1849: There's Gold in California, I promise

Length

This program is almost an hour.

Target Audience

Education: Grade(s) 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, Adult LearnersPublic Library: Library Patrons Retirement Communities

Minimum participants:

No minimum

Maximum participants:

There is no maximum, but for optimum interactivity, we suggest no more than 50 students.

Primary Disciplines

Economics/Business, Gifted & Talented, Language Arts/English, Performing Arts, Sciences, Social Studies/History, Technology/Information Science, Writing

Program Delivery Mode

Videoconference - H.323 (Polycom, Cisco/Tandberg, LifeSize, etc...)
Zoom

Booking Information

Book it!

For more information contact CILC at (507) 388-3672

Provider's Cancellation Policy

Please remember I lose a full day whenever you cancel. I charge half the regular fee if you cancel within one week of the presentation unless weather related.

About This Provider

 

Hank Fincken: A National Theatre Company of One

Indianapolis, IN
United States

                                   SO YOU KNOW

I’m still performing, but I’ve had to adapt. At this point, no
one is booking in-person live Theatre. So, I do virtual
presentations. To keep it exciting, I perform an excerpt from each
play, discuss the research, and answer your questions. It’s a
performance, a workshop, and an adaptation to your unique interests.

GOOD NEWS FOR YOU: It’s cheaper. Since I usually work through
CILC, I give them a block-booking discount. That discount is for
you. And there’s another discount if you book a second
presentation the same day. Call it the family discount. That means
it’s your turn to do the dishes.

CILC is a virtual learning network. I have received 8 of their
national Pinnacle Awards. The judges are customers from the previous
year, 7 questions that must result in at least a 95% OUTSTANDING
evaluation. My mother never endorsed me with such a score.

LET’S TALK NITTY-GRITTY: I can perform in English and Spanish.
For years, school, colleges, and libraries have said they want
programs that appeal to their Latinx students. So, why didn’t they
call me? Either they found me too expensive or too white. This past
July I taught Theatre in Spanish in Ecuador for the fifth year in a
row. Am I a native speaker? No, but my Spanish is good enough to
tell bad jokes and get the job done. I inspire. In addition, I
lived in Peru and Costa Rica for 6 years.

LET’S TALK DIRTY: All my characters are controversial. That’s
why I chose them. I wanted to have meaty discussions about things
that matter. I will not be preaching simple answers, but I will help
you better understand complex questions. For example, if you think
Christopher Columbus and Francisco Pizarro are horrific men, then you
are simplifying the past the same way White America used to do. If
you want complex history, book me. If you want comfortable history
with easy to identify good guys and bad, please don’t. Don’t you
want to know the “whys” behind their behavior so you don’t
replicate their footsteps?? Hey, CC is not your lazy
brother-in-law! You can also see here that I refuse to let humor
with all its destructive powers creep into my program.

WHAT HASN’T CHANGED. My research is excellent. All my scripts
have been fact-checked by college professors, not college students.
I will present the most accurate history I can (and disregard faddish
history when possible), which provides soul-searchingful insight
about the past and hope for the future. I encourage thought-provoking
questions and will try to avoid only demonizing and stereotyping.

DON’T BELIEVE ME: Ask a tough question. Give me your best shot.   

Hank’s grandfather
used to say, “Go Back far enough and every successful family begins with a
horse thief. “ Then let’s take it as a given: All historical characters have
serious flaws, just like you and me.  Hank’s
goal in representing famous people from history is not to explore a rosy past
but rather to better understand mistakes while keeping in mind noble intentions
and achievements.  Of my eight original
one-man historical plays, six are appropriate for your venue. 

For thirty
years, Hank has presented historical plays with a bite.  He wants the audience to understand that the
past was as complex as the present and the only way to improve this inherited
culture of ours is to honestly discuss virtues and flaws.   No two performances are the same because all
Hank’s plays are interactive, and they evolve according to the interests of
each audience.  In one play, the main
character says, “The History you get depends on the questions you ask.”

Hank
provides award-winning study guides.  If
the audience (student or adult) comes prepared, Hank can go deeper into the
material.  Hank interprets prepared
students as a sign that the teacher is as committed to the success of the
presentation as he is.  Hank speaks to a
venue representative long before he arrives to make sure he covers the issues
that the teachers and/or audience think are important. 

Hank has added a new STEM component to all his plays. Details
about this, and how his programs meet state standards, are available upon
request.

 

The
Indiana Arts Commission gave him the title of Master Artist, and the Indiana
Theatre Association gave him its Service Award for promoting Theatre throughout
the state.  He has performed all across
this nation and in Guatemala, Peru, Ecuador, and Spain.  In the summer of 2019, Hank received his
seventh national Pinnacle Award for his teaching of History and Creative
Writing through video conferencing.  

Program Details

Format

1. Capt. Bruff will use a map to discuss the journey west in 1849.
2. Bruff will ask questions about the routes possible and preparations made.
3. The audience will ask Bruff about the journey.
4. Mr. Fincken will share slides of the journey and show some Bruff sketches made during the trip.
5. The audience will ask Mr. Fincken about his impressions of Bruff and the journey.

Objectives

The participants will learn about Manifest Destiny, the role of the government in the great migration west, the difficulties of the journey itself, and the costs: broken homes, disease, and the suffering of the American Indian. They will see certain parallels between our materialistic world today and then and the meaning of our ideal: The American Dream.

Standards Alignment

National Standards

NA-T.K-4.1 SCRIPT WRITING BY PLANNING AND RECORDING IMPROVISATIONS BASED ON PERSONAL EXPERIENCE AND HERITAGE, IMAGINATION, LITERATURE, AND HISTORY
· Students improvise dialogue to tell stories, and formalize improvisations by writing or recording the dialogue

NA-T.K-4.2 ACTING BY ASSUMING ROLES AND INTERACTING IN IMPROVISATIONS
· Students imagine and clearly describe characters, their relationships, and their environments
· Students assume roles that exhibit concentration and contribute to the action of classroom dramatizations based on personal experience and heritage, imagination, literature, and history
NA-T.5-8.2 ACTING BY ASSUMING ROLES AND INTERACTING IN IMPROVISATIONS
· Students analyze descriptions, dialogue, and actions to discover, articulate, and justify character motivation and invent ethical choices, and emotional responses of people
· Students demonstrate acting skills (such as sensory recall, concentration, breath control, diction, body alignment, control of isolated body parts) to develop characterizations that suggest artistic choices
· Students in an ensemble, interact as the invented characters
NL-ENG.K-12.4 COMMUNICATION SKILLS
Students adjust their use of spoken, written, and visual language (e.g., conventions, style, vocabulary) to communicate effectively with a variety of audiences and for different purposes.[
ENG.K-12.6 APPLYING KNOWLEDGE
Students apply knowledge of language structure, language conventions (e.g., spelling and punctuation), media techniques, figurative language, and genre to create, critique, and discuss print and nonprint texts.
NL-ENG.K-12.8 DEVELOPING RESEARCH SKILLS 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.
NL-ENG.K-12.9 MULTICULTURAL UNDERSTANDING
Students develop an understanding of and respect for diversity in language use, patterns, and dialects across cultures, ethnic groups, geographic regions, and social roles.

NSS-G.K-12.1 THE WORLD IN SPATIAL TERMS As a result of activities in grades K-12, all students should · Understand how to use maps and other geographic representations, tools, and technologies to acquire, process, and report information from a spatial perspective. .
NSS-G.K-12.4 HUMAN SYSTEMS
As a result of their activities in grades K-12, all students should
· Understand the characteristics, distribution, and migration of human populations on Earth's surface.
· Understand the characteristics, distribution, and complexity of Earth's cultural mosaics.
· Understand the patterns and networks of economic interdependence on Earth's surface.
· Understand the processes,patterns, and functions of human settlement.
· Understand how the forces of cooperation and conflict among people influence the division and control of Earth's surface
NSS-G.K-12.6 THE USES OF GEOGRAPHY
As a result of activities in grades K-12, all students should
· Understand how to apply geography to interpret the past.
NSS-G.K-12.4 HUMAN SYSTEMS
As a result of their activities in grades K-12, all students should
· Understand the characteristics, distribution, and migration of human populations on Earth's surface.
· Understand the characteristics, distribution, and complexity of Earth's cultural mosaics.
· Understand the patterns and networks of economic interdependence on Earth's surface.
· Understand the processes,patterns, and functions of human settlement.
· Understand how the forces of cooperation and conflict among people influence the division and control of Earth's surface
NSS-G.K-12.6 THE USES OF GEOGRAPHY
As a result of activities in grades K-12, all students should
· Understand how to apply geography to interpret the past.
NSS-USH.5-12.4 ERA 4: EXPANSION AND REFORM (1801-1861)
· Understands United States territorial expansion between 1801 and 1861, and how it affected relations with external powers and Native Americans
· Understands how the industrial revolution, increasing immigration, the rapid expansion of slavery, and the westward movement changed the lives of Americans and led toward regional tensions

State Standards

Indiana
Social Studies
SS.5.4.7 Analyze how the causes and effects of changes in price of certain goods* and services* had significant influence on events in United States history. Example: The price of cotton, the price of beaver pelts, and the price of gold all are related to specific events and movements in the development of the United States.
8.1 History Students will examine the relationship and significance of themes, concepts, and movements in the development of United States history, including review of key ideas related to the discovery, exploration, and colonization of America, the revolution and founding era. This will be followed by emphasis on social reform, national development and westward expansion, the Civil War and Reconstruction period.
SS.8.1.13 Explain the concept of manifest destiny and its relationship to the westward movement of settlers and territorial expansion, including the purchase of Florida (1819), the annexation of Texas (1845), the acquisition of the Oregon Territory (1846), and territorial acquisition resulting from the Mexican War (1846 to 1848).
SS.8.1.17 Describe the impact of the California gold rush (1849) on the westward expansion of the United States.
SS.USH.1.2 Explain major themes in the early national history of the United States. Examples: the westward movement, manifest destiny and national expansion, sectionalism, nationalism, slavery expansion and abolitionism, and social reform movements.