Digital Media Blog

Every year our 8th-grade students visit Gettysburg National Military Park on their spring field trip. Gettysburg is also a favorite day trip destination for my family. As a history teacher and lover our National Park system, the current budget proposals have hit a nerve. What would we do without "America's best idea?," our National Parks (Burns, 2009). Yet, many of my students support the president's budget which calls for a smaller government and balanced budget. They feel the cost outweighs the benefit.

In my US History II class, I would use this photograph as a writing prompt. I would start the lesson by having students share their experiences at National Parks or memories from last year's field trip. During the discussion, I would ask their opinion about the value of our National Parks and the importance of preserving our historic sites.

Next, I would have my students read the two sides of the issue one coming from The Hill, a political journalism newspaper, and the other from the National Parks Conservation Program. After reading the articles, I would show students my photograph, created by using iPiccy.com, and taken by my husband. It shows a High Water Mark monument in Gettysburg and with the quote from Mollie Beattie, the first female director of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. "What a country chooses to save is what a country chooses to say about itself." I choose this quote as it connects to the budget cuts to the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of the Interior. It can also speak to those who support President Trump's budget and the economic advancement they believe it would bring.

I would ask my students to express their opinion, in writing, on the budget cuts and the importance of preserving our National Parks and historic sites. They would need to use information from the articles as evidence and connect their writing to the quote. I would also like them to add a proposed solution that may find a middle ground. One that would protect our national parks while saving money.

After students finish their writing, we would discuss or perhaps even debate as a class with the goal of ending in compromise. We would then tie the whole debate back to our National History Day 2018 theme of Conflict and Compromise.

iPiccy.com was very easy to use and offers a lot of options for photo editing and designing. It feels like a more user-friendly version of Adobe Photoshop, without some of the bells and whistles of Photoshop. It took only a few minutes to create and save my design, and there are many ways it could be used in the classroom by both teachers and students. I can see my students using it to touch of pictures, add quotes and create more exciting designs for their History Day projects.

National Parks Conservation Association Article: https://www.npca.org/articles/1500-budget-proposal-threatens-national-parks

The Hill Article: http://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/economy-budget/341396-trumps-budget-is-good-for-the-country-so-why-wont-congress

Sources:

Bogie, Justin (2017, July 11). Trumps budget is good for the country so why is congress ignoring it? The Hill. Retrieved from http://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/economy-budget/341396-trumps-budget-is-good-for-the-country-so-why-wont-congress

Burns, Ken (Producer), Burns, Ken (Director). (2009). The national parks. America's best idea [Television Series]. Washington D.C.: Florentine Films and WETA

iPiccy.com (n.d) Photo maker. Collage maker. Graphic design. Retrieved from https://ipiccy.com/

McCarty, Michael (2010, October 17). High Water Mark Sunset[Photograph].

National Parks Conservation Association. (2017, March 16). Budget proposal threatens national parks [Press release]. Retrieved from https://www.npca.org/articles/1500-budget-proposal-threatens-national-parks

N.A. (2011). A look back: Mollie Beattie. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Retrieved from https://www.fws.gov/refuges/about/conservationheroes/Mollie%20Beattie_07182012.html

Originally Posted on my Wilkes Blog: http://wilkes.discoveryeducation.com/kristenmccarty/2017/10/30/digital-media-blog/

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