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Lesson 3

In a jigsaw discussion, we will share and discuss the details from the previous lesson’s jigsaw reading and will continue to explore the new lives waiting for and experienced by those who left the South in hopes of a better quality of life. We will also continue to track the sources, organization, and structure of Wilkerson’s text to better understand what those choices convey about her point of view and the important ideas in her text.

Lesson Goals

  • Can I use connections among details, elements, and effects to make logical deductions about Wilkerson’s perspective, purpose, and meaning in The Warmth of Other Suns?

  • Can I revisit, refine, and revise my understanding, knowledge, and work based on discussions with others and feedback and review by myself and others?

Texts

Core

  • Tradebook
    • The Warmth of Other Suns, Isabel Wilkerson, Vintage Books, 2010
  • Unit Reader
    • “Penalties of Migration,” Unknown, Public Domain, 1916
    • “Where We Are Lacking,” Unknown, Public Domain, 1919

Materials

Tools

Reference Guides

Editable Google Docs

Activity 1: Discuss

We will engage in the fourth jigsaw discussion with our home groups, using and completing the Jigsaw Note-Taking Tool.

Step 1

Each expert (A, B, and C) shares their learning about their assigned focus figures (Ida, George, and Robert) with their home groups, using the guiding questions on the Jigsaw Note-Taking Tool to guide the content shared.

  1. Life Prior to Migration: What do you learn about each person’s life prior to their departure from the South? What questions do you have?

  2. Push-and-Pull Factors Influencing the Decision to Leave: What do you learn about the push-and-pull factors influencing each person’s decision? What questions do you have?

  3. Immediate Impacts of Migration: What do you learn about the immediate impact of each person’s migration and about their life away from the South? What questions do you have?

  4. Long-Term Impacts of Migration: What do you learn about the long-term impact of each person’s migration? What questions do you have?

As you share, remember that you might not have content to share for all of the guiding questions during every jigsaw discussion.

As the other experts share, take notes on your Jigsaw Note-Taking Tool and ask questions to help support your understanding of each assigned person.

Step 2

After all experts have taught their home groups about their assigned focus figures, discuss the following questions:

  1. What similarities and differences do you notice among Ida’s, George’s, and Robert’s experiences and the narrative Wilkerson creates for each of them? What evidence from the text supports this interpretation?

Activity 2: Read

We will continue to track Wilkerson’s structure and sources in the first half of part 4 using the Structure Note-Taking Tool.

Find Part 4 of your Structure Note-Taking Tool. Use your quick-writes from the end of the previous lesson as well as your Jigsaw Note-Taking Tool notes to help you respond to the guiding questions on the tool. Also label the thread for each section; you might have to create some new labels if none of the previous ones fit.

Establishing Understanding:

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

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

Deepening Understanding:

  1. How does the organization of the ideas and information in this section of the text enhance my understanding?

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

  3. What do the organization and style convey about the point of view and purpose of this section of text?

Activity 3: Read

We will review some key vocabulary from part 4, focusing on important concepts and challenging words while 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 we can refer back to them later in the unit.

Working as a whole class, review the Vocabulary List for Part 4of the 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 Wilkerson means when using the word? What is its connotation, and how does that compare with a dictionary definition?

  2. Why are this word and its meaning important in 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?

  4. What other words did you come across in your reading that you would like to add to this list and discuss?

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

Activity 4: Read

We will look at some newspaper sources from the time period to develop our understanding of what migrants experienced once they arrived in their new locations.

Work with your jigsaw home group to read and process the content of these sources while adding notes to your Sources Note-Taking Tool.

Using these sources and what you have come to understand about the migration experience, discuss the following questions:

  1. How did life in the North and West compare to life in the South for the migrants?

  2. What was the same? What was different?

  3. How did reality compare with the fantasy of a new life? What were the impacts and effects of the single decision to migrate?

Activity 5: Read

For homework, continue to complete the Structure Note-Taking Tool for part 4 of the text.

For homework, continue to complete the Structure Note-Taking Tool for Part 4 of the text.