Jennifer M. Ports
In the hopes of helping my United States History students understand Colonial America and the development of an American identity up to the start of the Revolutionary War, my first content objective for this unit is that students will be able to analyze visual and material art from the time period to construct an understanding of race, class, gender, and economy in colonial society. Instead of having students just read someone else's interpretation of what Colonial society was like from the textbook, my hope is that with the right strategies students will be able to construct their own understanding by examining primary sources from the time period. Each painting and object they analyze from this time period will speak volumes about the time period, so by equipping students will the tools they will need to sharpen their visual literacy and analytical skills, students should be able to create meaning from what they see. This is a skill they can make use of well beyond their time in my classroom. Through discussion of their observations and interpretations, along with supplemental readings, they should be able to create an even clearer picture for themselves of colonial society. This connects to my next content objective, that students will be able to discuss the themes of race, class, gender, and economy as they were in colonial America. Students will learn skills they need to be able to conduct a productive, focused academic dialogue on the visual and material art they examine. I have specifically chosen to focus this unit on the themes of race, class, gender, and economy as well. I believe these are themes that lend themselves well to visual and material art and are all themes that students will already have some understanding of. Another content objective is that students will be able to describe the role of visual art in colonial America and compare society then to society today in race, class, gender, and economy, and in the function of visual art. Whenever students can connect themes of the past to today they not only understand the content better, but they are more likely to remember it. It is so important as a history teacher to draw connections to society today because many students struggle to see the relevance of societies, people, and events of the past to their world today.
