Lesson 1

Lesson Goals

Texts

Core

• • The Warmth of Other Suns, Isabel Wilkerson, Vintage Books, 2010

• • “The Great Migration, 1900–1929,” Michael Siegel, New York Public Library, 2005
  • “The Great Migration, 1910 to 1970,” US Census Bureau, US Census Bureau, 2012

• • Excerpts from “A Theory of Migration,” Everett Lee, Demography, 1966

Materials

Tools

• Analyzing Relationships Tool

• The Warmth of Other Suns: Mentor Sentence Handout 3

• Mentor Sentence Journal

• The Warmth of Other Suns: Sources Note-Taking Tool

• Visual Analysis Tool

• Vocabulary Journal

• The Warmth of Other Suns: Vocabulary List

Reference Guides

• Academic Discussion Reference Guide
• Annotating and Note-Taking Reference Guide
• Assessing Sources Reference Guide
• Avoiding Plagiarism Reference Guide
• Organization Reference Guide
• Questioning Reference Guide

Question Sets

• The Warmth of Other Suns: Framing Question Set

Editable Google Docs

• Analyzing Relationships Tool

• The Warmth of Other Suns: Framing Question Set

• Mentor Sentence Journal

• The Warmth of Other Suns: Sources Note-Taking Tool

• Visual Analysis Tool

• Vocabulary Journal

Activity 1: Read

We will introduce the section by reviewing the unit’s Central Question and framing questions.

Step 1

Listen and read along silently as your teacher reads aloud the Central Question and the Framing Questions.

Central Question:

How do we construct the story of a complicated history?

Framing Questions:

1. What were the push-and-pull factors that impacted people’s decisions to migrate from the South?

2. What is the relationship between the “end” of slavery and the Great Migration?

3. How can a single decision change the trajectory of someone’s life?

4. What were the long-term impacts of the single decision to leave the South?

5. How do Wilkerson’s choices in terms of sources, organization, and structure convey her perspective and purpose?

6. How does Lawrence’s The Migration Series represent and connect to the history Wilkerson constructs in her text?

7. How and why do authors and artists help us to construct the truth of this history?

8. How do Wilkerson’s structural choices impact our understanding of the Great Migration?

Step 2

In your Learning Log, locate the Notice and Wonder table that you created in Section 1, Lesson 1. Individually, review the Framing Questions, paying special attention to Questions 1 and 2. Those are the focusing questions for this second section of the unit and the Culminating Task. Write down additional responses, and revise existing responses in your Notice and Wonder table to track your observations and questions about the Central Question and Framing Questions, the Culminating Task, and your increased level of knowledge compared to the previous section.

Step 3

Discuss with a partner your revisions and additions to your Notice and Wonder table, your ideas about what you think we will be doing in this section of the unit, and how this section’s work supports your success on the Culminating Task.

Share your responses with the class.

Activity 2: Read

We will read excerpts from “A Theory Of Migration” by Everett Lee to expand our thinking about migration.

Listen and read along silently as your teacher or one of your peers reads aloud the excerpts "Definition of Migration" and “Factors in the Act of Migration” from “A Theory of Migration” by Everett Lee. As you listen, keep the following questions in mind:

1. What is the text basically about?

2. How do the ideas and information in the text relate to what you already think and know about the topic?

After the excerpts are read, individually respond to the questions in your Learning Log.

Activity 3: Read

We will review some key vocabulary from this text, focusing on important concepts and challenging words and paying attention to their use and meaning in the context in which Wilkerson presents them. We will write down important terms in a Vocabulary Journal so that we can refer back to them later in the unit.

Working as a whole class, review the Vocabulary List for this text. Locate the words as they are used in the text, referencing the provided page number, and consider the following questions for each term:

1. What does the context suggest that Lee means when using the word? What is its connotation, and how does it compare with a dictionary definition?

2. Why are this word and its meaning important in Lee’s discussion and ideas in this text?

3. How might I use this word in my own thinking, speaking, and writing?

Write down each key word, with your notes about its meaning and importance, in your Vocabulary Journal.

Activity 4: Read – Write

We will deconstruct and analyze mentor sentences from “A Theory Of Migration,” focusing on the structure, style, grammar, and punctuation used by Lee to convey his tone and create mood. We will then use one of his sentences as a model, applying our understanding of the concepts we study and adding to our writing repertoire by mimicking his structure, style, grammar, and punctuation.

Step 1

Work through the following steps for each mentor sentence in Mentor Sentence Handout 3. Follow your teacher’s directions regarding grouping, materials, and which mentor sentences you will analyze.

Step 2

Read the sentence aloud. Unpack any unfamiliar vocabulary using your vocabulary strategies. Then, determine what the sentence is saying, and paraphrase the sentence to convey its meaning based on your initial understanding.

Step 3

Deconstruct the whole into parts. Split the sentence up into parts as directed by your teacher; sometimes your teacher will give you the parts, and sometimes you will have to split the sentence on your own. Complete the following for each part:

• Determine the parts of speech and function.

• Note other observations about the part, such as examples of effective diction or changes in verb tense or point of view.

Step 4

Follow along as your teacher reviews the relevant grammatical terms and concepts of specific phrases and clauses, punctuation, syntax, mood, and tone.

Step 5

Analyze the concepts. Review, discuss, and revise your deconstruction notes. Then, respond to the following questions:

1. Which parts make up the main clause? The main clause is the main subject and predicate that expresses the central idea of the sentence. Write down the sentence, underlining the main clause.

2. How do the other parts of the sentence (e.g., phrases, clauses, modifiers) enhance the main clause?

3. How could you restructure this sentence so that it relays the same message to the reader? What is the impact of the different structures on your understanding?

4. What revisions need to be made to your initial paraphrasing now that you have increased your understanding of the sentence?

Step 6

Analyze mood, tone, and meaning. Discuss the following questions:

1. What mood does Wilkerson create in this sentence? How does she create it?

2. What tone is conveyed by Wilkerson in this sentence? How is that tone conveyed?

3. What does this sentence contribute to Wilkerson’s ideas in the book? How does it expand our understanding of the Great Migration?

Step 7

Follow your teacher’s directions about choosing one or two mentor sentences to mimic. Use your deconstruction analysis of your chosen sentences to write your own, mimicking what the author does in terms of structure, style, grammar, and punctuation. The specific content of your sentences is your choice. Be prepared to share your sentences with your peers.

Activity 5: Read

We will analyze three maps using the Visual Analysis Tool to help build on our understanding of the Great Migration.

With a partner, examine the three maps using the Visual Analysis Tool and discuss the following guiding questions:

1. What is the purpose of the maps?

2. What details on the maps are most important?

Share your responses with the class during a whole-class debrief.

Activity 6: Read

We will further analyze the three maps using the Visual Analysis Tool to help build on our understanding of the patterns of the Great Migration.

With your partner, use the Visual Analysis Tool to respond to the following questions:

1. What patterns do you notice in the population changes in each phase of the migration in "The Great Migration, 1910 to 1970"?

2. Which areas experienced the greatest population growth?

3. Which areas experienced the greatest population decline?

4. What patterns do you notice in the migration corridors in "The Great Migration, 1900-1929"?

5. What do these patterns suggest about the impact of migration on individuals and families?

Share your responses during the whole-class debrief.

Activity 7: Read

We will read and note details that stand out to us in another section of The Warmth of Other Suns entitled “America, 1915–1975” (pp. 177–178).

Step 1

Read and note details that stand out to you in "America, 1915-1975” from The Warmth of Other Suns(pp. 177-178).

Step 2

Working with a partner, reread the first five paragraphs of "America, 1915-1975" from The Warmth of Other Suns. Take notes and discuss the following questions:

1. What two or three words, phrases, or sentences from the text stand out to you? Why?

2. What ideas or pieces of information are described in detail?

3. What does the language cause you to see or feel?

Activity 8: Read

We will analyze relationships in The Warmth of Other Suns entitled “America, 1915–1975” (pp. 177–178).

Step 1

The Analyzing Relationships Tool supports and guides a process for identifying and analyzing how an author uses details in a text to create literary effects like mood or tone. You can use this tool to analyze how the author’s choices contribute to effects the text has on you as a reader and the meaning you find in the text. Using this tool usually begins with a guiding or text-specific question related to a literary element or device (e.g., setting, characterization, irony, figurative language). The tool can be used with both literary and informational texts, whenever you are analyzing the relationships among textual details.

Step 2

Use the tool in the following way:

1. Write down the guiding question in the space provided at the top. You might be assigned the guiding question by your teacher, it might come from a question set, or you might think of your own question. This question can help you focus your reading, or it might give your reading a specific purpose. It is often a question related to the writer’s techniques and use of elements and devices to create an effect or suggest an idea or theme.

2. As you read the text, pay attention to details (words, phrases, sentences) that relate to the guiding question. Depending on how long the section of text is, you might find several examples. Write down the details that most strongly support the guiding question in the Attend to Details row.

3. Think about and write down how the details you selected in reference to the guiding question are related in the Analyze Relationships row. What patterns, contrasts, or meaning are emerging for you? You might see connections, patterns, sharp contrasts, or the author’s use of literary devices emerging. Keep the guiding question in mind.

4. After you have identified the details and identified how they fit together or relate to one another, explain how those details work together to create an effect or suggest meaning for you as a reader. You might comment on how the details shed light on an idea, tone, mood, or other literary effect.

Step 3

Work with your partner to respond to the following questions on the Analyzing Relationships Tool:

1. What is the impact of the river motif that the author uses in the text? How does the motif convey a message on a symbolic level?

2. How does Wilkerson use language to convey a central idea about the migration patterns of the Great Migration? Is the author's style effective? Why?

Be prepared to discuss your ideas in the whole-class debrief.

Activity 9: Discuss

We will synthesize our understanding of this lesson’s texts and the relationships among the ideas within them by engaging in a whole-class discussion.

Engage in a whole-class discussion to analyze the relationships among the texts in this lesson and to synthesize our understanding, focusing on the following questions:

1. How is the information in the maps related to The Warmth of Other Suns?

2. How is a central idea of "America, 1915-1975" supported by the map "The Great Migration, 1900-1929”?

3. What connections can we make from the information presented in the maps and texts?

4. What conclusions can we draw about the Great Migration?

5. What can we add to our ideas about the push-and-pull factors that influenced people to uproot their lives?

Activity 10: Read

For homework, complete the sources Note-Taking Tool for the maps and the excerpts from “A Theory Of Migration.”

For homework, complete the Sources Note-Taking Tool for the maps and the excerpts from “A Theory of Migration” to deepen understanding by noting and evaluating the effects of details. Use your completed tools from this lesson to help you respond to the guiding questions below:

Establishing Understanding:

1. What knowledge do I gain from this text? (Include page numbers for each note.)

2. What questions do I still have after reading this text?

Deepening Understanding:

3. How does the organization of the ideas and information enhance my understanding?

4. What stylistic elements stand out in this text? How does the style of the text enhance my understanding?

5. What do the organization and style convey about the writer’s point of view and purpose?

Write new or interesting words you encounter in your Vocabulary Journal.