Unit 11 9-12: Learning Plan

Learning Activities

1. Do Now
   1. Instruct students to read “President Harding and Social Equality” by W.E.B. DuBois.
2. Direct Instruction
   1. Present the content using the Lesson PowerPoint.
   2. Distribute handout #1 to students.
3. Guided Practice
   1. Students will create a foundation for focused questioning by:
      1. Numbering the paragraphs.
         1. Students must cite and refer to the text, so instruct students to number each paragraph in the left-hand margin.
         2. This helps students refer to specific portions of the text.
   2. Divide the article into chunks; chunk the text.
      1. Reading a full page of text can quickly become overwhelming for students.
         1. Breaking the text into smaller sections (or chunks) makes the page more manageable.
   3. Have them underline with a purpose- what key arguments is the author making?
      1. Telling students to underline “the important stuff” is too vague.
         1. “Stuff” is not a concrete thing that students can identify.
      2. Instead, direct students to underline and circle concrete things.
         1. Consider what information you want students to take from the text and ask them to look for those elements.
            1. (With other lessons) What do you have students circle and underline? The answer may change depending on the text type.
         2. This primary source document asks students to underline critical terms or arguments.
   4. In the left margin, have students summarize what Du Bois says in each chunk.
      1. Demonstrate how to write summaries in ten or fewer words.
      2. Chunking allows the students to examine the text in smaller segments and summarize what the author is saying in that segment.
   5. In the right margin, have students ask questions about the text.
      1. Direct students to complete a task for each chunk in the right-hand margin.
         1. This may include a power verb to describe what the author is doing.
         2. They may represent the information in a picture.
      2. Students must ask questions!
4. Independent Practice
   1. After students have developed a foundation for close reading a specific text or chunk of text, they will create questions that reflect and reinforce the New Jersey Student Learning Standards’s particular skills.
      1. Divide the questions into three broad categories that mirror the three sections of the New Jersey Student Learning Standards
         1. Key ideas and details
         2. System and Structure
         3. Integration of Knowledge and Ideas
   2. Students will cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of the Du Bois essay, connecting insights gained from specific details to an understanding of the text as a whole.
      1. They will answer the following questions:
         1. What is the overall purpose of this document?
         2. How do you know?
   3. Students will determine the central ideas or information of the Du Bois essay. They will provide an accurate summary that makes clear the relationship between the key ideas and details
      1. They will answer the following questions:
         1. What is the most crucial idea of this document?
         2. Support your answer with 2-3 pieces of evidence.
   4. Students will evaluate various explanations for actions or events and determine which explanation best accords with textual evidence, acknowledging where the text leaves matters uncertain.
      1. They will answer the following questions.
         1. Choose three of the arguments presented in the document, and based on your understanding of events leading to the creation of the document, determine the prime purpose of this article.
         2. What does the article need to explain more adequately?
   5. Students will determine the meaning of words and phrases used in a text, analyzing how an author uses and refines the definition of a key term throughout a text.
      1. Based upon their understanding of the document, they will create a near definition (not based on a dictionary or online resource) of the following terms: “Social Equality,” penumbra, placate, skulking, Lugard, amalgamation, mulattoes, bastards, demagogues. They will rewrite the sentence in bold using their understanding of these terms.
   6. Students will analyze in detail how this Du Bois complex primary source is structured, including how key sentences, paragraphs, and more significant portions of the text contribute to the whole.
      1. Students will answer the following questions:
         1. What is the role of the “Self-Deception” section of the last paragraph in relation to the rest of the speech?
5. Optional Learning Experiences
   1. Students will evaluate authors’ differing points of view on the same historical event or issue by assessing authors’ claims, reasoning, and evidence.
      1. After reading “Afro-Americans in New Jersey: A Short History”, pp. 51-68, “1910-1940.” and/or “Report of a Survey of African Americans in New Jersey 1932,” students will explain how each document differs in reporting the conditions of African Americans migrating to the North.
      2. What other documents might students use to evaluate differing points of view?
   2. Students will integrate and evaluate multiple sources of information presented in diverse formats and media to address a question or solve a problem.
      1. Read “Can I Scrub Your White Marble Steps?” A Black Migrant Recalls Life in Philadelphia; http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5338  “Don’t Have to Mister Every White Boy.” http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5339
         1. Create a Venn Diagram to chart overlapping facts and unique facts.
      2. With a partner, rewrite the textbook section, integrating what you learned from the background piece, Du Bois’ essay, and the articles.