Part I - The Technology-Rich Mini-Unit

Culture Centers of the Roaring Twenties: New York City and

Chicago
U.S. History
11th Grade
The objective of this unit to explore the culture that emerged in
New York City and Chicago throughout the 1920s and early 1930s. This
includes music, art, and literature in addition to the artistic movements
such as the Harlem Renaissance and Tin Pan Alley.
In addition to daily lectures there will be time devoted during
each class for online research. Students will be organized into groups
and each group will be assigned a topic on either famous individual
(Langston Hughes, Louis Armstrong, Irving Berlin, Duke Ellington, Cole
Porter, Zora Neale Hurston, etc.) or artistic movement or culture from
this period. Using their research they will create a visual media
presentation about their topic. Examples include: a short documentary
film, social media posts or advertisements. With this project students
will demonstrate their knowledge of their topic. In addition to their
visual presentation the group will write a two-paragraph summary
detailing the historical importance of their topic.
The unit will begin with an overview of the social, political,
cultural and economic changes that took place in the U.S. following the
end of the World War I. Topics include the Red Scare, Henry Ford and

the Model T, the beginning of mass media: creation of commercial

radio and the mass production of film, in accordance with state
standards:
SSUSH16 The student will identify key developments in the
aftermath of WW I.
1. Explain how rising communism and socialism in the United
States led to the Red Scare and immigrant restriction.
2. Identify Henry Ford, mass production, and the automobile.
3. Describe the impact of radio and the movies.
4. Describe modern forms of cultural expression; include Louis
Armstrong and the origins of jazz, Langston Hughes and the
Harlem Renaissance, Irving Berlin, and Tin Pan Alley.
This will provide a foundation to which the students will expand on
in their individual projects. At the beginning of the unit students will be
given the rubric for the project so that during the lectures and class
discussions they can start formulating ideas of what kind project
theyre going to do for their assigned topic. With class time equaling to
about an hour for each period, for the first day of the unit the first 45
minutes will be lecture and class discussion with the remaining 15
minutes for students to get into their groups to discuss and plan their
project. The following class session will follow the same schedule with
students writing their project proposals. By the end of class students
will present their proposal to the instructor for evaluation and

feedback. It should take the class three class sessions to covering the
lecture material. Two to three class sessions will allow students to work
on their projects for the full period.
Classroom Materials:
-

Smart Board
Laptops (if laptops are unavailable then access to school

computer lab)
Video editing software (iMovie, Window Movie Maker, etc.)*

*Lesson plan will be adjusted if school computers are missing one or

more of these applications.

Examples of types of projects students can create:

Instagram account: Students can create an Instagram account for
their project. An example might be what if jazz musicians Duke
Ellington or Louis Armstrong had an Instagram account and they
documented their rise to popularity throughout the 1920s and 1930s.
Another example is about the cultural centers in New York and
Chicago, incorporating pictures of these neighborhoods and various
other locations during both the 1920s and present day and writing
about the historical importance of these places (Examples include:
Harlem, The Cotton Club, Tin Pan Alley, etc.)

Another option, which also applies to setting up a Twitter account, is

the students placing themselves back in history and writing about the
Roaring Twenties as an observer.
YouTube / Vimeo: Students will create a short 5+ minute
documentary about their topic incorporating visuals, music, narration
and text.
Photoshop: Students create an artistic depiction about their topic
whether it be a photo collage or an advertisement.

Assessment
Once the group decides on what topic to cover as well as the style, the
groups will present their research. Students will write up a proposal for
their project and present it to the instructor for evaluation and
feedback. Students will make any necessary corrections before moving
on to the final version
CATEGORY
4
3
2
1
Content /
Exceptionally clear,
Clear,
Inconsiste
Research lacks
Focus
focused.
consistent nt focus,
clarity and
Strong, rich
focus.
generalize focus.
supporting details,
Specific
d
Inadequate or
thoroughly
supporting supporting missing
explaining the
details
details.
supporting
topics historical
present.
details. Missing
importance/significa
conclusion.
nce
Group
Project presented in Project
Project
Presentation
presentatio great detail, entire
presented presented
was lacking
n
group spoke, were
in well,
well with
information,
able to explain their entire
detail
only a one or a
research topic in
group
description few in the
detail.
spoke,
s of topic,
group spoke.
were able only a few
to give
or one
some
group
details
members
regarding
spoke

their topic

Presentatio
n/
Attractiven
ess

Overall presentation
of material is
detailed, neatly
organized, creative,
and engaging.

Grammar

There are no
grammatical
mistakes

Use of Class Used time well

Time
during each class
period. Focused on
getting the project
done. Never
distracted others.

Overall
presentati
on is
focused
and
creative.

Presentatio
n is
exceptiona
lly creative
but is
messy in
its
organizatio
n/
execution
There is 1 There are
grammatic 2
al mistake grammatic
al mistakes
Used time Used of
well
the time
during
well during
each class each class
period.
period.
Usually
There was
focused
some
on getting focus on
the project getting the
done and
project
never
done but
distracted occasionall
others.
y
distracted
others.

Presentation
lacks creativity,
poor
organization

There are more

than 2
grammatical
mistakes
Did not use
class time to
focus on the
project OR
often
distracted
others.

Technology: Video Editing / YouTube / Vimeo

Affordances
Uses
1) Incorporation of various
Students use a variation of
media
photos, footage, and music

2) Organization of Media

3) Extensive Research

4) Group Work

5) Presentation

Students are required to

create a short documentary
film with a running time of at
least five minutes.
In order to reach the run time
of five minutes, students will
have to do additionally
research beyond what was
discussed in class.
A project encourages
organization and team work in
order for the project to be
completed on time. Individual
students or pairs will have to
responsible for research,
editing, recording narration,
etc.
Students will screen their film
for the class and they will be
evaluated on the amount of
research and effort put into the
project.