Mason Shearer

ALST 600 Review

Through Alaska Studies, I have obtained knowledge that wouldn’t have been as diverse if we were lectured. We went into depth in our own regions as well as those that we reviewed.

I learned multiple tips and tricks from Peter through this class. I have nothing, but good things to say about Peter. I learned how to direct student attention to the center of a room, multiple different computer tricks, and how to maintain a classes attention.

I look forward to using visuals in my classes to teach in a fun and captivating way. I have also learned multiple ways to teach sensitive topics and relating them culturally common knowledge.

Curriculum Standard D

In a CRT curriculum, the goal is to create a complementary relationship between different knowledge systems.

it should “draw parallels between knowledge derived from oral tradition and that derived from books.”
it should also “engage students in the construction of new knowledge and understanding that contribute to an ever-expanding view of the world.”

The goal for me, as a teacher, will be to take information from books or spoken words and bring it to understanding of the students within my classes. I will take information from different culture and find a creative way to bring it into common knowledge that will allow the students to make their own parallels to the information.

For groups poster, we came up with the idea of taking a Romeo and Juliette story that most people have at least heard of. They will most likely know the story or the names. We drew the Romeo and Juliette story in a picture that captures the original story to show that it is important to not assume that all students know the same content. We drew it to demonstrate the importance of teaching the common knowledge.

From there, we drew fish in another section. They are both salmon. We drew from the similarity that fish die after they give birth. It is cultural knowledge and links the culture to a story that might need to be taught. This is to teach those that don’t know the story of R&J.

For those that have read or seen the Shakespeare play, there is another lesson that could be taught. We drew another section of the poster to show two ravens. This is to teach about the Tlingit culture from something that is already known (R&J). The information would be to show that two ravens were forbidden to be married.

The students would then be asked to make a play where the plot was about two ravens that were in love. Then at the end, if the students want to, they could act out another students play.

WWII Lesson Plan

Cultural Standard B: “A culturally-responsive curriculum recognizes cultural knowledge as part of a living and constantly adapting system that is grounded in the past, but continues to grow through the present and into the future.”

My lesson plan contains, but is not limited to, subsection 2 underneath standard B. The number is requiring that students understand cultural systems as they are molded by external forces that are out of their control.

Through my lesson plan about internment camps of the Aleut and Japanese-Americans during WWII, there is mention of trans-generational trauma. The impact of outside forces not only affect the people going through the forced circumstances, but it inflicts trauma on future generations. The trauma, shock, and relocation all impact the culture.

The goal of this lesson is to show a cause and effect of the Aleut and Japanese-American culture. By showing the before and during camp photos and stories, students will identify and recognize the outside influences on the culture. By showing the after photos and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, students will be able to link the cause to the affect and can form theories about the possible impacts.

Standard D also ties in with expanding knowledge through concepts the students already encountered. Fort Richardson is a well known facility in anchorage, so if students already know the structure or location, adding to the fact that it was partially an internment camp will help the student retain the knowledge. Beyond that, it is common knowledge at a certain age that Jewish persons were persecuted by Germans during WWII. Most people know about the concentration and internment camps in Germany and surrounding areas. By taking that information and dates, just apply similar scenarios to the Japanese-Americans during the execution of Order 9066 or the Aleut into southeast Alaska. The circumstances and reasons were different, but the idea of trauma can engage the knowledge about all cultures that endured camps.

Reflection on Scott’s Discussion

When Scott came in, I didn’t know what to expect. After reading the pages we were asked to read, I was curious about how he was going to include an activity or what the discussion was going to be about. I was also wondering how to incorporate the lessons he will teach into different content areas.

We were asked to write down a few answers to simple open-ended questions with no right answer. As I wrote down my answers I kept looking for the way he would turn this into a lesson or attach it to his points. The group-sharing was, like normal, relaxing and thoughtful. I remembered things about myself and my home. It was a good activity that did eventually tie into what he was presenting.

Each student will learn differently and will find different subject matter interesting. One student might enjoy writing poetry while another student would rather write findings to a scientific research study. It is important to leave the subject matter open-ended, like the questions, to allow all of the students to become interested.

I have been struggling to find potential field trips for an english class or project that will keep the students moving around. Which brings me to another point that Scott made. Students sit for hours on end in multiple different classrooms. They will get antsy and squirrely and will need a break from sitting. So it brought up the question, how will I get students to move around the classroom? Honestly, I have thought of multiple ways to get students moving, but none of them are field trips. That is okay, because most students just want to move around, create something they are interested in, and have something to show for the work that they contributed.

It was nice to hear Scott talk, and I look forward to his class in the second half of this semester.

Aleutian Sparrow

Aleutian Sparrow is a depressing book by Karen Hesse that is for middle school and high school reading levels. This book tells the history of the Aleut people that were relocated to Southeast Alaska during World War II. It is broken into chronological sections: during the move, after the move, and after the relocation was finished and they were returning home. Within each section is a collection of poem-like stories with easy-to-understand vocabulary and aesthetically pleasing.

While flipping through the pages I noticed one story, in the section after the Aleut people were settled into their temporary homes, that compares the Japanese prisoners of war to the Aleut people. Hesse emphasized the comparison of toilets. Japanese people had a toilet with a seat and flushes. The Aleut did not have working toilets, instead they had a trough that drained into a river. There was no seat, there was no flushing, and it was a humiliation to the people.

I selected this book, which was recommended by Angie and brought by Michelle, for its content in both history and english. This holds history of a native culture, the Aleut, relocation camps, and specifies the time during WWII. For the english part of content, it has a poem-like structure that is divided evenly by chronological events. Each short story or poem tells of a different aspect of this trouble time.

Having a collection of poems that tell a story is a strong concept that middle schoolers and high schoolers could appreciate. There is multiple stopping points throughout the book, the vocabulary is accurate for those grades, and there can be activities that relate to this book. It is interesting, captivating, and I am thinking of buying this book.

On the rubric, some sections are 3’s, but I lean more towards the 4’s because it is everything I enjoy about english and history. I would give it a perfect 5 if I had a chance to read through the entire thing, but as of this moment, it is a solid 3.75.

BH&H (Language in the Classroom)

Language is important for communication, learning, and understanding. In BH&H there are a few sections that discuss which languages should be used inside of a classroom and what to do with those students that have a different primary language.

The language that should be established as primary use for a classroom should be which language is most important to the country. In the United States, schools should teach English. In Mexican schools they would teach spanish.

In schools that have a high concentration of students that come from a different background and have a different first language, the students need an option to be able to speak their own language, but be able to learn the one they need to learn. BH&H made the point, when a student’s first language is not the same as the language that the school speaks, they take classes that submerge the students into the desired language. They are taught english and practice, but if they are stuck on diction they are allowed to ask for help in their main language. That is only in cases of emergency.

My thoughts are, if we are teaching students to speak english, shouldn’t we be encouraging them to teach us their language in return? I imagine a school where english is THE language and a new student only speaks spanish. He will be taught to speak english, but I feel that might be a little insensitive. In the act of asking them to speak a different language, there is hope of that becoming the primary language. It is difficult to lose a language that has been with a student since birth, but if they rarely speak in their primary language for the rest of their lives, that takes a piece of their culture away from them.

On a different section of the same chapter in BH&H, there is a discussion where children openly accept new students, but that only happens if the students believe that the new member can conform into the social norm. Children are unaware of this, but they will accept new people in hopes of fitting them into the norms. They will befriend the student and unknowingly use the power of social conformity to change the new students dress-code, eating habits, language, and eventually the culture.

I find that interesting because it is something that we, as humans, are do when we are unaware. However, when we are aware of our acceptingness, we need to help the newcomer uphold their heritage and culture.

History Lesson on South Central Alaska

Region: South Central (Seward Peninsula)

Number of Class Periods: 1-2

Grades: 7-10

Idea 1) History of Fort Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska

Lesson: Fort Richardson was once an internment camp for Japanese-Americans during World War II. Only 15 Japanese-Americans and two Germans were held there.

After World War II, the internment camp, which was constructed in 1941, was turned into Alaska’s largest Army base.

Information to discuss: Fort Richardson, Japanese-American and Alaska Native mixed couples, separation between homeland and an individual.

Tangent Information: Internment camps, Aleut relocation camps, and information about Fort Richardson.

Questions:

Why do you believe the United States rounded up Japanese-Americans?
How would you feel if someone knocked on your door and told you to “pack up two suitcases, you are leaving?” What would you bring?
What are the pros and cons of transforming the internment camp into an army base?

Activity: Pack a suitcase, or two, with symbolic items to represent personal belongings. Make sure those symbols take up an accurate amount of space.

Idea 2) History of the Dena’ina people

Lesson: The Dena’ina people are a subgroup of the Athabascan. The Athabascan people are broken into different regions and dialects. Each region have commonalities in clothing, music, spirituality, and respect for the land. Specifically, the Dena’ina people have changed over the years as the land they live on becomes more popular and populated. The Dena’ina became more advanced in their technology after the Russians and World War II.

Information to Discuss: The groups of Athabascan people and the commonalities amongst each region, the differences between the Dena’ina and the other regions, the Dena’ina’s specific items of importance, hunting, gathering, population, weapons, evolution of technology, and the growth of population in that area and how it affects that Native inhabitants of that area.

Question:

If two different groups are different regions of Athabascan, why might there be different dialects, clothing options, etc.? What are some conditions that cause these differences?
What is the most useful tools used by the Dena’ina?
Did the Russians have a negative or positive impact on the Dena’ina?
What correlation does population density and speaking a native language have?

Activity: Have each student research the Dena’ina people in any aspect they find to be interesting. Ask them to write down interesting facts. Afterwards, have the students break into groups of 4-6, having more groups will lengthen the amount of this activity, and make their own board game. Have them explain their interesting facts to each person in their group and discuss if has is a positive or negative impact.

Each group should brainstorm on scratch paper, but the final product should be on a large poster size of paper. Each game should have a beginning (start) and end (finish) with a path to get from point A to point B.

Have each student find a way to incorporate their interesting facts into the squares. If it is a positive (student-deemed) then award the player that lands on that square some sort of advantage. That advantage could be the advancement of a few spaces, draw a card with another perk or consequence, etc. If the information is negative then provide the player that lands on that space with a negative outcome or punishment.

Have each group describe their game, explain the rules, and their interesting facts. Afterwards, have the groups switch boards and play on a board they didn’t create. Repeat this if desired.