Trail of Tears Interviews and Storyboarding

Yesterday we learned about Cherokee communities before the Trail of Tears, the actions taken by the U.S. government to forcibly move Native Americans from their land, and the experiences of Cherokee who were forcibly moved. 

Today we will read interviews from the families of people who were forcibly moved during the Trail of Tears. We will then learn how to "storyboard" in history. By the end of the lesson you will either draft your own journal entry about the Trail of Tears or create a storyboard based on the interviews we read during the lesson. Please download and print out the documents below to follow along with the lesson.

Warning: Many parts of history are sad and violent. It is difficult to avoid the suffering while teaching the full story of the Trail of Tears. Please review this lesson before sharing it with your student. Specifically review the reading:  https://www.commonlit.org/texts/excerpt-from-trail-of-tears-diary 

Interviews & Vocabulary

It is important to hear the stories of people who actually experienced an event. That is why it is important you continue writing your journal during the Coronavirus lockdown. If you haven't started one go do this lesson instead before completing this one : The Power of Your Story: 

https://historywithmrst.webnode.com/power-of-your-story/ 

Today you will read interviews from Mary Hill, a member of the Muskogee Tribe whose Grandmother was forcibly moved from Alabama to the West and Jobe Alexander, a member of the Cherokee Tribe whose father was driven West from Georgia during the Trail of Tears. Jobe also tells the story of Cherokee who revolted and stayed.

Please head to the website below. Read the stories shared by these interviewees and think about what life was like during that time. We will analyze these interviews more deeply in the following activities. This website is from CommonLit. 

https://www.commonlit.org/texts/excerpt-from-trail-of-tears-diary 

Vocabulary: Choose one vocabulary word in the CommonLit reading (look at the bottom of the reading). Write the word, write the definition, and draw an image to help you remember the word. 

What is a Storyboard?

A storyboard is similar to a comic strip. It tells a story through images or drawings. It is different from a comic strip because below each scene there is a written description of what is happening. Movie and show makers use storyboards to plan how they are going to film a show. Writers identify the most important points that they want to make in the show, decide which order they would show them in, and draw how they think those scenes should look. A storyboard can be a great way to understand history! Review the video below explaining how to create your own storyboard based on the stories of the Trail of Tears.

Create Your Own Storyboard

Today you will create your own storyboard! Here are the steps: 

Pick one of the interviews, Mary Hill, Jobe Alexander's story about his father, or Jobe Alexander's story about the last group of Cherokees that revolted (paragraph 15) to complete a storyboard about. Find their full stories again here: 

 https://www.commonlit.org/texts/excerpt-from-trail-of-tears-diary

On a blank sheet of paper (or Page 4 of Packet)

1. Write down the characters in your story. Write short notes about who they are. 

2. Write down the events the characters experience during the story. 

3. Circle the 6 most important events (hint: if you were creating a video telling this story, which would be the best events to include). 

4.  Think about what those events would look like if you were to make a tv show about it. 

5. Write a title and very short description (1 sentence or less) for each of the 6 scenes. 

On the blank storyboard (Page 5 of Packet or documents below)

6. You will now start filling in the boxes in your storyboard. Start with the first event in the top left box. Continue across the row. The last scene should be on the bottom right. 

7. In the "Scene:" section of each of the six panels of the storyboard write the title you came up with for each of the events. In the bottom box of each panel write the short description for each scene. Complete for each of the six panels. 

8. In the picture box draw your picture of what the scene should look like. Below is an example of what one scene box may look like. 

9. Repeat steps 6-8 until each box on your storyboard is filled. 

If you complete this assignment please take a picture of your storyboard and send it to me at historywithmrst@gmail.com  

Alternative Assignment

Write a journal entry from the perspective (point of view) of one of the other people who were forcibly removed during the Trail of Tears. 

Imagine you were an 11-13 year old member of a Native American Nation. Imagine that you kept a daily journal while you were traveling on the Trail of Tears. Pick one event from the CommonLit interviews to write about. Write about the event as if you were living through it. Use at least one of the vocabulary words at the bottom of the CommonLit reading in your journal entry.