Lesson Plan: The Case of the Missing Park Posters

Subjects:

U.S. History, Geography

Lesson Duration:

• One or two class periods (dependent on poster creation and sharing)

Essential Questions:

• What programs were created during the New Deal? What problems were they meant to address?
• What role did public projects, including art, play in New Deal programs?
• How does visual art play a role in our feelings about our community or country?

Lesson Objectives:

Students will:

• Examine New Deal programs to determine their purpose and effects.
• Investigate the legacy of New Deal public works projects.
• Design a poster for a public amenity to communicate a message about its history and/or importance.

Materials:

• Retro Report film “The Case of the Missing Park Posters: Ex-Ranger Hunts for New Deal-Era Art” (Transcript)
• Student Activity handout
• “Works Progress Administration” | Library of Congress.
• “The Living New Deal” interactive map.
• Optional resources for learning about National Parks:
  • The Hidden Worlds of the National Parks | Google Arts & Culture
  • Find a Park by State | National Park Service
  • U.S. National Parks by State | Trip Savvy
  • Educators Page | National Park Service
  • Plan Your Visit | National Park Service
• Digital poster creation tools:
  • Adobe Express
  • Canva
  • Piktochart

Procedure:

1. Students will begin the lesson by reading a brief article from the Library of Congress about the Works Progress Administration and answering the questions provided.
   1. This could be done individually, in pairs or with the whole class.
   2. The goal is to build background knowledge of this particular New Deal program and for students to understand that the W.P.A. employed artists as well as workers in other trades.
2. Students will watch the film “The Case of the Missing Park Posters: Ex-Ranger Hunts for New Deal-Era Art” and answer the questions provided.
   1. Beyond learning about this particular story, students should be prompted to think about how visual art communicates a message, and how art and other artifacts can help us understand particular points in history
3. The next tool for students to use is an interactive map produced by The Living New Deal. This nonprofit organization seeks to preserve information about New Deal programs and educate the public about the legacy of this period of history. It has produced a map of documented New Deal sites with thousands of entries, including spots in every state.
   1. To navigate the map, you can click on “Help” to see the different categories of New Deal projects and navigation tips.
   2. Model how to use the map, including zooming in and out, selecting categories and finding links to learn more about individual projects.
   3. Students are asked to find nearby sites and investigate the different types of projects around the country. The teacher should feel free to edit this section to have students focus on particular types of projects, specific locations or other prompts that help connect to prior learning.
4. The final section of this activity asks students to create a poster in the same vein as the National Park posters featured in the film.
   1. Once students choose a subject for their poster, they should conduct independent research and explain what they want to feature about their subject and why it is important.
   2. At the discretion of the teacher, students can choose to draw a poster, either on a printed version of the student activity sheet or another piece of paper. The teacher can also have students create a digital poster. Several poster creation tools are listed in the “Materials” section of the lesson plan.
   3. This section of the activity should be adjusted by the teacher to meet the needs of their curriculum. Students may be prompted to create a poster for a historic or contemporary location, a local, national or global location, or something else entirely. The teacher should use their discretion to make this activity meaningful for their students.
   4. Students can share their creations via slideshow, by printing and/or displaying their posters around the room or with some other method to extend their learning.

Extension Activity:

1. For a Geography lesson, have students plan a trip to a national park (use the “Plan Your Visit” link). Students would incorporate geographic skills and concepts like identifying relative and absolute location, explaining how their chosen park has a sense of place, etc. This can also be done with other parks, monuments or natural wonders throughout the world.
2. Have students design posters for local landmarks, parks or other areas of interest and share their creations with local leaders. Students could create a visual arts and social media campaign to highlight local areas of interest and work with local visitors’ bureaus to learn about the communications and advertising process.
3. Where Are They Now? Lost Works From the W.P.A. Era by Anne Checler | Retro Report

About the Author:

David Olson is the Director of Education for Retro Report. Prior to joining Retro Report, David was an award-winning teacher of U.S. History, A.P. U.S. Government and Politics and Criminal Justice at a public high school in Madison, Wisc.

Standards

College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Framework for Social Studies

• D2.Civ.5.9-12. Evaluate citizens’ and institutions’ effectiveness in addressing social and political problems at the local, state, tribal, national, and/or international level.
• D2.Civ.13.9-12. Evaluate public policies in terms of intended and unintended outcomes, and related consequences. 
• D2.Geo.2.9-12. Use maps, satellite images, photographs, and other representations to explain relationships between the locations of places and regions and their political, cultural, and economic dynamics.
• D2.Geo.5.9-12. Evaluate how political and economic decisions throughout time have influenced cultural and environmental characteristics of various places and regions. 
• D2.His.1.9-12. Evaluate how historical events and developments were shaped by unique circumstances of time and place as well as broader historical contexts.
• D2.His.3.9-12. Use questions generated about individuals and groups to assess how the significance of their actions changes over time and is shaped by the historical context. 
• D2.His.5.9-12. Analyze how historical contexts shaped and continue to shape people’s perspectives.
• D4.3.9-12. Present adaptations of arguments and explanations that feature evocative ideas and perspectives on issues and topics to reach a range of audiences and venues outside the classroom using print and oral technologies (e.g., posters, essays, letters, debates, speeches, reports, and maps) and digital technologies (e.g., Internet, social media, and digital documentary). 

Common Core Literacy Standards

• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.9-10.1 Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources, attending to such features as the date and origin of the information.
• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.11-12.1 Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources, connecting insights gained from specific details to an understanding of the text as a whole.
• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.9-10.2 Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary of how key events or ideas develop over the course of the text.
• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.11-12.2 Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary that makes clear the relationships among the key details and ideas.
• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.9-10.4 Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including vocabulary describing political, social, or economic aspects of history/social science.
• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.11-12.4 Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including analyzing how an author uses and refines the meaning of a key term over the course of a text (e.g., how Madison defines faction in Federalist No. 10).
• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.11-12.7 Integrate and evaluate multiple sources of information presented in diverse formats and media (e.g., visually, quantitatively, as well as in words) in order to address a question or solve a problem.