Lesson Plan Table of Contents
Inside Catlin's Head Lesson Plan
Content Introduction
George Catlin, born in 1796, was an artist who became famous for his paintings of Native Americans and the Western landscape. To view these paintings and to learn more about Catlin, explore this web site. The timeline displayed under the "Catlin's Quest" section will be particularly helpful in learning about his life.
Guided Practice
Begin by asking students to look at the "Catlin's Quest" campfire story. They should concentrate on looking at his paintings, reading passages from his letters, and looking at the timeline of his life. After acquainting themselves with Catlin's art, writings, and major life events, students should be prepared to write several journal entries. To help students begin their journals, draw a timeline on the board representing Catlin's life. Call on students to help you fill in the dates and events. (They may use the "Catlin's Quest" story.)
Independent Practice
Activity 1: Journal Writing
- Preliminary Journal Entry: At the beginning of their journal, have students jot down the timeline of Catlin's life that you just drew on the board for their future reference.
- Journal Entry #1: After reading about Catlin's life via his journal entries, have students write their own historical-fiction narrative in which they pretend to be Catlin. Students should choose one or two events in his life, then discuss in depth why he may have made certain decisions leading up to those events, what he was hoping to accomplish with those decisions, what he may have been afraid of, and what his strengths and weaknesses were. Students should be creative, but should also stay close in keeping with Catlin's known history and objectives, which were to document Native American cultures through painting and writing.
- Journal Entry #2: Students should choose a major decision in Catlin's life and write about why they would have chosen to do something different had they been in his position. Pretending to be Catlin, students should examine the pros and cons of their decision and account for the impact it would make on the rest of their life. They should include reasons for their actions, fears, hopes, and outcomes.
- Journal Entry #3: Have students read Catlin's Letter No. 3. Then have them draw a picture of what they think Catlin was seeing in their own journal. Vocabulary and definitions taken from this letter can be found on this web site.
- Journal Entry #3 Alternative: Have students look at a landscape painting by Catlin and write a journal entry describing what he was seeing and experiencing while he was working. (Students may use any painting from this site, but be careful that students do not view paintings alongside descriptive text.) The entry should be written in the first-person.
Activity 2: Role-playing
Students should break up into partners, share their journal entries with each other, then write a theatrical skit. They should write their skit based on the scenario described in journal entry one or two, and although they may use their individual entries to generate ideas, the resulting script should be original. Have students either perform for the class or turn in a videotaped recording.
Activity 3: Discussion
Host a wrap-up discussion in which students can share their journal entries or ideas about Catlin's quest and evaluate the events portrayed by their classmates in the skits. The following questions may be asked:
- What elements from Catlin's time period, culture, and location may have influenced his decisions? Are these factors still relevant today?
- How did various decisions in Catlin's life affect his family? Sitters for his portraits? Historians today?
- How realistic to the time period and culture were the events portrayed in each skit?
Extended Activity
Have students design a choose-your-own adventure activity based on Catlin's life. They should make their activity in the form of a book and may choose to illustrate it.
Vocabulary (taken from the text of: George Catlin, Letters and Notes, Letter No. 3: North of Yellow Stone)
abode, abyss, alluvial, alluvion, ascertain, boundless, chasm, citadels, cupolas, defiance,
density, divested, eddy, erroneously, germed, gorge, gypsum,
horrid, indulging, keel-boat, luxuriant, monotonous, opaque, picturesque,
porticoes, ramparts, refracted, serpentine, spires, steamer, sublime, summit, terraces, toil, turbid, verdure.
Standards
National Center for History in the Schools—Historical Thinking (5–12):
- Standard 1: Chronological Thinking
A. Students should be able to distinguish between past, present, and future time.
B. Students should be able to identify the temporal structure of a historical narrative or story: its beginning, middle, and end (the latter defined as the outcome of a particular beginning).
C. Students should be able to establish temporal order in constructing their [students'] own historical narratives: working forward from some beginning through its development, to some end or outcome; working backward from some issue, problem, or event to explain its origins and its development over time.
E. Students should be able to interpret data presented in time lines and create time lines by designating appropriate equidistant intervals of time and recording events according to the temporal order in which they occurred.
- Standard 2: Historical Comprehension
B. Students should be able to reconstruct the literal meaning of a historical passage by identifying who was involved, what happened, where it happened, what events led to these developments, and what consequences or outcomes followed.
C. Students should be able to identify the central question(s) the historical narrative addresses and the purpose, perspective, or point of view from which it has been constructed.
E. Students should be able to read historical narratives imaginatively, taking into account what the narrative reveals of the humanity of the individuals and groups involved--their probable values, outlook, motives, hopes, fears, strengths, and weaknesses.
I. Students should be able to draw upon visual, literary, and musical sources including: (a) photographs, paintings, cartoons, and architectural drawings; (b) novels, poetry, and plays; and, (c) folk, popular and classical music, to clarify, illustrate, or elaborate upon information presented in the historical narrative.
- Standard 3: Historical Analysis and Interpretation
C. Students should be able to analyze cause-and-effect relationships bearing in mind multiple causation including (a) the importance of the individual in history; (b) the influence of ideas, human interests, and beliefs; and (c) the role of chance, the accidental and the irrational.
- Standard 5: Historical Issues—Analysis and Decision-Making
D. Students should be able to evaluate alternative courses of action, keeping in mind the information available at the time, in terms of ethical considerations, the interests of those affected by the decision, and the long- and short-term consequences of each.
National Council of Teachers of English:
- Standard 4: Students adjust their use of spoken, written, and visual language (e.g., conventions, style, and vocabulary) to communicate effectively with a variety of audiences and for different purposes.
- Standard 5: Students employ a wide range of strategies as they write and use different writing process elements appropriately to communicate with different audiences for a variety of purposes.
- Standard 8: Students use a variety of technological and information resources (e.g., libraries, databases, computer networks, video) to gather and synthesize information and to create and communicate knowledge.
- Standard 12: Students use spoken, written, and visual language to accomplish their own purposes (e.g., for learning, enjoyment, persuasion, and the exchange of information).
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