Contents of Curriculum Unit

• Rationale
• Objectives
• Overview
• Strategies
• Narrative and Activities
• Endnotes
• Bibliography
• Student Reading List
• Rubrics
• Communication Standards
• Science Standards
• Citizenship Standards
  
  

I have chosen to develop my unit Defining Decades with Media Events for several reasons. I feel that history does repeat itself and my computer age fifth grade students will benefit from learning something about the historical events that shaped the lives of people in the past and will continue to influence them in the future. The students will hopefully also become aware of the different ways the media reported these events and what effect the media may or may not have had on the actual event. Ideally by researching the decades of the twentieth century and by interviewing family members and looking at family photos, my students will be able to connect the past with the present and future.

As a part of our Standards Based Portfolios, we are required to include two responses to information, two personal narratives, a response to literature, and a report of information. We are also required to read twenty-five books by at least four different authors and in at least four different genres. It is also acceptable to include magazine and newspaper articles. This would fit in quite well if we are going to be working with media reports. The media unit will enable my classes to fulfill these requirements as well as meet the Pittsburgh Public School Communication Standards, Science Standards, and some of the Citizenship Standards, which will be listed at the end of the unit. I am preparing this unit for a fifth grade class. However, I feel that it could be easily adapted for older or younger students.

1. The student will be able to do independent research using the library and the computer. I will insist on at least three sources for any written or oral report.
2.  The student will write a personal narrative.
3.  The student will formulate questions for written and oral interviews.
4.  The students will compare and contrast various decades of American History.
5.  The students will compare and contrast the various ways of receiving both local and national news.
6.  The students will reach conclusions about which forms of news reporting is most effective.
7.  The student will reach conclusions about the affect that the media has on news events.

I will introduce the unit in conjunction with a unit entitled Transformations that we read in Don’t Forget to Fly, our Macmillan/McGraw-Hill reading text. The first story in the unit is "New Providence" by Renata von Tscharner and Ronald Lee Fleming, which visits a mythical city in 1910, 1935, 1955, 1970, 1980, and 1987. The story demonstrates that while many things change, some things do remain the same. As we read through the story, one of the striking contrasts is the feeling of patriotism and pride that people had prior to the 1970s. I feel that part of the reason for the drastic changes in public opinion was the way that media reported it. It’s much easier to hate what your country does in a war when it is brought into your home in living color on the TV news than when it is brought to the public’s attention by a movie newsreel with Hollywood stars imploring the public to buy war bonds, accompanied by the lovely harmony of the Andrews Sisters.

The story of "New Providence" always leads to many discussions of which period of history is the best to live in. We always listen to our stories on tape first to get the overall picture. Then we go back and discuss it in detail. As we proceed through the decades I will try to give the class a picture of what each era was like in American history. I will accomplish this with my own research, personal interviews and videos. For this unit, I will also make sure that students are aware of how the news of the time was reported. I will attempt to impart some knowledge of the various forms of mass communication that were available during the decades that we visit "New Providence." We will discuss how much easier and faster it is to get information now than in 1910 when people could only count on work of mouth and newspapers. I will trace how we moved from getting news via the radio, movie news, and newsmagazines, to television and the Internet.

The second story in our transformation unit is "How to be an Inventor" by Barbara Taylor. This story mentions several inventions of interest to children, such as the Frisbee and earmuffs, and tells how they happened to be invented. This ties in well with our Foss Science unit about simple machines, so we will also research and report on the important inventions of each decade.

I will divide my class into groups. Each group will choose one of the time periods mentioned in "New Providence" to report on. Depending upon the size of the group they will choose one or two major personalities or incidents that were important during their particular period and report on it to the class. They will also choose one or two major inventions from the period and also tell about them.

I will suggest that they present their reports as the news might have been presented in their time period. 1910 would be newspaper, 1935 would be radio, 1955 would be black and white television, 1970 could be color television, 1980 could be in a magazine format, and 1987 could be a Power Point presentation. All groups would be required to do a personal interview to ask some pertinent questions of a person who lived at the time of their event. I like these interviews because they do help to connect the generations. I will provide suggested events and lists of questions for each time period. I know that this will probably be impossible for the students who are working on 1910, so I will suggest that they ask the oldest person that they know to recount what someone may have told them, as I do for 1910 and 1935. I will play some videos from or about each era. I will also play the music of each era. Finally, since our portfolios also require a personal narrative, I will have each student write about an event that happened to them in the ‘90s, as this was the only decade that they lived in during the twentieth century. I will provide all groups with lists of events, personalities and inventions for their time period. I will also provide suggested lists of interview questions. Each group will be permitted to modify any list that I give them if the feel it would be necessary to do so. In addition, I will model a report about the ‘40s, using Pearl Harbor as my event, Doris Day as my personality, and the ballpoint pen as my invention. I have already interviewed my friend Hope. I will also model my own personal narrative about the nineties.

It will probably take at least two 45 minute periods to discuss each decade. I won’t ask the students to choose an era to report on until we have completed our discussions of the decades and the story. However, since we do go the computer lab three times a week, I will encourage my students to research each era on the computer as we are proceeding through the unit. As we discuss each decade, I will give my own account with my own personal history and research. I will encourage the students to ask their own families about their own histories. I will suggest that they bring in their own family pictures that I will scan and return. We will make a bulletin board display of pictures for each decade. This should bring things to life for everyone. When we complete our discussions, I will let each group choose the decade that they wish to research. If I have an extra group or one that wants to do extra credit, I will have them research the decades that the book doesn’t visit. When we complete the research, we will have class presentations. I will encourage the presenters of the day to dress like the people from their particular era. I will also play some of the music from the decade of the day.

1910

The picture of New Providence in 1910 shows no automobiles or streetlights. It does show trolley cars and mentions Model T Fords in the text. The text also mentions a bandstand and indicates that people listened to concerts in the Town Square. The ladies are show wearing long dresses and the men are in suits. We will contrast this with the casual attire that people wear to town and the preponderance of fast-food and other eating places that fill our downtown streets today.

Usually when I give story backgrounds, I can discuss things from my own memory. However, 1910 is a little early for me so I have to rely on what I have read and some things my father told me. My father was born in 1905. Although he has been dead for some time, and I didn’t ask the right questions when he was alive, I do remember some of the things he told me about his boyhood. He said that he had a reasonably carefree childhood in spite of the fact that they changed him from left-handed to right-handed in school. Penmanship was very important in his day and my father did have exquisite handwriting. He learned to swim in the Monongohela River, which was near his Rankin home. His parents owned a grocery store. He did not work in the store because they wanted him to devote his time to his schooling. I do have a picture of him and his whole family that was taken in 1911. It really shows the style of photography and dress of the period. There were many small grocery stores in his neighborhood. One of his cousins was the neighborhood butcher, and another the pharmacist. His family did not own a car. The picture on the 1910 page in "New Providence" does show a horse and buggy. He did remember traveling by trolley to McKeesport where other family members lived. My father entertained himself by playing ball with his brothers and reading. He also remembered dancing to the Castle Walk with his own sister. (Later on Gene Kelly’s sister became his dance partner, but that’s a different story.) He said that he remembered reading comics in the newspaper. The first comic strip appeared in the newspapers in 1907. (1)

According to Faron’s Our Century, Agriculture was the main occupation of most Americans in 1910.(2) More than 12.6 million worked on farms and dairies. By the end of the decade there were more workers in the manufacturing and mechanical field. A farm worker earned about $2.52 a day in 1910.(3) Many ten and eleven year old children were working long hours in 1910. By 1920, the hours that children worked, were limited to eight and people were speaking out against child labor.(4) In 1910 most people did not complete high school or attend college. By 1920, many more were completing high school and more were attending college.(5) Yes, women were attending college as well as men. In fashion, dresses and skirts were long, but hemlines were rising by 1920. High button shoes were in vogue. Two major events occurred in the decade, the sinking of the Titanic in 1912, and of course World War I that the United States entered in 1917. Many immigrants arrived at Ellis Island during this period.(6) My own maternal grandparents among them.) Even though everything seemed peaceful in New Providence, labor unrest was beginning about this time, as well as the drive to get women the vote. The civil rights movement got some impetus with the formation in 1909 of the NAACP under the leadership of W.E.B. DuBois.(7) Vaudeville was the chief form of entertainment with George M. Cohan, the premier performer of the time. Popular songs were, "Give My Regards to Broadway," and "You’re a Grand Old Flag." There were silent movies and silent movie stars such as Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, and Charlie Chaplin.(8) Two other important events of the era were Robert Peary reaching the North Pole on foot, and the perfection of the Model T Ford. These both occurred in 1909.(9) Teddy Roosevelt was president in 1905 when my father was born. He had taken over for William McKinley who was assassinated in 1901. Taft was elected in 1908, and Woodrow Wilson completed the era.(10) Jim Thorpe was a big sport’s figure of the time. He was a football player, a baseball player, and a hero of the Olympics. In baseball, the Boston Red Sox and Philadelphia Athletics dominated. In 1919 there was a scandal involving the Chicago White Sox.(11) There’s a wonderful movie about it called Eight Men Out, which I will rent and show because it gives a good picture of the time period as well as the scandal. In 1910, there were more than 2200 daily newspapers in the United States, including many in languages other than English. Now there are less than 1600.(12) Obviously most people got the news by reading the paper as my father remembered doing even when he was little.

After completing our brief discussion of the era, I would help the children formulate list of questions that they would answer as someone who lived during the early 1900s. We would also generate lists of events, personalities, and inventions for possible research. I have tried to include the events, personalities, and inventions that would be of most interest to fifth graders.

1. What was your house like?

2. What was your school like?

3. How many kids were in your class?

4. What did you do for recreation?

5. What was your mode of transportation?

6. Who were the famous entertainers?

7. Who were the famous athletes?

8. Can you identify a major news event of the time? How did you find out about it?

9.  What were fashions like at the time?

10. Where did you buy your food?

11. What other kinds of stores did you shop at?

12. Was your family involved in World War I?

13. Where were you when you heard about the Titanic?

14. Who was the president?

15. How did you generally get the news?

1. The sinking of the Titanic in 1912.

2. U.S. entry into World War I in 1917

3. The first Hollywood feature film, Squaw Man, in 1914

4. The sinking of the Lusitania in 1915

5. U.S. airmail begins in 1918 (13)

1. George M. Cohan

2. Charlie Chaplin

3. Mary Pickford

4. Woodrow Wilson

5. Louis Brandeis

6. Margaret Sanger (14)

1. Air Conditioning by W.H. Carrier in 1911

2. Cellophane by Jaques Edwin Brandenberger in 1911

3. Neon Lights by George Claude in 1911

4. X-ray tube by William David Coolidge in 1916 (15)

 

1920

The story skips the whole roaring ‘20s era, even though to me that was a fascinating period of United States history. I will only spend a brief time discussing this period since the book doesn’t mention it. The 1920’s were a happy time. The theme of the period seemed to be "Ain’t We Got Fun?" which was a popular song of the time. Radio was started in the twenties right here in Pittsburgh with KDKA. Modern inventions such as refrigerators and vacuum cleaners were also invented during this decade.(16) Automobiles had vastly improved and had become more accessible to the general public. Roads were built and improved. The steel, glass, rubber and oil industries all prospered. Babe Ruth was the big sports hero of the era. Harding and Coolidge were the presidents. The ‘20s were portrayed as a roaring party time with people admiring the seemingly fun-loving gangsters such as Al Capone and Bugs Moran who flouted Prohibition by selling bootleg liquor. Most people did not take prohibition that seriously. The idolization of Capone ended with the bloody St. Valentine’s Day massacre of 1929.(17) The flapper era ended with the Stock Market Crash of 1929 and The Great Depression began.(18) The new theme song became "Brother Can You Spare a Dime?" I would ask the following questions and give the following lists of events, personalities and inventions for the 1920s.

1. What was your house like?
2. What was your school like?
3. How many kids were in your class?
4. What was your mode of transportation?
5. What did you do for recreation?
6. Who were the famous entertainers?
7. Who were the famous athletes?
8. Can you identify a major news event of the time? How did you find out about it?
9. What were fashions like at the time?
10. Where did you buy your food?
11. What other kinds of stores did you shop at?
12. Where were you when the stockmarket crashed in 1929?
13. Who was the president?
14. How did you generally get the news?

1. The discovery of King Tut’s tomb in 1922
2. Time Magazine is founded in 1923
3. The first Winter Olympics is held in 1924 at Chamonix, France
4. The Scopes Monkey Trial in 1925
5. Charles Lindbergh flies across the Atlantic in 1927
6. The first sound movie, "The Jazz Singer" with Al Jolson (19)

1. Mohandas Gandhi
2. Leon Trotsky
3. George Gershwin
4. Jack Dempsey
5. Gene Tunney
6. Babe Ruth
7. Charles Lindbergh (20)

1. Insulin is discovered by Frederick Banting and Charles Best in1921
2. Clarence Birdseye develops a method to freeze vegetables in 1924
3. Contract bridge is invented by Harold Vanderbuilt in 1925
4. Penicillin is discovered by Alexander Fleming in 1928 (21)

 

1935

We rejoin New Providence in 1935 where a gloom has settled on the city and men are standing in bread lines. There are also electric lights and cars on the street. The storefronts are streamlined with chrome and glass in the art deco style. There is a big billboard advertising Coca-Cola, and a new apartment building has been added to the landscape. The story mentions that many citizens are unemployed and experiencing the Great Depression.

I don’t remember 1935, since I wasn’t born, so I’ll tell about it from the eyes of my mother. In 1935 my mother was twenty years old. She had just completed nurse’s training at Montefiore Hospital. I have pictures of her proudly modeling her nurse’s uniform, which was heavily starched, with the hemline well below her knees. In those days, nurses wore highly starched nurse’s caps, which were folded to signify which school you graduated from. My mother did own a car. Their father had given it to her and her twin sister (also a nurse) as a graduation present. She loved to drive, as do I, and traveled everywhere. She was one of the few women who could drive a stick shift. I have her photo albums with the pictures of her trips to Niagra Falls, Minnesota, and Atlantic City. She said that it was not unusual for the car to overheat and break down. Somehow she always did return home. She remembered admiring Franklin Roosevelt and his wife Eleanor. She said that she cried when he died. She loved Shirley Temple movies. Her favorite radio shows were Henry Aldrich, Jack Benny, Our Miss Brooks, and Baby Snooks with Fannie Brice. She loved any song sung by Judy Garland or the Andrews Sisters. In 1935 there were no big supermarkets. My mother remembered shopping at the New Diamond Market for food as well as small neighborhood grocery stores. My dad’s cousin, the butcher, delivered the meat. Milk was also delivered. She traveled to town by trolley. She remembered the flood of 1936, and that Pittsburgh was indeed a smoky city. She said that the reason she went to nursing school was because of the Great Depression. If she had had the money she would have gone to college to become a teacher. Nurse’s training gave her room and board and even paid her a few dollars a month. She was also guaranteed a job when she graduated.

In the rest of the country, people were still mourning the death of the toddler son of Charles Lindbergh who had been kidnapped in 1932.(22) Bruno Hauptman was convicted of this crime even though he and others protested his innocence. He was executed in 1936. Hoover was president when the stock market crashed.(23) By the time F.D.R. took office in 1933, many banks were closed. Roosevelt instituted a "New Deal" and began what some called the alphabet programs to get the country back on its feet. There were the NRA (National Recovery Administration), the WPA (Works Progress Administration), the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps), and the PWA (Public Works Administration).(24) The newspapers were still the chief source of disseminating the news even though there were now news magazines such as Time, Life and Newsweek, Time being the first in 1923.(25) Radio was coming into its own and F.D.R. used this medium to his advantage to sell his programs with his "fireside chats."

Popular movie stars were Shirley Temple, Ginger Rodgers and Fred Astaire, James Cagney, Claudette Colbert, Joan Crawford, and Clark Gable. Most movies were still in black and white. They did have sound by this time. Both "Gone with the Wind" and "The Wizard of Oz" came to the big screen in 1939.(26) Big bands were in full swing with Benny Goodman, Louis Armstrong, and the Dorsey brothers. Comic strips of the time were Dick Tracy and Little Orphan Annie. In addition to the shows my mother listened to other popular radio shows including Fred Allen, and Orson Welles and his War of the Worlds. Some of the heroes of the ‘30s were the gangsters such as Baby Face Nelson, Pretty Boy Floyd, Machine Gun Kelly, and Bonnie and Clyde. People saw the gangsters as some sort of modern day Robin Hoods who robbed banks to give to the poor. This wasn’t necessarily the case, as some of the gangsters were quite violent. I have a vast collection of the music of this time period so I will certainly play it for the children. I would also show them one of the many Fred and Ginger movies and some of the G-rated parts of "Bonnie and Clyde" so they could get the feel of the gangster period. By the middle of the ‘30s unions were in full force under the leadership of John L. Lewis.(27)

I would use the following lists of questions, events, personalities, and inventions for the thirties.

1. What was your house like?
2. What was your school like?
3. How many kids were in your class?
4. Who was the president?
5. What did you do for recreation?
6. What was your mode of transportation?
7. Who were the famous entertainers?
8. Who were the famous athletes?
9. Can you identify a major news event of the time? How did you find out about it?
10. Where did you buy your food?
11. What other kinds of stores did you shop at?
12. How were you affected by the Great Depression?
13. How did you generally get the news?

1. The Lindbergh kidnapping in 1932
2. FDR’s New Deal in 1933
3. Life Magazine founded in 1936
4. Jesse Owens wins at the Olympics in 1936 (28)

1. Shirley Temple
2. Clark Gable
3. Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers
4. James Cagney
5. Mickey Rooney
6. Franklin Delano Roosevelt (29)

1. Cortisone by Edward Kendall and Tadeus Reichstein in1935
2. Nylon by Wallace Carothers in1937
3. DDT by Paul Muller in1939
4. Helicopter by Igor Sikorsky in 1939 (30)

 

1940

"New Providence" chooses to ignore the ‘40s so I will give a very small history of that period here as I intend to use the ‘40s to model the research phase of the curriculum unit. I was born in 1942, so I have limited memories of what was actually happening. I know that the war was already in full swing. My mother heard the news on the radio while preparing for my twin cousins' first birthday on the morning of December 7, 1941. She was pregnant with me at the time. She said that she was concerned about bring a child into a world at war. Most of the men were in the army or worked in defense plants. My father and one uncle worked for Westinghouse. Two of my other uncles were in the service. My mother’s twin sister, Mary, was an army nurse in England. Boy, would I like to hear her stories! I do have some of her official army pictures.

It was a very patriotic time. Meat, coffee, butter, cheese, and sugar were all rationed. Gasoline rationing began the day I was born, July 22, 1942.(31) There were fabric shortages so skirts became short again. In the movies, you could see a double feature, a serial, one or two cartoons, a newsreel, and a pitch to buy war bonds. People planted victory gardens. Many of the sports heroes were in the service, so the record-breaking careers of Ted Williams and Joe DiMaggio were suspended temporarily.(32) On a baseball note, Jackie Robinson became the first black major leaguer in 1947. (I got to see him play in 1949.) Many of the entertainers were also in the service. Frank Sinatra, the most popular crooner of all time, wasn’t. Bobby soxers everywhere swooned over him. My older cousin told me all about it. Other popular entertainers were Doris Day and Betty Grable. The records were 78’s and were made of a material that broke very easily. I got punished for breaking a Perry Como record. By the end of the forties, 45’s and 33’s were taking the place of 78’s.(33) Of course these were all dinosaurs compared to today’s CDs or even cassettes. A couple of the popular songs were, "Don’t Sit Under the Apple Tree" and "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" by the Andrews Sisters. There were many popular musicals on Broadway such as South Pacific, Annie Get Your Gun, and Oklahoma. In spite of the war, the ‘40s were portrayed as a fun time.

Franklin Roosevelt had been elected for an unprecedented fourth term, but died in office in 1945. Harry Truman succeeded him. Truman was elected to his own term in 1948, much to the surprise of everyone.(34) I remember that election. My parents told me not to tell anyone whom they voted for, so when my aunt Mildred called, I blurted out, " If you want to know who my mother voted for, she voted for Dewey!" My mother had voted for Truman. I guess I thought I was doing the right thing at the time.

One blemish on the Americans was the internment of many Japanese Americans who had previously been model citizens.(35) In 1945 Truman ordered that the Atom bomb be dropped on Hiroshima. Several days later Nagasaki was bombed.(36) I guess he thought he was doing the right thing. After reading John Hersey’s Hiroshima, I’m not so sure. The movies of the ‘40s are shown all the time on AMC so I’ll tape one or two to show the class. By the ‘40s, most people were depending on the radio for news in addition to newspapers, but movie newsreels were also very popular according to my friend Hope.

For the ‘40s I would add the following questions, events, personalities and inventions.

1. Who was the president?
2. What was your house like?
3. What was your school like?
4. How many kids were in your class?
5. What did you do for recreation?
6. Who were the famous entertainers?
7. Who were the famous athletes?
8. Can you identify a major news event of the time? How did you find out about it?
9. What was your mode of transportation?
10. What were fashions like at the time
11. Where did you buy your food?
12. What other kinds of stores did you shop at?
13. How did the war affect your life?
14. How did you hear about Pearl Harbor?
15. Did you agree with the decision to drop the bomb on Hiroshima?
16. How did you get the daily news?
17. What did you listen to on the radio?

1. Pearl Harbor attacked on December 7, 1941
2. G.I. Bill passed in 1944
3. D-Day on June 6, 1944
4. Chuck Yeager breaks the sound barrier on October 14, 1947.
5. Jackie Robinson becomes the first black major leaguer in 1947 (37)

1. Franklin Roosevelt
2. Harry Truman
3. Frank Sinatra
4. Dwight Eisenhower
5. Milton Berle
6. Bob Hope
7. Doris Day
8. Joe DiMaggio
9. Jackie Robinson (38)

1. The guided missile by Wernher von Braun in 1942
2. The nuclear reactor by Enrico Fermi in 1942
3. The ballpoint pen perfected in 1944 by George Biro
4. The Polaroid camera by Edwin Land in 1947
5. The microwave oven by Percy Spencer in 1947 (39)

Since I have chosen to use the 1940s as my model, I will present my reports now.

1. What was your house like?

It was brick with wood trim. It had linoleum floors, which we scrubbed with Fels Naphtha. Some rooms had rugs.

2. What were your schools like?

The schools were separated. Kindergarten to third grade were in one building. Four to six were in another. Junior High was grades seven, eight, and nine. High School was grades ten, eleven, and twelve.

3. How many kids were in your class?

There were about thirty.

4. What did you do for recreation?

We played marbles, hopscotch, hide and go see, butt butt ball, sevenzies, basketball with a straw basket. We rode scooters and roller skates. The movies cost five cents. They showed the news, cartoons, a serial, and a double feature.

5. Who were the famous entertainers?

They were Betty Grable, Alice Faye, Loretta Young, Gene Kelly, Clark Gable, Tyrone Power, Errol Flynn, Victor Mature, Bob Mitchum, and Jimmy Stewart.

6. What did you listen to on the radio?

Bob Hope, Your Hit Parade, The Shadow, The Firestone Hour, Inter Sanctum, and The Bickersons

7. How did you get the news?

From the radio, newspapers, movies, and Life magazine.

8. Do you remember a major news event of the time?

Yes, The Coconut Grove Fire in Boston where hundreds died.

    9. Where were you when you heard about Pearl Harbor?

Sitting at the kitchen table. It was about 12:30 p.m. We had just eaten.

10. What were the fashions like?

Girls wore short skirts, jitterbug shoes, and ankle socks. Boys wore baggy plaid pants.

11.Where did you buy your groceries?

At mom and pop stores

12.What other kinds of stores were there?

There were fruit stores and fish stores.

 

Event

Pearl Harbor

Pearl Harbor is an inlet off the island of Oahu, Hawaii, about six miles west of Honolulu. It is the site of one of the principal naval bases of the United States.

Early in the morning of December 7, 1941, Japanese submarines and carrier-based planes attacked the U.S. Pacific fleet at Pearl harbor. The Japanese planes also attacked other nearby airfields. Eight American battleships and thirteen other naval vessels were sunk or destroyed. Approximately three thousand naval and military personnel were killed or wounded. There were 1,177 sailors killed on the battleship Arizona alone.(40)

While the United States was stung by this attack, none of the Pacific Fleet’s all-important aircraft carriers were in port on December 7. Also, none of the repair facilities were hit in the attack, and all but three of the damaged warships were soon back in service. Instead of crippling the American fleet and delivering a demoralizing blow to the American people, the Japanese caused the Americans to become united against them. On December 8, 1941, the United States declared war on Japan because of "the date that lived in infamy."(41)

Doris Day

Doris Day was born Doris Mary Ann Von Kappelhoff on April 3, 1924 in Evanston Ohio, a suburb of Cincinnati. From a very young age, she had dreams of being a dancer and by the age of twelve had formed a dance act with a boy named Jerry Doherty. The wpm $500 in talent contest and went to Hollywood. When she was fourteen, she was in a terrible car crash. Her right leg was severely injured. It was doubtful whether she would dance again, so at the suggestion of her mother, she took singing lessons and began to sing on local radio. A local band leader changed her name to Day after hearing her sing "Day by Day." By 1940, she was touring with Les Brown’s band.

In 1941, she left the band to marry Al Jordan and gave birth to a son Terry in 1942. Soon after Terry’s birth, Doris divorced Al because of his violent tendencies and rejoined Les Brown’s band. In 1944, "Sentimental Journey" was her first million selling hit. Doris married George Weidler, a sax player, in 1946, but this marriage also ended in divorce.

In 1948, she made her first movie Romance on the High Seas. During the fifties she made many more movies including Calamity Jane. In 1951, she married Marty Melcher who became her agent. She continued to make popular films in the sixties.

In 1968, not long after Marty’s death, Doris had her own TV show. It lasted until 1973.

In 1976, Doris married for the fourth time to Barry Comden. This union lasted only four years.

In 1985, she had a chat show on US Cable. She recorded her last album in 1986.

Today, Doris Day remains unmarried. She lives on her beautiful estate and focuses her attention on animal charities. She also owns a pet friendly hotel in Carmel California called The Cypress Inn.(42)

The Ballpoint Pen

Since Waterman invented the fountain pen in 1884, others were attempting to manufacture a pen with a rolling ball tip, but not until 1938, did the Hungarian inventor Georg Biro invent a viscous, oil-base ink that could be used with such a pen. Early ballpoint pens did not write well; they tended to skip, and the slow-drying oil-based ink smudged easily. By 1944, Biro improved upon his invention and pens were sold at the luggage store where my father worked after the war. Ballpoints had several advantages over the fountain pen. The ink was waterproof and almost unerasable. The pen could write on many kinds of surfaces and could be held in almost any position for writing. The pressure required to feed the ink was ideal for making carbon copies. Ink formulas were improved for smoother flow and faster drying, and soon the ballpoint replaced the fountain pen as the universal writing tool. In 1962, Yukio Howe invented the fiber-tip pen and you don’t see that many ballpoint pens any more.(43)

1955

We return to New Providence in 1955. The first line indicates that the city is experiencing a post-war prosperity. It also mentions neon lights, a new phenomenon of the time. Billboards advertised cigarettes. Some buildings were covered with aluminum siding. There is also a supermarket in the picture. Some businesses have been boarded up, and asphalt shingles have replaced slate roofs. Buses have replaced streetcars.

I of course, remember this era quite well. I was twelve years old in 1955. My family had just purchased a shiny red Plymouth, the car I learned to drive on. I remember the ‘50s as fun. Even though I sported an "All the Way with Adlai button, and my family did vote for him, I felt comfortable with Ike’s grandfatherly presence. His grandson David was just about my age. In fashion, skirts were long again. I have some ridiculous looking pictures of myself in long straight skirts that touched my socks.

The Korean War occurred in the ‘50s. In brief, the Korean War was basically a civil war between North and South Korea, with the United States on the side of South Korea against the communists of North Korea, who had the backing of the Soviet Union.(44) I really didn’t pay that much attention to what was going on in the war. Even though it was reported on the TV news, it didn’t arrive in bloody living color as the Viet Nam War did in later years. The news was of course in black and white. We did not have extended news reports like we do now, and we did not yet have the advantage of videotape. However, television news was not the main source of information for most people. At my house, we had three daily newspapers delivered, and my father could be seen sitting in his chair reading all three of them from cover to cover every day. My cousin Anthony was drafted in 1953 and sent to Korea. I took solace in the fact he was saving us from the dreaded communists. He never entertained the thought of protesting or running away to Canada. He sent letters home and described conditions in Korea. Unfortunately, I did not save any of these letters. We did have air raids at school and made care packages to send to the servicemen. Some of my parents’ friends had built air raid shelters to product us from the Hydrogen bomb, a recent invention. Senator Joseph McCarthy was on a communist witch-hunt and it was continuously broadcast on television. Many people were unfairly blacklisted. "I plead the fifth," became a part of everyone’s vocabulary.

Another big scare of the ‘50s was polio. Polio was an infectious virus that attacked the central nervous system. Early symptoms included headache, fatigue, or pain in the extremities. Anytime I suffered from any of those conditions, I was sure I had polio. In the severest cases, a polio victim ended up paralyzed or in an iron lung. Luckily by 1954, Dr. Jonas Salk, a researcher from Pittsburgh, had developed a vaccine to prevent the disease.(45) I was one of the test subjects at Colfax School and actually was inoculated by Salk himself. My friend Maxine is a polio survivor, and would be willing to speak to my classes about her experiences.

In sports, Don Larsen pitched a perfect game in the 1956 World Series. For recreation we played board games. Scrabble was a reasonably new one. We had Slinkys, hula-hoops, and Silly Putty. I did have the first Barbie doll, which I was foolish enough to let my son play with. Who knew? When my parents first purchased a television there was only one channel (channel 3, the forerunner of KDKA). By the end of the ‘50s, we had three network channels plus channel 13. TV westerns were popular as well as quiz shows until there was a big scandal on the show 21. I would show the film Quiz Show to my classes because it really portrays the period well. There were also sit-coms, and variety shows. Some of my favorite shows were Jackie Gleason, and Father Knows Best. Everyday I raced home from school to dance to Dick Clark’s American Bandstand. We did the Mashed Potato, the Swim, the Stroll, the Frug, and other odd dances, a far cry from Vernon and Irene Castle of my father’s era, or Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers from my mother’s. Rock and roll was here to stay and I loved Elvis Presley. Naturally I will play some of the fabulous ‘50s music for my students. Other popular entertainers of the era were Marilyn Monroe, John Wayne, Grace Kelly, and James Stewart.(46)

I would add the following questions, events, personalities, and inventions for the fifties.

1. What was your house like?
2. What was your school like?
3. How many kids were in your class?
4. What did you do for recreation?
5. What was you mode of transportation?
6. Who were the famous entertainers?
7. Who were the famous athletes?
8. Can you identify a major news event of the time? How did you find out about it?
9. How did you receive your daily news?
10. What were fashions like at the time?
11. Where did you buy your food?
12. What other kinds of stores did you shop at?
13. When did you family get a television?
14. What shows did you watch?
15. Did you prefer Elvis or Pat Boone?
16. Were any of you family or friends in Korea?
17. Did you know anyone who suffered from polio?
18. Who was the president?

1. Brown vs. the Board of Education in 1954
2. Roger Bannister broke the four minute mile on may 6, 1954
3. First kidney transplant by Dr. Joseph Murray in 1954
4. Montgomery bus boycott led by Rosa Parks in 1955
5. McDonald’s franchised by Ray Kroc in 1955
6. Disneyland opened in 1955 (47)

1. Marilyn Monroe
2. Lucille Ball
3. Desi Arnez
4. Elvis Presley
5. Pat Boone (48)

1. The hydrogen bomb in 1952
2. The solar battery in 1954
3. The polio vaccine by Jonas Salk in 1954
4. The video tape by Charles Ginsberg and Ray Dolby in 1956 (49)

 

1960

The story in our text totally skips the period of the ‘60s. I notice that school textbooks, especially those for elementary students always omit anything that may be painful or controversial which the decade of the ‘60s certainly was. I graduated from high school in 1960. I had a college scholarship and high hopes for the future. I had brand new contact lenses and could only see good things happening, especially with the election of the charismatic John Fitzgerald Kennedy. By 1963, my world was shattered with the assassination of John Kennedy in Dallas in November of 1963. I knew that other presidents and public figures had been assassinated, but not in my very civilized time. Lyndon Johnson was immediately sworn in as president. By the end of the decade, three more leaders had been assassinated, Malcolm X on February 21, 1965, Martin Luther King in April of 1968, and finally Robert Kennedy in June of the same year.(50) During the decade, there were riots in the cities and takeovers on college campuses. Allison Krause of Pittsburgh and three others were killed at Kent State University. There were sit-ins, peace marches, and draft dodgers. As a young lawyer, my husband represented some of them. Everything seemed too crazy to comprehend. People dropped out and dropped acid. There were hippies, communes, love beads and the Beatles. The ultimate love-in occurred in Woodstock in 1969. Everything was psychedelic. Charles Manson orchestrated a killing spree. The Vietnam War was brought to our living rooms every night in living color. By 1969 very few citizens supported the war and the United States began pulling out.(51) Patriotism was basically non-existent. People no longer blindly supported the government. On a sane note, Thurgood Marshall was appointed the first black justice to the Supreme Court in 1967, and science fiction became real when Neil Armstrong walked on the moon in July of 1969.(52) Popular entertainers in addition to the Beetles were, Johnny Carson, Barbra Streisand, the Smothers Brothers, and Flip Wilson. Sean Connery played James Bond for the first time. Folk singers like the Kingston Trio and Peter, Paul, and Mary were popular. Women were wearing minis and micro-minis. Ah, for the good old days when I was actually thin enough to wear those things. Because of the immediacy of television news, newspaper circulation was significantly lower. Pittsburgh now had two daily papers instead of three. Some radio stations had gone to an all news format.

I would list the following questions, events, personalities, and events for the sixties.

1. What was your house like?
2. What was your school like?
3. How many kids were in your class?
4. What did you do for recreation?
5. What was your mode of transportation?
6. Who were the famous entertainers?
7. Who were the famous athletes?
8. Can you identify a major news event of the time? How did you find out about it?
9. What were the fashions like at the time?
10. Where did you buy your food?
11. What other kinds of stores did you shop at?
12. Was you family involved in the Vietnam War?
13. Did you take part in any peace rallies or marches?
14. Who was the president?
15. How did you usually receive your daily news?

1. Yuri Gagarin was the first human in space April 12, 1961
2. Alan Shepard-first American in space on May 5, 1961
3. John Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas in November, 1963
4. Martin Luther King assassinated in Memphis in April, 1968
5. Robert Kennedy assassinated in Los Angeles in June, 1968
6. The first US moon landing on July 20, 1969 (53)

Personalities

1. The Beatles
2. Lyndon Johnson
3. John Kennedy
4. Robert Kennedy (54)
5. Martin Luther King
6. Malcolm X
7. Alan Shepard
8. John Glenn
9. Neil Armstrong (55)

1. The laser in 1960
2. The birth control pill in 1960
3. The liquid-crystal display in 1964
4. The artificial heart by Michael Debakey in 1966 (56)

 

1970

No wonder, when we again visit New Providence in 1970, things are in total disarray. The book describes the city as an "uninspired jumble of old and new." Part of the street has been turned into a pedestrian mall. There are now chain establishments such as McDonald’s and Holiday Inn. The story did seem to indicate that protesters who used graffiti to make their points had destroyed and vandalized property.

I remember 1970 quite well. It was a great year for me. My first child, my son Stuart, was born. Nothing can equal the joy of giving birth to a child. Two years later I gave birth to my daughter Sara. While I was busy raising children, the Viet Nam War finally ended, and in August of 1974. President Nixon resigned in order to avoid impeachment over the Watergate break-in.(57) The television cameras followed him all day from his farewell speech to when his plane lifted off to return him to California. Of course we had non-stop television coverage of the Watergate hearings. I feel like I knew John Dean and his beautiful blonde wife personally. The TV commentators had thoroughly researched everyone’s backgrounds. The Watergate hearings were certainly more interesting to watch than the McCarthy hearings. Of course I was twenty years older. One of the odd things about Nixon’s resignation was that we now had an appointed president, as Spiro Agnew had previously resigned. Gerald Ford was our appointed president, and Nelson Rockefeller, his appointed vice-president. The seventies also saw a big push for women’s lib under the leadership of Gloria Steinem.(58) Disco dancing was popular to the melodic strains of the Bee Gees. A popular movie of the decade was Star Wars. The Pirates won two World Series in the ‘70s but great sports legend Roberto Clemente was killed in a plane crash. The fashion trends were bellbottoms and Afros and, yes, I had both. Was I a slave to fashion or what? Things did seem to be more sensible in the ‘70s with Jimmy Carter as president, that is until the Iran hostage crisis. The show Nightline began with that crisis and has been on the air ever since. We already had other news magazine shows such as 60 Minutes, but this was the first that devoted itself to a single issue.(59)

I would suggest the following questions, events, personalities, and inventions for the seventies.

1. Who was the president?
2. What was your house like?
3. What was your school like?
4. How many kids were in your class?
5. What did you do for recreation?
6. What was you mode of transportation?
7. Who were the famous entertainers?
8. Who were the famous athletes?
9. Can you identify a major news event of the time? How did you find out about it?
10. What were the fashions like?
11. Where did you buy your food?
12. What other kinds of stores did you shop at?
13. Was your family involved in the Women’s Movement?
14. What’s your opinion of Watergate?

1. First Earth Day, April 22, 1970
2. Watergate break-in, 1972
3. United States leaves Viet Nam, 1973
4. First test-tube baby born in 1978
5. Three-Mile island Nuclear Accident in 1979 (60)

1. Roberto Clemente
2. Richard Nixon
3. Henry Kissinger
4. Gloria Steinem
5. Hank Aaron (61)

1. The microprocessor by Ted Hoff in 1971
2. The electronic pocket calculator by J.S. Kelley and J.D. Merryman in 1972
3. CAT Scan in 1975
4. Skylab by US Scientists in 1973 (62)

 

1980

When we return to New Providence in 1980, everything is still pretty much in a state of disarray, but showing signs of getting better. There are cranes in the picture, indicating that things are being repaired. Billboards are now advertising health food and cultural events. A super highway now runs through town.

In 1980 I went back to work as a substitute teacher. It had been ten years since I had last taught. The major difference that I noticed was that the respectful students I had in the sixties, had given way to wise talking Arnold (from Diff’rent Strokes) sound-alikes. I wish I had a dime for every time someone said "What you talkin about?" The Cosby Show was very popular, and it was no longer a rarity to see African-Americans on television. I got my first computer in 1983. It did not have Internet capabilities. Ronald Reagan was the dominant figure of the ‘80s. He stressed old-fashioned values and patriotism. He was a real throwback. I myself had trouble dealing with the concept of a president who had been a B movie hero, but who am I? By 1984 I was dealing with children who had been born to crack-addicted mothers. Drug use became very heavy in the ‘80s. This is still a major problem in our schools. Many women achieved greatness in the ‘80s. Sandra Day O’Connor became the first female member of the Supreme Court. Sally Ride became the first woman in space on the spaceshuttle Challenger. Geraldine Ferraro was on the presidential ticket with Walter Mondale in 1984.(63) On less pleasant notes, AIDS reached epidemic proportions, the Challenger exploded, and there was nuclear disaster at Chernobyl.(64) Nighttime soap operas such as Dallas were popular in the eighties. There were many rap groups, such as Run-DMC and M.C. Hammer who were popular at the time. Post-It notes and roller blades were invented in the early eighties.

The questions, events, personalities, and inventions that I might list for the early eighties are as follows.

1. What was your house like?
2. What was your school like?
3. How many kids were in your class?
4. What did you do for recreation?
5. What was your mode of transportation?
6. Who were the famous entertainers?
7. Who were the famous athletes?
8. Cam you identify a major news event of the time? How did you find out about it?
9. What were fashions like at the time?
10. Where did you buy your food?
11. What other kinds of stores did you shop at?
12. Where did you get your daily news?
13. Who was the president?
14. Did you or anyone you knew try drugs?

1. John Lennon gunned down in 1980
2. Iran hostage crisis ends in 1981
3. First space shuttle Columbia takes off in 1981
4. Sally Ride becomes the first woman in space in 1983
5. The US hockey team upset USSR in the Winter Olympics in 1980
6. Summer Olympics in Moscow boycotted in 1980 (65)

1. Madonna
2. Michael Jackson
3. Ronald Reagan
4. Bill Cosby
5. Sandra Day O’Connor (66)

1. Post-It notes in 1980
2. Roller blades in 1980
3. Cordless phone in 1980
4. NutraSweet in 1981 (67)

 

1987

By 1987, everything was wonderful in New Providence. Many buildings had been restored to their former appearance. The city had been cleaned up and was now ideal. It had the perfect balance of old and new. There was a computer store, but buses had been made to look like old-fashioned trolleys. Ronald Reagan would have approved. So would George Bush, who was our next president.

In the real world we were making many medical strides with improved transplants and in vitro fertilization. I have a cousin who works on a transplant team, and one who was fertilized invitro in 1987. Oprah Winfrey became the premier talk show host. There were many copy cats, but they could not equal Oprah’s popularity. Trashy talk shows also became popular on television. Johnny Carson resigned after 30 years. Talk radio became very popular. I notice that most of the hosts know very little about anything, but that’s show biz. Television is now on twenty-four hours a day, and there are several cable stations devoted entirely to news. The late eighties saw the rise of the personal computer, yuppies, running shoes and a major emphasis on fitness, the food processor, and expensive bottled water. The Berlin Wall came down in 1989. (68)

I would suggest the following questions, events, personalities, and inventions for the late eighties.

1. What was your house like?
2. What was your school like?
3. How many kids were in your class?
4. What did you do for recreation?
5. What was your mode of transportation?
6. Who were the famous entertainers?
7. Who were the famous athletes?
8. Can you identify a major news event of the time? How did you find our about it?
9. How did you usually get the daily news?
10. What were fashions like?
11. Where did you buy your food?
12. What other kinds of stores did you shop at?
13. Who was the president?
14. Are you now or have you ever been a member of the Silent Majority?
15. Do you have a computer?

1. Pete Rose banned from baseball in 1989
2. Earthquake postpones World Series in 1989
3. The Berlin Wall falls in 1989
4. Voyager II visits Neptune in 1989 (69)

1. George Bush
2. Colin Powell
3. Oprah Winfrey
4. Bill Gates
5. Oliver North
6. Donald Trump (70)

1. Disposable camera in 1987
2. Disposable Contact Lenses in1987
3. Microwave Pizza in 1987
4. Doppler Radar in 1987 (71)

 

1990

Even though the book doesn’t touch the ‘90s at all, I would feel remiss if I did not add that decade to my mini review of the century. After all, it is the only decade that my students have actually experienced. This was the Clinton era. This was an unusual time period. We had the bizarre O.J. trial, which was televised, and the Monica Lewinsky scandal, which resulted in Clinton’s impeachment. You could get transcripts of everything on the Internet. Two media phenoms, Princess Diana, and John Kennedy Jr., were killed in tragic accidents. Michael Jackson and Madonna still attract fans, but new popular groups are ‘N Sync and Back Street Boys. Titanic was one of the big movies of the decade, so we have now come full circle. Everyone now communicates by E-mail.

The ‘90s brought many changes to my own personal life. Both of my children graduated from college and are now out on their own. My husband died in 1995, and in 1998, I transferred to Mifflin School. I solely occupy my house, which once had four people and two cats. If anyone would ask if I would go back to any of the previous decades, my answer would be, "Absolutely yes!" I now know what my parents meant when they referred to the "good old days."

I would suggest the following questions, events, personalities, and inventions for the nineties.

1. What was your house like?
2. What was your school like?
3. How many kids were in your class?
4. What did you do for recreation?
5. Who were the famous entertainers?
6. Who were the famous athletes?
7. Can you identify a major news event of the time? How did you find out about it?
8. What were fashions like?
9. Where did you buy your food?
10. What other kinds of stores did you shop at?
11. How do you usually get the daily news?
12. Did O.J. do it?
13. Do you have access to the Internet at home?

1. Eileen Collins is the first woman to pilot a space shuttle in February of 1995.
2. Oklahoma City bombing in April, 1995
3. O.J. found "Not Guilty" in 1995
4. A sheep was cloned in 1997
5. Clinton impeached in 1999
6. John Kennedy jr. killed in a plane crash in 1999 (72)

1. Bill Clinton
2. Hillary Clinton
3. Monica Lewinsky
4. O.J. Simpson
5. Jerry Seinfeld
6. Michael Jordan (73)

1. World Wide Web invented by Tim Berners-Lee in 1991
2. Nicotine patches in 1992
3. Palm pilot in1992
4. Beanie Babies in1993
5. Viagra in1998 (74)

I have had many memorable events occur during the 90s that I could write about, the most profound being the death of my husband. I would probably find that the most helpful to me. However, I think that my student would find it too depressing, so I will focus instead on a very recent significant week of my life.

Being a Mother is More Than a Day

On May 8, I rushed out of school, hurried home, picked up my bags and sped to the Greater Pittsburgh Airport. I boarded a plane to attend the N Y U graduation to watch my daughter Sara receive her master’s degree. I am exceptionally proud of my daughter for setting goals, achieving them, and becoming a shining member of the business world. I was sorry that her father was not at my side to share my pride and joy, as he had been for Sara’s previous graduations.

Sara and I had a wonderful time together the few days that I was in the "Big Apple." We visited museums, saw a Broadway show, and ate at exotic restaurants. The week with Sara culminated on Mother’s Day morning when she took me to breakfast and handed me a card that said, "You are special, You are loved." That said everything, because that’s exactly how I feel about her.

Later, on Mother’s Day afternoon, my son Stuart picked me up at the airport and we went out for a traditional Pittsburgh mean at the Pittsburgh Steak Company. My son also gave me a Mother’s Day card. His said, "Thanks for helping me to shine." My son does shine. He is a harmonica player in a group called the B-3s. Newspaper reviews have called him the "soul" of the group. On Friday of Mother’s Day week, I went to watch my son and his group perform. I do feel special and loved that both of my children have given me some credit for their shining achievements.

(I will write the above personal narrative with the class as I model it for them.)

After we complete our mini history discussions and lectures, we will read the next story in the Transformation unit called "How to Be an Inventor." I will mention the invention of the printing press in the fifteenth century and explain how it enabled news to be spread more quickly. Previous to that, word of mouth, public notice, or letters spread the news. The earliest newspaper was published in Germany in 1609, but the word news was not actually coined until a century later. By 1910 there were more than 2200 newspapers in the United States. Now there are about 1600.(75) Another invention, radio changed news reporting once again. The first radio broadcast was on station KDKA in Pittsburgh in 1920. The twenties also brought "Time" a newsmagazine, which was first published in 1923. By the thirties everyone was listening to the radio as their major news source. In the forties, many people watched news on movie newsreels. Motion pictures were another major invention that changed the recreational time of millions of people. Television (another invention) changed things once again and by the fifties almost everyone turned to TV for the news. The first news shows were only fifteen minutes long. Its now not unusual to have local news for as long as one and one half hours, with the national news still holding to a half hour format. We also have newsmagazines such as Time and Newsweek. On television, the first news documentary was See It Now with Edward R. Murrow.(76) It was on the air from 1951-1958. I remember watching it with my father. Murrow had been a well-known radio reporter. 60 Minutes has been on the air forever and there are several other popular primetime news shows such as Dateline and 20/20. News has changed again. The cable stations have had several all news stations since the early nineties. In the nineties it became possible to get local and national news on the Internet. Everyone and their brother have a website nowadays. The computer was another major invention that brought major changes to the world of communication.

1. Thomas Berry, Journalism in America, 26
2. Karen Liberatore, Fearon’s Our Century,1910-20, 8
3. Ibid.,4
4. Ibid.,6
5. Ibid.,9
6. Ibid.,37
7. Ibid., 42
8. Ibid., 57
9. Ibid., 51
10. Ibid., 60
11. Ibid., 56
12. Microsoft Encarta, "Journalism"
13. Microsoft Encarta, "Time Line"
14. Liberatore, 57
15. Microsoft Encarta, "Notable Inventions and Discoveries
16. Prescott Hill, Fearon"s Our Century,1920-30, 4
17. Ibid.,47
18. Ibid., 45
19. Microsoft Encarta, "Time Line"
20. Microsoft Encarta, "Notable Inventions and Discoveries
21. Ezra Bowen, This Fabulous Century, 1930-1940, 100
22. Ibid., 23
23. Ibid., 128
24. Microsoft Encarta, "Journalism"
25. Bowen, 160
26. Ibid., 162
27. Microsoft Encarta, "Time Line"
28. Bowen
29. Microsoft Encarta, "Notable Inventions and Discoveries"
30. Ezra Bowen, This Fabulous Century, 1940-1950, 142
31. Ibid.,44
32. Ibid., 188
33. Ibid., 216
34. Ibid., 204
35. Ibid., 26
36. Microsoft Encarta, "Time Line"
37. Bowen
38. Microsoft Encarta, "Notable Inventions and Discoveries
39. Microsoft Encarta, "Pearl Harbor"
40. http://www.nationalgeographic.com/pearlharbor/expedition/attack.html
41. http://www.geocities.com/discovering-dorisday/dorisday-biography.htm
42. Microsoft Encarta, "Writing Implements"
43. Microsoft Encarta, "Korean War"
44. Microsoft Encarta, "Jonas Salk"
45. Bowen,248
46. Microsoft Encarta, "Time-Line"
47. Bowen
48. Microsoft Encarta, "Notable Inventions and Discoveries"
49. Ezra Bowen, This Fabulous Century, 1960-1970, 92
50. Ibid., 203
51. Ibid., 283
52. Ibid., 130
53. Microsoft Encarta, "Time-Line"
54. Bowen, 280
55. Microsoft Encarta, "Notable Inventions and Discoveries"
56. George Sullivan, 100 Years in Photographs, 72
57. Ibid., 75
58. Microsoft Encarta, "Journalism"
59. Microsoft Encarta, "Time-Line"
60. Sullivan
61. Microsoft Encarta, "Notable Inventions and Discoveries"
62. Loretta Britten, Paul Mathless, Pride and Prosperity, The 80s 38
63. Britten, Mathless, 29
64. Microsoft Encarta, "Time-Line"
65. Britten, Mathless
66. Microsoft Encarta, "Notable Inventions and Discoveries"
67. Britten, Mathless, 32
68. Microsoft Encarta "Time-Line"
69. Britten, Mathless
70. Microsoft Encarta "Inventions and Discoveries"
71. Microsoft Encarta, "Time Line"
72. Paula York-Soderlund. The Digital Decade, The 90s
73. Ibid.
74. Microsoft Encarta, "Journalism"
75. Microsoft Encarta, "Periodicals
76. Ibid

 

 

Bibliography

Aoki, et al., Don’t Forget to Fly,Macmillan/Mcgraw-Hill, New York, 1993.

Berry, Thomas Elliot, Journalism in America, Hastings House Publisher, New York, 1986.

Bowen, Ezra, Fearon’s Our Century 1910-1920, David S. Lake Publishers, California., 1989.

Britten, Loretta and Mathless, Paul, Pride and Prosperity, the 80s, Time-Life Books, Virginia, 1999.

Emery, Edwin and Michael, The Press and America, Prentice-Hall, New Jersey, 1984.

Endicott, Geoff, Discovery and Inventions, Viking Press, New York, 1991.

Foss, Levers and Pulleys, Encyclopedia Britannica, California, 1992.

Knauer, Kelly, Time 70th Anniversary Celebration, TIME Books,1994.

Korn, Jerry, This Fabulous Century, 1900-1910, Time-Life Books, New Jersey, 1969.

Korn, Jerry, This Fabulous Century, 1910-1920, Time-Life Books, New Jersey, 1969.

Korn, Jerry, This Fabulous Century, 1920-1930, Time-Life Books, New Jersey, 1969.

Korn, Jerry, This Fabulous Century, 1930-1940, Time-Life Books, New Jersey, 1969.

Korn, Jerry, This Fabulous Century, 1940-1950, Time-Life Books, New Jersey, 1969.

Korn, Jerry, This Fabulous Century, 1950-1960, Time-Life Books, New Jersey, 1969.

Korn, Jerry, This Fabulous Century, 1960-1970, Time-Life Books, New Jersey, 1970.

Korn, Jerry, This Fabulous Century, 1970-1980, Time-Life Books, New Jersey, 1980.

Platt, Richard, Smithsonian Visual Timeline of Inventions,Dorling Kindersley, New York, 1994.

Sullivan, George, 100 Years in Photographs, Scholastic, Inc., New York, 1999

York-Soderland, The Digital Decade, the 90s,Time-Life Inc., Virginia, 2000.

Journalsim, ®Encarta® 98, 1993-1997, Microsoft Corp.

Notable Inventions and Discoveries. ®Encarta® 98. 1993-1997, Microsoft Corp.

Pearl Harbor, ® Encarta® 98, 1993-1997, Microsoft Corp.

Periodicals, ® Encarta ® 98, 1993-1997, Microsoft Corp.

Time-Line, ® Encarta ® 98, 1993-1997, Microsoft Corp,

Writing Implements, ® Encarta ® 98, 1993-1997, Microsoft Corp.

http://www.geocities.com/discovering-dorisday/dorisday-biography.htm

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/pearlharbor/expedition/attack.html

Student Readings

In addition to their basic reading text, Don’t Forget to Fly and their science text. Levers and Pulleys, the students will use the above listed sites that are apropos to the decade that they are researching.

Writing Rubric Grade 5

4 Advanced

3 Proficient

2  Basic

1  Below Basic

 

4  Shows a good sentence order
    Understands topic completely
    Uses an interesting variety of words
    Makes few or no mistakes in grammar, punctuation or spelling

2 Shows good sentence order
   Shows some understanding of the topic
   Uses some variety in words
   Makes some errors in grammar, spelling or punctuation

2  Sentences may be confusing or inconsistent
   Assignment may be incomplete
   Shows limited choice of words
   Makes too many errors in grammar, spelling or punctuation

1 The assignment is too confusing or incomplete to grade

All staff members of the Pittsburgh Public Schools expect all students to achieve at high standards of academic performance and behavior. The academic standards describe the knowledge and skills which students will be expected to demonstrate before graduating from public school. Pittsburgh has sixty-two academic standards. My curriculum unit is mainly concerned with the communication and science standards. I will also address some of the citizenship standards. The standards are as follows:

1.  All students use effective research and information management skills, including locating primary and secondary sources of information with traditional and emerging library technologies.

2.  All students read and use a variety of methods to make sense of various kinds of complex texts.

3.  All students respond orally and in writing to information and ideas gained by reading narrative and informational texts and use the information and ideas to make decisions and solve problems.
4.  All students write for a variety of purposes, including to narrate, inform, and persuade, in all subject areas.
5.  All students analyze and make critical judgments about all forms of communication,separating fact from opinion, recognizing propaganda, stereotypes and statements of bias, recognizing inconsistencies and judging the validity of evidence.
6.  All students exchange information orally, including understanding and giving spoken instructions, asking and answering questions appropriately, and promoting effective group communications.
7.  All students listen to and understand complex oral messages and identify the purpose
structure, and use.
8.  All students compose and make oral presentations for each academic area of study that are designed to persuade, inform, or describe.
9.  All students communicate appropriately in business, work, and other applied situations.

Science Standards

1. All students explain how scientific principles of chemical, physical and biological phenomena have developed and relate them to real world-situations.
2. All students demonstrate knowledge of basic concepts and principles of physical, chemical, biological and earth sciences.
3. All students use and master materials, tools, and processes of major technologies which are applied in economic and civic life.
4. All students explain the relationships among science, technology and society.
5. All students construct and evaluate scientific and technological systems using models to explain or predict results.
6. All students develop and apply skills of observation, data collection, analysis, pattern recognition, prediction, and scientific reasoning in designing and conducting experiments and solving technological problems.
7. All students evaluate advantages, disadvantages and ethical implications associated with the impact of science and technology on current and future life.
8. All students evaluate the impact of current and future life of the development and use of varied energy form, natural and synthetic materials, and production and processing of food and other agricultural products.
9. All students demonstrate basic computer literacy, including word processing, software applications, and ability to access the global information infrastructure, using current technology

Citizenship Standards

1. All students demonstrate an understanding of major events, cultures, groups and individuals in the historical development of Pennsylvania, the United States and other nations, and describe the patterns of historical development.
2. All students demonstrate understanding of themes and patterns of geography, know the location of major bodies of water, land masses and nations, and describe the relationships between geography and historical, economic and cultural development.
3. All students describe the development and operations of economic, political, legal and governmental systems in the United States, assess their own relationships to those systems, and compare them to those in other nations.
4. All students examine and evaluate problems facing citizens in their communities, state, nation and world by incorporating concepts and methods of inquiry of the various social sciences.
5. All students develop and defend a position on current issues, confronting the United States and other nations, conducting research, analyzing alternatives, organizing evidence and arguments, and making oral presentations.
6. All students explain basic economic concepts and development and operation of economic systems in the United States and other nations, and make informed decisions about economic issues.
7. All students demonstrate their skills of communicating, negotiating and cooperating with others.
8. All students demonstrate that they can work effectively with others..
9. All students demonstrate an understanding of the history and nature of prejudice and relate their knowledge to current issues facing communities, the United States and other nations.
10. All students demonstrate an understanding of the various roles they can play as citizens through participation in a community service project.
11. All students demonstrate the ability to resolve conflicts in peaceful ways, including but not limited to peer mediation, anger management, interpersonal skills, and problem-solving.