Lee, Russell. Tug and barge. Inner ship channel, port of Houston, Texas. 1939. Photograph. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division. https://www.loc.gov/item/2017784580/.
Students will examine this photograph for items they can identify. They will then move that discussion to how two or more items are connected in this photo. It will allow them to develop an understanding of the connective nature of the Houston Ship Channel.
This Houston Ship Channel was developed with a grant from the US government after the 1900 hurricane that destroyed Galveston and parts of Houston, Texas.
- What first catches your attention in the photo?
- What year do you think this was taken?
- What items can you connect in the photo?
- What is this place and where do you think it is located?
ELA Standard
4.9B. Explain figurative language such as simile, metaphor, and personification that the poet uses to create images.
Social Studies Standard
4.8B. Explain reasons why people have adapted to and modified their environment in Texas, past and present, such as the use of natural resources to meet basic needs, facilitate transportation, and enhance recreational activities.
Students use a variety of technological and information resources (e.g., libraries, databases, computer networks, video) to gather and synthesize information and to create and communicate knowledge.
- Open the lesson with the instructional questions. Don’t reveal the title and date. Once students have made some strong guesses and observations, give them the title and the date.
- Added information: In 1909, Harris County citizens formed a navigation district (an autonomous governmental body charged with supervising the port) and issued bonds to fund half the cost of dredging the channel. The US Congress provided matching funds.
- Ask students how this channel could help the following areas of life in the US:
- Food distribution
- Gasoline shipping
- Exports and imports
- This channel was the first of its kind in 1919 when the city of Houston began construction, much like we had never walked on the moon before. Using “First Men on the Moon” by J. Partick Lewis as a connective poem, compare the channel and what it can do in comparison to the effect of the first moon landing explained in the poem.
- Discuss how the poet is using imagery to create a real picture in the reader’s mind.
- NCTE has a resource on J. Patrick Lewis and his poetry for this connection in an open-access article from Language Arts journal. https://cdn.ncte.org/nctefiles/about/awards/lewis.pdf
- Have students do more research either on the ship channel or on another outstanding contribution to the Texas economy. Use “First Men on the Moon” as a mentor text and have students write their own poem.
Lee, Russell. Oil refinery on the bank of the ship channel. Port of Houston, Texas. 1939. Photograph. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division. https://www.loc.gov/item/2017784534/.