StoryWorks: Beneath An Unknown Sky, StoryWorks: Beneath An Unknown Sky Curriculum Title Page
Overview
StoryWorks Theater's Beneath An Unknown Sky.
Beneath An Unknown Sky Curriculum and Film
StoryWorks develops inclusive and transformative educational theater experiences that provide students with the opportunity to examine our country’s civil rights history. Through content consistent with school curriculum standards, the program engages students in experiential learning and inspires them to ask deeper questions about the historical underpinnings behind contemporary issues. The process creates pathways to civic engagement, creates lasting memories and instills a tangible sense of social belonging.
Beneath An Unknown Sky:
Beneath An Unknown Sky brings to life the voices of residents of the Mississippi Delta during the unprecedented times of the Reconstruction Era. From the Freedmen's Bureau to the emergence of Black political leaders and with the experiences of everyday people in between, Beneath An Unknown Sky intimately portrays the joys, fears and sorrows of the people who lived during these uncertain and exciting moments as the Mississippi sought to rebuild in the aftermath of years of conflict and war and with the end of slavery.
Curriculum:
The Beneath An Unknown Sky curriculum consists of six lesson plans designed for 8th through 12th grades. Each lesson plan is inspired by monologues from our play and utilizes primary source materials to add historical context to the events and characters depicted in the film. Special attention is paid to developing historical research skills by asking the students to identify, analyze, and evaluate primary sources, review secondary source material, transcribe primary source documents, design an oral history project, and complete short research projects. The topics covered in the lesson plans include but are not limited to the following: the experience of Freedmen in the Mississippi Delta, Reconstruction, the Freedmen’s Bureau, Mississippi “Black codes”, Women’s history, the Reconstruction Amendments, Voting Rights, the Mississippi Constitution of 1868, Black political office holders from Mississippi, and the Mississippi Plan. The curriculum is intended to be flexible in its approach to better meet the needs of educators. The curriculum and short films are available to educators as a free, open-source resource. Educators can use the curriculum in its entirety or can pick and choose between the lesson plans to fit the scope and time constraints of their individual classrooms.
Lesson One: Establishing The Freedmen's Bureau
Lesson Two: The Freedmen's Bureau in Mississippi
Lesson Three: The Voices of Freedwomen
Lesson Four: The Mississippi Black Codes
Lesson Five: The Constitution of 1868 and Black Leadership in Mississippi