Goals:
The students will acquire a new awareness for the music from the time period of the Titanic.
The students will gain a more accurate knowledge base about the food that was eaten on the Titanic.
The students will actively participate in the ballroom dancing demonstration and practice session.
The students will use knowledge from previous lessons effectively and accurately.
The students will work effectively with other students in group activities.
Resources:
Lord, Walter. (1955). A Night to Remember. New York: Henry Holt and Company.
Post, Emily. (1969). The Book of Etiquette. New York: Funk & Hagnalls.
Spedden, Daisy Corning Stone. (1994). Polar the Titanic Bear. Boston: Little Brown and Company.
Ý
Music:
Ý
Library, Music store, or Church: Traditional pieces
Ý
Nearer My God To Thee - Hymn (Ballard)
Ý
Menu:
Ý
Ý
Food Servers:
Ý
parent volunteers
assign food platters to the students (i.e. Alanna - Boneless Chicken, etc.)
Demonstration Instructors:
Ý
museum personnel with an emphasis on dancing styles
community member with ballroom dancing skills
Materials:
chalk
large pieces of construction paper (multiple colors)
cardboard cutouts of magazine people
loose leaf paper
index cards
markers
chests or boxes
clothes
props (jewelry, suitcases, eye glasses, tea sets, etc.)
CD players, tape decks, or record players
dishes and silverware
sink
dish soap
towels
Time:
Procedure:
2.Ý Ask the class to identify the five social classes of our present day society (i.e. upper class, upper middle class, lower middle class, working poor, and non-working poor).
3.Ý Give brief descriptions of each of the social classes.
4.Ý The students will randomly assign different occupations (that they are aware of) to the different colored pieces of paper on the chalkboard (i.e. a CEO would represent the upper class or upper middle class category depending on the company).
5.Ý Each piece of construction paper should have
15-20 different occupations on it with the
exception of the poor category.
6.Ý Prepare cardboard cut-outs of magazine people to show to the class. The students will need to identify which category the cut-out belongs in.
7.Ý The students will each be given a list of different characters found on a variety of television programs. They will use this list to identify the character's occupation and divide them into the five social class categories based on the information generated from this lesson (see prepared worksheet).
8.Ý Precede to overlap the upper and lower middle class circles and the working and non-working poor class circles in order to explain to the students that on the Titanic there were three distinct social classes (i.e. upper, middle, and lower class).
9.Ý Lead a brief question and answer session with the
class.
Ý
Part 2: Distinguish Social Classes
Ý
2.Ý The students will go to the section of the classroom that is decorated in their specific color.
3.Ý Explain to the class that each color represents a specific social class on the Titanic. Red = upper class; Green = middle class; BrownÝ= lower class.
4.Ý Each group of students will have a chest of clothes in their area. The students are to dress up in the clothes and jewelry provided, as well as distribute the additional props equally to one another. (Additional props may include suitcases, diaries, musical instruments, eye glasses, etc.) The students will use their knowledge from the etiquette lesson to dress appropriately.
5.Ý Each group will be allotted 30 minutes for one of
the following activities:
Ý
Role play a scene from A Night to Remember.
Write in their journals about this specific lesson.
Listen to music from the time period.
Interact with the other students from the different social classes in a way they think it happened on the Titanic (References: A Night to Remember & The Book of Etiquette).
Create an art project that deals with social classes (i.e. abstract collage, painting, picture of the three classes intertwined, etc.).
Browse through some of the books on the Titanic.
6.Ý Each group will then describe to the rest of the class which activity they decided to participate in.
Part 3: Luncheon
Ý
2.Ý The students will each be presented with a menu according to their social class.
3.Ý Answer any questions about what each meal entails.
4.Ý The students will have a choice of three entrees on their menu to choose from to eat for their luncheon meal. The students will eat in their social class's designated section.
5.Ý The students will eat their meal and practice proper etiquette skills learned in previous lessons.
6.Ý The students will have to clean up their area and wash their dishes. However, the teacher must explain to them that this was not the custom but is necessary because of their limited resources.
7.Ý The students will have the opportunity to express
to the class their thoughts about how it felt to have to eat
different food because of their social class
classification.
Ý
Part 4: Ballroom Dancing Demonstration
Ý
2.Ý Give a brief introduction to the demonstration instructor for ballroom dancing.
3.Ý The instructor will give around a 30 minute presentation on the historical background of ballroom dancing and the music that was used for it.
4.Ý The instructor will give around a 45 minute demonstration and practice session on the techniques and skills of ballroom dancing.
5.Ý The instructor will conclude his/her demonstration and allow the students approximately 30 minutes to perform in front of their peers with a designated partner.
6.Ý The instructor will answer any of the
studentsí questions and share any additional information
about ballroom dancing.
Ý
Part 5: Music appreciation
Ý
2.Ý The students will remain in their social class group for this activity.
3.Ý Each group will listen to a specific piece of
music from the Titanic era or contemporary style that the
teacher has chosen for them.
4.Ý Each student will have to analyze the piece of
music in at least three or four of the following ways:
Ý
What do you feel when you listen to it?
Do the lyrics coincide with the harmony or do they contradict one another?
Would you have written the piece differently? Why? How?
What was the underlying message of the song?
Did you like this particular piece of music? Why or why not?
Relate it to songs of today.
Does it remind you of anything in your own life or in the life of someone you know?
5.Ý Each student will have to write their analysis in
their journals. This analysis should include both
personal feelings and experiences based on the question in
detailed format.
6.Ý Each group will have to share parts of their critical analysis with the class.
Assessment:
Each student will complete the exercise on matching the television character's occupation to the portrayed social class. Criteria for success: Each student will have to correctly identify at least 90% of the social classes according to the character's occupation.
Each student will engage in one of the activities allotted to them in part 2 - step 5. Criteria for success: Each student must choose one of the activities from that section to participate in.
Each student will practice proper etiquette skills throughout the day, especially during their luncheon. Criteria for success: Each student must follow the rules of etiquette learned in the previous lessons to 90% accuracy. This will be assessed by the teacher's observations of each of the students.
Each student will actively participate in the instructor's demonstration and practice session. Criteria for success: Each student must perform during at least two of these three times. Once with the instructor's practice session, once with their partner and the entire class, & once with their partner alone in front of the class. The participation rubric will be used for this assessment.
Each group will analyze one piece of music chosen for them by the teacher. Criteria for success: Each group must answer at least three or four of the questions provided by the teacher. The answers should be a reflection of the studentsí feelings and personal experiences.
Each student must write a journal entry. Criteria for success: Each student must write about one of the activities which was done during the day.
Each team member must actively participate in the various discussions throughout the day. Criteria for success: Each team member must have ample opportunity to speak to the class in at least two or more of the discussions. The participation rubric will be used for this assessment.
Each student will work effectively with the other students in their groups. Criteria for success: Each student must cooperate with one another and respect each other's thoughts and feelings. They each should complete a peer evaluation form for one another.
The students will receive feedback in the following ways:
Ý
Ý
The students will receive a +, +/-, or - on the etiquette
skills depending on the accuracy of them. This assessment will
be added to the participation rubric.
Ý
The students will receive a +, +/-, or - on the music
appreciation questions based on the following:
Ý
The students will receive their scores based on their peer evaluation forms.
Curricular Strands and Major Points:
Social Studies - identifing social classes of our post modern society; distinguishing the differences between the social classes; feasting on the food of the Titanic (cultural aspect); participating in the popular dancing style of the era (cultural aspect); listening and analyzing the music from the Titanic era (cultural aspect)
Arts - dramatizing the social classes through wardrobe and musical elements; creating an art project that deals with social classes (optional activity)
Ý
Possible Extensions:
Have the students create a one-act play that could be conducted in front of the whole school based on the novelÝ A Night to Remember.
Have the students create a scrap book of newspaper articles that deal with different issues concerning certain social classes.
Have the students calculate the differences between the discrepancy in the salaries of the three distinct social classes - then and now.
Have the students prepare comparative budgets for each social class and present it to the class.
Have the students calculate the amount of money that it would cost to purchase the outfit that they were wearing during the Titanic era and compare it to what it would cost them today.
Have the students calculate the amount of money it would cost to eat the meal that they were eating at their luncheon from the Titanic era and compare it to what it would cost them today.
Have the students experiment with the different styles of cooking.
Have the students discuss discrimination, racism, and prejudices among the social classes during the Titanic era and the similarities and differences that still exist in our own society today.
Have the students discuss the geographical regions that the different social classes originated from.
Have the students create a music collage, which is a tape of songs, that the students feel could relate in some way to the Titanic incident from present day selections.
The Titanic - developed by Kelly Coleman, Nikki Cosgrove, Megan
Mills, & Dorothy Weber
This page submitted by St. Norbert College Ocean Voyagers Program.