In this lesson, students will learn what reopening in America looks like — the joys, the relief, the uncertainties. Then they will document what reopening looks like in their communities.
Students in U.S. high schools can get free digital access to The New York Times until Sept. 1, 2021.
Lesson Overview
Featured Article: “Scenes From America’s Reopening” by The New York Times
Our daily Lesson of the Day feature will soon end for the summer, but before we go, as America begins to fully reopen, we want to stop to take in the significance of the moment — to look at where we are now, reflect on where we have been and begin to imagine our future.
In our featured article, photographers for The Times documented Americans re-emerging in all 50 states in recent weeks. They discovered that the approach to reopening has been much like the nation’s patchwork response to the coronavirus: conflicting guidance and competing narratives, leaving Americans to gauge their own comfort levels.
In this lesson, you will learn what reopening in the United States looks like — the joys, the relief, the uncertainties. Then, in a Going Further activity, we invite you to document what reopening looks like in your community.
Warm-Up
How are you feeling as the country begins to fully reopen? What is life like now where you live? Do you think that your community has a clear and effective plan for reopening?
Before reading the featured article, spend some time looking at the Times interactive below on the reopening plans for all 50 states. Be sure to check out plans for your own state. Then, respond to the following prompts:
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What do you notice? What can you learn about reopening in America?
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What do you wonder? What questions do you have about reopening across the country and in your state and community?
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What story does the map tell about the reopening? Write a headline to capture the main idea.
Questions for Writing and Discussion
Read the featured article, then answer the following questions:
1. In the introduction to the photo essay, Aidan Gardiner writes: “With climbing vaccinations and dwindling virus cases, Americans from Honolulu to Sumter, S.C., have begun to return to the things they did before — the nights out, religious services and annual traditions that made life richer. But after a year of isolation, it has all been a bit uncertain, both familiar and not quite.” How does that description resonate with your own feelings and experiences of reopening where you live? What does this moment feel like for you? Uncertain? Joyous? How is returning to your prepandemic life both “familiar and not quite”?
2. Look at the photos featured throughout the article: What emotions and feelings did the images and scenes evoke for you? Taken as a whole, what story do these images tell about reopening in America? How is it different from what you learned in the map in the warm-up activity?
3. Analyze a photo: Choose one photograph in the article that you found particularly informative, surprising, comforting or affecting. As you look closely, respond to questions adapted from our What’s Going On in This Picture? feature:
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What is going on in this picture?
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What do you see that makes you say that?
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What more can you find?
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How does the photo resonate with your own life and experiences?
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What do you think the photographer wanted to communicate with this image? What questions would you ask him or her or the subjects of the photo if you could?
4. Analyze a quotation: Each section in the article begins with introductory text. Choose one of the quotations below, or one of your own, and find a photo in that section that best illustrates its ideas, feelings or emotions. Then, explain how the quote and the photo relate to your own life. (We have also included a few guiding questions to help you analyze and interpret the text.)
Quotation A: On the Job
After a devastating year, most businesses have reopened. But commerce relies on close interactions between people, a still fraught dynamic after a year of separation.
In what ways are interactions in activities like going to a store, a restaurant or a business “fraught”? What are your expectations and feelings when entering a commercial space now?
Quotation B: Out on the Field
Fans are once again seated in the grandstands that stood eerily empty last year as athletes played through the pandemic.
How did the coronavirus pandemic affect your experience of sports during the past year, whether as a participant or fan? Which athletic activities are you most looking forward to?
Quotation C: Breaking Bread
Friends and family are gathering at the table to reconnect over shared meals. There are special occasions to celebrate, stories to tell and lockdown recipes to share.
How has the pandemic affected your friendships and family? How has it strengthened these bonds? And how has it tested or hurt them? Did the pandemic shrink your social circle or just clarify who is most important to you (and why)? What joys of family and friendship do you most look forward to?
Quotation D: The Moment
Across the country, people are coming together for annual traditions, rites of passage or just woodland walks.
What coming-of-age traditions have you had to cancel or change over the past year? What new rituals have you created to celebrate your teenage years? What are ways you are enjoying the moment now?
5. In a reader comment, Philip S. Wenz from Corvallis, Ore., writes:
My wife and I (both fully vaccinated) live 1.5 hours from Portland, Oregon. Back in the day, we’d go there about once each month, almost always having lunch or dinner at our favorite restaurant and strolling along the street full of little shops and galleries.
On Mother’s Day, we did it for the first time in well over a year. Boy did it feel good! So nice to see “our” waiter still working, visit the little gallery with the outstanding local art, buy a few items in the craft supply store.
Talk about being able to appreciate life! We almost felt like some guy who’d been trapped on a deserted island being rescued and returned to the big city.
What “firsts” have you recently experienced or celebrated? First hugs, kisses, walks, gatherings or prayers? What aspects of your old life do you still hope and yearn for? Who do you most desire to see again, to sit or talk with face-to-face, to hug or to cry with? In what ways has the pandemic helped you to appreciate everyday life?
6. The photographic essay ends:
The pandemic isn’t over. On May 12, the virus killed 848 people in the United States and 13,425 around the world. It may never leave us.
But after a year, grief and fear have begun to give way to optimism. There’s a path back now, to the lives we knew, to something closer to normal.
How would you characterize this moment, for yourself, for Americans or for the world? Do you agree that there’s a path back to the lives we knew? Or do you think it’s still too early to tell? What are your hopes and dreams for the summer, the fall and the year ahead?
Going Further
Option 1: Share your thoughts and experiences.
How are you feeling right now?
What are you thinking, feeling and experiencing at this moment? Are you ready to unmask? Are you eager to return to aspects of your old life that have been disrupted for the past year? Are you craving the opportunity to experience the world anew and try new things? What are you hopeful about? What worries you? Why do you think you feel the way you do — and do you think others your age feel the same?
Whether you are excited, anxious, scared, hesitant or unsure of what lies ahead, tell us how you are making sense and processing the moment.
You can share your thoughts in our related Student Opinion prompt — “How Are You Right Now?” — and join a conversation with other teenagers from around the country and the world.
Option 2: Document reopenings in your own community.
Imagine you have been hired by The New York Times to document the way your community is reopening (or not reopening). Which aspects of life would you highlight? Would you want to show scenes of sports and recreation, school, religious or spiritual gatherings, long-awaited reunions, hugging and dancing or the simple joys of a meal at home with family and friends? What would you hope audiences across the country and around the world would understand, appreciate and learn?
If your photographs include people’s faces or other identifying information, be sure to ask permission of your subjects and tell them how the images will be used.
After you have captured at least three photographs, write a caption for each and a short artist’s statement that connects the three images and explains why you chose them and what they reveal about your life in your community.
You can share your photographs with your classmates by doing a virtual or in-person gallery exhibition.
About Lesson of the Day
• Find all our Lessons of the Day in this column.
• Teachers, watch our on-demand webinar to learn how to use this feature in your classroom.
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May 24, 2021 at 03:00PM
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Lesson of the Day: ‘Scenes From America’s Reopening’ - The New York Times
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