The Empire State Carousel As New York History: A Curriculum for Fourth Graders By: The Cooperstown Graduate Program Class of 2008 For The Farmers’ Museum The Empire State Carousel as New York State History Table of Contents Introduction ……………………………………………………………………………………..… 3 About this Lesson …………………………….…………………………………….……..…….. 4 Getting Started …………………………………………………………………………………… 7 Video: The Empire State Carousel at The Farmers’ Museum Setting the Stage: Historical Context ……………………………………………..…………. 8 Locating the Site: Maps ……………………………………………………………………..... 10 Lesson Plan Map 1: Find the Folks Supplementary Images Locating the Site Worksheet for Map 1 Map 2: New York State Carousel Census New York Carousel Census Assessment worksheet and Answer Key Map 3: Animals Represented on the Empire State Carousel Assessment worksheet and Answer Key Activity: Where did the Animals Go? New York State History Timeline …………………………………………………………...… 33 Lesson Plan Slide and Poster Templates Research Guide Determining the Facts: Readings ………………………………………………....…………. 44 Reading 1 Lesson Plan Reading 1: From ‘Little Wars’ to Merry-go-rounds Determining the Facts Worksheet for Reading 1 Assessment worksheet and Answer Key Reading 2 Lesson Plan Reading 2: Masters of the American Carousel Determining the Facts Worksheet for Reading 2 Assessment worksheet and Answer Key Reading 3 Lesson Plan Reading 3: The New York Experience Determining the Facts Worksheet for Reading 3 Assessment worksheet and Answer Key Vocabulary Lesson Plan Readings Vocabulary Visual Evidence: Images ………………………………………………………….……………. 93 Lesson Plan Photo Analysis Guidelines worksheet Image 1: Herschell-Spillman Workshop, 1915 1 The Empire State Carousel as New York State History Table of Contents (Continued) Assessment worksheet and Answer Key Image 2: a) Gerry Holzman carving Percy Pig b) Percy Pig Assessment worksheet and Answer Key Image 3: Bucky Beaver Assessment worksheet and Answer Key Image 4: The Empire State Carousel Assessment worksheet and Answer Key Putting it All Together: Telling New York State History through Collage ….………... 111 Procedure: Rubric: Student self evaluation Rubric: Teacher evaluation Research Guide Supplementary Resources …………………………………………………………….……. 119 Bibliography ……………………………………………………………………………..…….. 122 2 The Empire State Carousel as New York State History As visitors to The Farmers' Museum in beautiful Cooperstown, NY, explore the Country Fair exhibit, the bright lights, brilliant colors, and cheerful music of one of the museum’s most unique treasures—the Empire State Carousel—greet them. Guests of all ages are invited to climb aboard one of the many handcrafted animals and enjoy a carefree ride to traditional carousel music. Riders and onlookers alike appreciate the carousel's beauty and observe that each figure and panel of the carousel represents an important facet of New York's history and culture. Indeed, the carousel offers all visitors a fun and relaxing activity while presenting countless lessons about people, places, and events in New York's proud heritage. The Empire State Carousel provides a distinctly "New York" experience for all who come to visit. Far from being the typical static museum exhibit, the carousel both delights and educates visitors on important facets of the state of New York. Each animal on the carousel represents a species found in the state while showcasing the handiwork of New York folk artists. The carousel also displays hand-carved images of the state's most famous citizens and bears the names of many of New York's notable towns and cities. As an important aspect of the overall visitor experience at The Farmers' Museum, the carousel offers opportunities to celebrate and learn about the state of New York in a fun and unique way. The Empire State Carousel may even be considered a museum of its own-- a museum you can ride on! 3 About This Lesson This lesson is based on the New York State Historical Association’s Empire State Carousel files and other source materials. The Empire State Carousel as New York State History was written by Mary Aimonovitch, Kira DeLanoy, Ashley Hopkins, Carolyn Lane, Stephanie Lehner, Brian Richards, Allan Rowe, and Kimberly Springle, students at the Cooperstown Graduate Program, and was supervised by John Buchinger, Associate Director of Education at the New York State Historical Association . This lesson was designed to bring the important story of the Empire State Carousel into classrooms across the country . Where it fits into the curriculum: Topics: This lesson could be used in United States history courses to satisfy New York State Standard 1: History of the United States and New York. It could also be used in Art courses to satisfy units on stories and symbols in art, as well as folk art courses. Time period : Late twentieth century. Relevant New York State Standards: Art Standards : 1: Creating, performing and participating in the Arts 2: Knowing and using Arts materials and resources 3: Responding to and analyzing works of art 4: Understanding the cultural dimensions and contributions of the Arts English Language Standards 1: Language for Information and Understanding 3: Language for Critical Analysis and Evaluation Mathematics, Science, and Technology 4: Science 6. Interconnectedness: Common themes 4 Social Studies Standards: History of the United States and New York: 1: The study of New York State and United States history requires an analysis of the development of American culture, its diversity and multicultural context, and the ways people are unified by many values, practices, and traditions 2: Important ideas, social and cultural values, beliefs and traditions from New York State and United States history illustrate the connections and interactions of people and events across time and from a variety of perspectives 3: Study about the major social, political, economic, cultural, and religious developments in New York State and United States history involves learning about the important roles and contributions of individuals and groups Objectives for Students: • Students will be able to observe and critique the Empire State Carousel as a piece of artwork and understand the stories it is depicting. They will be able to answer in a complete manner all questions and engage in all activities in this part of the lesson. • Students will have knowledge of the great contributions of New Yorkers to society. They will be able to answer in a complete manner all questions and engage in all activities in this part of the lesson. • Students will be able to identify key places in New York State and the role those places played in New York State history. They will be able to answer in a complete manner all questions and engage in all activities in this part of the lesson. • Students will be able to identify and explain the parts of the Empire State Carousel and why they were used to represent New York State. They will be able to answer in a complete manner all questions and engage in all activities in this part of the lesson. 5 • The students will be able to create their own artistic representation of New York State using symbols of important people, places, and things. Students will be graded based on the provided rubric. Materials for students The materials listed below can be used directly on the computer or printed, photocopied, and distributed to students. The maps and images appear twice: in a low-resolution version with associated questions and alone in a larger, high-quality version. • One vocabulary lesson with activity sheets. • One New York State History Timeline Activity • Three maps showing the geography of the area, with accompanying activities. • Three readings compiled from primary and secondary sources, with accompanying activities. • Five images in the Visual Evidence section, with worksheets. • Seven images of folk-life panels for use with Map 1: Find the Folks. Visiting the site The Empire State Carousel is located at the Farmers’ Museum in Cooperstown, New York on State Route 80. For more information contact: The Farmers’ Museum P.O. Box 30 Cooperstown, NY 13326 Phone: (607) 547-1450; Toll Free: (888) 547-1450 Website: http://www.farmersmuseum.org Please call ahead before planning your visit. 6 Getting Started Watch “The Empire State Carousel at The Farmers’ Museum” video. Then answer the following questions: 1. If you were going to make a work of art about New York State history, what five images would you use? 1.) __________________________________________________________________________ 2.) __________________________________________________________________________ 3.) __________________________________________________________________________ 4.) __________________________________________________________________________ 5.) __________________________________________________________________________ 2. Choose one person who you feel best represents New York State. Why did you pick did you pick this person? _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ 3. If you met someone who had never been to New York, where would you take that person? Why? __________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________