Distribute the worksheet “Silent Survivors: The Tales I Could Tell”
Have students pick one of the artifact “survivors” displayed in the large case on the first floor of the Johnstown Flood Museum.
After they’ve chosen their artifacts, they should spend their first few minutes with the artifact drawing it in as much detail as they can (this is a sure-fire way to make sure they spend time really looking at the object carefully).
As students draw, side-coach with these story-starter questions (not to be answered out-loud, but to be considered as they write their stories):
After five minutes of drawing time, move on to writing the stories, beginning with “I remember…” They may choose to write in first or third person, depending on what feels most comfortable to them (or what fits your goals).
Give students a specific time limit (that fits your schedule) to work on their artifacts’ stories at the museum by telling them they can finish in class or as homework.
If you are unable to travel to the Johnstown Flood Museum or have limited time there, you may print out photos of the artifacts, cut them apart, and distribute them to students to work with in the classroom.
From the beginning to the present day, the Johnstown Flood has been a story that begged to be told! Journalists and photographers swarmed the ruins as soon as they could buy or borrow transportation to reach the cut-off town. But how do you tell a story so complex and witnessed by thousands, none of whom had the full picture (like elephant described by blind men)?
In studying the media (AKA, developing media literacy) it is helpful to separate the “message” from the “medium” or “media.” The “message” is WHAT is being communicated; the “medium” (plural “media”) is HOW the message is communicated.
For example, print media all use the written word to send messages, but each story in a print magazine has a different message. In the “Same Flood, Different Story” activity in After your Visit, students will analyze the different messages sent by four stories told using the print medium, a survivor story, an eyewitness story from the PRR, sensationalist story from the Johnstown Horror, and a report published by the State Board of Health. Very different messages! In the same way, photographs can have different messages: landscapes, panoramas, portraits (posed or candid), documentary, staged tourist photos, and faked corpse photos were all used to tell the Flood story.
Another useful distinction is made between “media” and “mass media.” “Mass media” are means of communication that reach large numbers of people at the same time. To help students understand the difference between mass media and other communications media, discuss some examples with them. [Examples: radio is mass media, talking on the phone is not, though both are audio communication media; newspapers are mass media, books usually aren’t; broadcast TV is mass media, but home videos are not. Movie DVDs are in the middle (there is no firm dividing line).]
On your visit to the Johnstown Flood Museum students can see many media being used to express the many different ways of telling the story of the Flood, not only in 1889, but also to today’s audiences in the exhibits themselves!
In this activity students will hunt for the messages and the media used to tell the Flood story in 1889 and beyond. Then they will identify the media the museum uses to communicate to visitors its messages about the flood.
Distribute the worksheet “Telling the Flood Story: Message and Media” . Explain the scavenger hunt nature of the activity: They are looking for as many different messages and media used to tell the Flood story as they can. Rather than having them divide their attention between two tasks, consider having them work on the first hunt “Then…” as an attention focuser during their tour. Then after their tour, use the “Now…” as a review of how the museum also used different media to convey its messages about the Flood. Allow students to disperse among the first floor exhibits to refresh their memories about the media used by the museum (since the first time they went through, they focused on the messages.
Following are some examples (by no means exhaustive) to help you explain the procedure to students and lead discussion later.
Medium/media: Story-telling method | Message: What information or part of the story does it tell? | Methods we use today to tell this kind of story |
---|---|---|
Using words
Doctor’s logbook Death roll Newspaper articles |
List of injuries List of the identified dead Survivor stories, news stories about recovery Sensationalist stories about looting and lynching |
Computer database Web site, TV news ticker TV interviews, TV talk shows; TV “magazine” news (48 Hours, 60 Minutes); talk radio; magazines; newspapers; Web sites National Enquirer, Special Edition |
Using images
Prints, magazine articles Photographs Stereographs |
Prints: flood hitting, rescue attempts, heroes and villains; all parts of story for newspapers and magazines Photos: destruction, clean-up, relief efforts, suffering of survivors |
Interactive 3D animation; movie special effects; reenactment TV network news; TV “magazine” news (48 Hours, 60 Minutes); magazines; newspapers; Web sites |
Other
Sheet music Movies Amusement park exhibit Commemoratives: spoons, plates, prints |
Hero stories Individual stories Horror of being a Flood victim |
Recorded music, radio, MTV, downloadable music. Benefit concerts (Farm-Aid, Tsunami Aid) Movies, DVDs, made-for-TV movie, mini-series Disney World Omnimax or Imax T-shirts, mugs, awareness ribbons and wristbands |
Message: What part of the Flood story are they telling? | Medium/media: How are they telling this part of the story? | What other media could they use? Which would work best? Why? |
---|---|---|
Geography, path of the flood | 3-D model with lights and sound | Timeline (example)
Plain map Virtual reality 3-D animation, special effects, IMAX |
Destruction | Life size reconstruction on back wall
Surviving artifacts Old photos Stereo view slide show Statistics |
Sound effects
Movie special effects Before and after photos, models, illustrations |
Overview before, during, after the Flood | Film | |
How the flood wave moved, why it was so destructive | Video animation | Interactive 3-D animation, virtual reality animation |