Using NewsHour Extra Feature Stories

Overview: NewsHour Extra feature stories can help students identify and interpret key issues in current events. This activity anticipates one class period, but the follow-up essay might be assigned as homework or in another period.

Warm Up: Use initiating questions to introduce the topic and find out how much your students know.

Main Activity: Have students read NewsHour Extra's feature story and answer the questions on the reading comprehension handout.

Discussion: Use discussion questions to encourage students to think about how the issues outlined in the story affect their lives and express and debate different opinions.

Follow-up: Students can write a 500-word editorial on the topic expressing their views and send it to NewsHour Extra [extra@newshour.org] for possible publication.

Evaluation: Students are graded on their answers to reading comprehension questions and/or their editorial.

Story: Hurricane Katrina Devastates Gulf History And Culture, 09/14/05
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/extra/features/july-dec05/culture_9-14.html

Initiating Questions:

1. What makes up the culture and history of a city or region?

2. What is the relationship between jazz music and American history?

3. What damage did Hurricane Katrina do to the city of New Orleans? What effects might that have on the culture of that city?

Reading Comprehension Questions: (click here for printout)

1. In addition to wiping out homes, communities and livelihoods, what else has been lost in Hurricane Katrina?

The devastating winds and waves of Hurricane Katrina that wiped out people's homes, communities and livelihoods also swept away many historic treasures, including famous architecture and works of art.

As the human search and rescue operations from Hurricane Katrina wind down, efforts began to assess the toll the storm took on the cultural heritage and history of the Gulf Coast region.

2. What are less tangible characteristics of the area? How would experts rate the degree of devastation?

Cultural experts worry that the storm also will impact less tangible characteristics of the area, such as the food, language and music that make a place unique.

"I think this could represent the greatest cultural disaster in the history of the country," Richard Moe, president of the National Trust for Historical Preservation, which is working to resurrect the region, told the Washington Post.

3. Where is the region located? Why is this area significant?

The history of the region hit hardest by Hurricane Katrina has much to do with its location at the convergence of the Mississippi River and Gulf of Mexico.

Long before trains and highways linked the United States, the Mississippi was the country's main trade route.

4. Who are the Creole people and what are they famous for?

The Creole people, a mix of African, French and American Indians, are famous for their language, zydeco music and food.

5. What music is famous in New Orleans?

Jazz, considered the most uniquely American form of music, found a solid foundation in 20th century New Orleans. The music is celebrated in the city's annual Mardi Gras -- or Fat Tuesday -- parades and jazz festivals and funerals.

Louis Armstrong, often referred to as a father of jazz, was born in one of the poorest sections of New Orleans in 1901. His mentor Joe "King" Oliver, was one of a handful of noted musicians in New Orleans -- along with Jelly Roll Morton, Sidney Bechet and others -- who created a distinctive and widely popular new band music out of blues and ragtime.

6. What is the state of devastation in the French Quarter? What do historical experts fear may happen in the future?

Though much of the city's historic French Quarter was built on higher ground and may have avoided the most severe flooding, officials fear historical objects -- from antique musical instruments to furniture -- could be lost.

Heat and humidity could damage physical artifacts such as the paintings and documents housed in the Pitot House Museum, which shows how traditional Creole families lived, said Meg Lousteau, director of the Louisiana Landmarks Society, according to the Washington Post.

7. What happened in Mississippi?

In Mississippi, Katrina's winds also wiped away architecture that is part of American history.

"Almost all our old houses have gone. This isn't just a question of financial loss, this is our history that has disappeared," Helen Sirmon, a teacher who took her classes on tours of Biloxi's historic buildings, told Reuters.

Discussion Activity (more research might be needed):

1. Read the quote by John Hildreth below. What does it mean? Do you agree? Why or why not?

"The lessons we've learned from other hurricanes and recovery efforts is that the things that were important before the storm need to be important after the storm," John Hildreth, director of the National Trust for Historic Preservation's southern office, told Architectural Record News.

"The city that is reborn is one that still has its heritage and culture."

2. Have you ever lived in or visited New Orleans or the Gulf Coast region? What did you enjoy or remember about your visit?

3. What is the heritage and culture that is important in your own city or community? How are they being preserved?

4. Research the job of the historical archivist, a person whose job it is to preserve historical objects. What kind of education do you need to pursue this line of work? Where might you work? Are there archivists in your community? See if you can interview them about their work.

Write a 300-500 word essay on either of these topics providing clear examples. Send your completed editorial to NewsHour Extra (extra@newshour.org). Exceptional essays might be published on our Web site.