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E-mail contact
Sue Mortensen
senten@netscape.com
Teacher Bio
Teaching the Signature Course in Media at The English High School,
Sue Mortensen has been active in the Boston Public Schools for
over thirty years. She has applied for and received many grants
and is recognized as a Lead Teacher. Supported by a federal grant
she co-authored, her students use the latest software and digital
equipment. Sue is a member of the The English High School's Teacher
Reading Group, Actors' Alliance, and the Alliance for a Media
Literate America (AMLA).
Subject Areas
TV/Film Production, Language Arts
Grade Levels
11 - 12
Students
Inclusive
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Stamps of Approval for Women Journalists
| Authenticity |
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Key Question
How can high schoolers learn more about
American women journalists who have influenced major social
change in this nation and the world?
Overview
Documenting their field
trips to Boston Women's Memorial (BWM) and to Adams National
Historical Park, students in a TV/Film production class also
examine the written legacies of Abigail Adams, Phillis Wheatley,
and Lucy Stone. They research the accomplishments of past
and present journalists. They learn why, in 2002, the United
States Post Office issued commemorative stamps honoring four
women, Ida M. Tarbell, Nelly Bly, Ethel L. Payne, and Marguerite
Higgins. Paying tribute to several women writers with their
own stamp designs and biographies, the high schoolers investigate
careers in journalism and interview local women writers. Come
March and Women's History Month, their displays and shared
documentaries win stamps of approval from the school community.
| Active
Exploration +
Applied
Learning + Adult
Connections |
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Classroom
Activities
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Community
Activities
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Career
Activities
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Videotape
student visits to BWM & Adams National
Historical Park. |
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Read about Abigail Adams, Phillis Wheatley
& Lucy Stone for student authored bios. |
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Design
stamps for contemporary
women writers. |
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Write
reflections & create timeline that compare
& contrast these women's lives &
times.
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Send
thank you letters
to Presidents' Heritage Foundation, sponsor
of Adams visit. |
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Present
oral biographies of BWM figures & women
journalists to various classrooms during March
Women's History events. |
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Display related exhibit of commemorative stamps,
student designs, writing samples & timeline
in school lobby. |
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Show
computer
slide show (760
KB) & film documentary to school
community. |
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Learn
more about women in public art by reading
speech
of BWM sculptor Meredith Bergmann. |
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Research
qualifications for a postal
stamp designer. |
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Observe media journalists in action at local
TV station |
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Invite
local women journalists & writers for
classroom interviews. |
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Hold
panel discussion about careers in journalism
& media. |
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Academic
Rigor
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| Learning
Standards English Language Arts |
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Organize
and present ideas in a logical order. |
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Deliver
informal and formal presentations, giving consideration
to audience, purpose and content. |
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Conduct
interviews for research projects and writing. |
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Demonstrate
correct use of mechanics, usage, and sentence structure
in oral and written responses. |
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Identify
themes and give supporting evidence from a text. |
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Select
appropriate strategies for developing ideas into
drafts. |
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Select
appropriate strategies for revising the organization
and ideas in drafts. |
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Identify
visual or aural techniques used in a media message
for a particular audience. |
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Create
media presentations that effectively use graphics,
images, and/or sound to present a distinct point
of view on a topic. |
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School
to Career Competencies
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Develop
Communication and Literacy Skills. |
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Communicate
and understand ideas and information. |
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Use
technology. |
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Initiate
and complete entire activities. |
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Act
professionally. |
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Take
responsibility for career and life choices. |
Assessment |
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Teacher
and students conduct weekly writing workshops
to provide feedback on biographical essays and
reflections. Timelines, student stamp designs,
and computer slide shows are evaluated for accuracy
at regularly scheduled teacher/student conferences.
Filmed materials are edited and critiqued by production
crews under teacher supervision.
Software
or Materials Used For
technology: digital cameras, digital video cameras,
computers, editing software Final Cut Pro and
Imovie, Microsoft Office; for literature &
curriculum packets: Adams National Historical
Park Teacher Materials from People and Places
Program: Pen
& Parchment; From Penn's Hill Pennsylvania;
Making
the World Better: The Struggle for Equality in
19th Century America a curriculum packet produced
for State House Women's Leadership Project developed
by the Massachusetts Foundation for the Humanities
and the Tsongas Industrial History Center at the
University of Massachusetts/Lowell; The Bostonian
Society Resource Guide from Teaching Boston History
Workshop: "Abigail Adams, Lucy Stone, Phillis
Wheatley ~ Patriotism, Poetry and Persistence";
"The Boston Women's Memorial Curriculum Writing
for Change: The Power of Women's Words" (contact
BWHT for
availability and ordering information); Boston
Women's Heritage Trail Guidebook.
Teacher
Developed Materials Directions
for Stamp Designs and
Computer Slide Shows,
Sample Computer Slide
Show (760
KB).
Student
Developed Materials Reflections,
Biographies, Timeline, Thank
you Letters, Videotaped Documentary, Stamp
Designs, Biographies, Computer Slide Shows.
Web
Sites Boston
Discoveries, Elizabeth
Jane Cochrane: Nellie Bly ~ Pioneer Woman Investigative
Journalist, Ethel
L. Payne, Zora
Neale Hurston, Marguerite
Higgins, Induction
of Ida Tarbell into the National Women's Hall
of Fame, Positive
Teens Magazine, Smithsonian
National Postal Museum Curriculum Guides,
Washington
Press Club Biography of Ethel Payne
Final
Words When students
celebrate women journalists who dare to dream,
they begin to understand how writing fosters social
change. These women showed our young adults how
words can inspire others to follow their convictions.
Teacher
Tip Start with
one good idea, and others will flow. As a high
school teacher, I look for ways to develop thematic
projects. Producing documentaries for calendar
events like Women's History Month creates lasting
experiences for students who are interested in
media careers.
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