor chart. Optional questions include:
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- Which film did you like better and why? What specific elements from the post its make it “better”?
- Which film was most true to the original text and why?
- Which film was more emotionally impactful and why?
CLOSING
Return to the content framing question: How does viewing a film adaptation build my knowledge?
Using the sentence stems provided in the module: Studying the film adaptation expanded/changed/challenged/reinforced my knowledge of the novel because…
BRAIN TARGETED TEACHING IN THE CLASSROOM
The Emotional Climate:
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The clips, while not gruesome, do deal heavily with death. Make sure your class knows this before pressing play. The modern adaptation is more severe than 1930.
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ROOT BRANCH MEDIA GROUP – BRING ROOT BRANCH TO YOUR SCHOOL!
All video content made in partnership with Baltimore’s Root Branch Media Group.
MITCH HARRIS – BRING MITCH TO YOUR SCHOOL!
Mitch Harris is an educator, actor, and writer with more than 12 years of experience integrating the arts into core subject areas in K-12 schools throughout the country and around the world. As a member of the Inner City Teaching Corps in Chicago, the Program Director of the Paramount Story Wranglers in Austin, and most recently a Resident Teaching Artist Fellow with Arts Every Day in Baltimore, Mitch believes that students learn best when utilizing their bodies, voices, and imaginations to actively embody curricular content in a way that sticks long after leaving the classroom. To connect or learn more about his work, visit www.mitchharris.org.
SHAR HAMPTON
Shar Hampton is a dedicated educator who teaches 9th grade history (World Cultures) and 10th grade history (Making Modern Europe) at the Gilman School. In addition to her teaching role, she also serves as the assistant sprint coach for indoor and outdoor track. Her educational foundation in interdisciplinary learning began at the Asheville School in Asheville, North Carolina, where she was a humanities teacher who taught European Studies through a variety of disciplines. Shar holds a Bachelor of Arts in History from Spelman College in Atlanta.
Tabloo
Pairs with Wit & Wisdom Lesson 30
A combination of the Wit & Wisdom instructional strategy, Tableau and the popular charades-like card game Taboo, students will embody vocabulary through poses and understand the nuances between synonyms by guessing words, adapting tableaux, and ranking poses.
COMMON CORE STATE STANDARDS
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RL.8.1 – Cite the textual evidence that most strongly supports an analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
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L.8.1 – Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.
NATIONAL ARTS STANDARDS
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TH:Cr1.1.8.a– Imagine and explore multiple perspectives and solutions to staging problems in a drama/ theatre work.
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TH:Cr2-8.a – Articulate and apply critical analysis, background knowledge, research, and historical and cultural context to the development of original ideas for a drama/theatre work.
WHY THE ARTS
- Embodying the vocabulary through theatre gives students an opportunity to both show and tell the meaning of the words. This creates not only a direct connection to students, but research also shows that embodying vocabulary helps students remember definitions.
ASSESSMENT
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Formative: If students don’t know the word (or even if they do), give them the definition and try to give tableau suggestions using words from the definition. For example, the definition says depression is a deep sadness. What can we do with our faces or bodies to show that deep sadness?
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Summative: How is your knowledge grown by embodying the definitions? Were there any words whose definition couldn’t be captured in a tableau?
LESSON CONNECTIONS
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Lesson 30 – This exercise can replace (or provide an additional means) for students to engage with Lesson 30’s Vocabulary Deep Dive.
CONNECTION TO MODULE GOALS/EOM TASK
- In the EOM task, students are asked to write about a psychological effect of war. This is one effective way to put students in the shoes of characters from the book, or at least in their poses.
WIT & WISDOM INSTRUCTIONAL ROUTINES
- Tableau
TEACHER BACKGROUND
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Since this activity is an amplification of tableau, teachers should be familiar with the base strategy before facilitating this lesson.
STUDENT PREREQUISITES
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Students should have done some form of tableau multiple times by 8th grade, but if not, give them a quick refresher.
ACCESSIBILITY
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Students should be using their entire bodies to make these poses. That being said, if students are unwilling or unable to do so, you can focus on just facial expression or just the pose.
BUILDING BACKGROUND KNOWLEDGE
Slides #32-34
If you are not familiar already, review how to create a tableau. Key points include staying still, using your entire body/face, and utilizing levels (high vs low).
INTRODUCTION
Slide #35
To begin, have the entire class create a personal tableau of the word affect vs effect in their desks. We’ll work our way up to full body tableaux, but for the first introduction, a pose in their chair is preferred.
Remind students that affect is a verb which implies them doing something. Whereas effect is a noun implying something being done to them. Their poses should reflect these ideas.
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- Highlight one student tableau that you think accurately depicts “affect” and point out why it’s so effective to your students.
- Have the entire class copy that pose and say the word while they do it.
- Repeat with “effect.”
These will be go-to poses for your class for the rest of the year. If students ever forget which one to use, have them repeat the poses to remind themselves of the correct word.
Repeat as needed for the rest of the practice words with students in their desks.
SMALL GROUP PRACTICE
Next, split students into groups of 4-5.
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- Give each group one of the group vocabulary words – these words are a little trickier and therefore students must work together to create a group tableau that shows the word’s meaning
- There should not be 5 students in the same pose, but rather using each person to add to the overall picture of the vocab word.
FINAL ROUND
It’s time for the final round. This unit is full of dozens of synonyms of sad, mad, and dangerous. Their differences are extremely nuanced and may show up differently in different individuals’ experiences. The final batch of words will go through 3 steps to distill their meaning.
STEP ONE: Make a tableau for your tabloo word. The rest of the students will have to guess (unanimously) which word it is. If they are correct, congrats! Next word/student! If the class is incorrect…
STEP TWO: Reform your tableau based on the round 1 guesses. If the class guessed melancholy, but your word is indifferent, adjust your choices of facial expression or body pose. You may also add a noise (no words). The class guesses again. If they are right, next student/word. If not…
STEP THREE: Reform your tableau one more time (taking in the round 2 guesses) and give a one word hint to your vocabulary word. Students guess again. If they are right, yay! If not, facilitate a conversation between the poser and the guessers on what choices they were making to convey their word.
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- Repeat as needed for all vocab. These words are heavy and loaded, so as a practice, try ending with a really silly word to shake off those negative feelings. Feel free to come up with your own and have each student come up with one and draw out of a hat.
OPTIONAL EXTENSION
As an optional extension tied directly in with the Wit & Wisdom deep dive, students can rank the words in order of severity. For example, disconcerted is worse than indifferent and hysterical is worse than both. Students can arrange their tableaus in order of severity and make oral arguments about their position.
BRAIN TARGETED TEACHING IN THE CLASSROOM
The Emotional Climate:
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This lesson is scaffolded so students can use the basics of tableau before ramping up.
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The Physical Space:
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A stage or designated area for students to tableau where the entire class can see.
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Other Considerations:
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While this activity is aimed at these unit vocabulary words, it can and should be used throughout the year, especially the affect vs effect tableau.
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ROOT BRANCH MEDIA GROUP – BRING ROOT BRANCH TO YOUR SCHOOL!
All video content made in partnership with Baltimore’s Root Branch Media Group.
MITCH HARRIS – BRING MITCH TO YOUR SCHOOL!
Mitch Harris is an educator, actor, and writer with more than 12 years of experience integrating the arts into core subject areas in K-12 schools throughout the country and around the world. As a member of the Inner City Teaching Corps in Chicago, the Program Director of the Paramount Story Wranglers in Austin, and most recently a Resident Teaching Artist Fellow with Arts Every Day in Baltimore, Mitch believes that students learn best when utilizing their bodies, voices, and imaginations to actively embody curricular content in a way that sticks long after leaving the classroom. To connect or learn more about his work, visit www.mitchharris.org.
SHAR HAMPTON
Shar Hampton is a dedicated educator who teaches 9th grade history (World Cultures) and 10th grade history (Making Modern Europe) at the Gilman School. In addition to her teaching role, she also serves as the assistant sprint coach for indoor and outdoor track. Her educational foundation in interdisciplinary learning began at the Asheville School in Asheville, North Carolina, where she was a humanities teacher who taught European Studies through a variety of disciplines. Shar holds a Bachelor of Arts in History from Spelman College in Atlanta.
Category Connections
Pairs with Wit & Wisdom Lessons 34-37
Students will learn how to interpret and categorize words together by respective psychological effects of WWI using the format of the New York Times Daily Connections game.
COMMON CORE STATE STANDARDS
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RL.8.1, RL.8.2, RL.8.3, RL.8.4, W.8.2.b, L.8.6 – Identify a psychological effect of World War I on Paul.
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L.8.6 – Demonstrate acquisition of grade-appropriate academic and domain-specific words.
NATIONAL ARTS STANDARDS
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DA:Cr1.1.8 – Implement movement from a variety of stimuli (for example, music, observed dance, literary forms, notation, natural phenomena, personal experience/recall, current news or social events) to develop dance content for an original dance study or dance.
WHY THE ARTS
- This activity is considered an application of dance, but dance is as simple as a body making intentional movements through space. Students are not only categorizing information like vocabulary words into groups, but also physically moving their bodies through space to reinforce the categorization of words.
ASSESSMENT
Students should be able to successfully group vocabulary words into four psychological categories:
- Depression (dejection, misery, sadness, woe)
- Hysteria (chaotic, confused, delirious, frantic)
- Shell-Shock (burnt-out, exasperated, irritated, stressed)
- Disillusionment (anticlimactic, bitter, disappointed, dissatisfied)
The class discussions along the way serve as formative assessments tying their lived experience to unit vocab
LESSON CONNECTIONS
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Lesson 34-37
CONNECTION TO MODULE GOALS/EOM TASK
- The end of module task focuses both on categorization of information and writing about the lasting psychological effects of war. This activity combines both of those things seamlessly while adding movement to deepen student learning of module vocabulary.
WIT & WISDOM INSTRUCTIONAL ROUTINES
- Categorization
MATERIALS
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Word bank with definitions (optional)
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4 pieces of colored construction paper for activity (yellow, green, blue, and purple)
TEACHER BACKGROUND
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To understand the game before you play it with students: NYTimes Connections Game
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Homemade Version – through Swellgarfo
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You can use this platform to create your own with other vocab too.
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STUDENT PREREQUISITES
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Students should know the definitions of the words being used in the game or be provided with a word bank and definitions.
ACCESSIBILITY
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If movement is not possible due to classroom space or physical limitations, this can also be played on the computer.
WHAT IS NYTIMES CONNECTIONS?
Connections is a word game that challenges players to find themes between words. Players are given 16 words and find groups of four items that share something in common.
For example:
FISH: Bass, Flounder, Salmon, Trout.
Things that start with FIRE: Ant, Drill, Island, Opal
Each word group is assigned a color (Yellow, Green, Blue, or Purple), with Yellow being the easiest category and Purple being the trickiest. Each puzzle has exactly one solution and is meant to be tricky by having words that could fit into multiple categories.
BUILDING ROUTINE
As a routine, you can begin a daily practice of playing Connections with your class. The average game is 2-3 minutes and reinforces the key concept of categorization present throughout the unit. Take turns with students guessing and working collaboratively to discover the four categories, always trying to beat your class best time.
VOCABULARY PRACTICE
Watch an Example Animation!
For the day you focus on unit vocab (Lesson 34-37):
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- Project the game for students to see – the words will appear shuffled in 4 rows of 4. The categories are “Shell Shock, Disillusionment, Hysteria, and Depression.
- Using colored construction paper, place each color (yellow, green, blue, and purple) in one of the four corners around the room.
- Hand each student a word relating to one of the four categories and have students silently move to the corner that corresponds to the category where they think their word belongs.
- You may also ask students to move in the style of their word incorporating more dance techniques.
Since there are 16 words, some students may have to double up:
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- Each corner should have 4 words each.
- If a particular corner has 3 or 5 or more, encourage students to think more deeply and compare to the other words around them.
When students are settled, reveal the correct answers using the site. If students were correct in their categorization, wonderful! If they are not, facilitate a conversation on where the words belong and why.
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- This conversation about what words group together and why serves as the summative assessment for the activity. Students may not agree with the groupings, but having them justify their selection shows understanding of the material.
QUOTES FOR CONNECTIONS
Shell-shock
Pg. 55: “A man is walking along without thought or heed; – suddenly he throws himself down on the ground and a storm of fragments flies harmlessly over him; – yet he cannot remember either to have heard the shell coming or to have thought of flinging himself down.”
Pg. 60: “Beside us lies a fair-headed recruit in utter terror. He has buried his face in his hands, his helmet has fallen off. I fish hold of it and try to put it back on his head. He looks up, pushes the helmet off and like a child creeps under my arm, his head close to my breast. The little shoulders heave.”
Disillusionment
Pg. 85: “‘What do you mean by the three-fold theme in ‘William Tell’?” says Kropp reminiscently, and roars with laughter.
“What was the purpose of the Poetic League of Göttigen?” asks Müller suddenly and earnestly.
“How many children had Charles the Bald?” I interrupt gently.
“You’ll never make anything of your life, Bäumer,” croaks Müller.
“When was the Battle of Zana?” Kropp wants to know.
“You lack the studious mind, Kropp, sit down, three minus –” I wink.
“What office did Lycurgus consider the most important for the state?” asks Müller, pretending to take off his pince-nez.
“Does it go: ‘We Germans fear God and none else in the whole world,’ or ‘We, the Germans, fear God and –’” I submit.
“How many inhabitants has Melbourne?” asks Müller.
“How do you expect to succeed in life if you don’t know that?” I ask Albert hotly.
Which he caps with: “What is meant by Cohesion?”
We remember mighty little of all that rubbish. Anyway, it has never been the slightest use to us. At school nobody ever taught us how to light a cigarette in a storm of rain, nor how a fire could be made with wet wood – nor that it is best to stick a bayonet in the belly because there it doesn’t get jammed, as it does in the ribs.”
Pg. 122: “We could never again, as the same beings, take part in those scenes. It was not any recognitions of their beauty and their significance that attracted us, but the communion, the feelings of a comradeship with the things and events of our existence, which cut us off and made the world of our parents a thing incomprehensible to us – for then we surrendered ourselves to events and were lost in them, and the least little thing was enough to carry us down the stream of eternity. Perhaps it was only the privilege of our youth, but as yet we recognized no limits and saw nowhere to an end. We had that thrill of expectation in the blood which united us with the course of our days.”
Hysteria
Pg. 107: “Towards morning, while it is still dark, there is some excitement. Through the entrance rushes in a swarm of fleeing rats that try to storm the walls. Torches light up the confusion. Everyone yells and curses and slaughters. The madness and despair of many hours unloads itself in this outburst. Faces are distorted, arms strike out, the beasts scream; we just stop in time to avoid attacking one another.”
Depression
Pg. 161: “I sit by her bed, and through the window the chestnut trees in the beer garden opposite glow in brown and gold. I breathe deeply and say over to myself: – ‘You are at home, you are at home.’ But a sense of strangeness will not leave me, I can find nothing of myself in all these things. There is my mother, there is my sister, there my case of butterflies, and there the mahogany piano–but I am not myself there. There is a distance, a veil between us.”
BRAIN TARGETED TEACHING IN THE CLASSROOM
The Emotional Climate:
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Lean away from dance terminology for this activity and focus more on “movement”
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The Physical Space:
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If your classroom is small or you have students with mobility issues, you can choose to point to the correct corner instead.
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ROOT BRANCH MEDIA GROUP – BRING ROOT BRANCH TO YOUR SCHOOL!
All video content made in partnership with Baltimore’s Root Branch Media Group.
MITCH HARRIS – BRING MITCH TO YOUR SCHOOL!
Mitch Harris is an educator, actor, and writer with more than 12 years of experience integrating the arts into core subject areas in K-12 schools throughout the country and around the world. As a member of the Inner City Teaching Corps in Chicago, the Program Director of the Paramount Story Wranglers in Austin, and most recently a Resident Teaching Artist Fellow with Arts Every Day in Baltimore, Mitch believes that students learn best when utilizing their bodies, voices, and imaginations to actively embody curricular content in a way that sticks long after leaving the classroom. To connect or learn more about his work, visit www.mitchharris.org.
SHAR HAMPTON
Shar Hampton is a dedicated educator who teaches 9th grade history (World Cultures) and 10th grade history (Making Modern Europe) at the Gilman School. In addition to her teaching role, she also serves as the assistant sprint coach for indoor and outdoor track. Her educational foundation in interdisciplinary learning began at the Asheville School in Asheville, North Carolina, where she was a humanities teacher who taught European Studies through a variety of disciplines. Shar holds a Bachelor of Arts in History from Spelman College in Atlanta.
