What a revelation it was last year to discover the value of PBS films and websites! I think it started when I attended a showing of Freedom Riders in New York City, before it aired as part of the PBS American Experience TV series. That movie blew me away so much that I started the eighth grade curriculum with three weeks of lessons and projects revolving around it.
And it clued me in to the vast wonders of PBS. Last year, we used PBS transcripts as readings in class. We watched a variety of clips from New York: A Documentary Film. I assigned film reviews as homework over breaks.
This week, Reconstruction: The Second Civil War saved me. I checked it out of the library last week and re-watched it on Sunday night. On Monday, my original lesson plans were thwarted by broken photocopiers, so students watched and took notes on the beginning of the film and then we discussed the crucial first moments of Reconstruction. Today, in my ninth grade class, we examined a letter by a Union soldier using a lesson plan accompanying Ken Burns's The Civil War. And in eighth grade, we learned about Andrew Johnson's pathetic presidency by beginning with a film clip.
As Johnson's stubborn, racist obstructionism became more apparent to the students, their comments grew increasingly interesting and entertaining:
"So segregation and Jim Crow might not have happened if Lincoln had lived and Johnson hadn't taken over?" Well, I'm not saying that, but I'll bet things would have worked out better.
"Why didn't they just impeach him?" Awesome question. They did.
"I'll bet they were throwing shoes at him, like they did at Bush." Funny you mention that. First of all, remember, that happened to Bush in Iraq, not in the United States. But, while I don't know about shoes flying at Ol' Andy, I can tell you about the "Swing Around the Circle." That was Johnson's speaking tour of the North, in which he managed to call Congressional Republicans "traitors" and to compare himself to Jesus, until people heckled him--the President of the United States--at every speech.
How'd I learn about the Swing Around the Circle? By watching a PBS documentary, of course.
Martin...I'm loving your blog, and enjoy being able to still connect to the public education scene in NYC. I love PBS, some other media to consider for your students: Frontline (also PBS) and Radiolab, a wnyc/npr production. I'm not quite sure about the age appropriate-ness of an entire show, but there are definitely sections you could play. And Radiolab is just great, for yourself, check it out: radiolab.org
ReplyDeleteNama! So that's why my blog is getting hits from South Africa. I do need to have a look at stuff on NPR, so I'll listen to Radiolab. I like Frontline too. What do you mean by age appropriateness for middle and high school students? Would it be too complex or do you think some of the content is too intense? I've actually offered extra credit to kids who watch and write reviews of episodes of Frontline (http://ccaahistory.blogspot.com/2011/11/perennial-extra-credit-assignments.html). So I want to make sure I'm not exposing them to inappropriate stuff...the episodes I've seen have been okay.
ReplyDeleteSorry I meant to reply to this earlier- ok so I just meant Frontline MAY be too complex for some eighth graders, as I had some seniors who were having some trouble with it :) but I'm sure your eighth graders may be more mature and apt than those seniors. As far as radiolab goes, I would pre screen. There is nothing that is inappropriate per se but some of it might be a bit adult. For instance I'm recalling that there is entire show (interesting and factual though it may be ) about sperm.
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