Instructional Activities

1 WEEK UNIT DAY Activities:

Activity # 1 (15 minutes)

Journal: Write about a time when you really wanted to go out with your friends, but instead you had to...

(CHOOSE ONLY 1)

-Do chores (i.e., dishes, mowing the lawn, laundry, cooking, etc)

-Care for a younger sibling (i.e., babysit)

-Work (i.e., for a parent in a business or an employer)

- Stay in and study (i.e. homework, essay, project)

Did you feel resentment? (i.e., angry, upset, frustrated, powerless, hurt) Discuss why.

First students to finish journals will begin...

Gallery Walk: Students will walk up to the poster of "The Cotton Pickers" and write down their observations and thoughts. "What do you see?" (notepad required)

Pair Share: They will share observations with a partner and compare notes.

Group Share: Students will share something unique that their partner observed to entire class.

Literature Circles: Students will get into five groups of 4. Each group will be given a different task.

Group 1: When you look at the poster of this painting, what  questions come to mind? What are some things you want to know? Students will brainstorm questions.

Group 2: What would be some good titles for this painting and why? Discuss how your titles relate to subject matter.

Group 3: What does this painting make you feel when you look  at it? Each member must have their own feelings and discuss why they feel that way. Do you think the artist purposely tried to make you feel this way?

Group 4: Do you think the artist had a reason, message or purpose for his/her work? Was there a purpose? What period is the painting from? Is the artist male or female? Explain how you reached your gender conclusion.

Note: If students need more time, they will have 10 minutes at beginning of Day 2.

Students have 10 minutes to wrap up literature circle tasks; then they will present to entire class. Class can agree or disagree with results. However, they must follow discussion protocols.

KWL: Students will do a KWL on slavery, cotton, and plantations.

Popcorn Reading: Selection is Our Song, Our Toil

Students must write down vocabulary they do not understand

The "L" in KWL: Students will fill in what they learned. (Minimum 10 new things)

Homework: Students will scan to find words that are part of the period being examined and define unrecognizable words. (i.e., plantation, abolitionist)

Quotation Analysis: Look at selection Slavery: The Struggle of Freedom Students will look at Lester's quote and summarize it in their own words.

Photograph Discussion: What do you see?
Students will share observations; then discuss how it relates to Lester's quote.

Elements of a Narrative (10 minutes) Kate Kinsella material on the elements of a narrative

 

 Revisit "The Cotton Pickers" while "Victor Nelson's Cotton Field, Elgin, Texas, 1940" is being played.

Students will have to write a narrative in first person. They have to choose one of the women from "The Cotton Pickers". Students will utilize vocabulary words. (2-3 pages)

Note: If they do not finish, Activity # 1 becomes homework.

Students will edit each other's work. They will be given a rubric.

Activity # 2: Elements of Expository Text (10 minutes) Kate Kinsella material on the elements of expository text.

Activity # 3: Finding the Elements (30 minutes)

Choosing one of the selections we have read and searching for expository text elements rather than narrative.

Homework: Revision of Narrative

Computer Lab: Expository Essay on Winslow Homer and "The Cotton Pickers" (Entire Period)

Students will search for information on Winslow Homer and "The Cotton Pickers". They will be writing an expository essay.

Activity # 1: If unfinished, complete expository essay. (30 minutes)

Activity # 2: Discuss rubric and peer review. (15 minutes)

Homework: Revise expository essay. (Rest of the period)

DAY 8:

All students must turn in narratives and expository works.

Standards

Instructional Activities

Handouts

Assessment & Rubric

Resources