Documenting The American Dream vs. The American Reality (1)
The cost of 12 Panasonic Mini Tape Recorders is $498, including shipping and <a target="new" href="http://www.donorschoose.org/html/fulfillment.htm" onclick="g_openWindow('http://www.donorschoose.org/html/fulfillment.htm', 300, 800, 'fulfillwindow');return false;">fulfillment</a>.
As an English teacher, I believe that it is important for students to use the people and places around them as a resource for learning. It is essential for me to teach students to know their hearts and use their minds well. At our school, teachers prepare students to live productive, socially useful, and personally satisfying lives with an academic program that stresses intellectual development and social involvement in our society. I have developed a strong curriculum that places great importance on learning how to learn, reason, question, and investigate.
This semester, I have designed a humanities course entitled "The American Dream". Students spent the first part of the semester coming to conclusions about their definition of The American Dream, and how that definition changes over time. Currently, students are studying immigration patterns in history through the examination of documentaries. We have explored the photography of Jacob Riis and Lewis Hine, analyzed a Human Rights Watch Film entitled "My American Girls" and listened to an audio recording of "Ghetto Life 101", made by two students in the Chicago projects. We have looked at each of these documents through the lens of an essential question: "What is the American Dream vs. The American Reality?"
Now, students will complete a project that is two-fold. First, they will write an oral history of an immigrant answering the essential question. Second, they will choose a medium we studied (photography, film, or audio) to document The American Reality in their community.
Their final exhibitions will not only serve as pieces for their graduation portfolios, but will awaken the eyes of many to the current conditions of "the other half". Through this process, students will understand that they are capable of making a positive change and that history is happening in the present.
In completing this ambitious project, our class is asking for 12 Panasonic Mini Tape Recorders. We would appreciate your support and look forward to sending you a copy of our work when it is complete!
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As a teacher-founded nonprofit, we're trusted by thousands of teachers and supporters across the country. This classroom request for funding was created by Ms. Russo and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
