First Lady, Eleanor Roosevelt remains an iconic First Lady. With several quotes that offer guidance this week and perhaps a cultural pickup and pragmatism with a sense of humor:
"A woman is like a tea bag- you never know how strong she is until she gets in hot water
Beautiful young people are accidents of nature, but beautiful old people are works of art
Friendship with oneself is all-important, because without it one cannot be friends with anyone else in the world
Great minds discuss ideas; Average minds discuss events; Small minds discuss people "
Like the video example of Flash Fiction, your students might grab some informational texts and after reading history from the library or the web, begin role playing to understand her actions, her issues, and her leadership. What could result....?- a new understanding of her role in history or in legend, hearsay, or in fact. This could open up careers or decode the debates this year.
Whatever you think of this year's election candidates with dramatic moments and two women running for the highest office, the evolving political process could be more comprehensible to high school students with the study of Mrs. Franklin Roosevelt using standards from the Common Core.
She was in office during the Great Depression and World War II. She had style, spoke her mind, and flew to England to work forming the United Nations or to see what women needed. She risked criticism, wrote as a profession, invented, discussed, and listened to others.
She felt that politics is inclusive and took actions to be informed, connected and act on the behalf of all our citizens. She lived through war and fought for peace. She is known for her acts, her words, and her compassion and so much more…take a look.
Read several historic biographies or under NCSS and the Common Core of informational texts, look at historic footage, hear her voice. Look at what is cohesive and what is divisive. Look at her as a mother, a modern woman, a victorian woman, a girl. There is so much to appreciate and so many opinions. She might have been called a nasty woman by the DAR or great by Marian Anderson https://www2.gwu.edu/~erpapers/teachinger/case-studies/ERandMarianAnderson%20case%20study%20PDF.pdf)
Whether a video link of Glenn Hopkin's "Mrs. Roosevelt"- it shows how a project can use new technologies to virtually share performances of neighborhood theatre companies. Or two boys using movie mimes to cope with sketching out her impact. You may laugh or cry...but we are still feeling the ripples of her impact, her legacy, and her courage. She did not get her face on U.S. bills...but she is alive and well in our culture...asking us to read, understand, change our minds, speak out, vote and save lives. What a legacy!
ValKill:
https://www.nps.gov/nr/twhp/wwwlps/lessons/26roosevelt/26roosevelt.htm
New Bunches (Gardens) of Words- Tiers of Vocabulary in the Common Core:
http://soltreemrls3.s3-website-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/marzanoresearch.com/media/documents/List-of-Tier-2-and-Tier-3-Terms-for-ELA-and-Math.pdf
Eleanor in 7th Grade:
https://classzone.com/books/language_of_lit_gr07/page_build.cfm?content=links_ac_eleanor_u1&u=1
Works about Eleanor:
https://www2.gwu.edu/~erpapers/abouteleanor/biographies.cfm
My Day Project:
https://www2.gwu.edu/~erpapers/myday/
Writing Process:
https://www2.gwu.edu/~erpapers/myday/editorialmethod.cfm
About Eleanor:
https://www2.gwu.edu/~erpapers/abouteleanor/
Children's books:
https://www2.gwu.edu/~erpapers/abouteleanor/childrensbooks.cfm
Human Rights Lessons:
https://www2.gwu.edu/~erpapers/humanrights/
Support the Project:
https://www2.gwu.edu/~erpapers/supporterpp.cfm
First Lady of the World:
https://www2.gwu.edu/~erpapers/maps/main_map.html
Lesson Plans:
http://www.firstladies.org/curriculum/choose.aspx?firstlady=33
Progressivism:
https://www2.gwu.edu/~erpapers/teachinger/lesson-plans/notes-er-and-progressivism.cfm
JfK and the Election:
https://www2.gwu.edu/~erpapers/mep/
PBS Lesson Plans:
http://www.pbs.org/kenburns/the-roosevelts/classroom/
Holocaust:
http://historymuseum.kennesaw.edu/educators/pdf/teacher_guide_er.pdf
Worksheets:
https://www.lessonplanet.com/lesson-plans/eleanor-roosevelt/all
Remember the Ladies:
https://edsitement.neh.gov/lesson-plan/remember-ladies-first-ladies
Grades 4-6:
http://teacherlink.ed.usu.edu/tlresources/units/byrnes-famous/Roosevel.htm
Eleanor's Children:
http://newdeal.feri.org/kiosk/profile.cfm?QID=2872
Eleanor's Quotes:
http://www.quotationspage.com/quotes/Eleanor_Roosevelt
https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/e/eleanor_roosevelt.html
http://www.quotes-inspirational.com/eleanor-roosevelt.php
http://www.great-quotes.com/quotes/author/Eleanor/Roosevelt
ER Foster Parent to Refugees:
http://americacomesalive.com/2014/02/25/eleanor-roosevelt-foster-parent-world-war-ii-refugees/
http://www.britishpathe.com/video/mrs-roosevelts-adopted-children
Design:
http://www.designsponge.com/2014/05/style-icon-eleanor-roosevelt.html
Val-Kill:
http://val-kill.com/history.html
http://connecticuthistory.org/the-colonial-revival-movement-sought-stability-during-time-of-change/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colonial_Revival_Movement
4 Basic Rights:
http://www.gilderlehrman.org/history-by-era/world-war-ii/resources/eleanor-roosevelt%E2%80%99s-four-basic-rights-1944
Hyde Park:
https://www.nps.gov/elro/index.htm
Mootney Theatre's Anniversary Mrs. R.:
https://spaces.hightail.com/space/sA5Lq
Yo, a hero's Journey- Students learning to take risks with film production:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PelBKay2lVg
A subject of Historians for years to come- a complex first lady:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/interview/eleanor-cook/
http://www.historichydepark.org/?event=blanche-wiesen-cook-eleanor-roosevelt-volume-3-war-years-1939-1962
http://muse.jhu.edu/article/410202
http://www.nybooks.com/articles/1993/03/25/outing-mrs-roosevelt/
Across Grades Evaluation:
Social Studies Research and Practice, Vol 9, No. !, pg 18, Spring 2014 "Trade Books' Historical Representation of Eleanor Roosevelt, Rosa Parks, and Helen Keller", John H. Bickford III and Cynthia W. Rich, Eastern Illinois University, www.socstrp.org.