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Research & Teaching: Art Analysis and Journal Writing Assignments

Niskayuna High School
Catherine Snyder, Teacher

Tenth grade honors students in a World Connections class and a Global History and Geography class at Niskayuna High School in upstate New York, have contributed papers they wrote after exploring the Perry Visits Japan website. Their teacher, Catherine Snyder, wrote assignments that asked students to compare visual images found on the site or to write a journal as if they were one of those involved in this first official contact between the United States and Japan. We are pleased to present the assignments, rubrics, and student papers here.

  1. Journal Writing
  2. Art Analysis

The World Connections course is one of three interdisciplinary classes offered at Niskayuna, in 9th and 10th grade world history and 11th grade U.S. history. The New York State Global History and Geography curriculum requires a thorough study of the age of imperialism during the second year of the two year social studies course. The historic events surrounding Commodore Perry's visit to Japan, and their consequences for Japan are an integral part of understanding imperialism and 19th and 20th century world history. Specifically, this lesson addresses the following New York State components of the Global History and Geography

Scope and Sequence:

  • Unit Five: An Age of Revolution, 1750–1914
    1. Japan and the Meiji Restoration
      1. Human and physical geography
      2. The opening of Japan
        1. Commodore Matthew Perry
        2. Impact upon Japan of Treaty of Kanagawa
      3. Modernization, Industrialization

The New York State standards can be found at: www.nysed.gov

The Niskayuna Central School District is in a suburban upstate New York community, near Schenectady, with a population of 20,500. Within a few hours commuting distance of both Boston and New York City, Niskayuna offers access to large metropolitan areas while providing the comfort and pace of a smaller community. The high school student body, 1,450 students, choose from 17 AP courses and 38 honors courses including interdisciplinary offerings. Students also have a broad range of electives from which to choose and an extensive foreign language program which includes Russian. More than 90% of Niskayuna's graduates go on to college. Recently, Niskayuna High School was ranked in the top 400 high schools in the country by a study commissioned by the U.S. Department of Education and in the top 10 high schools by the School Match Service. Of the 120 faculty, 90% have advanced degrees, 10 are Nationally Board Certified and several have or are pursuing Ph.D.s and Ed.D.s. You can find the Niskayuna High School 2004-2005 Profile at: www.niskayunaschools.org

Catherine Snyder has been employed by the district for four years, during which time she has achieved National Board Certification and has published curriculum in the Social Science Docket, the New York State Academy for Teaching and Learning, and A Civics Mosaic. She is currently co-teaching World Connections, and teaching Psychology, and Global History and Geography 10 Honors. Ms. Snyder is also pursuing her Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction at SUNY Albany, and plans to travel to Russia this April to complete research on teacher transformation in civic education. She also is an adjunct in the nearby Union University Masters of Arts in Teaching program. Teachers with questions are welcome to email her directly at: snyder.c@nisk.k12.ny.us