[ Lesson
Toolkit ]
AFRICAN AMERCAN IMAGES IN HARLEM (1920-1950)
SHELLEY TERRY AND SOPHIA MALLETT
This lesson is designed not only to explore the eclectic visual images
of Harlem but also to display the life, people, the sense of community
and racial pride in Harlem from 1920-1950. The lesson will
trangress to a more profound discourse and understanding of the complexities,
contraditions and ironies inherent in the American Memory collection and
other online sites related to the people of Harlem. Essentially, the lesson
will present Harlem and the Harlem Renaissance as an expression more so
of time, orientation, mood or spirit, rather than a place-- for this reawakening
was not just limited to Harlem during this time.
Objectives
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Students will be able to compare and contrast different representations
of African Americans in Harlem using visual sources.
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Students will be able to detect point of views, themes, contradictions
and ironies in sources using designed templates.
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Students will be able to assess the reliability and validity of the sources
using designed templates.
Time Required
This lesson will require one week to effectively master all the objectives.
Recommended Grade Level
The intended grade level is eleventh.
Curriculum Fit
This lesson is an interdisciplinary approach to converge both English and
the Social Studies curriculum objectives. For instance, this lesson
requires that students analyze and draw inferences, detect point of views,
compare and contrast themes that are inherent in visuals that are pivotal
for English and Social Studies objectives. The lesson focuses on
African American identity between 1920-1950.
Resources Used
Procedure
Prerequisite Skills: Students should be knowledgeable of the following
terms and its uses: themes, ironies, thesis and point of views.
Further, students should have mastered how to dissect and analyze images
objectively and subjectively. (create separate lessons for these concepts).
1) Warm-up: What comes to mind when you hear the term Harlem?
Brainstorm for 5 minutes and discuss findings.
2) Teacher and student will locate Harlem, NY on a map.
3) Tell students that their perception of Harlem is their point of
view.
4) Have students make a conjecture as to where they got these perceptions.
5)l Propose the question: Where do these perceptions of Harlem
come from?
6) Explain to the students that the visual images they will analyze
today of Harlem may contradict or support their perceptions of Harlem.
7) Divide students into cooperative groups where they compare and contrast:
themes, point of views and ironies present in the Carl Van Vechten, Gottlieb,
Jacob Lawrence, Lois Jones and William H. Johnson and Gordan Parks visual
media.
8) Have students record findings using a graphic organizer created
by the teacher.
9) Each group must formulate a thesis that depicts an overall theme
of the various visual images.
10) Finally, students will find additional African American images
by searching the AM collections to support their group's thesis.
Evaluation and Extension
Using the central themes, contradictions and ironies that came out of the
study of the lesson images, students could find these same ideas in visual
images of Harlem (1960's - 1990's). The rationale for this extension
is to get students to take newly acquired knowledge of the past and link
it to the present. The students can choose to either display this
phenomenon through a powerpoint presentation or simply downloading and
printing visual images to be organized in a storyboard format. Students
will evaluate and synthesize these visual images to articulate a story
of Harlem from the civil rights movement to hip hop generation.
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STerry@aol.com and Sofisticia@aol.com
July 22, 1999