New Orleans Virtual Field Trip Lesson Plan

To virtually explore the history of New Orleans via video, primary and secondary sources and classroom discussion.

Upon completion of this lesson, the students will be able to:

 1. Knowledge

• Students will be able to identify important locations and historic events in New Orleans. 

2.   Comprehension/Application/Analysis

• Read through primary source documents.
• Summarize findings by writing an original creative piece. 

3.   Evaluation

• Evaluate and discuss some of the key locations and historic moments in and around New Orleans, Louisiana.

Check out the Lesson Plan Teaching Guide for more instructions on using the prepared Lesson Plan.

Lesson Plan Primary and Secondary Source Activity:

1. Watch some or all the New Orleans Virtual Field Trip video.
2. Conduct a group discussion utilizing the discussion questions:
   1. Have you ever visited this town or any of its historic sites?
   2. Which site would you like to visit and why?
   3. What role did this city played in the War of 1812?
   4. What role did this city have during the American Civil War?
   5. What was your favorite site the video visited and why?
   6. Is there a site or subject from the video you’d like to know more about?
   7. Was there something you didn’t understand about the video? What was that?
3. Have the students complete the Video Question Quiz Worksheet.
   1. If the entire Virtual Field Trip video was watched, have the students complete all of it.
   2. If only some of the Virtual Field Trip video was viewed, have the students complete the relevant sections.
4. Have the students complete one of the following exercises utilizing primary and secondary sources to influence a creative piece. In the piece, they should provide an accurate summary of the sources.
   1. Students will write a diary entry as though they are living in New Orleans and recording their reaction to the news of the Louisiana Purchase.
   2. Historical Summary: Throughout the eighteenth century, New Orleans drifted between French and Spanish control. When France controlled New Orleans, they permitted the Americans the “right of deposit” to store goods for export there. Once France ceded control of New Orleans to Spain, however, the Spanish refused to grant Americans the “right of deposit.” This angered many Americans who relied on Mississippi trade for their livelihood and deeply troubled the third American President, Thomas Jefferson, who looked to the American interior as an empire of liberty, where his vision of a society of yeoman gentlemen farmers peacefully tilling the soil could flourish. In 1803, the United States purchased a huge tract of land and the port city of New Orleans from Napoleon Bonaparte.
   3. Use these resources to explore more details about the Louisiana Purchase:
      1. Digital Collections - Louisiana Purchase: Primary Documents in American History - Research Guides at Library of Congress
      2. Expansion and Exploration in the New Republic
      3. 1803: Treaty Between the United States of America and the French Republic
   4. Select a country – France, Spain or the United States – and draw that country’s flag at the top of the page.
   5. Write a diary entry as though hearing about the Louisiana Purchase for the first time as someone of that nationality living in New Orleans. How do you feel about the news? What fears do you have about the news? What might be hopeful or an opportunity? How do you feel about Napoleon selling the port city and Jefferson purchasing it?
5. Complete an optional exercise. 

OPTIONAL HOMEWORK/ASSESSMENT/ADDITIONAL ACTIVITIES:

Option 2:

Have students research one aspect of the video that piqued their interest. They can prepare a 500-word paper or present their findings to the class in the form of an in-person or video presentation. 

Option 3:

Have students explore the following resources about Women in the American Revolution, Civil War and World War II. Using a Venn Diagram, choose two conflicts and compare the differences and similarities of women’s experiences. 

• Women in the American Revolution | American Battlefield Trust
• Republican Motherhood | American Battlefield Trust
• The Daughters of Liberty | American Battlefield Trust
• Women and The Civil War | American Battlefield Trust
• It’s Your War, Too: Women in World War II | The National WWII Museum | New Orleans

Option 4: 

Split students into four groups. Have each group research one of the following traditional New Orleans dishes: Gumbo, Bananas Foster, King Cake and Beignets. What are the ingredients? How/Where was this dish created? Have students consider what other foods their assigned dish reminds them of. Finally, have students present their findings to the class in a short presentation. 

Option 5:

Have students pick an object from the Louisiana State Museums, Confederate Museum or The National WWII Museum. Have them write a museum object record about their chosen artifact including (if available) a physical description (color, materials), the use/purpose, year created, maker, owner, location created and used, related war, related military branch, and object type (image, artifact, document).  

Option 6:

Have students pick one flag from the flags that have flown over the modern state of Louisiana. Have them research when, how and why they flew over Louisiana along with the meaning of its colors, symbols and images. The flags are:

• The Fleur-de-lis Flag
• The Spanish Flag
• The Union Jack
• The French Flag
• The Lone Star Flag (West Florida Rebellion)
• Early United States Flag (1803)
• Republic of Louisiana / Louisiana Secession Flag
• The Stars and Bars Flag (Confederate First National)
• The Louisiana State Flag

Common Core State Standards- ELA & History/Social Studies

Grades 6-8

• Key Ideas and Details:
  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.6-8.2
    • Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary of the source distinct from prior knowledge or opinions.
• Craft and Structure:
  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.6-8.6
    • Identify aspects of a text that reveal an author's point of view or purpose (e.g., loaded language, inclusion or avoidance of particular facts).
• Integration of Knowledge and Ideas:
  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.6-8.9
    • Analyze the relationship between a primary and secondary source on the same topic.

 Grades 9-10

• Key Ideas and Details:
  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.9-10.2
    • Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary of how key events or ideas develop over the course of the text.
• Craft and Structure:
  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.9-10.6
    • Compare the point of view of two or more authors for how they treat the same or similar topics, including which details they include and emphasize in their respective accounts.
• Integration of Knowledge and Ideas:
  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.9-10.9
    • Compare and contrast treatments of the same topic in several primary and secondary sources.

Grades 11-12

• Key Ideas and Details:
  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.11-12.2
    • Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary that makes clear the relationships among the key details and ideas.
• Craft and Structure:
  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.11-12.6
    • Evaluate the authors' differing points of view on the same historical event or issue by assessing the authors' claims, reasoning, and evidence.
• Integration of Knowledge and Ideas:
  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.11-12.9
    • Integrate information from diverse sources, both primary and secondary, into a coherent understanding of an idea or event, noting discrepancies among sources.

Social Studies - National Council for the Social Studies

• Theme 1: Culture
• Theme 2: Time, Continuity, and Change
• Theme 3: People, Places, and Environments
• Theme 6: Power, Authority, And Governance
• Theme 8: Science, Technology, and Society