Commonwealth Connections

Target Audience: English 10 Students (moving toward interdisciplinary study after the initial implementation of the project)

Rationale: Montgomery County Public Schools, Christiansburg, Virginia, designated President’s Day as Virginia Heroes Day. Since this coincides with Black History Month, the focus will be on learning about famous African-American-Virginians who have contributed to the history of the Commonwealth and beyond. Students will use research skills as well as technology skills in creating a resource for others to use. In preparing for the research component of the project, I have found that there are scant resources available for most of the individuals we study. This lesson will not only enhance the research and technology skills of students at Auburn High School., but will provide resource information to other students or individuals wishing to learn more about African-American history. Additionally, these video reports will become part of the Auburn Community Museum Project.

Objective: to create a digital collection of video stories of Famous African-Americans from Virginia who contributed to the history of the Commonwealth, the United States and beyond.

Virginia Standards of Learning Correlation for high school sophomores:
10.8 The student will edit writing for correct grammar, capitalization, punctuation, spelling, sentence structure, and paragraphing.
a) Use a style manual, such as that of the Modern Language Association (MLA) or the American Psychological Association (APA), to apply rules for punctuation and formatting of direct quotations.
b) Apply rules governing use of the colon.
c) Distinguish between active and passive voice.

10.11 The student will collect, evaluate, organize, and present information.
a) Organize information from a variety of sources.
b) Develop the central idea or focus.
c) Verify the accuracy and usefulness of information.
d) Credit sources for both quoted and paraphrased ideas.
e) Present information in an appropriate format, such as an oral presentation, written report, or visual product.
Use technology to access information, organize ideas, and develop writing

Students will research a famous African-American-Virginian and write a three-page documented research paper.

Using the research paper, students will create a script for a human interest video sketch of the person he/she researched.

Students will research locations associated with the people they selected and decide how and where to film their video sketch. This will involve contacting personnel at historic sites. Students will also contact people who may assist them in arranging interviews with the people they have researched who are still alive. Example: contact state representatives to check possibility of interviewing former Governor L. Douglas Wilder; contact Coach Frank Beamer to check the possibility of interviewing former Virginia Tech and NFL player Bruce Smith; contacting NASA to check the possibility of interviewing astronaut Leland Melvin; check on the possibility of interviewing Nikki Giovanni, professor at Virginia Tech. While there is an extensive list of names, the focus will be on generating an initial collection of at ten video feature stories.

Students will take field trips to:
Booker T. Washington Birthplace National Park Service, Franklin County, VA
Blanche Kelso Bruce, Prince Edward County, VA
Maggie Walker House, Richmond, VA
Virginia Estelle Randolph Museum, Richmond, VA
Arthur Ashe Monument, Richmond, VA
Oliver W. Hill Building, Richmond, VA
L. Douglas Wilder, Richmond, VA (Interview)
William “Bojangles” Robinson Monument, Richmond, VA
Anne Bethel Spencer House, Lynchburg, VA
Carter G. Woodson (father of Black History) Birthplace, Buckingham County, VA
James Armistead Lafayette Birthplace, New Kent, VA
Dred Scott, Southampton County, VA
Nikki Giovanni, Blacksburg, VA (Interview)
Bruce Smith, Blacksburg, VA (Interview)

After returning to school with the Flip videos, students will edit and prepare videos using the Flip Video Software for internet publication. Students will post their Flip videos onto Moodle for others to access. In addition to creating a video library on Moodle, students will post a bibliography for others to use.

Students will collaborate and create a Google .KMZ file that has place markers notating locations in Virginia and beyond where Famous African-American Virginians lived or made an impact to our history. Each place marker will contain the Flip Video segment that teaches others about the person that they researched.

Next steps:

1. Move toward an interdisciplinary program engaging a larger number of students in the school.

2. Continue field trips to locations associated with the Famous African-American-Virginians to add to the collection.

3. Develop liaisons with the local NAACP and the Virginia Department of Travel and Tourism in hopes of connecting to a wider audience.

With the hope of making connections beyond Auburn High School, students will contact students in parts of the country where the Famous African-American-Virginians have associations. For instance, Clara Brown, former slave, traveled to Denver where she is recognized by the state government for her contributions. Blanche Kelso Bruce was an elected senator representing Mississippi. Perhaps we could create a partnership with Tuskegee Institute and the public schools in Tuskegee where Booker T. Washington was president. There are many schools throughout the country named in honor of many of the people and we could create a connection with those schools.