Copyright@1999 - San Diego County Office of Education

Teacher CyberGuide

Cyberguide originally written by Holly L. Giles

Revised by Mary Jewell and *Peter Milbury

 

This (*MODIFIED) supplemental unit for the Harlem Renaissance provides activities and web resources developed as part of the Schools of California Online Resources for Educators (SCORE) Project, funded by the California Technology Assistance Program (CTAP).

Disclaimer: The links here have been scrutinized for their grade and age appropriateness; however, contents of links on the World Wide Web change continuously. It is advisable that teachers review all links before introducing CyberGuides to students.

This cyberguide is set up to explore the influences from and the different creative and artistic perspectives of the Harlem Renaissance. Within this unit students are encouraged to reflect their interpretation of the poetry, art, and music of that period by imitating writing styles, studying and impersonating personalities, and by viewing and interpreting images. The products produced from these activities are based within the California Language Arts Content Standards and require basic technology skills.

As the students do these activities, they will explore the following questions:

• What does the term "Great Migration" refer to? Why did it occur?
• Why is the term "Harlem Renaissance" (also known as "The New Negro Movement") used to describe this period of literary activity?
• What was the common bond among the the writers of this period?
• What other forms of cultural influences developed during the Harlem Renaissance?
• What role did literature play in the struggle of racial injustice in their era?
• What reality were these 1920's generation of writers challenged to represent?
  

Students will visit two web sites that provide biographical references of a number of contributors to the Harlem Renaissance. They will explore them and choose four women and four men that they find interesting to note in a table or word processed document. works. The student will be graded based on the details and completion of the table/document. See example below:

PICTURE OF ARTIST	NAME OF ARTIST, LIFE SPAN AND BIRTH PLACE	TYPE OF WORK AND COMMON THEMES	MOST FAMOUS WORK(S)
	Langston Hughes 1902 - 1967 Joplin, Missouri	POETRY: Black Music, racial affirmation, and racial protest	The Negro Speaks of Rivers Dream Deferred (Harlem)

Harlem Renaissance

URL: http://www.nku.edu/~diesmanj/harlem.html

 

Harlem 1900-1940

URL: http://www.si.umich.edu/CHICO/Harlem/

 Comments: To copy an image from the Internet, move your cursor to the image, press your mouse button on it to activate a menu, scroll down and click on "Copy", return to table and place cursor where image should be placed, go to Edit Menu, and click on paste.

Students will hear (sound card and speakers or headphones, if equipment able), read, and identify the themes of poetry. After the review, each student is to choose one of the four provided poems, and perform the related activity (creating a flyer, writing a song, writing an epigram) which reinforces and allows them to elaborate on the theme they have identified using various writing and technology supported skills. Students will be graded based on correctly identifying the theme of their poem, and the interpretation and completion of the related activity.

The Academy of American Poets

URL: http://www.poets.org

Comments: Use 'Find a Poet Option' to go to selected poets. If you have RealPlayer, listen to the audio interpretation of each. Here also is an essay on the Poets of the Harlem Renaissance and After, (with links to information on the poets) from the Academu of American Poets.  

Discover the Theme

Comments: Students complete this page as they analyze the poems.

After reviewing the works studied in Activity 2, each student will write original poetry using the formats provided, or style of their own, that reflect the themes and poet attitudes they have identified, as well as recite poem and give interpretation to class. Students will be graded on their reflections of the poems, their oral interpretations, and readings of their poetry.

Poetry Formats

Comments: This is a document that explains two suggested poetry forms.

Students will choose one artist of three, and examine images of paintings and sketches. Students will choose five images to study in depth. See example below:

Students will be graded on their reflections of the images and its details, and completion of the activity.

Harlem Renaissance

URL: http://www.nku.edu/~diesmanj/harlem.html

Comments: While in the website, scroll to the section titled "Painters of the Harlem Renaissance" to choose the artist and related gallery. To enlarge the thumb nail images, double click on image.

Each student will choose, research, and portray an entertainer from a provided list and related web site link (reseach can be done in a small groups). After conducting research for information and pictures of the entertainer, each student is to organize his/her findings into a memorized five minute speech. While dressed in character, the student will portray their selected entertainer through demonstrations of the the entertainer's art form, deliver his/her speech, and address any questions in character while being videotaped (if equipment able and at teacher discretion). Students will be graded on peer assessment, portrayal of entertainer (appearance and acting), deliver of speech, responses to questions, and accuracy of portrayal and details expressed.

Marian Anderson

• Audio and Video Clips: http://www.library.upenn.edu/sp ecial/gallery/anderson/  
• Biographies (4) and Images:  (From the CHS Discovering Collection)  
  

Louis Armstrong

• Biography and Image: http://www.npg.si.edu/exh/armstrong/index.htm
• Images, Audio and Video Clips: http://www.pbs.org/jazz/biography/artist_id_armstrong_louis.htm
• Images from: Photographs from the Golden Age of Jazz:  http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/wghtml/wghome.html
  

Benny Carter

• Biography, Image, and Audio Clips: http://www.bennycarter.com
• Images from: Photographs from the Golden Age of Jazz  
  

Duke Ellington

• Biography and Image: http://www.cmgww.com/music/ellington/index.html
• Articles, Images and Audio Clips: http://www.nytimes.com/library/arts/ellington-index.html
• Images from: Photographs from the Golden Age of Jazz : http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/wghtml/wghome.html
  

Billie Holiday

• Biography and Images, etc.: http://www.cmgww.com/music/holiday/
• Biography, Images, Audio, etc.:  http://www.pbs.org/jazz/biography/artist_id_holiday_billie.htm
• Images from: Photographs from the Golden Age of Jazz:  http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/wghtml/wghome.html
  

Paul Robeson

• Biography and Images: http://www.duboislc.com/ShadesOfBlack/PaulRobeson.html  
• Three Biographies (From the CHS Discovering Collection)  
  

Bessie Smith

• Biography and Image: http://www.netsrq.com/~dbois/smith.html
• Biography, Images and Audio Clips:  http://www.pbs.org/jazz/biography/artist_id_smith_bessie.htm  
  
• Biography, Images and Audio Clips: http://mathrisc1.lunet.edu/blues/Bessie_Smith.html

Ethel Waters

• Biography, Images and Audio Clips: http://www.pbs.org/jazz/biography/artist_id_waters_ethel.htm
• Images from: Photographs from the Golden Age of Jazz:   http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/wghtml/wghome.html
  

Comments: Audio clips require some kind of audio player software in your computer as well as speakers/headphones to hear clips. Students are enouraged to do additional search for books or album/CD covers for additional imagesor sound clips of entertainer being studied.

Language Arts Content Standards (Grade 11/12)

During this unit, students will

• Use online information to gather and organize biographical information on selected poets [Reading Comprehension 2.1 and Writing Strategy 2.2]
• Use strategies of note-taking, outlining, and summarizing information in the form of a database or table [Writing Strategy 2.3]
• Describe and connect details to determine themes of works and influences [Reading Comprehension 2.4]
• Produce a product that reflects an understanding of the meaning of the website [Reading Comprehension 2.5]
• Identify appropriate themes, develop ideas leading to inquiry, investigation and research on the topic of family heritage and symbolism [Writing Strategies 2.4 and Literary Response and Analysis 3.2]
• Create documents using appropriate manuscript writing and word processing skills [Writing Strategy 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 2.3]
• Determine the speaker's attitude toward the subject [Listening and Speaking Strategy 1.6, 1.11]
• Arrange details, reasons, descriptions and examples effectively and persuasively in relation to the audience through the interpretation of artifacts and writing of poetry [Literary Response and Analysis 3.1, 3.4, 3.5]
• Deliver oral summaries of poetry containing the main theme of the poem and the most significant details [Listening and Speaking Strategy 1.3, 1.9 and Speaking Applications 2.2, 2.3, 2.5]
• Deliver presentations that convey clear and accurate perspectives on the theme [Listening and Speaking Strategy 1.4, 1.9 and Speaking Applications 2.1, 2.2, 2.5]
• Deliver presentations which reflect the works and biographies of all persons that are being studied [Listening and speaking Strategy 1.1, 1.3, 1.7, 1.9]

Implementation Overview

The following activities are designed as small group work for students to complete during a study of the Harlem Renaissance, or during a study of poetry writing, artistic influences, or biographical writing/portrayal.

Description of Materials, Activities and Web Sites

• A computer with Internet access and headphones
• Templates provided for activity input
• Use of a Video Camera (if available) for assessment and evaluation
• Selected literary works, art, and music to experience and imitate
• Biographical references to examine

Performance Standards

See each Student Activity for specific grading criteria.

Please forward your comments to the project director.