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Lesson 4

We will synthesize our understanding of Wilkerson’s sources, organization, and structure, their relationship to the meaning she constructs and point of view she conveys, and how those impact our greater understanding of the Great Migration in preparation for the Section Diagnostic and Culminating Task.

Lesson Goals

  • Can I recognize and interpret important relationships among ideas and structure within The Warmth of Other Suns and other unit texts?

  • Can I gather and organize relevant and sufficient evidence to demonstrate an understanding of The Warmth of Other Suns and the Great Migration, to support claims, and to develop ideas?

Texts

Core

  • Tradebook
    • The Warmth of Other Suns, Isabel Wilkerson, Vintage Books, 2010
  • Unit Reader
    • “Between the World and Me,” Richard Wright, John Hawkins and Associates, Inc., 1935
    • Excerpts from “A Theory of Migration,” Everett Lee, Demography, 1966
    • “One-Way Ticket,” from The Collected Poems of Langston Hughes, Langston Hughes, Estate of Langston Hughes. Used by permission of Alfred A. Knopf, an imprint of the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House LLC., 1994
    • “Penalties of Migration,” Unknown, Public Domain, 1916
    • “The Lynching,” Claude McKay, Public Domain, 1922
    • “The Migration of Negroes,” W.E.B. Du Bois, Public Domain, 1917
    • “The South,” from The Collected Poems of Langston Hughes, Langston Hughes, Estate of Langston Hughes. Used by permission of Alfred A. Knopf, an imprint of the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House LLC., 1994
    • “Where We Are Lacking,” Unknown, Public Domain, 1919
  • Digital Access
    • “The Great Migration and the Power of a Single Decision,” Isabel Wilkerson, TED Talk, 2017
    • “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
    • The Migration Series, Jacob Lawrence, The Phillips Collection, 2019

Materials

Tools

Reference Guides

Editable Google Docs

Activity 1: Read

We will continue to track the structure of The Warmth of Other Suns using the Structure Note-Taking Tool.

Work with your jigsaw home group to finish 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, work to 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 2: Read – Discuss

We will synthesize our initial understanding of this section’s guiding questions to prepare for the Section Diagnostic and the Culminating Task.

Continue to work with your group to discuss your initial thoughts about the following questions, which will be the focus of our discussion in the next lesson for the Section Diagnostic:

  1. How do authors and artists help us to construct this history?

  2. Why do authors and artists help us to construct this history?

  3. Why is it important to understand a complex moment in history, such as the Great Migration?

  4. How do the threads of Wilkerson’s text enhance our understanding of the impact of the single decision to leave the South and of the Great Migration as a period in our collective history?

Take notes in your Learning Log as you respond, write down, and discuss additional questions as they arise.

Activity 3: Write – Discuss

We will finalize our preparation for the final whole-class discussion, which is the Section Diagnostic task. We will then discuss the connections between the Section Diagnostic and the Culminating Task.

Individually, review the Culminating Task and the guiding questions for the Section Diagnostic discussion. Note what questions you have about these tasks and your observations about how they are related. Review your Vocabulary Journal. Identify a significant word or words that you would like to use in your response to the Section Diagnostic.

Share your questions and observations with the whole class during the final debrief.

Activity 4: Discuss

We will share our reflections from the section 3, Lesson 1 discussion regarding our participation in collaborative discussions, and we will set goals for the Section Diagnostic discussion.

Step 1

Retrieve your reflections from the Section 3, Lesson 1 discussion or consider any of the discussions you have participated in during this unit.

Individually, reflect on how well you demonstrated your discussion skills and habits during partner, group, or class discussions. Identify a discussion skill that you execute well, and a discussion skill you want to improve on. You might identify skills such as the following:

  • listening to others’ ideas and building on them

  • coming to discussions prepared, having read the material critically and carefully

  • working with your classmates to promote civil discussion

  • propelling discussions by posing and responding to questions that question your peers’ reasoning and evidence

  • listening to a full range of positions, even those you do not agree with, on a topic

  • responding thoughtfully to diverse perspectives

  • synthesizing comments, claims, and evidence made on all sides of an issue

  • presenting information, findings, claims, and evidence clearly; sharing you perspective clearly so that your listeners can follow your line of reasoning

  • using speech appropriate to your purpose and audience

Share your reflections with a partner and be prepared to share with the rest of the group during a whole-class debrief.

Step 2

In order to prepare for the Section Diagnostic discussion, participate in a debrief regarding the following questions:

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

  2. What was challenging for you?

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

Activity 5: Write

For homework, use your outstanding questions to help you continue to prepare for the Section Diagnostic discussion.

For homework, use your outstanding questions to help you continue to prepare for the Section Diagnostic discussion. As a part of your preparation, pay attention to the content of the discussion and specific discussion skills you want to improve on. Review your Vocabulary Journal. Identify a significant word or words that you would like to use in your response to the Section Diagnostic.