The Search for El Dorado

 

Eldorado

By Edgar Allan Poe

Gaily bedight,

   A gallant knight,

In sunshine and in shadow,   

   Had journeyed long,   

   Singing a song,

In search of Eldorado.

   But he grew old—

   This knight so bold—   

And o’er his heart a shadow—   

   Fell as he found

   No spot of ground

That looked like Eldorado.

   And, as his strength   

   Failed him at length,

He met a pilgrim shadow—   

   ‘Shadow,’ said he,   

   ‘Where can it be—

This land of Eldorado?’

   ‘Over the Mountains

   Of the Moon,

Down the Valley of the Shadow,   

   Ride, boldly ride,’

   The shade replied,—

‘If you seek for Eldorado!’

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/48634/eldorado-56d22a0920778

EQ:

• Is El Dorado a real place?

Engage:

• None

Explore:

• Vocabulary: gaily, bedight, gallant, pilgrim
• Digging for the Truth: The Search for El Dorado
• Eldorado poem by Edgar Allen Poe

Explain:

• How is the El Dorado that Josh Bernstein searches for like Poe's Eldorado?
• How are they different?

Evaluate:

• Draw and color a picture inspired by the poem. Try to include at least one detail from the poem.
• Write a short story about you, the narrator, searching for El Dorado. 
• This story should be at least 350 words long.

Washington Crossing the Delaware Part 2

 

Emanuel Leutze "Washington Crossing the Delaware "

The painting of "Washington Crossing the Delaware" by Emanuel Leutze is a historically significant piece of art in the United States. It is so iconic it has become inspiration for pop art. Read about pop art here.

Below is one example of using the painting to create a pop art piece. Compare the two pieces of art, what is similar and what is different?

By WatermelonRat

Assignment

1. Create your own piece of pop art using the knowledge you learned from the Wikipedia page. Use "Washington Crossing the Delaware" as your inspiration.
2. Check with me if you have any questions.

EQ: 

• What is pop art and why should it be a thing?

Engage:

• Part 2 of the lesson

Explore:

• The students will examine the painting Washington Crossing the Delaware by Emmanuel Leutze
• Pop Art

Explain:

• Is pop art based on original works ok? 

Evaluate:

• Students will create a piece of art using Leutze's painting as inspiration.

Washington Crossing the Delaware

  

Washington Crossing the Delaware is a very famous painting. Its use in popular culture probably even led to a contest to pick the best George Washington impersonator to re-enact the crossing every year. Watch this video to find out more about the contest. 

Being George

After watching the video, lets look at the paining. What do you see? Can you find any historical inconsistencies? You can find more information about the painting of Leutze's Washington Crossing the Delaware.

Emanuel Leutze "Washington Crossing the Delaware "

The painting creates a lot of questions. Why was this painted? Is it historically accurate? Who is the artist Emanuel Leutze? Check out the article below to find out these answers.

https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-iconic-american-history-painting-facts-wrong

Assignment 

In the comment section of this post answer the following questions:

1. In "Being George" why do you think portraying George Washington is so important to the contestants?
2. Why did Leutze paint "Washington Crossing the Delaware"? 
3. Identify three historical inaccuracies in the painting. 
4. Should art be historically accurate? Explain why or why not. 

Copy and paste the following frame for your comment:

1. Portraying George Washington is important to the contestants because
2. Leutze painted "Washington Crossing the Delaware" because
3. Three historical inaccuracies in the painting are
4. Yes, art should be historically accurate because/No, art should not be historically accurate because 

EQ: 

• Should artists have a responsibility to make their art historically accurate?

Engage:

• Fred Armiston Art Afficionado (2:58)

Explore:

• Being George: The real-life drama in the contest to re-enact Washington crossing the Delaware (39 min)
• The students will examine the painting Washington Crossing the Delaware by Emmanuel Leutze

Explain:

• The students will examine pop culture homages to the painting. We will also discuss how the painting has been used for political reasons.

Evaluate:

• In "Being George" why do you think portraying George Washington is so important to the contestants?
• Why did Leutze paint "Washington Crossing the Delaware"? 
• Identify three historical inaccuracies in the painting. 
• Should art be historically accurate? Explain why or why not. 

Walt and El Group

 

EQ: Why did Walt Disney take a group of animators to South America during World War 2?

Engage:

• Walt Disney's Education for Death (10:08) 

Explore:

• Vocabulary: animation, movie, union, strike, goodwill tour
• Vocabulary: overcoat, sketch, sophisticated, plaza, Nazi
• Vocabulary: estuary, deforestation, gaucho, llano, pampas
• Walt and El Grupo documentary
• Selections from Saludos Amigos and The Three Caballeros

Explain:

• Why was the Disney company reeling before the trip?
• Why did the US Government pay for Disney's trip?
• How did the trip to South America influence Disney's work and the work of his artists?

Evaluate:

• How does Education for Death inform what you saw in Walt and El Grupo? 

Extend:

1776 the Musical

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Declaration_of_Independence#/media/File:United_States_Declaration_of_Independence.jpg

Since 2015 the biggest musical, let alone history based musical has been Hamilton. Here is a clip from the Tony's. 

What you may not know is there was a musical over the same time period that started on Broadway in 1969 and later became a movie in 1972. We are going to watch the movie and try to parse what is factual and what is changed for the medium (besides the congressman not randomly breaking into song.)

EQ: Why did the Declaration of Independence get written and who wrote it?

Engage:

• Clip from Hamilton the Musical

Explore:

• Vocabulary: declaration, independence, self-evident, equal, endowed, inalienable, liberty, derive
• Vocabulary: government, destructive, transient, accustomed, usurpations, assent, tyranny, justice
• 1776 the Musical

Explain:

• What held up the Continental Congress from declaring independence from Britain?
• Who was the most ardent supporter of independence?
• How did slavery complicate declaring independence?

Evaluate:

• Worksheet questions

Extend:

Map of South America

   

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Languages_of_South_America_(en).svg

EQ:

• What are the official languages of the countries of South America?

Engage:

• Adventure is Out There Pixar Short over Venezuela
• Why do South American countries speak European languages?

Explore:

• Political Map of South America
• Official Language Map of South America

Explain:

• Identify the countries of South America
• Identify the capitals of South America
• Identify the official languages of South America

Evaluate:

• Vocabulary: official, mountain, plain, plateau, ocean
• Label and color a map of South America identifying countries, capitals, and official languages
• GDoc with map instructions

Extend: 

The Girl from Ipanema, Bossa Nova and Brazil

 The Girl from Ipanema is probably the second most recorded pop song of all time, behind The Beatles' Yesterday. It is a type of Jazz called the Bossa nova, and helped make that genre known worldwide in the 1960's. 

Here is Astrud Gilberto singing the song in a live recording:

I love a good story, and I fell into this one a few years ago. As I was looking for more jazz to listen to I came across the story of The Girl from Ipanema. This BBC produced documentary gives us a good look not only into Bossa nova, but into the popular culture of Brazil. I hope you enjoy learning about this amazing musical art form as much as I have.

        

EQ:

• Why is Bossa nova important to Brazilian popular culture?

Engage:

• The Girl from Ipanema recorded live (3:01)

Explore:

• Vocabulary: Bossa Nova, Pop Culture, documentary, bohemian, jazz
• BBC Documentary The Girl from Ipanema (58:33)

Explain:

• What is Bossa nova?
• Why was Astrud Gilberto chosen to sing the song?
• How important is the Bossa nova to Brazilian popular culture?

Evaluate:

• Class discussion

Boston Tea party

   

The difference between a riot and a protest may simply be which side of the political argument you are on. But, what happens when the riot or protest isn't really about politics at all, but about money? As we learn about the Boston Tea Party think about the reasons behind it and determine for yourself if it was a riot, a protest, or something else completely.

 EQ: Why did the Boston Tea Party take place?

Engage:

• Tea!!!

Explore:

• Vocabulary: tea, protest, smuggling, bohea, shilling
• Tempest in a Teacup podcast (38:45)
• Boston Tea Party video (32:20) Boston Tea Party Ships and Museum

Explain:

• Who was involved in organizing the Boston Tea Party?
• What happened at the Boston Tea Party?
• What was the result of the Boston Tea Party?
• What do you think of the tea?

Evaluate:

• Class Discussion

Boston Massacre Printmaking

  

The most famous example of propaganda in United States history is the Paul Revere print of the Boston Massacre. The fact that we still refer to this incident as a massacre is proof of that.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_Massacre#/media/File:Boston_Massacre_high-res.jpg

The real story of the 'Boston Massacre' is more complicated than a bunch of soldiers indiscriminately firing into a peaceful crowd of Boston citizens. As we examine the evidence as revealed in the trial of the soldiers and find out the true story we need to ask ourselves why would Revere lie? What purpose did it serve? Who benefitted from the false narrative and who was harmed?

Your assignment will be to create a print using the facts of the incident. Obviously the medium we are using will make details very difficult so keep that in mind as you work on the design. 

EQ: Why did Paul Revere create his famous Boston Massacre print?

Engage:

• Foam Printmaking (5:06)

Explore:

• Vocabulary: massacre, mob, cudgel, deposition, manslaughter, engraving, print, propaganda, brayer, art
• John Adams miniseries video of Boston Massacre
• Boston Massacre Wikipedia

Explain:

• What is propaganda?
• Why did Revere create an inaccurate print of the Boston Massacre?
• Do you think the soldiers were justified when they fired into the crowd?
• What do you think was the effect of John Adams representing the soldiers on his career?

Evaluate:

• Students will create a factual print of the Boston Massacre.

Extend:

Government and Economies of Latin America

 

EQ:

• What are the governments and economies like in Latin America?

Engage:

• Provinces of Argentina Geography Now (23:31)
• Peron's Vision for Argentina

Explore:

• Discovery Education 3.4 Government and Economy of Latin America

Explain:

• Latin America Study Guide

Evaluate: 

• Assessment

Jefferson City Field Trip

Friday you will be traveling to Jefferson City to visit the state capitol and the now closed state penitentiary.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:AP_of_Missouri_State_Capitol_Building.jpg

Let's first watch this video on the history of the building. If you pay attention you may be able to answer some of the tour guide's questions and look really smart!

Next is a video on the symbolic meanings of the Missouri state flag and the Missouri seal. In it you will learn about the colors of the flag and the reason we have grizzly bears all over the seal.

One of the most interesting parts of the capitol is the artwork that you find inside. We have two videos that talk about the artwork. While you are there you will tour the artwork with the guide and these videos will give you some insight into them.

• Stately Images: The Art of Missouri's State Capitol 
• The Missouri Mural

Below is a photo of the Missouri State Penitentiary which is now closed. Listen carefully to the tour guides to learn the history of the site. 

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Missouri_State_Penitentiary.jpg

EQ: Why should we take a field trip to Jefferson City?

Engage:

•  Friday is the field trip.

Explore:

• History of the Missouri Capitol (4:53)
• Stately Images: The Public Art of Missouri's State Capitol (28:14)
• The Missouri Mural (5:11)
• History of the Missouri Penitentiary  (18:08)

Explain:

• What is the purpose of the state capitol?
• What are some interesting facts about the capitol?
• What should we learn about the penitentiary?

Evaluate:

Extend:

• Ghost Adventures Missouri Penitentiary (Youtube)

Dia de los Muertos

Essential Question:

• What is the Day of the Dead and why is it celebrated in Mexico? 
• Who is Jose Posada?
• Why is the image La Calavera Catrina important to the Day of the Dead in Mexico?

Engage:

• What is the Day of the Dead? National Geographic video (1:51)

Explore:

• Dia de los Muertos National Geographic
• Jose Guadalupe Posada Wikipedia
• La Calavera Catrina Wikipedia
• Mexico's Celebration of Life 

Explain:

• Why does Mexico celebrate Dia de los Muertos?
• Who is Jose Posada?
• Why is La Calavera Catrina important to Dia de los Muertos?

Evaluate:

• Notebook Page: Jose Posada
• Day of the Dead 5 W's and H worksheet

Extend:

• Day of the Dead Wordsearch