A lesson plan based on the photo essay “A day in our lives” in the March-April 2001 issue of L.A. Youth, in which L.A.C.E.S. student Matt Jones and Hamilton High student Hassan Nicholas described a day at school through photography.
By Libby Hartigan, Managing Editor
Grades: 6-12
Subjects: Language Arts, Social Studies, Journalism
Suggested time allowance: 45 minutes – 1 hour
Overview of lesson plan: In this lesson, students assess how youth are portrayed in the media, and explore whether and how their own realities are represented.
Objectives:
Students will:
1. Analyze the significance or “newsworthiness” of their own lives.
2. Assess the place of personal events in history.
3. Evaluate how adults, particularly journalists, might view such events.
4. Explore how the biases and information sources of journalists and historians might affect the way history is written.
Resources and materials:
—paper
—pens/pencils
—copies of LA Youth article “A day in our lives” (one per student)
—classroom blackboard
Activities:
1. WARM-UP: On the board, write the following quote: “Journalism is merely history’s first draft.” —Geoffrey C. Ward. (Note to teachers: Geoffrey Ward is a historian, screenwriter and former editor of American Heritage magazine. Among the books he has written is A First-Class Temperament: The Emergence of Franklin Roosevelt, which won the 1989 National Book Critics Circle Award for biography and the 1990 Francis Parkman Prize awarded by the Society of American Historians.)
On a sheet of paper, ask students to make a list of everything they did yesterday. On the classroom blackboard, ask students to look over their lists and suggest which activities might make a good journalism article. You may want to discuss some of the following questions:
a. What makes something important enough to be written about?
b. Do high school students have significant or notable experiences—important enough that they might be written about?
c. How are high school experiences usually represented in the media?
2. As a class, read and discuss the L.A. Youth article “A day in our lives,” focusing on the following questions:
a. Why do you think this photo essay was the cover story of L.A. Youth?
b. What is the current significance of this photo essay? What do you think is its significance in history?
c. Who are the people in this photo essay? What do you know about these youth and how they spend their time? Are the activities they describe familiar and predictable, or surprising and unusual? What makes these events meaningful?
d. How does the language used in the photo captions reflect the lives and perspectives of Matt and Hassan?
e. How does this article reflect views and values of our time?
f. How do you think another publication, such as the L.A. Times, might have approached this photo essay?
3. Divide the class into small groups. Tell the class that each group has to develop a plan for writing a book about American teenagers. Each group must quickly develop a list of 10 media resources, including newspapers, magazines, books, TV shows, movies, music or other media that will be used to learn about American teenagers. Have each group select one person to stand and read the group’s list to the class.
As a class, discuss these lists, focusing on the following questions:
a. Was there more printed matter than videos or music on the lists?
b. What types of resources might be the most credible sources for information?
c. What types of resources might an adult historian be most likely to use?
d. How would these resources shape a historian’s view of American teenagers?
4. In class or as homework, ask students to write an essay about whether their lives should be part of history. “If a historian were to write a book about American teenagers, should you be interviewed? Why or why not?”
Evaluation and assessment:
Students will be evaluated based on written work, participation in class and small group discussions.
Extension activity:
Write a letter to a local journalist, responding to an article or broadcast that portrayed an inaccurate view of youth. Explain what is inaccurate and urge the journalist to do a more realistic follow-up.