Prep for Teachers
Prior to teaching this lesson, bookmark the Web sites used in the lesson on each computer in your classroom. Download the Realplayer media player (available free at http://www.real.com/) onto each computer as well.
Prior to teaching, bookmark all of the web sites used in the lesson and create a MS Word document with all of the Web sites as hyperlinks for students to access the sites. Cue the Freedom: A History of US videotape to the beginning of the "Lady Liberty" segment which starts with an image of New York Harbor and music in the background.
When using media, provide students with a FOCUS FOR MEDIA INTERACTION, a specific task to complete and/or information to identify during or after viewing of video segments, Web sites, or other multimedia elements.
The concept of liberty is one of the founding principles of our country, yet it is a word and an ideal that is often difficult to define. Explain to your students that you will be examining what liberty is, and that people have different definitions of liberty. To begin to understand what people think liberty is, you are going to look at the sheet music to the song "Liberty" written by Ted S. Barron in 1916. Divide the class into pairs and provide your students with a FOCUS FOR MEDIA INTERACTION, instructing them to look at the sheet music for "Liberty," available online at http://scriptorium.lib.duke.edu/sheetmusic/a/a20/a2069/a2069-1-72dpi.html and have them answer the questions on their Student Response Sheet in the section marked "Liberty." Students will describe the colors and images used on the cover of the music, as well as analyze the lyrics and refrain of the song. After the pairs have looked at the site and recorded their responses, check for comprehension by reviewing the answers to the questions as a whole group. (Red, white, and blue are the main colors used on the cover, and the image of the Statue of Liberty is central to the picture. According to the veteran, people love the country because of liberty; people band together to sing "as one" about liberty, and children are taught about it in school. Barron, the songwriter, believes that liberty is and stands for: "love of our country;" independence; the "brave men who fought for us;" the red, white and blue flag; "the Right we fight for;" true Americans; and you and your duty.)
If students have never seen sheet music before, it will be necessary to teach them how to read the lyrics. In this case, it may be better to do this activity as a whole group rather than in pairs. In the case of the song "Liberty," the lyrics for the piece begin on page 3. To read the first verse of the lyrics, you would read the top line of words, starting with "At a grand old meeting…" and continue reading the top line of word through to page 4, which ends with "said he, it's L-I-B-E-R-T-Y." The second verse of the song starts on page three, and is the bottom line of words, starting with "Thousands sang," and this verse continues through on as the bottom line of words to page 4, and ends with "It's now and ever shall be L-I-B-E-R-T-Y." The section of the song marked "Refrain" is the chorus.
Now that they have one person's view of what liberty is, have students brainstorm and share their own ideas about liberty, and record their contributions on the chalkboard or chart paper. What is liberty? Is it important to us? Why or why not? What symbolizes liberty in their lives? (Students are likely to respond by saying that liberty is having certain freedoms and the right to believe what you want to believe. They may see some symbols of liberty to be the Statue of Liberty and the American flag.) After students have shared their thoughts, it may be helpful to use a dictionary to define liberty.
Discuss their responses. Do they all have the same definition of liberty? How are their symbols of liberty similar? How are they different? How do their ideas of liberty compare to the dictionary's definition of liberty?
After you have discussed the meaning of liberty, as a class come up with a definition for the word and write it on the chalkboard. This will be your definition of liberty that you will use throughout the rest of the lesson.
One of the most well-known symbols of American liberty is the Statue of Liberty. Explain to the students that they will be learning about this symbol. To do this they will be watching a segment of video called "Lady Liberty" from Freedom: A History of US. Provide students with a FOCUS FOR MEDIA INTERACTION, instructing them to watch the video clip and record the answers to the questions on their Student Response Sheet marked Lady Liberty Clip #1. They will record the answers to the questions: when did the statue arrive in New York; why did the French create the statue; who was the sculptor; where was the statue going to be erected; what were the citizens of France doing to build the statue; and what did the American people have to do? PLAY the video from the beginning of the "Lady Liberty" section, which starts with an image of New York Harbor and music in the background. STOP the tape when you see the image of the newspaper text and you hear the woman say "American people supply the pedestal." After students have viewed the segment, check for comprehension by discussing the answers to the questions. (The Statue of Liberty arrived in New York in 1885. The French created the Statue as a tribute to American liberty and freedom, in hopes that they would someday regain their liberty and freedom. Frederic Bartholdi was the sculptor, and the statue was going to be placed on Bedloe's Island, which is now called Liberty Island. The French citizens would supply the statue and the American citizens were to supply the pedestal.) In this section of the video, information is shared very quickly. It may be necessary to rewind the clip and show it to students more than once to assue that they can gather all of the necessary information.
When students have answered the questions correctly, have them share their thoughts about the statue. Why did the French people think it was important to build this statue? Do they think it was easy or difficult for the French to raise the money to build it? Would the students put time and money into building a statue? Why or why not?
Next, explain to students that the French construction team began building the statue, and to learn about this you will watch another video clip from Freedom: A History of US. Provide students with a FOCUS FOR MEDIA INTERACTION, instructing them to watch the video clip and record the answers to the questions on their Student Response Sheet marked Lady Liberty Clip #2. They will record the answers to the questions: how large was the statue; where were the head and the torch first shown, and how many people came to see it; and when the statue was completed, what was the problem? RESUME the video, playing it from the image of the plans and sketches of the Statue with the lively music playing in the background. STOP the tape when you see the image of the newspaper text and you hear the woman say "What was to be done?" After students have viewed the segment, check for comprehension by discussing the answers to the questions. (The statue was so large that the nose was 4 feet long and a man could stand on her toe. The head and torch were first shown at the Philadelphia Centennial Fair, and 9 million people came to see it. Even though the statue was completed, it could not be displayed because there was no pedestal to place it on.)
Continue discussing these questions with students. If 9 million people came to see the torch and head of the Statue in Philadelphia, what do they think people thought about the Statue of Liberty? Ask students to brainstorm ideas to answer the question "What was to be done?" Have students try to predict what was done to raise the funds to build the pedestal. For a statue of this size, how large would the pedestal have to be? How much money do you think they would need to raise to build a pedestal of that size?
The funds were eventually raised to build the pedestal, and explain to students that you are going to watch another clip from Freedom: A History of US. Provide students with a FOCUS FOR MEDIA INTERACTION, instructing them to watch the video clip and record the answers to the questions on their Student Response Sheet marked Lady Liberty Clip #3. They will record the answers to the questions: what did Joseph Pulitzer do; how did people respond; and give specific examples of these responses. RESUME the video from the image of newspapers when the woman says "Newspaperman Joseph Pulitzer, and immigrant from Hungary…" STOP the tape when you see the image of Mark Twain's handwriting and the man says "My heart is in the sublime work." After students have viewed the segment, check for comprehension by discussing the answers to the questions. (Joseph Pulitzer, using his newspaper The New York World, encouraged everyone, regardless of their financial situation, to give money to build the pedestal. Many people responded positively. Children from 12 schools in Trenton raised $105.07, and artists and writers, such as Mark Twain, gave their works to be auctioned off to raise money for the pedestal.)
Continue discussing this with students. If they were asked to contribute money to help build the pedestal, would they do it? Why or why not? Is there anything that they can think of today that they would give their money to help create?
Eventually the money was raised to build the pedestal, and tell your students that they will be watching one more clip from Freedom: A History of US to learn about how that. Provide students with a FOCUS FOR MEDIA INTERACTION, instructing them to watch the video clip and record the answers to the questions on their Student Response Sheet marked Lady Liberty Clip #4. They will record the answers to the questions: when was the statue erected on the pedestal; what did the designers originally intend the statue to represent; what did the statue come to symbolize; what was the name of the poem that was attached to the pedestal, and who wrote it; and what did she believe America should be? RESUME the video from the black and white images of the people building the pedestal with the lively music playing in the background. STOP the tape when you see the black and white image of a man, woman, and child looking at the Statue of Liberty and a woman singing "let it shine, let it shine." After students have viewed the segment, check for comprehension by discussing the answers to the questions. (The statue was erected in 1886. The original intent of the designers was to build the statue as a celebration of the emancipation of the slaves. The statue has come to symbolize America's liberty, freedom, and welcome to immigrants from all over the world. "The New Colossus," which was the poem attached to the pedestal in 1903, was written by Emma Lazarus. She believed that America should be a place of refuge for immigrants and that they should be welcomes with open arms into the country.)
Explain to your students that you will be looking more closely at a portion of Emma Larazus' poem the "The New Colossus." Like Ted S. Barron in the song "Liberty," Lazarus uses art to share her view of liberty. Divide the students into small groups and have them log onto the Freedom: A History of US Website for Episode 10, Segment 1C (http://www.pbs.org/wnet/historyofus/web10/segment1c.html ) which has the text for "The New Colussus." Provide students with a FOCUS FOR MEDIA INTERACTION, instructing them to read the last five lines of the poem and listen to it by clicking the "Hear it Now" icon. After they have listened to it they should, as a group, discuss what those words mean and how they relate to the idea of liberty, and they should record their answers on their Student Response Sheet in the section marked "The New Colossus." They are to answer the following questions: who are the "huddled masses;" where do they come from; why are they "yearning to breathe free;" why does she call them "wretched refuse;" why are they coming to America; what is the "golden door;" why is it golden; where does it lead; why are these lines on the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty; and how do these words relate to the idea of liberty? After they have finished looking at this excerpt of the poem, check for comprehension by discussing it as a whole class. (Lazarus believed that the country should be a safe haven and refuge for those who were seen as worthless or maltreated in other countries. She believed that the statue welcomed these people through the "golden door" so that they could pursue lives in which they had liberty and freedom.)
Discuss this idea with your students. Do they agree with Lazarus' view that she shares in her poem? Why or why not?
Now that students have explored different people's meanings of liberty and know about the history of the Statue of Liberty, explain that they will expressing their own thoughts about liberty through writing. Write the word "liberty" on the board vertically. Have students brainstorm words or short phrases that start with each of the letters of the word "liberty" that mean or symbolize liberty to them, and record those words or phrases on the chalkboard.
Once the group has brainstormed and created a bank of words, instruct each students to create their own acrostic poem using the word L-I-B-E-R-T-Y. They can use words and phrases from the word bank, or they can also use their own additional words and phrases. After they have written their poem, they should illustrate their poem. At this point it may be helpful to refer back to the cover illustration of the song "Liberty."
For more advanced students, it may be more challenging to have students make an acrostic poem using the word "liberty" about the history and meaning of the Statue of Liberty.
If students have difficulty with acrostic poems, it may be better to try another format for their poem. Have them complete the following phrases:
When hear the word "Liberty:"
Have students erase the beginning of the sentences which will leave them with poetic words and phrases about liberty. They can then illustrate their poems.
- I think ____
- I see ____
- I hear ____
- I smell ____
- I feel ____
This format could also be used to write a poem about the history and meaning of the Statue of Liberty.
After all of the groups have written poems, have them share with the whole group. Discuss the poems that the groups wrote. What were some of the similarities? What were some of the differences? What images were used to illustrate the poems? Is liberty easy to define? Why or why not?
Have students read Arthur Miller's radio play "Grandpa and the Statue," which is about a little boy, his grandfather, and their responses to Statue of Liberty and the efforts to raise funds for the pedestal.
After the attacks on the World Trade Center, the Statue of Liberty was closed to the public. For a second time, it was up to the citizens of the country to raise money so that the Statue could be seen by people. By using newspaper articles, television reports, and Web sites, have students learn about the most recent fundraising efforts to reopen the Statue of Liberty.
World History/Global Studies
The Statue of Liberty was a gift from the people of France to the people of the United States. Have students investigate what was occurring in France during this time period which prompted the people to raise money to build this statue celebrating American liberty.
The Statue of Liberty is just one example of patriotic artwork. Have students look at other statues and memorials, such as the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial, and compare the images and ideas behind each of these works.
- Visit the Statue of Liberty! For more information about seeing the statue, go to National Park Service's Statue of Liberty National Monument site http://www.nps.gov/stli/ .
- Emma Lazarus, as well as many others, saw the Statue of Liberty as a symbol welcoming immigrants to this country. Learn about organizations that work to help immigrants in your community. What populations are served? What services do they offer? How do they raise funds to do their work?