They had to leave their homes.
Personatges:
Tema: Describing photographs.
Competències
Competència en Comunicació Lingüística
Competència Plurilingüe
Competència personal, social i aprendre a aprendre
Competència Ciutadana
Competència en consciència i expressions culturals
Matèries i cursos per Sistema Educatiu
Espanya > Anglés > 4t ESO > Comunicació
Espanya > Anglés > 4t ESO > Interculturalitat
Enunciat
We are going to comment some photographs taken by the American photographer Dorothea Lange (1895-1965).
First, watch a short video.
WARMING UP. WATCH the video History brief. The Dust Bowl.
Answer the questions:
a.- Were the refugees previously poor and homeless?
b.- How did the Dust Bowl originate?
c.- Can you mention some places which suffered the problem in the USA?
d.- How long did it take?
e.- Name some measures to control it
ACTIVITY 1
DESCRIPTION A: Migrant Mother series, by Dorothea Lange (1936) They had to leave their homes.
1) 
2) 
3) 
4) 
1. Look at the photos attentively and comment/ answer the questions:
(Follow this link, or ask your teacher)
a. What do the photos show?
b. How do you think the people in the photos lived?
c. And before that moment?
2. What is where? (Central idea)
Describe the central idea in photos 1, 2 and 3 (where the focus is).
Comment other points, from left to right/ from top to bottom, in the foreground/ background, etc.
Example:
In photo 1, we can see a group of people in the countryside. They are probably a family. Four of them are on the right, sitting under a canvas. The elder daughter ... They look miserable and... They occupy the central part of the picture. In the foreground we can see..., and in the background…
Continue: In photo 2...
In photo 3 ...
3. Now describe What is where? in photo 4.
Point out which is the focus/ central point of this picture
Comment other points, from left to right/ from top to bottom, in the foreground/ background, etc.
Look closely. Can you see a triangle suggested by the arrangement of the figures? What part of the figures form the sides? Where is the triangle point?
4. Who is doing what? in photo 4.
the children (How many? Doing what? Why? Their clothes, hair...) and
the mother (Her face / Her gaze / Her arm / Her clothes...)
5. INTERPRETATION.
When a photographer frames a photograph, she or he chooses what to include within the edges of the photograph, or what to leave out.
What has Dorothea Lange left out of this photograph, compared to the other three upwards?
Why did she move close for the shot, eliminating the setting?
6. YOUR IDEAS ABOUT THE PHOTO(S)
What feelings do you experience when you look at Lange's most famous picture, Migrant Mother?
Why do you think Dorothea Lange's work was so important?
ACTIVITY 2
DESCRIPTION B: Migrants today. They also had to leave their homes
Look at these photographs
a) 
b) 
a) https://1drv.ms/i/s!Atxuf_nB2pgD8ApJ01gsPfJ_T327?e=Hlq31J b) https://1drv.ms/i/s!Atxuf_nB2pgD8AshVSVpVkHmxFCv?e=dpndgE
1. Comment/ Answer the questions:
a. What do the photos show?
b. When were they taken? (Follow the link in each photograph)
c. How do you think the people in the photos used to live? And now?
d. What is a migrant? Why do they leave their countries?
e. Describe one of the photographs.
2. Present your description of one of the photographs to the class.
You can describe / analyse any other photograph(s) you prefer.
Observacions i context
Based on the video, the teacher will lead a discussion on the harshness of migrants' lives. These ideas will be needed to introduce the main activity which focuses on Dorothea Lange's photos from the series Migrant Mother.
- Activity 1. Description A: Introduce biographical elements about Dorothea Lange, especially those related to her work for the Farm Security Administration. Collections: Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information Black-and-White Negatives (15/05/2022).
Part of: Farm Security Administration - Office of War Information Photograph Collection (Library of Congress).
- Activity 2. Description B: The activity is designed to challenge any prejudices students may have about migrants and migration.
By presenting elements of Dorothea Lange's biography, it is important to show her work as part of a larger picture, with many other women photographers:
- Marion Post Wolcott 1910-1909: she was the first woman to be offered a job as a full-time photographer for the Farm Security Administration.
- Louise Rosskam (1910-2003): photographed Washington DC and Vermont, focusing on racial justice.
- Marjory Collins (1912-1985): photographed the lives of African Americans, Jews, immigrants, and others.
- Berenice Abbott (1898-1991): documented changes in New York City, paying particular attention to how infrastructure affects people's daily lives.
- Other women photographers, belonging to other artistic movements, were Imogen Cunningham (1883-1976), Kati Horna (1912-2000) and Tina Modotti (1896-1942), as well as Gerda Taro (1910-1937) in Europe.
<https://www.history.com/topics/great-depression/artists-of-the-new-deal (15/05/2022)
The activity can illustrate various aspects of migration and migrants, considered from other subjects such as Literature, History, Art, Geography, Economics, Ethics.
Descripció
The aim is to provide students with a context that allows them to understand the meaning of the series of photographs, to describe them and to put themselves in the shoes of the migrants.
Description of states and situations. Relation of actions in time.