Black History Month On Pinterest

For over a year I've been working very hard to maintain a Black History Month board on Pinterest.  Normally I provide my teachers with a handy Black History Month Pathfinder, but I thought I would kick it up a notch.  So far, my teachers really enjoy using this resource along with the district's African-American Studies Curriculum.

Personally, this has been a really facinating experience for me as I have learned so much while adding content to the board.  As a result of the Black History board, I created a Black History Firsts board that celebrates the many groundbreaking achievements of African-Americans.

You can follow the board two ways:
Pinterest.com/boydk or
Pinterest.com/auslwpahs

Enjoy!

Garage Band Anyone?

My co-worker Mr. Simpson has mastered the use of the Garage Band app.  Last month, when he approached me about team teaching a lesson, using the app I jumped at it.  I looked at it as an opportunity to learn something new with a tutor sitting by my side.    The only glitch I had was, my inability to load all of the iPads with the app due to a CPS tech issue.  Otherwise the some classes had to share the devices and it worked out pretty well.

The students had to create a 8 measure 'back beat'.  These beats would be used as a background beat for the class song.  Some classes used the acoustic guitar while others used the smart guitar.  Was it noisy in the Library Media Center, yes but I didn't mind.  The kids enjoyed themselves thoroughly.  The final project was uploaded to SoundCloud.com for grading.  Some of the students really created some interesting beats and in some cases Mr. Simpson and I were pleasantly surprised with the level of genius on the part of the students.

Within the first five minutes of the lesson, Mr. Simpson had the students hooked in.  The students were interested, smiling, laughing and eager to be creative.   There were students who seemed to 'come to life' before my eyes because they could creative their own song and share it with others.

Below is a video highlighting a couple of periods where students used the apps and spoke very candidly on camera about the lesson.  Mr. Simpson and I plan on working with the students again this week.  Stay tuned for more music from these classes.

Bronzeville History

Students are viewing a clip from the award winning series, "Eyes On the Prize"

Wendell Phillips Academy High School is located in Chicago's historic Bronzeville south side neighborhood.   Bronzeville served as place of 'new opportunities' for millions of African-Americans when they left rural southern states to come 'north' for a new life.  Many stopped in Chicago, while other families continued on to Detroit, New York and California.

The Leadership Department at my school decided to create a unit for the entire student body about people in history who displayed admirable leadership/courage during trying times.  The topic they selected was The Murder of Emmett Till.  Through this lecture I've been giving this week, the students are learning about the leadership/courage of:
- Mamie Till Mobley (mother of Emmett Till),
- John H. Johnson (Publisher, Ebony/Jet Magazine),
- Ahmed Rayner (funeral home director)
- and Mose Wright (uncle of Emmett Till).

The goal of this lesson was to not only discuss their displays of leadership, but to also educate the students about the historical influence the key players had as it relates to their grassroots in Bronzeville.  So far, the students have really enjoyed the lecture/presentation.

I will like to add that I've taught this lesson off and on for over ten years.  Each time I teach this lesson, I learn something new.  The Keith Beauchamp documentary called, The Untold Story of Emmett Till, provides historians with a new and fresh perspective about the unsolved civil rights era murder.  I credit much of my lecture to the new research provided by Beauchamp's film.

The Emmett Till story is an important story that must be re-told to generations to come.  Below you will find the powerpoint presentation as well as a internet pathfinder.  The teachers that I am co-teaching with have plans to load this pathfinder into each classes Schoology pages for further discussion and study.

The Murder of Emmett Louis Till from K.C. Boyd

Emmett Till Internet Pathfinder

Compiled by KC Boyd, M.L.S., M.A., M.Ed.

Online Interactive Resources
PBS American Experience - http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/till/index.html  
The Murder of Emmett Louis Till: The Spark that Started the Civil Rights
Movement - http://www.edwardmalone.com/Murder.htm Emmett Till Murder - http://www.emmetttillmurder.com/
Emmett Till – Biography Channel -
http://www.biography.com/people/emmett-till-507515

The Courage of Mamie Till Mobley and Jet Magazine Editor/Chief
Emmett’s Legacy: A Mother Keeps Her Son’s Name Alive
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1995-09- 05/features/9509050005_1_tallahatchie-river-mississippi-naacp-black-race
The Face of Emmett Till -
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/05/14/731205/-The-Face-of-Emmett- Till-UPDATED
Emmett Till – A Story With Lasting Power -
http://barrybradford.com/2013/08/29/guest-post-emmett-till-a-story-with- lasting-power/

Videos
Eyes On the Prize: Emmett Till -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PxK8u58PqTE
The Untold Story of Emmett Louis Till -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvijYSJtkQk

Very short account of the Murder of Emmett Till -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=om7Dn5fw0cY
The Emmett Tlll Case Re-Opened: 60 Minutes (Ed Bradley) -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQC5WJMYaug

Books
Death of Innocence: The Story of the Hate Crime That Changed America by Mamie Till-Mobley and Christopher Benson http://www.amazon.com/Death-Innocence-Story-Changed- America/dp/0812970470/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1380223151&sr=8- 3&keywords=emmett+till
Simeon’s Story: An Eyewitness Account of the Kidnapping of Emmett Till By Simeon Wright and Herb Boyd http://www.amazon.com/Simeons-Story-Eyewitness-Account- Kidnapping/dp/1569768196/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1380223046&sr=8- 1&keywords=emmett+till
Getting Away With Murder: The True Story of the Emmett Till Case By Chris Crowe
http://www.amazon.com/Getting-Away-Murder-Story- Emmett/dp/0803728042/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1380223151&sr=8- 2&keywords=emmett+till
A Wreath for Emmett Till
By Marilyn Nelson http://www.amazon.com/Wreath-Emmett-Till-Marilyn- Nelson/dp/0547076363/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1380223151&sr=8- 5&keywords=emmett+till

Emmett Till and Trayvon Martin Comparison
A Longer Look at the Emmett Till- Trayon Martin Comparison
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nicolaus-mills/emmett-till-trayvon- martin_b_3606636.html
NAACP Compares Trayvon Martin Death To Emmett Till Lynching
http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2013/07/16/NAACP-Compares- Trayvon-Martin-Death-to-Emmett-Till-Lynching
Justice Denied: Is Trayvon Martin Post-Racial America’s Emmett Till?
http://www.nationofchange.org/justice-denied-trayvon-martin-post-racial- america-s-emmett-till-1374329793

Picture of Ahmed Rayner
Courtesy of Pamela Rayner, October 2013 

Screen Chomp App

Mi Comida Favorita - Desiree and Janel from WPAHS Video Page on Vimeo.

Here's a cool lesson that may be of interest to you.  Earlier this year, I collaborated with Mrs. Vinluan, who teaches Spanish I at my school.  The goal was to extend the classroom lesson into a digital project where the students could record their voices.  When this was first presented to me, I immediately thought about Screen Chomp.  It's free, very easy to use and can post completed projects to the internet, video hosting channel or the camera roll.  Plus, with various levels of iPad experience in her classes, we both decided that it would be easier to use the very basic screen annotating app.

The students were assigned a simple project which was to identify their favorite family member and describe one of the following:
- why this person(s) is special to them
- characteristics of this person (relationship, age etc.)
- something unique about this person


Mi Familiar Spanish Project - Erianna from WPAHS Video Page on Vimeo.
The challenge for this project was to use the Screen Chomp iPad app and record their narrative in Spanish correctly.  Students created their narrative and used Avancemos online as a reference tool to check their work. The students also had to select one picture of their choice that they would use for their project.  Annotating the screen was optional for the completion of this project.  The students presented their final projects in class using the classroom Promethean Board.

A couple of students completed their project early and were encouraged to record an additional  project.  Students selected their favorite food of their choice and identified an English to Spanish matching game online to annotate.  The worksheet used in the video was converted to a pdf and imported into Screen Chomp for use.

The overall goal of these projects was to demonstrate the growth of students who have been introduced to the Spanish language.

Mi Familiar Spanish Project - Yakerria from WPAHS Video Page on Vimeo.

"Breaking The Cycle"

I shared the video below with a couple of fellow 'Warrior Librarians' earlier this week.  After much encouragement from Dr. Vanessa Irvin Morris, I decided post the video here so that everyone could view it.  

My students tackling a difficult subject

My co-worker Ms Banks recently assigned her freshman writing class an interesting project.  The students were instructed to work in teams and create a persuasive advertising commercial.   The concept was solely the students as Ms Banks allowed them to be creative.  These students worked for weeks developing the concept/script  and used the Library Media Center iPads to shoot their commercials.  One group in particular, created a powerful commercial that brought tears to the eyes of some of the staff members at Phillips High School.

The honest fact is that students in today's society are dealing with real issues.  Sometimes these issues affect their behavior, self-worth and overall view of life.  Though very raw in presentation, the message is very clear.  I was not a part of the creation of the skit with the students and Ms Banks, I merely collaborated with them to edit the video in post-production.   Also if you look carefully, you will see Ms Banks standing behind the glass partition observing the students shooting the video. 

I hope you will enjoy this presentation and please feel free to leave a comment in the comment section of this post.  All comments will shared with the students.

Banks Project #11 from WPAHS Video Page on Vimeo.