This lesson will explore the many different modes of transportation used on the Hudson River during the mid-19th Century, and how these forms of transport and the natural resources found in the Hudson Valley supported several industries to successfully develop in the Hudson Valley.
Art will serve as a vehicle to bring the freed slave James F. Brown to life. Prior to the art lesson, students will have read articles about James F. Brown as part of their classroom curriculum. In art class, students will highlight the words and phrases in these articles that describe his appearance and character, and discuss their perceptions of this man. With a partner, they will create a composite of facial features from a given selection, on a pre-prepared base page. They will then draw their own rendering of their visualization of James, using shading and value in pencil. Following the portrait lesson, students will view an actor portraying James F. Brown during their visit to Mt. Gulian.
Art will also serve as the culminating learning discipline utilized to sum up the I See Freedom curricula. In the extension lesson, students learn about the work of African-American artist Faith Ringgold, and her connection to the traditions of quiltmaking and storytelling. They create their own "quilt" shapes that illustrate the words of the journal of James Brown. To complete the "quilt" of James F. Brown portraits, illustrations, and patterns, students will add text of the actual words of James F. Brown from his journal.
Students will create graphs to allow interpretation of precipitation data. Students will draw valid conclusions regarding climatic conditions in their own neighborhood based upon their review and analysis of:
1.Weather data culled from James F. Brown's diary for 1837 regarding his observations at Mount Gulian Historic Site.
2.Weather data provided by the National Weather Service for 1937 regarding recorded observations for Glenham, New York.
In groups of four, students will be given four cards, each with a photo of a different vegetable planted by James F. Brown in the garden at Mount Gulian in 1837. They will then try to determine when each vegetable would be planted and when it would be harvested. Students will affix cards to a timeline, and the teacher will lead a discussion about each vegetable and what it means to eat in season (i.e., to eat only what can be harvested at that point in time.) Currently, we have access to vegetables year-round because food is shipped around the globe, but this was not always the case. James F. Brown planted vegetables that were appropriate for the climate in Beacon, and they ate what was in season.
Students will review what they know about slavery, Henry Clay and Uncle Tom's Cabin. Students will read excerpts from the journal of James F. Brown and identify events and activities that would not have been available to him if he were not free.
During two class periods, students learn the history of African American spiritual music, perform it, and begin to understand that historical context helps defines music.
Percussionist/Teaching Artist Jeff Haynes will begin working with students after they have been to Mount Gulian and have started working on their related assignments. Jeff's Arts in Education residency is designed to offer the following percussion based exercises in support of I See Freedom learning experience:
Students will work with Jeff on oral presentations of their (ELA assigned) essays and poems about James F. Brown, the Underground Railroad and Mount Gulian. Jeff will provide spoken word instruction/coaching on their delivery and staging of their original poems and essays.
Jeff will bring students together in a drum circle to help them discover the unspoken connection, dynamics and spirit of the Underground Railroad. Students learn to play together, listen to each other, to speak to each other (call and response) and to face the challenges of working together as one moving force.
The "I See Freedom" curricula is based on the words written in the 1829 through 1868 journals of freedman, James F. Brown. The lesson plans in this unit are all written based on the primary documents of James F. Brown's diaries. The lessons also utilize secondary documents from the "Fishkill Standard Newspaper" articles about Brown.
This lesson includes all of the "Fishkill Standard Newspaper" articles as attachments. These newspaper articles are required background reading for the "I See Freedom" unit.
Students will learn about primary documents, specifically diaries/journals, and their value when studying history. They will then compare what they know about diaries/journals to other ways of communicating ideas today, for example blogs, wikis, web pages, email, and text messaging. These four lessons library media center lessons take about 20 minutes each and should be taught in three consecutive visits to the library and one or two visits to the computer lab.