“If you have built castles in the air, your
work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations
under them.”
Judith Johnson
Nancy O’Brien
Approaching Walden 2001
7/13/01
This one semester interdisciplinary unit of study will examine
Concord, Massachusetts during the period from
1850 to 1860. It will focus on
the following themes: man and his environment, man and society,
man as a
citizen, the literary renaissance, and
contemporary connections. The
historical background of this time period as
well as the rich literary
heritage will be explored.
This course will be offered as an elective to sophomores, juniors,
and seniors who have an enthusiasm for both
American history and literature.
Part One - Laying the Foundation
“We cannot see anything until we are
possessed with the idea of it, take it
into our heads,-and then we can hardly see
anything else.”
Timeline
list of events and dates
Map
list of places
Overview lecture
teacher presents basic historical overview
historical vocabulary
Activators
word splash
sound bytes
match dates to headlines
Part Two - Survey Field Trip
“To attend chiefly to the desk or the
schoolhouse, while we neglect the
scenery in which it is placed, is absurd!”
The class will take a field trip to Concord
to visit the following sites:
Concord Museum
the Old North Bridge
Concord center
Walden Pond and Woods
Each
student will:
keep an “Inner Voice Log” with at least 2 comments for
each site in Concord
write at least 1 page of observations and/or
reflections while seated by Walden Pond
Part Three - Research and Focused Field Trip
“I have never got over my surprise that I
should have been born into the most
estimable place in all the world, and in the
very nick of time too.”
1.
Teams use primary and secondary resources to complete research on one of
the following themes:
Man and environment
Man and society
Man as a citizen
2. On
a second field trip to Concord teams complete onsite
research.
3.
Each team completes a presentation via a carousel, and
question and answer session.
4.
Each student completes a database/fact sheet on information
from each presentation.
Part Four - Literary Renaissance
“...the writer ...speaks to the intellect and
heart of mankind, to all and
any age who can understand him.”
Each student reads and completes activities
based on the works of
•
Emerson
excerpts from “Self-Reliance,”
selected aphorisms
•
Thoreau
excerpts from Walden
excerpts from “Civil Disobedience”
•
Hawthorne
“The Minister’s Black Veil”
•
Alcott
short story from Whispers in the Dark
•
Fuller
selections from The Dial
Part Five - Contemporary Connections
“No idea is so soaring but it will readily
put forth roots.”
•Each student completes activities based on the works of
(including but not limited to)
Don Henley, Rachel Carson, John Muir, Barbara
Kingsolver, Robert Frost, Sebastion Junger,
John Lewis Malcolm X, Sy
Montgomery, Mary Oliver, and Jon Krakauer.
•
Contemporary Causes
Each student chooses a contemporary cause he/she would be
willing to fight for and completes activities
prescribed.
• Civil Disobedience
Each student listens to and
completes activities for
Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream Speech”
Each student reads excerpts from “Letter
from a
Birmingham Jail” and completes a Venn
diagram comparing
MLK’s experience to that of Thoreau’s incarceration
•
Issues of Technology
Student teams will construct a then and now web
detailing issues of technology
•
Environmentalism
Students find quotes from Thoreau concerning
environmental issues and discuss the
implications for today in
their inner voice logs.
Course Content
I. Man and His Environment
A.
Geographic Site Map
B.
Natural Resources
C.
The Railroad
D.
The Rivers
II. Man and Society
A.
The family Structure
B.
Religion/Spirituality
C.
Education
D. Social Causes
E.
Employment -types of jobs, salaries, working conditions
III. Man as a Citizen
A.
Abolitionists
B.
Women’s rights
C.
Spirit of reform
D.
Evolution of Modern Political Parties
E.
The Gathering Storm - The Blue and the Gray
IV. The Literary Renaissance
A.
Emerson
excerpts from “Self-Reliance,”
selected aphorisms
B.
Thoreau
excerpts from Walden
excerpts from Civil Disobedience
V. Contemporary Connections
A.
Selections from the works of(including but not limited to)
Don Henley, Rachel Carson, Martin Luther King,
Barbara Kingsolver, Sebastian Junger, Mary Oliver
B.
Contemporary Causes
C.
Civil Disobedience
D.
Issues of Technology
E.
Environmentalism
Key Questions
Why Study Concord?
1. What is the relationship between man and
his environment?
2. What is the role of man in society?
3. What are the obligations of man as a
citizen?
4. What was the nature ot the Literary
Renaissance that sweept
through Concord?
5. What connections can be made between
Concord (1850-60) and the
contemporary world?
Not Really Renga
1. Complete the poem in a team of three.
Teammates rotate in order through
the entire poem.
2. Your topic is the site or part of the site
you visited. The topic becomes
your title.
Example: The Cafeteria
3. The poem must have at least 9 stanzas.
4. The pattern of the stanzas is
3 lines (person 1)
2 lines (person 2)
3 lines (person 3)
2 lines (person 1)
3 lines (person 2)
2 lines (person 3) ETC. [You get the idea.]
5. Each stanza must connect to the topic and
to the stanza before it.
Example:
behind ten foot windows
bright sun, green leaves
rustling in the breeze
JRF
hanging from above
milky globes of light ENK
through open doors
curving lines
of
chatting kids NOJ
Part Six - Culminating Activities
1.
Each student turns in course “Inner Voice Log”
2.
Each student makes a contribution to the “1854 Concord Town
Report”
3.
Each student chooses one activity to complete with a
team and one activity to complete as an
individual from the
lists below.
*Detailed directions and rubrics available
for each activity in this unit.
TEAM
Create your own utopia
Create a diorama of Concord
Role play a meeting between any
three individuals from
Concord during this time
period
Create a scale replica of Thoreau’s house at Walden
Create a Web Site focusing on Concord
INDIVIDUAL
Create a series of poems
Create a series of sketches
Create a musical score with
liner notes for the time
period (1850-60)
Read an approved book or essay
and write a review
Create a scientific journal /naturalist’s
notebook for a place
in your town
Write an editorial about a current political,
environmental, or social issue
concern