Unit 11 6-8: Learning Plan

Content Background (see Introduction Handout #1)

Early 20th-century African American aviators had to endure a society of segregation and legal oppression. They were subject to vile racial domination.  Yet, many believed in the hope of the Founding Generation’s revolutionary commitment to meritocracy. What seemed like societal “cognitive dissonance” (the state of simultaneously holding two ideas that were in direct contradiction with one another) offered hope to African Americans that the United States would continue to evolve its expansion of civil, political, and social rights for all citizens.

Central to these stories and the story of the Tuskegee Airman is that men and women worked to overcome arduous obstacles and became highly successful models for all Americans. They all overcame constructed impediments because of their race and/or sex. During this lesson, students will read the stories of these heroes and the heroes among the Tuskegee Airmen.  They will determine what they did to overcome obstacles and become successful, become inspirations to others, and merit honor.

Learning Activities

Day One: Introduction to the Narrative and Station Activities

1. Do Now
   1. Students write a brief response to the question: How could African Americans work to become pilots even though segregation limited their opportunities to earn a pilot license?
2. Direct Instruction
   1. Overview of the environment for African Americans and other non-WASP (White Anglo-Saxon Protestant) Americans during a time when eugenics and a hierarchy of racial and ethnic bloodlines were considered “settled science.”
3. Guided Practice
   1. Class discussion on the essential question: Were African Americans agents of change and accomplishment or passive subjects of their societal environment?
4. Station Activity Set Up:
   1. Explain the structure of the station activities and expectations for note catchers.
5. Station Activities–
   1. Station 1: Bessie Coleman
   2. Station 2: Willian Jennifer Powell
   3. Station 3: James Banning
   4. Station 4: Wilma Brown
   5. Each group will first read the background handout (#1).
   6. They will then read their assigned person’s brief bio (using Handouts 2-5).
   7. Then, they will further research their person online to see what obstacles they faced in pursuing their goals.
   8. They will research their person’s solutions to overcome the obstacles.
6. Closure
   1. Groups share one key finding from their stations and submit their note catchers.

Day Two: Writing and Creation of Presentations

1. Do Now
   1. Reflect on insights gained from the previous day’s station activities.
2. Direct Instruction:
   1. Teach students how to construct an informative essay using evidence effectively.
3. Independent Practice
   1. Each group will pick two presenters.
      1. The groups’ presenters will prepare a 3½ to 4-minute panel presentation about their person.
      2. The presentation will provide:
         1. A brief introduction of the person
         2. The obstacles he or she faced
         3. The solutions he or she devised to overcome the obstacles.
   2. The non-presenters in each group will create a PowerPoint that will help the presenters with their presentations.
4. Homework
   1. All students will watch the Tuskegee Airman video.
      1. They will list the obstacles faced by those organizing the school and the obstacles faced by the students and airmen.
      2. They will then list the solutions the organizers and the airman devised to overcome obstacles.

Day Three: Podcast Creation

1. Do Now
   1. Each group will review their notes from the video.
2. Independent Practice
   1. Students will write where their person may have contributed to the creation and success of the Tuskegee Airman.
      1. Once they arrive at conclusions, the presenters will add the conclusion to their presentations.
      2. The PowerPoint creators will add the conclusions to the group’s PowerPoints.
         1. Their conclusions will include similar obstacles faced by the Tuskegee Airmen and their solutions.
   2. Each group will ensure they have a full presentation and that the PowerPoint coincides with the oral presentation.
3. Homework
   1. Students will complete their presentations and PowerPoints.

Day Four: Class Presentation

1. Independent Practice
   1. The group presenters will sit at a panel table (or desks lined as such) for the presentation.
      1. Each group will present their person and that person’s contribution to the Tuskegee Airmen.
         1. The presentations will be videoed (phone video will do).
   2. Once all four groups have presented, they will create a master video of their presentations using the video from the presentations and the PowerPoints.
      1. The master video can be posted as a Podcast, on YouTube, or on the school’s platform.
2. Resources
   1. Broadnax, Samuel L. Blue Skies, Black Wings: African American Pioneers of Aviation.
   2. Powell, William J. Black Wings: The Life of an African American Aviation Pioneer.