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Section 3: Overview

A Single Decision

We will begin with Wilkerson’s TED Talk, continue the rotating jigsaw reading of Part 3 of The Warmth of Other Suns, and expand our understanding of the complicated history of the Great Migration by studying Jacob Lawrence’s 60-panel The Migration Series, focusing on the following questions:

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

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

  • 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 2:

    We will return to our jigsaw groups to continue reading Part 3 of The Warmth of Other Suns, focusing on the details of each focus figure’s experiences as they begin their journeys away from the South, and examining the epigraphs Wilkerson uses to begin this section of the text while exploring their relationship to the content of this section.

  • Lesson 3:

    We will share and discuss what we learned in the previous lesson about our three focus figures and consider the impact of each of their single decisions. We will also read and discuss the rest of Part 3 and add to our understanding of how Wilkerson uses structure to share this period in our history.

  • Lesson 4:

    We will explore artist Jacob Lawrence’s The Migration Series and begin to examine the connections and relationships among his paintings and The Warmth of Other Suns while considering what they collectively convey about the experiences of the Great Migration.

  • Lesson 5:

    We will continue to explore Jacob Lawrence’s The Migration Series by planning our presentations in response to the Section Diagnostic.

  • Lesson 6:

    We will continue to develop, plan, rehearse, and receive feedback on our presentations in order to prepare for the Section Diagnostic.

  • Lesson 7:

    We will deliver a presentation about a panel from Lawrence’s The Migration Series. We will explain how that panel represents and connects to the history Wilkerson constructs in her text.

  • Lesson 8:

    We will review the teacher’s feedback on our Section Diagnostic and will use the feedback to make revisions to our work.

  • Lesson 9:

    We will share the understanding we have gained through our independent reading and continue to read our texts.