Lesson for High School Students
Learning Plan
For this high school lesson, students will be presented with the compelling question: How might storytelling be used to remember the past, build connections to people and ʻāina, and perpetuate knowledge and truths as retold in these stories? In a student-driven process they will conduct investigations entailing online research, interviews with family members of the Hui Panalāʻau, viewing video footage and photo collections and the Under a Jarvis Moon documentary, and engaging in group and whole class discussions to address the three supporting questions.:
As a refresher or to provide for news literacy skills development, visit the News Literacy Project website for educators. Register for the Checkology Virtual Classroom and create an educator account. From there, students are able to use interactive tools to deepen their understanding of news literacy and identify trustworthy information and misinformation in the news today.
Lesson Overview:
We begin with the compelling question: “How might storytelling be used to remember the past, build connections to people and ʻāina, and perpetuate knowledge and truths as retold in these stories?”
In order for students to understand the importance of this historical event and how these personal and institutional legacies live on, they must first dive deeper into the root causes for why over 130 young men from Hawaiʻi were recruited over a seven-year period to occupy three islands in the remote Pacific, and why these intentions of the U.S. government were initially kept a secret, and how they changed over time, to meet the needs of events taking place in the U.S. and the world. In order to engage high school students in Lesson 3, they are asked: How truthful are stories of the past, when shared with you in your history classroom, when there are multiple storytellers and thus multiple perspectives?
After viewing the first part of the documentary students are asked to explore the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museumʻs Photo Collection and other photo collections in the Digital Gallery. In addition, students can view the 25-minute Hui Panalāʻau CompiIation film reel in small groups of three to five, they will discuss the images depicted and what they understood life to be like for these 130 or so young men from Hawaiʻi, traveling aboard ships to these remote islands, unloading supplies, conducting various tasks while there on Jarvis, Howard, and Baker Islands for months at a time. This high school lesson 3 leads students through a guided inquiry process using supporting questions 1, 2, and 3. In order to answer these questions students will conduct research using the online Hui Panalāʻau Digital Gallery and other online resources they are able to search for using their skills of inquiry that include the four dimensions of the Inquiry Arc of the College, Career, & Civic Life C3 Framework for Social Studies State Standards:
- Developing Questions and Planning Inquiries
- Gathering and Evaluating Sources
- Creating Claims
- Communicating Conclusions
- Taking Informed Action
This lesson builds the context further, for deeper understandings of what happened and why, as told from the first person perspectives of the colonists and other stories told by those in positions of authority and power, including institutions of education such as Kamehameha Schools, the Bishop Museum, and local publications.
Given the supporting questions and the resources and tools of the project, students will conduct independent research and view the documentary, Under a Jarvis Moon, in its entirety, to answer the compelling question: How might storytelling be used to remember the past, build connections to people and ʻāina, and perpetuate knowledge and truths as retold in these stories?
Since this story of the Hui Panalāʻau is not yet over, students are expected to conduct independent research to learn about how the U.S. government is now recognizing this special group for their services to the country, and their sacrifices made, and how their acts have shaped how we live in Hawaiʻi today.
To further gain context for what the men of Hui Panalāʻau were expected to do, and how they so dutifully carried out their tasks each day, for several months at a time, watch the first part of the documentary Under a Jarvis Moon linked on the Hui Panalāʻau Digital Gallery website. Prior to having students watch the documentary [0-21:41 time frame], ask them to consider the who, what, where, when, and why of this seven-year mission to colonize three remote Pacific Islands, and how these men courageously volunteered and sacrificed parts of their lives to support the hidden and often changing intentions of the U.S. government during the 1930s and 1940s, prior to the bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941, then the islands of Jarvis, Baker, and Howland on December 8th, 1941.
| Time Frame: Four to five 50-minute class periods | |||
| Formative Performance Tasks: | |||
Supporting Questions 1 and 2
Supporting Question 3
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| Groups create presentations of choice using the information and evidence gathered to answer the supporting questions of Lesson 3 and the compelling question: How might storytelling be used to remember the past, build connections to people and ʻāina, and perpetuate knowledge and truths as retold in these stories?
Contact family and community members, state legislators and other stakeholders to set up a presentation night in remembrance of Hui Panalāʻau and their continuing legacies that should not be forgotten, and updates on what is currently being done to address past injustices of the U.S. government and other institutions of authority and power during the 1930s through 1940s. |
Groups create presentations of choice using the information and evidence gathered to answer the supporting questions of Lesson 3 and the compelling question: How might storytelling be used to remember the past, build connections to people and ʻāina, and perpetuate knowledge and truths as retold in these stories?
Contact family and community members, state legislators and other stakeholders to set up a presentation night in remembrance of Hui Panalāʻau and their continuing legacies that should not be forgotten, and updates on what is currently being done to address past injustices of the U.S. government and other institutions of authority and power during the 1930s through 1940s.
