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Lesson 5

We will participate in a formal discussion on the topic of how and why authors construct histories, citing examples from The Warmth of Other Suns as well as at least three print and non-print texts we have read.

Lesson Goals

Reading and Knowledge

  • Analyze Perspective: How well do I analyze how Wilkerson’s and the other authors’ perspectives in this unit influence the position, purpose, and ideas of their texts?
  • Analyze Relationships: How well do I recognize and interpret important relationships among ideas and structure within The Warmth of Other Suns and other unit texts?
  • Evaluate Effects: How well do I evaluate the effects of literary devices and rhetoric in The Warmth of Other Suns and other unit texts?

Speaking and Listening

  • Collaborate: How well do I work productively in various roles with other participants?
  • Communicate Effectively: How well do I use language and strategies to accomplish my intended purpose in communicating?
  • Develop Ideas: How well do I use devices, techniques, descriptions, reasoning, evidence, and visual elements to support and elaborate on coherent and logical narratives, explanations, and arguments?
  • Gather and Organize Evidence: How well do I gather and organize relevant and sufficient evidence to demonstrate an understanding of texts and topics, support claims, and develop ideas?
  • Generate Ideas: How well do I generate and develop ideas, positions, products, and solutions to problems?
  • Listen: How well do I pay attention to and acknowledge others while thoughtfully considering their 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: Write

We will prepare for our Section Diagnostic discussion.

Individually, review your notes from the previous lesson, your Note-Taking Tools, your Vocabulary Journal, your discussion goals,and the unit texts.

Compose a quick-write in response to the following discussion questions as preparation for the discussion:

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

  2. Why do authors and artists help us to construct history, and why is it important to understand a complex moment in history, such as the Great Migration?

  3. How do the threads of Wilkerson’s text enhance our understanding of how an individual’s decision impacts our collective history?

During discussion, be prepared to support your ideas with specific examples from The Warmth of Other Suns as well as at least three print and non-print texts you have read in this unit.

Activity 2: Discuss

We will discuss the guiding questions to synthesize our understanding of the unit texts and the social context that precipitated and perpetuated the migration out of the south.

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

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

  2. Why do authors and artists help us to construct history, and why is it important to understand a complex moment in history, such as the Great Migration?

  3. How do the threads of Wilkerson’s text enhance our understanding of how an individual’s decision impacts our collective history?

Activity 3: Discuss

We will reflect on our work on the Section Diagnostic and assess our progress toward the Culminating Task.

Choose at least three of the following questions regarding the Section Diagnostic and respond to them in your Learning Log:

  1. How well did you take the necessary actions to prepare for the task?

  2. What went well for you during the completion of this task?

  3. With what did you struggle during the completion of this task? How did you push through those struggles?

  4. How well did you actively focus your attention during this independent task?

  5. How well did you develop and use an effective and efficient process to maintain workflow during this task?

  6. What would you do differently during the next Section Diagnostic?

Review your Culminating Task Progress Tracker. Think about all you have learned and done during this section of the unit. Evaluate your skills and knowledge to determine how prepared you are for the Culminating Task.

  • Add or refine any skills and content knowledge required for the Culminating Task.

  • Evaluate how well you are mastering skills and knowledge required for the Culminating Task.

Engage in a reflective whole-class discussion as time allows.

Activity 4: Read

For homework, continue to review and explore Wilkerson’s use of sources, organization, and structure using your Structure Note-Taking Tool.

For homework, continue to review and explore Wilkerson’s use of sources, organization, and structure using your Structure Note-Taking Tool.