|
EDUCATIONAL UPDATE The goal of the
AMERICAN COLLECTION outreach has been from the beginning to create a broad American literature destination for teachers, establishing a literary context for the films that will appear on the series, and for the books on
which they are based.This approach has been actualized through a collaboration among more than 3000 English teachers, to date (as many as 4000 will have participated by the close of the project) and
their students. All material on the Web site is teacher- or student-authored, whether it is a lesson plan, a Web site evaluation, or an entry on the Literary Map. Student participation will increase
significantly with the appearance this month of "Between the Lines," our new student magazine. At this point, the AMERICAN COLLECTION outreach is the largest national collaboration of English teachers
ever assembled in support of a television or motion picture project. Since the objective was to create a general American Literature destination as a setting for our programs, the site can be broadly
viewed as two closely related entities: "The Series" and "American Literature Resources." THE SERIES We began with the titles ALT had set early in the production process —
"Lark" and "Cora" — and added Henry James' "The American," since WGBH had already filmed it but had no plans to support it educationally. As new titles were added — "Ponder Heart," "Almost a Woman," "A Death
in the Family" — the same basic template was followed:
- A scholar was invited to write an overview, focusing on the work being filmed and how it fit into the writer's career.
- If possible, the text was put online. (Full text is online for "Lark," "Cora," and "The American," and we are negotiating for excerpts from the others.)
- Teachers evaluated each new title for its appropriateness to the classroom and suggested books that could be replaced with the books we are filming; this is an attempt to take advantage of the new
flexibility teachers have in selecting the books their students study.
- The new book was sent out to teachers in different kinds of schools and at different grade levels all over the country. They prepared lesson plans, writing workshops, and specific teaching
recommendations for the book.
- A broad list of Web resources was developed and evaluated by teachers for each author and each book added to the list. These resources were then also added to the American Writing Gateway, described
below.
- The author was placed on the Literary Map, described below.
- If appropriate, the book (or other books by the same author) were placed in the "Beyond the Core" area of the site, described below.
- Interviews were held with the producers and (coming up) with the directors and writers engaged in each project.
- A gallery of photos is put online at the conclusion of production.
At this time we have extensive material on Cather and THE SONG OF THE LARK; on Hughes and CORA UNASHAMED; and on Welty and THE PONDER HEART, although most of that material has not been posted. Considerable
material has been developed for Esmeralda Santiago's ALMOST A WOMAN (with translations into Spanish), and we are working now on A DEATH IN THE FAMILY. Probably 80 percent of all material regarding the films has been
developed, if not actually put online. AMERICAN LITERATURE RESOURCES The American Literature Resources includes several sections:
- The American Literature Gateway:
This is a teacher selected, teacher-evaluated portal to the Internet for language arts teachers, offering the best Web sites on some 80 of the most widely taught American writers. (We have completed almost 100 but are holding off on posting them.) This is a unique resource, unlike anything else available to English teachers.
- The Literary Map of America:
A collaboration among teachers and students, the Literary Map is being filled in by student-developed overviews of authors who wrote in their state, and by state literature essays being written by groups of teachers. At present we have 22 states partially filled in, with another 14 ready to be put online at an appropriate time.
- "Beyond the Core"
is a new concept that allows English teachers to exchange their experiences in using new books in the classroom. This has proved to be one of the most popular areas of the site.
- "The American Literature Video Catalogue"
brings together the resources of a large number of video re-sellers to help teachers find cassettes of the books they teach, with classroom rights, at the lowest possible price.
- Literary Timeline:
Supplies teachers with an historic event in American literature for every day of the year.
Coming up this month is "Between the Lines,"
a student magazine devoted to the relationship between literature and life. The magazine is staffed exclusively by students, and each issue is themed to an issue that means a great deal to kids and is also found extensively in literature; we are beginning with an issue on "identity." As our films air, the magazine will put out special issues devoted exclusively to the upcoming motion picture. In development now is the issue on "Cora" and Langston Hughes. The students will look at the story, the themes, the author, the screenplay, and other aspects of the title being dramatized.
CURRENT STATUS With most of the material for the site either online or being held for uploading, the site currently represents contributions by almost 3,200 teachers. The number of site visits held
firm at approximately 18,000 unique visitors per week and more than 10,000 downloads before dropping off for the summer. Our current e-mail list, made up largely of teachers who have asked to be informed when there
are changes to the site, now totals well over 34,000. We will notify all of them as we begin to add "Cora" materials in preparation for the October premiere. In preparation for the "Cora" premiere, the following
events will happen online. (This can be taken as a template for the later films as they air):
- An expanded photo gallery will go up.
- New lesson plans, based on the script and the film in addition to the book, will be posted.
- Interviews with the film's creative principals will go online.
- The special "Cora Unashamed" issue of "Between the Lines" will become available.
- There will be additional Langston Hughes material all over the site, some of it on the Literary Map and some of it the product of reciprocal links with other institutions, such as the Langston Hughes Public
Library in New York City.
In addition to synopses, background information, essays, lesson plans, student projects, and collaborative activities, the Web site for the outreach contains the
complete texts of Willa Cather's THE SONG OF THE LARK , Langston Hughes' CORA UNASHAMED, and Henry James' THE AMERICAN, which WGBH Boston and the BBC have co-produced for the series.
Materials for our future productions, such as Eudora Welty's THE PONDER HEART, will be posted as the site grows. One aspect of the site that can involve everyone is an
evolving literary map of America that is being completed by teachers and students all over the country. If you are a parent who would like your secondary-school-age student
to participate in this project, ask your child to tell her teacher about the project and to review it at the URL below. If you are a teacher who would like to participate, check out
the lesson plan on the site, under Literary Map. The Web address for the outreach site is
http://www.ncteamericancollection.org |
|
