THE JERICHO RIVER & WESTERN CIVILIZATION

Learning Exercises and Journal-as-You-Go[*]

High School Version

This lesson plan uses The Jericho River, by David W. Tollen, to teach history. It calls on students to journal as they read the novel and then to complete four writing and visual arts exercises related to the novel.

This plan is most appropriate for classes covering broad periods and several societies, such as World History or Western Civilization. It is intended for high school but can be adapted for middle school or college classes. The plan addresses societies from Western and ancient Middle Eastern Civilizations, including those addressed in the social studies state standards for many grades and states.[†]

The plan incorporates multiple learning objectives, particularly writing, visual arts, and textual analysis. It alsoincludes options for partner and small-group work and supports multiple learning styles so that all students can access the material.

The Student Instructions Handout below provides guidance for the students.

Learning Outcomes

  • Familiarity with the key historic societies of Western Civilization and ancient Middle Eastern Civilization.
  • Writing skills.
  • Analytical and creative skills, particularly analysis of historical information.
  • Visual arts practice.
  • Love of history, by connecting fantasy and myth with the past.

General Description

While reading The Jericho River, students will journal, recording quotes from the text and writing their own questions and observations related to those quotes. Once finished with the novel, students will choose four projects from a list that includes both short writing exercises and visual arts exercises. The list is in Step 3 of the Student InstructionsHandout below. Finally, as an extension or option for differentiation, you (the teacher) may assign an oral presentation on one of those projects.

This plan involves at least two 45-minute lessons, as well as additional lessons for optional oral presentations. But lesson duration is flexible, depending on your preferences. You may add still more lessons if you want to work with students while they are reading and working on their projects. This plan also involves homework or independent classwork.

Materials Needed

Each student will need:

  • The Jericho River, by David W. Tollen (Winifred Press 2014);
  • Student Instructions Handout, below;
  • Writing facilities; and
  • For some projects, art supplies: paper, colored pens or pencils, paint.

Pre-Activities and Choices

Before starting, decide whether the students will complete their creative projects in groups (learning communities) or as individuals. Reading and journaling about the novel, however, should be individual tasks.

Also decide whether to include oral presentations at the end. Any student doing an oral presentation should choose one of the visual arts projects and give the class a five-minute presentation on his/her project and related work. (The visual arts projects are bullets “i” and “j” in Step 3 of the Student Instructions Handout. Lessons 2, 3, and 4 below lay out the projects and options for oral presentations.)

Activities

Below is an activities outline. Timeframes are just recommendations. You might also add lessons or class-time between Lessons 2 and 3 if you want to work with students on their journals or reading.

This activities outline works hand-in-hand with the Student Instructions Handout, below.

  • Lesson 1 – Launch and Assign Journal-as-You-Go: 45 minutes
    Pass out The Jericho River and theStudent Instructions Handout, and explain the lesson. Explain that: (a) the novel uses a fantasy story with a teenage hero to trace the history of Western Civilization, starting with its roots in the ancient Middle East; (b) as they read, students will visit key societies that laid the foundations for and/or made up Western Civilization; and (c) students will learn additional facts from the book’s chapter introductions, footnotes, maps, and timeline. Assign the journal-as-you-go exercise: students will record quotes from the book and their own questions, thoughts, observations, and revelations. See Step 2 of the Student Instructions Handout for details of the journaling task.
  • Homework – Read and Journal: 4 weeks
    Students read The Jericho River and journal about it. Consider requiring that students turn in journals periodically, to confirm progress and to correct misunderstandings.
  • Final Journal Collection
  • Lesson 2 – Creative Project Selection: 45 minutes
    Discuss the list of creative projects in Step 3 of the Student Instructions Handout. Consider having students brainstorm and add projects to the list.Then, have students choose four projects, either as individuals or in groups. Consider an extension, too: require that students choose at least one visual arts project (“i” or “j” from the list in the Student Instructions Handout), and assign an oral presentation about that project. Or, as an option for differentiation, let students decide whether to do an oral presentation, and have them include a visual arts project if so.
  • Homework – Four Creative Projects: 2 weeks
    Students prepare their four creative projects.
  • Creative Projects Collection
    Consider staggering due-dates for the four assignments, to gauge and ensure progress.
  • [Optional Extension/Differentiation] Lesson 3 – Explanation of Oral Presentations: 10 minutes
    For any student doing an oral presentation, explain what you expect to hear and see. See Steps 5 and 6 of the Student Instructions Handout.
  • [Optional Extension/Differentiation] Lesson 4 – Oral Presentations: variable duration.

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Student Instructions Handout

The handout below guides students through the lessons. Text for optional extension and differentiation appears in brackets. So before printing the handout, remove the brackets and the text within them if you don’t choose the option in question—and also remove this introduction.

THE JERICHO RIVER ASSIGNMENT

Read The Jericho River, journal your impressions, and complete four related projects chosen from a list of writing and visual arts exercises. [Deliver a five-minute oral presentation to the class, describing one of your assignments].

  1. Launch, in Class:We’ll discuss this lesson and The Jericho River, as well as your journaling assignment.
  2. Reading and Journal-as-You-Go, Homework: Read The Jericho River. As you read, keep a two-column journal. In the left column, record quotes from the novel that interest you, along with the page number or e-book location, as well as identification of the society the story visits at the point of your quote (e.g., “Sumer,” “Roman Empire,” “Renaissance Europe”). On the right side, record your observations, questions, and ideas related to the quote. Make at least twenty journal entries, one each for the title, the prologue, the seventeen chapters, and the epilogue. (Additional entries are welcome!)
  3. Creative Project Review and Selection, In Class: We’ll go over the list of possible projects, below. [We’ll also brainstorm about additional, similar projects to add to the list.] Then, you’ll choose four projects. [If you’re doing an oral presentation, you’ll need to choose at least one of the visual arts projects: “i” or “j” from the list below.] The possible projects are:
  4. Discuss the historical relevance of the novel’s title, The Jericho River: one page. Why would “Jericho River” make sense for a timeline river winding through the history of Western Civilization and Middle Eastern Civilization?
  5. Write a letter to the author about the history you learned through the novel and your impressions of that history and the way it’s presented in the novel: one page. (Don’t hesitate to express your own views, even if they differ from the book’s interpretation or from standard descriptions of history.) Submit two copies, one of which will be mailed to the author.
  6. Compare The Jericho River to our textbook, ______: one page.
  7. Write a newspaper editorial based on a controversial history-related issue in the novel: one page. The controversy could surround how the novel or its characters interpret or misunderstand history. It could also cover choices made by the characters, so long as you involve history by addressing how past values or the story’s historic settings shape those choices. You could also discuss a controversy about choices made by real historical figures or societies discussed in Professor Gallo’s notes.
  8. Write a glossary of twenty unfamiliar history-related terms or concepts from the novel, including their definitions/explanations.
  9. Quote and discuss your favorite passage from the novel: one page. What do you like about it? What ideas does it give you? What does it say about history?
  10. Write a top-10 list of interesting historical facts you learned from the novel, with page number or e-book location citations.
  11. Write a front-page news story about an event from the novel, as if you were a reporter: one page. If it’s a historical event from Professor Gallo’s notes, discuss its historical significance. If it’s a fictional event from Jason’s adventure, discuss what it suggests about the underlying history.
  12. Create/draw a color postcard featuring events in Jason’s adventure or historical people, places, or events discussed in Professor Gallo’s notes. You can go online to find images, but don’t trace or print them; this should be your own work. On the back of the postcard, describe the illustration as if you witnessed it on your own trip down the Jericho River. Address the card to a friend or family member.
  13. Create your own lumin: a mythical creature who might help you in modern life. Draw the lumin in color on 8.5x11” paper, or larger, or create it out of other materials, such as clay or cardboard. Write a description of the lumin, explaining what values (e.g., charity) or institutions (e.g., democracy) it represents.
  14. Four Projects, Homework: Work on and complete all four of the projects you’ve chosen.
  15. [Oral Presentation, Homework:If you’ve prepared a visual arts project – “i” or “j” above – prepare a five-minute oral presentation, describing it to the class. Explain your work and elaborate.]
  16. [Oral Presentations, In Class:You’ll give your oral presentations and listen to those of your classmates.]

Due Dates:

  • Finish The Jericho River and journal: ______
  • Turn in your four assignments: ______
  • [Oral Presentation]: ______

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[*]Thank you to Rudy Edwards of Goshen High School in Goshen, Ohio. She developed many of the ideas for the lesson plan below and taught her own version to her class.

[†]The Jericho River features the following societies: Sumer, nomad pastoralists (particularly Amorites), ancient Egypt (Middle Kingdom), Minoan Crete and Mycenaean Greece, Babylonia (Kassite period), Hebrew Judea, Persian Empire, Classical Greece, Hellenistic Greece, Roman Empire, Dark Ages Western Europe (early Medieval), High Medieval France, Renaissance Western Europe, Enlightenment England, Napoleonic/revolutionary Western Europe, and European colonial empires.