The entire five-week unit is outlined at left; the lessons are blocked together and labeled according to the predominant subject matter or work to be completed. Please find below expanded explanations of each lesson (organized by order of appearance) delineating procedures, sequence of events, and materials needed. All worksheets and handouts referenced throughout the unit as well as a more specific daily planning matrix can be found under the MATERIALS tab in the menu bar above or in the sidebar to the right. In addition, certain lessons or portions of lessons have been written out in their entirety and can be viewed or downloaded from the LESSONS tab or the sidebar.
INTRODUCTORY LESSON
We will have students free-write about the word 'flood' and all its connotations. What is the significance of a flood on people? On the environment? On a city? On a nation? Would a flood qualify as a catastrophe? We will discuss these questions as a class after the free-write and record the students' thoughts on the board. Should time remain, we will also have students brainstorm about the word 'catastrophe.' In this way, students should be able to begin the unit with some form of background knowledge about and understanding of the situation in New Orleans.
The following day, we will use GoogleEarth to show students satellite photographs of New Orleans before and after Hurricane Katrina. We will discuss the differences we see and how significant the changes are. We will also play a few video montages of Katrina footage to help students empathize with those in New Orleans when the hurricane struck and discuss how we might feel in such a situation. Would we be scared? Fascinated? What would we do first?
Should time allow, we will also play the infamous Kanye West video clip in which he states that "George Bush doesn't care about black people" in order to open the discussion to issues of politics and power in New Orleans.
For the complete introductory lesson plan, please visit the LESSONS tab on the menu bar above.
Materials: Paper and writing utensils, chalkboard or overhead projector, computers with internet access, digital overhead projector, video links, student journals
READING A.D.: NEW ORLEANS AFTER THE DELUGE
Over the course of six class periods - beginning in the first week and extending through the third - students will work with Josh Neufeld's graphic novel A.D.: New Orleans After the Deluge. The class will read this text in its entirety, participating in several engaging activities and critical thinking exercises related to the novel.
Due to the format of the novel with which some students may be unfamiliar or uncomfortable in an academic context, it will be introduced slowly into the unit; the first two days will be dedicated entirely to teacher-led and collaborative class read-alouds to model reading techniques for graphic novels and other visual texts.
To help students regulate their own understanding of the book, they will also be provided with a set of questions and prompts to consider periodically while reading. The teacher will encourage students to refer to this handout frequently while reading to bolster understanding and in preparation for the cumulative unit project.
Once students have acclimated to the format, they will form groups of five in which to continue reading, compare notes, and perform in-class activities. Text-related activities include:
- Tableaux - To encourage the class to interact with the novel, groups will be asked to reexamine the text they've read thus far, identify several pivotal scenes from the book, and act them out by 'freezing' the key actions of each scene - as if the characters were suddenly made into statues - and 'melting' fluidly from one tableau to another. After each group's performance, the rest of the class will give positive and constructive feedback on the tableaux.
- Tea Party - Students will be randomly assigned one of five character roles from the novel - Denise, the Doctor, Abbas, Kwame, or Leo - and given a small slip of paper describing that character. Based upon what they're read so far and their given paragraph, each student will mingle with other students, asking and answering questions in character, and try to get to know the other characters more intimately. Several brief worksheets guide this meet-and-greet process after which students are asked to analyze and expound upon what they've learned.
- Social Imagination - As a follow-up to the Social Studies crossover lesson, groups will be assigned another major city which will face a hypothetical natural disaster. Students will be given roles - mayor, poor citizen, wealthy citizen, minority citizen, child - and, based upon the failures in New Orleans, must come to a consensus on how this new crisis should be addressed. At this time, the earthquake in Haiti might also be a rich tangential discussion topic. Group work will be recorded on the board and discussed as a class.
- Questions/Concerns - There will be a designated, student-decorated Worry Basket in the corner of the room next to which slips of paper will be placed. When students feel confused about the text or concerned with their progress or understanding they may write their grievance on one of the papers and put it in the basket to be addressed at intervals throughout the unit. Students may choose to include or exclude their name, may write in their own handwriting or not, and may request that their concern be addressed privately. In this way, students may feel comfortable asking questions to clarify understanding of the text.
For one A.D.: New Orleans After the Deluge lesson plan, please visit the LESSONS tab on the menu bar above. To read a textual analysis of the graphic novel and its potential classroom applications, please visit the MATERIALS tab.
Materials: Josh Neufeld's graphic novel, Dialogue Journal handout, Tableaux handout, Tea Party worksheets, digital overhead projector, paper and writing utensils, chalkboard or overhead projector, student journals, scissors, Worry Basket and paper slips
ZEITOUN LESSON SERIES
Over three consecutive Fridays, students will work with excerpts from Dave Eggers' Zeitoun. During the first week, students will read about Zeitoun's friends, family, and life before the impending storm after which they will be given some indication of the ensuing story events, specifically that Zeitoun chooses to stay in the city to help its citizens during and after the hurricane. They will then engage in an inside/outside circle activity in which Zeitoun represents the inner circle and argues for staying in New Orleans while his friends and family comprise the outer circle and try to convince him to leave. Persuasive arguments on both sides of the debate will be recorded and organized on the board to facilitate an in-depth discussion after the activity concludes.
In the second installment, students will read both about what Zeitoun is endeavoring to accomplish in the city and the challenges he faces in that endeavor, including the unexpected prejudice he faces for his skin color, name, and religion. Students will compare Zeitoun's experience of Hurricane Katrina to that of Abbas, another man of middle-eastern descent from A.D.: New Orleans After the Deluge who chose to weather the storm, through a role-playing activity. Two students will volunteer or be assigned the roles of Zeitoun and Abbas and ask for advice or assessment on their situations from other students. Were the decisions leading them to this place wise? What should they do now? Students must make their advice convincing since both 'Zeitoun' and 'Abbas' must ultimately choose their next best course of action based upon said arguments.
Finally, students will read most explicitly about the politics of Hurricane Katrina and the governmental response in the third lesson after which the class will empathetically discuss how Zeitoun and others like him might feel in this situation. Is it fair? Could it have been more fair? How? Student answers will be recorded on the board to help students organize their thoughts before they begin a brief writing response in which they consider how - or if - the characters in Zeitoun could return to ordinary life after witnessing the devastation and chaos of Hurricane Katrina and the post-Katrina government response.
For the third Zeitoun lesson plan, please visit the LESSONS tab on the menu bar above.
Materials: Dave Eggers' novel, paper and writing utensils, chalkboard or overhead projector
SOCIAL STUDIES COLLABORATION
The class will discuss what it might be like to be a New Orleans citizen during the hurricane. Would they have chosen to stay in the city or to flee? Why would they make that choice and would they regret it once it had been made? Was there even a good choice to be made?
Once the discussion is underway, students will be given a writing assignment in which they will take on the perspective of either a Katrina survivor or refugee and describe in detail their experiences. Students may choose what experiences to describe - be they during or after the hurricane - and the span of time during which said experiences take place.
Later in the school day, students will be reading from their short essays during Social Studies which will act as a segue into a historical discussion of the actual choices made by the residents of New Orleans in the face of the hurricane.
For the complete description of the collaborative lesson and related worksheets, please visit the COLLABORATE tab on the menu bar above.
Materials: Paper and writing utensils, student journals, chalkboard or overhead projector, collaborative worksheet
CITY BROCHURE WEBQUEST
After discussing vacations they've taken in the past and reviewing examples of typical travel brochures, students will begin a brief group research project about the city of New Orleans. They will investigate attractions, shopping, and dining, as well as historical, cultural, and political information and reflects the reality of post-Katrina New Orleans in order to create an alternative city brochure. They will also identify volunteer opportunities or come up with their own way to help rebuild the city.
Research will take place in the library and computer lab, led by the brochure WebQuest. Time will also be given to create the final brochures in class.
For the complete description, lesson plan, and link to the WebQuest, please visit the WEBQUEST tab on the menu bar above.
Materials: Paper and writing utensils; chalkboard or overhead projector; computers with internet access; sample travel brochures; WebQuest link; books, periodicals, and magazines; brochure-making and PowerPoint computer software; pens, pencils, and markers; poster board, colored paper, tri-fold boards, and construction paper; scissors and glue; other arts-and-crafts supplies as needed
EXCERPTS FROM PASSING & A CONFEDERACY OF DUNCES
To give students some historical literary perspective about the issues that came to a head during the Katrina crisis, we will work with excerpts and passages from two older novels: Passing by Nella Larsen and A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole.
With regard to Larsen's novel, students will be asked to consider the title. What do they think it implies? What comes to mind when they hear the word? What do they think the book is about based upon the title? All student responses will be recorded on the board. Excerpts from the novel will be read aloud to the class in which Larsen discusses and defines her perception of 'passing,' after which the class will be asked to add to and revise their earlier conceptions on the board. We will discuss what it might feel like to have to 'pass' as someone or something else, especially in terms of race.
Finally, the introduction to Passing will be read aloud to the class and students will be asked to respond in their journals to what they've heard and discussed thus far. Can they think of any instances in which they 'passed' for someone or something else? Why did they choose to portray themselves this way? Have they witnessed others 'passing?' What if they were in a situation that required they 'pass' themselves off as someone or something else - how would they feel? Is 'passing' a positive or negative action? The teacher will circulate during writing to provide assistance and scaffolding when needed.
Should time remain, students will volunteer some of their thoughts during a class discussion surrounding the concepts addressed in their journal responses.
For the complete Passing lesson plan, please visit the LESSONS tab on the menu bar above.
The following day students will read a short excerpt from A Confederacy of Dunces and be asked to consider the power dynamics and language use within the passage. Are there any racial tensions apparent? Socio-economic? What kinds of language are used (dialects)? Who uses which language and how does their language-use relate to their position of power? Is this a realistic portrayal of New Orleans according to what we have been learning thus far? Does it reflect on the rest of the country? Beyond? All student contributions will be recorded and organized on the board to facilitate the conversation.
Materials: Paper and writing utensils, chalkboard or overhead projector, Nella Larsen's novel, Confederacy handout, student journals
GRAPHIC NOVEL PROJECT WORKDAYS
After briefly reviewing what we've learned in previous weeks, students will be given instructions on the unit's final project: groups of five students each will work to create their own mini graphic novel inspired by Neufeld's A.D.: New Orleans After the Deluge. Students may tweak the actual plot of the novel or extend beyond it. Some prompts include:
- What if certain characters had stayed or left the city? Would that change their experiences or the outcome of the book? How?
- What if FEMA had provided better aid? How would that have affected characters' experiences?
- What happens to the characters after the A.D. ends? Does their luck change? How have their experiences with Katrina changed them? Follow one or many of them to continue their stories.
- Is there a character that A.D. doesn't touch on? Come up with your own character and plot their course through the novel or beyond it. How do they experience the city and the hurricane? What do they learn about themselves or others from those experiences?
In order to ensure that each group feels comfortable with the artistic nature of this project, students confident with their artistic abilities will be asked to volunteer and will then be distributed evenly across the groups. Groups may draw their mini graphic novels freehand or use a computer program: the Mac OS application 'Comic Life' will be provided on all computers as well as links to online graphic novel software. Brief instruction will be given in these programs to familiarize students with their operability and groups will have the opportunity to play around with their options before settling on a format to use.
During the workdays, groups will gather in the classroom, the library, or common area to work on their graphic novels, meeting periodically with the teacher concerning their progress, questions, and concerns. Stations will also be provided around the classroom with additional materials for students to browse should their groups stagnate, and we will open each class with a brief video clip about New Orleans or Hurricane Katrina to inspire students' work.
Materials: Paper and writing utensils, computers with internet access, printer access, digital overhead projector, Mac OS 'Comic Life' software, links to online graphic novel programs, additional inspirational materials, links to videos, pens, pencils, markers, colored or construction paper, scissors and glue, other arts-and-crafts supplies as needed, Graphic Novel Project handout
PROJECT PRESENTATIONS & UNIT CONCLUSION
Once the graphic novels have been completed, groups will prepare a brief presentation to explain their novel to the class. Students will be given time to organize and prepare their presentations in class as well as provided with any materials needed to facilitate their presentations. After all presentations, students will comment upon the elements that most impressed them which will form the basis for the project's grading rubric. We expect that graphic novels will be ultimately evaluated based upon creativity, coherence, relevance to unit materials, and aesthetics (not limited to artistic ability).
All graphic novels will be collected following the last presentation, compiled, and printed into books showcasing each group's work along with the positive feedback they received about their project from classmates. These books will be distributed to students on the last day of the unit during the Book Release Party for which food, drinks, and games will be provided.
For the grading rubric for the graphic novel project, please visit the ASSESSMENT tab on the menu bar above.
Materials: Computers with internet access, digital overhead projector, document projector, graphic novel compilation books, refreshments and games
