American Memory Fellows Program



                        Harlem Renaissance

                                                            Nancy Barrett and Margaret Kennedy

This is one  of three lessons of a unit on the Harlem Renaissance. During this lesson students will explore examples of everyday life of Harlem in the 20s and 30s by examining photographs and texts.  In addition, students will develop research skills as they familiarize themselves with some American Memory Collections.  Subsequent lessons will engage students in learning about several Harlem personalities and their artistic contributions.


Objectives

Students will be able to

Time Required

Two weeks
 

Recommended Grade Level

Grades 9 - 12
 

Curriculum Fit

This unit is suitable for both an English and U. S. History class.
 

Resources Used




 

 Lesson #1:  Everyday Life in Harlem

 Goal:  Students will be able to describe the culture of everyday life in Harlem.

 Procedure:

                Who is in the picture? What are the people doing?  Why are they here?
                What buildings, forms of transportation, signs, other objects can you see in the picture?
                What sounds might you hear?

Evaluation and Extension:

    Students will be given a rubric for evaluation of the content of their "quickwrites" and of their participation in a group              discussion.
 

E-mail:

Sister Margaret Kennedy      mkenn@hnhs.pvt.k12.ca.us
Nancy Barrett                       danbarr@pacbell.net

July 22, 1999
 


       # 2 PERSONALITIES OF HARLEM

  1. Provide students with copy of Langston Hughes' poem "Harlem."  In working groups, students will read the poem and make a list of the various people and places mentioned in the poem . As a class, surface any prior knowledge about these people and places.  Each group will be assigned a personality and place to research.  Using the Van Vechten and Gottleib  collections, students will find as many photographs as possible of the person assigned to their group.  Then students will do independent biographical  research on their personality and select the photograph which they feel most clearly captures the identity and influence of this person.  With information and selected photograph each group designs a power point presentation to share with the class focusing on an artistic sample of the person's talent.

 
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