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Lesson 1

We will view Isabel Wilkerson’s TED Talk “The Great Migration and the Power of a Single Decision” before discussing how Wilkerson conveys her central message and how Wilkerson’s style contributes to our understanding. We will discuss the connections between her talk and The Warmth of Other Suns, continuing our thinking about the impact of the single decision each of the three focus figures made to leave the South.

Lesson Goals

  • Can I express an accurate understanding of the central ideas of Wilkerson’s TED Talk?

  • Can I gather and organize relevant and sufficient evidence to demonstrate an understanding of texts and topics, support claims, and develop ideas?

Texts

Core

  • Digital Access
    • “The Great Migration and the Power of a Single Decision,” Isabel Wilkerson, TED Talk, 2017

Materials

Tools

Reference Guides

Question Sets

Editable Google Docs

Activity 1: Read – Discuss

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 or one of your peers 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 3 and 6 because those are the focusing questions for this third 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 whole class.

Activity 2: Read

We will discuss our initial ideas regarding the claims Wilkerson makes about the Great Migration in her TED Talk and then work in groups to unpack the text using the transcript.

Step 1

Individually, review your homework notes and share with the whole class your response to the following question:

  1. Based on your first viewing of the TED Talk, what seem to be Wilkerson's major claims about the Great Migration?

Step 2

In a group, collaboratively complete the following task for your section of the TED Talk:

  • Read your segment in the transcript.

  • Rewatch your segment of the video, following along with the transcript.

  • Document the following, and be prepared to share your work with the whole class during the debrief:

    • Unpack and define unknown or significant terms or concepts.

    • Summarize this section of the speech in terms of its content and the big ideas being conveyed.

    • Describe Wilkerson’s use of language in this segment.

    • Describe Wilkerson’s use of structure in this segment.

    • Describe the relationship of this section to the ones before and after it.

    • Describe how this section contributes to the central ideas presented and claims made by Wilkerson in the whole speech.

Activity 3: Discuss

We will share our group findings about each section of the TED Talk transcript.

Following your teacher’s instructions about the sharing protocol to be used, present your findings on your section of the video to the rest of the class and field any questions about your section.

Activity 4: Read

We will review some key vocabulary from the transcript, 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 our Vocabulary Journals 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 time stamp, and consider the following questions for each:

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

  2. Why is this word and its meaning important to Wilkerson’s discussion and ideas in this part of the 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 5: Discuss

We will share our reflections from the discussion during the previous Section Diagnostic and set goals for our discussion about Wilkerson’s TED Talk.

Step 1

Retrieve your reflections from the Section 2 Diagnostic and focus on your response to Question 1.

Individually, reflect on how well you demonstrated your discussion skills and habits during the whole-class discussion and set a goal for the next discussion.

Share with a partner your reflections and your goal, and be prepared to share with the rest of the class during the debrief.

Step 2

In order to prepare for a discussion about Wilkerson’s TED Talk, participate in a debrief by responding to the following questions:

  1. What was easy for you in the discussion during the previous Section Diagnostic?

  2. What was challenging for you?

  3. What did we do well as a whole class in the discussion during the previous Section Diagnostic?

  4. What could we do better as a whole class?

  5. What is your individual goal for this next discussion? Why? How will you measure your progress in meeting this goal?

Activity 6: Discuss

We will synthesize our understanding of Wilkerson’s TED Talk via discussion and consider its relationship to The Warmth of Other Suns as well as to what we’ve learned about the Great Migration from our other sources.

Participate in a whole-class discussion about the following questions:

  1. What were the most significant factors that impacted the lives of African Americans in the South? What evidence from the text or video supports your response?

  2. How do the ideas in this speech align with, conflict with, and complicate the ideas in Wilkerson’s text? What evidence from the video supports your response?

  3. How does this speech enhance our understanding of the decision to migrate and of the causes and effects of that decision?

Activity 7: Discuss

We will reflect on our discussion skills and habits and assess our goals for our discussion about Wilkerson’s TED Talk.

Individually, reflect on how well you demonstrated your discussion skills and habits during the whole-class discussion and how well you worked toward the goal you set for yourself.

Be prepared to share your reflections with your peers.

Activity 8: Read

For homework, complete the sources Note-Taking Tool for “The Great Migration And The Power Of A Single Decision” TED Talk.

For homework, complete the Sources Note-Taking Tool for "The Great Migration and the Power of a Single Decision" TED Talk to deepen understanding by tracking and evaluating the effects of details. Use your completed tools from this lesson to help you respond to the following guiding questions:

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:

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

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

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