Tag: 19-A3

This google forums mini lesson allows students to utilize a lot of historical thinking skills, including sourcing, contextualization, and close reading. An activity like this allows students to work with the primary source and make their own analysis of the document rather than reading sources secondhand from a textbook. It’s an extremely visual activity in comparison to reading, and the activity relates to key vocab found in most World War I units. Also, since I chose to not make the forum a quiz, students can collaborate and answer the open ended questions together. Additionally, I could see the forum formatting useful for a lot of different activities, with the most useful one being an exit slip for a formative assessment tool. I can very easily see myself using something like I created today in my classrooms in the future.

Did you know the Federal Government employed more than 5,000 artists during the New Deal era under the Works Progress Administration? Some of our nation’s most recognizable artwork was produced by WPA sponsored artists during this period, including the iconic posters for the National Park Service.

The Posters That Almost Weren’t

Posters like this one are a specific type of print called a “silkscreen” in which a pigment is brushed across a mesh, or screen, to create a colored image on an underlying sheet of paper. The process allows for numerous color copies to be made of the same image, though not without limitations. Silkscreening must be done in stages, one color at a time. Each color screen must be lined-up precisely for the image to come out correctly.

A total of 14 images were selected for print to commemorate America’s National Parks between the years of 1935 and 1943. Of 1,400 original color prints, only 41 exist today. Many were tucked away in attics and garages until the conservation efforts of a few enthusiasts tracked them down for the purposes of preservation. Five of the prints, including this one of Yellowstone, are located in the Library of Congress. The remaining posters are in private collections across the globe. We are grateful for the efforts of those who sought to protect these treasures for the enjoyment of future generations.

Directions: Please review the image and answer the three questions provided at the end!