Duncanson+and+A+River+Ran+Wild

= [|ROBERT SCOTT DUNCANSON : Robert Duncanson Blue Hole, Little Miami River, 1851.jpg.webarchive]= = = =__One Week Mini-Unit Of Study__:= =5-day mini unit - daily double periods (90 minute block) for grade 8 literacy classes= =__Title__: Creating A Relationship With Nature through Literacy, Art, and Science= =__Big Idea__: relationships = =__Essential/Overarching Question__: How can we shape our relationship to the natural environment? = =__Enduring understandings__:= = =

What kinds of negative and positive changes can affect a natural environment?
=__Materials__:= =Robert Scott Duncanson - African-American artist influenced by the Hudson River School:= = = === He was influenced by the Hudson River School of painters who likened America to the Garden of Eden. Duncanson and like-minded painters saw the country's untamed wilderness as a source of inspiration and national pride. === =//A River Ran Wild: An Environmental History by Lynne Cherry (an environmental success story)//= = = The author Lynne Cherry traces the ecological evolution of New England's Nashua River - how it was respected by generations of Indians, polluted and ultimately deadened in the wake of the industrial revolution and restored in recent years through the efforts of concerned citizens.

= A River Ran Wild Resources= == = = = = =Content= = = =Skills= = = =__GRASPS:__= = G - The goal is apply your understanding of the perspectives of the Hudson River School landscape paintings. = = R - The role you are assuming is that of a non-fiction picture book author. = = A - The target audience you need to inform is your fellow classmates. = = S - The situation or context you find yourself in is being able to write informational text. P - The product you need to create is a journal of five pages which describe how you interacted with three American landscapes of one of the following artists - Bierstadt, Church, Cole, Cropsey, Duncanson. The pages are: (1)Why I Chose this Artist, (2-4)Three paintings and How I See Them Through Close Observation, and (5) Drawing Conclusions = = S - The standards you will use are: NYS ELA: Reading Grade 8 - Writing Grade 8 - = = The Blueprint for teaching and Learning in the Arts: http://schools.nyc.gov/offices/teachlearn/arts/blueprint.html = = National Science Education Standards (NSES) http://www.nap.edu/readingroom/books.nses = =__Supplementary materials:__= = Response to Literature rubric = = Non-fiction picture book rubric = =__Assessments:__ = = 1. Write a Response to Literature - Reader's response to //A River Ran Wild 2.// Write close observation descriptions = = 3. Create a journal using iPhoto and Microsoft Word = = = = = = =