Text Set (Blog Post 3)

                                                                 Inquiry Blog Post #3

Introduction:

For this blog post I will be analyzing texts on Hurricane Katrina, which I researched briefly in my earlier blog posts. In my analysis of this topic I will look at six to eight different sources, as well as a deep dive on text complexity for three of the sources. My hypothetical audience will be a high school classroom at Vincent High School in Milwaukee Wisconsin. I chose this because this happens to be the classroom I am in right now and rather than have to think or make up the level my students are at, I will be able to take my everyday knowledge of the classroom and you that in my text complexity analysis. These texts may all be used together to strengthen my classroom overall, by giving students many different ways of accessing valuable information as well as allowing each student to find a resource that works best for them. 

Bibliography (All 6 sources):

Multimedia:

NOVA: Hurricane Katrina The Storm that Drowned a City. Dir. Van Riper. PBS Films, 2006. Film. Link

When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Parts. Dir. Spike Lee. HBO Documentary Films, 2006. Film. Link 

Print:

Groen, Jeffrey A, and Anne E Polivka. “GOING HOME AFTER HURRICANE KATRINA: DETERMINANTS OF RETURN MIGRATION AND CHANGES IN AFFECTED AREAS.” Demography 47, no. 4 (2010): 821–844. Link

Stephens, Nicole M., MarYam G. Hamedani, Hazel Rose Markus, Hilary B. Bergsieker, and Liyam Eloul. “Why Did They ‘Choose’ to Stay? Perspectives of Hurricane Katrina Observers and Survivors.” Psychological science 20, no. 7 (2009): 878–886. Link

Culturally Relevant:

Hurricane Katrina: Day by Day. National Geographic, 2016. Films. Link

Soth, Alec. “New Orleans, after the Aftermath.” The New Yorker, The New Yorker, 17 Aug. 2015, https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/08/24/katrina-photo-essay. Link 

Text Complexity Analysis:

1: NOVA: Hurricane Katrina The Storm that Drowned a City. Dir. Van Riper. PBS Films, 2006. Film. Link 

Summary: This film is a general overview of the path of destruction that Hurricane Katrina was on. Not only does it talk about the destruction to the cities, towns, and states, but also the the people, animals, and everything else in between. The film interviews specific survivors of the hurricane, as well as different media members that were directly on the front lines of the hurricane. This film is a standard classroom film to give students background of a topic and allow them to gain interest in a topic. In my hypothetical classroom, this video would do the job when talking about natural disasters. It is engaging and academic all in one.  

Quantitatively: When looking at this PBS film through a quantitative lens, the average grade level was a 9.1 (via StoryTools). This means that the film is best used in 9th grade and higher classrooms. The average sentence length was 25.4 words. I will agree with storytools and say that this would be best for a freshman level class. I think that this video is basic enough to be shown even in an 8th grade classroom but engaging enough via interviews and first hand accounts to keep upperclassmen interested. In my hypothetical classroom, I would feel comfortable playing this video and expect that my students could fully analyze and understand the film without much instruction or background knowledge.    

Qualitatively: When looking at this film qualitatively, I would consider this film as basic. I don’t think that the directors are trying to challenge students to think deeply or to really put themselves in the shoes of the people in the film. The language structure is very easy to follow and the vocabulary is more than appropriate for any high school classroom. The knowledge content that is required for this film is almost zero. This video wants to be informative and could be followed and understood by a student even if they had never heard of Hurricane Katrina. The hypothetical classroom that I have set up would benefit from the background knowledge and facts that are covered in this film.  

Task and Reader: I believe that the best purpose of this film would be as an introduction to a unit or lesson on natural disasters or Hurricane Katrina itself. This film could also be used to motivate interest in the topic for students who have never studied Hurricane Katrina or natural disasters all together. Again the first hand testimonies are enough for students to want to learn more about the topic. When thinking about the film from a cultural asset point of view, I think that there is room for improvement. The film would push students to think about others and potentially what would happen if this happened in their own community, but at the same time is more just providing an introduction to a topic. One activity that I could use in my hypothetical classroom is to have students watch this film and then do a quick write on their general thoughts of the people in the video. I could then have students pair up with one another and discuss their thoughts. This would promote class discussion and provide a space for students to share allowed. As far as task complexity, a student would not need any prior knowledge to be able to engage in the lesson. Students could watch this film and be motivated to continue their studies on the topic/look at a specific person and their story of Hurricane Katrina. 

Vocabulary: tropical depression, atmospheric, module, levees, bunker, storm surge, monolith

2: Stephens, Nicole M., MarYam G. Hamedani, Hazel Rose Markus, Hilary B. Bergsieker, and Liyam Eloul. “Why Did They ‘Choose’ to Stay? Perspectives of Hurricane Katrina Observers and Survivors.” Psychological science 20, no. 7 (2009): 878–886. Link 

Summary: This scholarly article found in the UWM library database is a great resource when looking at why people chose to stay or leave their homes when Hurricane Katrina struck the United States. This article is a case study that looks into different factors such as wealth, gender, occupation, morals, etc and how that may have affected the decision of certain people to stay the storm out or evacuate their home. This text allows many different ways for students to analyze the decision making of many different groups when faced with natural disaster. The article is very analytical and that can always make for a great classroom conversation. 

Quantitatively: When using the quantitative lens to evaluate this scholarly article, the average grade level was 8.3. This means that the article is best suited, according to StoryTools, for 8th grade and above students. The average sentence length was 23 words. My initial reaction upon seeing the grade level was that it was a little low. I say this because I don’t think storytools is accurately taking into account the graphs, and charts in the case studies. I also think that comparing and contrasting case studies is more of a high school to upperclassman type of skill. I think that this article would fit perfectly for my 10-12 grade classroom that I have set up. The article may have easier vocabulary or sentence structure, but the comparing and contrasting if case studies and different races can not go unnoticed. 

Qualitatively: When speaking of the scholarly article qualitatively, I would say that it is on the complex side of things. Students must have a background knowledge of the topic and be able to understand that people have different morals, financial situations, and ability to drop everything and leave their homes. The language structure is set up for most high school students to be able to comprehend and understand. The article is not trying to trick any student, but rather to challenge them to think at a higher level. The case study provides a whole different level of thinking for students. They must be able to not only understand the language, and have some content knowledge but also understand the lives of others. Overall, this article can be seen as a good complex qualitative reading.   

Task and Reader: The purpose of this article is to compare and contrast why people chose to stay and leave their homes during Hurricane Katrina. Not only is it to compare and contrast this fact, but then also analyze who was better off in their decisions. This text could be used to motivate the interest in students as they can look closely into how people in similar situations to them reached. Did they leave? Did they stay? Did they not have the money or resources to leave? Questions like these can be used to analyze people who were black, white, rich, poor, young or old. The students would be forced to build cultural assets as they look at the different lifestyles, morals, and situations each person in the study was in. One activity I could use in the hypothetical classroom for this project, is to have them compare two different groups in the study. This could be done through a t-chart, similar/difference organizer, or even a poster presentation. The options would be endless due to the different statistics and analytics included in the study. The text complexity may not line up perfectly strictly because some students struggle to apply statistics to writing. When looking at the knowledge needed, or motivations the text is appropriate for the hypothetical classroom. Students should have interest in the topic and the study simply by thinking what they and their family would have to do if natural disaster struck their home. 

Vocabulary: Agentic, socioculturally, derogated, illuminating, myriad, disjointed, interdependence

3: Soth, Alec. “New Orleans, after the Aftermath.” The New Yorker, The New Yorker, 17 Aug. 2015, https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/08/24/katrina-photo-essay. Link 

Summary: The “New Orleans, after the Aftermath” is a photo essay in The New Yorker. I chose this source because I want to have a source that students could really connect with. A photo essay is a great way for students to put themselves in the shoes of the people directly involved in Hurricane Katrina. In the hypothetical classroom I have set up in an MPS school district, students would be able to connect with the photo essay very well due to there being many examples of young African American families being displaced from their homes following the hurricane. This photo essay also gives timelines for how long some of these families were without a home and the graphics make it is for students to connect emotionally to these families. 

Quantitatively: When looking at this photo essay through a quantitative lens, I plugged some of the dialogue into StoryTools. The average reading level that StoryTools graded the photo essay out to 10.7. What this means is that the photo essay would best be suited for 11th graders or above. Of the five paragraphs I entered, the average sentence length was 37.8. Overall, the numbers that were provided back to me, were encouraging for the upperclassmen in my high school classroom. In my hypothetical classroom that I am using for this assignment, I would feel comfortable using this photo essay for 10-12 grade American History students. With that being said the 10th graders may need a little extra help with the content but it would be an adequate challenge. Overall, I do agree with the average grade level given and think that this is definitely a high school (specifically upperclassman) level photo essay.   

Qualitatively: From a qualitative lens, I would treat this photo as above average to complex. Students have many different areas of the site to navigate through and connect to. The overall construction and flow of the essay makes it so that students would be pushed at an appropriate level. The knowledge demand of students is appropriate for the level in the hypothetical classroom. For example, there is a certain level of base information that a student would need to have to completely understand the significance of some of the pictures highlighted. There is not a ton of detail on how the hurricane happened but rather an assumption that the reader would have been taught or learned about most of that information. Overall, the essay is a good resource for upper level students to use who have a background of the hurricane. 

Task and Reader: The purpose of this would be to deepen the knowledge of a student's understanding of Hurricane Katrina. Using it as an introduction would not necessarily be the best practice as the students need to have context of the people being photographed/talked about. A way that you could use this photo essay in the hypothetical classroom is to do a project based activity. Have a student select a picture that speaks to them the most and then pretend that they were family members with the people in the picture. What would they be feeling, thinking, doing, etc. This not only is a great way to learn more about the topic but to also grow the students' cultural assets. The student would be pushed to think about their own feelings, emotions, and actions in that given scenario. The text complexity compares well with a student's prior knowledge. Generally speaking, most students will have at least heard of Hurricane Katrina. After a day learning about the disaster, a student could really be motivated to dive into the topic from many different angles.  

Vocabulary: Maladministration, sackcloth, pitiable, precariousness, unnerving, leisure, saturates

When putting these sources together, I think that they could all make for very strong resources for high school students. I think the best way to use them is to pair one with another, perhaps the first text and the third as an intro (set 1) and a more in depth look at Hurricane Katrina (set 3). Hope you all have enjoyed looking through the text sets that I was able to find on one of the most catastrophic natural disasters in American History.