Lesson Plan
Made by School Programs at the Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History
Adapted from the Community Building Through Art and History Field Trip
Community Builder: Journalist 3rd-5th grade Background Community Building Through Art and History is a field trip designed for grades 3-5. Over 2,000 students across the county visit each year to learn about creativity and the rich history of Santa Cruz. Most importantly, we aim to connect students to art and history in new ways and empower them to feel that they are real community builders in the community now and in the future. What is a Community Builder? A community builder is someone who is working to make the community better for all people.
Objective Students will learn about people and places from history and are encouraged to think about how a specific person or group of people (journalists) can work to make changes within the community. They will read 3 documents about journalists in Santa Cruz, and using what they learned, students will create a prototype or invention to help the future community.
Common Core Learning Standards Third grade: RI.3.1-9, SL.3.1.A-D, SL.3.2-6, L.3.3.A-B Fourth grade: RI.4.1-9, SL.4.1.A-D, SL.4.2-4, L.4.1.A-B Fifth grade: RI.5.1-9, SL.5.1.A-D, SL.5.2-4, L.5.3.A Why Journalists? We have chosen to highlight the journalists of Santa Cruz because they represent a few important historical people and places. Journalists throughout time have the opportunity to connect many to art, history, nature, the truth and even build more connected and meaningful communities through stories.
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Prep & Materials Read the whole lesson plan before you start. This will help you be most prepared to do the project. Organize a space where you can have all the materials set out. Make a space for creating as well. Suggested Materials Note: Use any recycled material available at home or at school. This could include: • Paper, all types • Sharpies/markers/crayons • Small boxes • Recycled materials • Watercolors • Maps/Pictures • Magazines/newspapers • Tape or Glue
Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History
• Small toys • Stamps • String • Paper rolls • Fabric • Clay • Small branches • Popsicle sticks
• Tape/stickers • Tooth picks • Paper clips • Small leaves • Aluminum foil • Glitter • Food mesh bags • Clothespins • Rice, beans, pasta
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Instructions Start with some discussion questions: • • • • • •
What is a journalist? What is journalism? What does a journalist write about? How can a journalist bring positive change? What tools does a journalist use? What challenges do journalist’s face? Any other question relevant to your class
Introduce an easy icebreaker or two that is connected to movement and learning: • Come up with a movement or action that represents a journalist. This could be a student pretending to write, interview, or use a camera. • Make your best, most serious, journalist face and hold it for 5 - 10 seconds. No laughing.
Students read each document under Reading Materials (pages 5-7). After reading the all 3 documents, ask students... • Who is Josephine McCrackin? • Who is Andrew Hill? • What do they have to do with Big Basin State Park?
After a discussion around each topic, begin to change the conversation towards the final activity. Explain the activity, share example ideas and ask if there are any questions. (Final Activity & Examples on next page) Once the activity is completed, students will present what they made and why. Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History
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Final Activity Now it’s time to work on the final project. Students will create an invention, building or something else creative that relates to journalism and will help the community in some way. Students should think about everything they learned about journalists and envision the future of Santa Cruz. What they are making is just a prototype, so don’t worry too much about how it looks. It’s the idea that is the important part. Come up with the idea and use all the materials to build a prototype. Examples Here is an example from a class that learned about musicians in Santa Cruz: A student made a new invention, a Musical Flute, because they noticed that many people walking around didn’t seem that happy. They built a robotic flute that flies around town and plays music for people to cheer them up. Here is an example from a class that learned about fishermen in Santa Cruz: A student noticed that a big issue with oceans is pollution, so they made a fishing boat that also cleans up trash as the fishermen catch their fish. Brainstorm So now is time to brainstorm and come up with an idea. You cannot get any materials until you have your idea. Write it down or share it out loud before you start constructing. And then… Create your new addition to Santa Cruz! Think about Journalists; what they do, what challenges Santa Cruz faces and how they can help. Create something that could help the community in a unique and creative way! Presentations Once students have created their prototype, they will share what they made with a presentation: Now is time for students to share what they made. Facilitate a time for each person to present what they made and why. Choose three of these prompts when making your presentation:
Closing
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Something I didn’t know about journalists until today was….. My design helps the community by….. I noticed that Santa Cruz didn’t have __________ so I created….. My invention is different from something that already exists because….. My project relates to journalists because…..
“Thank you all for being so thoughtful and creative when making these projects. You all learned a bit about Santa Cruz history and you used art to make something that would help the whole community in the future! Today, you thought like a journalist, but each of you have your own unique personalities, things you are good at and things you are interested in. This is what you can use to help the community in your own ways. There are so many amazing things YOU can do to make our community a better place. I am happy to say you are an official community builder!” Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History
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Josephine McCracken A Santa Cruz Journalist
Born in Germany, she moved to the U.S. with her family. She was a writer, journalist, and environmentalist. In 1880, she bought land in the Santa Cruz Mountains to build a home. In 1899 a large forest fire destroyed the house and the surrounding redwood trees. This is a photo of Josephine at her house after it burned down in a wildfire. She wrote newspapers, articles, & books to try and share the beauty of the redwoods and why we should save it. Her worked helped form the first state park ever: Big Basin.
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Andrew P. Hill & the power of photography
Andrew Hill was a Californian painter and photographer best known for helping save a forest of redwoods in Big Basin, California. This a photograph that he took to show people the natural wonders of the world. Andrew and Josephine worked together in founding the Sempervirens Club. Together they succeed in protecting the redwoods.
Andrew spent many summers photographing the trees until his death. He wanted to protect this space for everyone to visit from all over the world.
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Big Basin Redwoods State Park
Big Basin is California’s oldest State Park, established in 1902. It is located about 22 miles northwest of Santa Cruz. Big Basin served as a refuge for Ohlone Indians early during the Spanish occupation of the area. The park has waterfalls, a wide variety of environments, many animals (deer, raccoons, an occasional bobcat) and a big bird life – including Steller’s jays, egrets, herons and acorn woodpeckers.
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Continue the Learning The Museum of Art & History (MAH) thanks you for using our online resources to continue the learning from home or school. Want to visit the MAH for free? Send us a few pictures of some projects with a sentence explaining what they are to oscar@santacruzmah.org and we will send you a free family pass for your class or your student! If you liked learning a bit about these historical people and places you can learn more! To dive in a bit deeper, read more about Josephine Clifford McCkraken and Andrew P. Hill. In addition, the Big Basin Redwood State Park has a lot of resources and it is so close, you can visit it easily!
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