Units on African-American Culture

by Doreen Hawley

African-American Unit Plan
By Doreen Hawley


Unit Goal:
The students will be able to learn about African-American culture through different projects. The projects consist of finding information on Internet, learning about Kwanzaa, and making different craft items.

Grade: 3rd

Theme: African-American Culture

Week One:
Day One What Culture?
Day Two Africa Surfing
Day Three and Four Eggsperiment
Day Five Nsikwi

Week Two:
Day Six Patchwork Quilt
Day Seven Exploring Africa
Day Eight Boundless Grace
Day Nine African Music
Day Ten African Timeline

Week Three:
Day Eleven What is Kwanzaa Karamu?
Day Twelve Fundamental Values of Kwanzaa
Day Thirteen Symbols of Kwanzaa
Day Fourteen Kwanzaa Celebration

Week Four:
Day Fifteen and Sixteen Culture Food
Day Seventeen Kwanzaa Crafts
Day Eighteen Culture Day
Day Nineteen Kwanzaa Celebration






Week One
Day One

Title: What’s Culture?
Subject: Social Studies, Writing
Grade: 3rd
Time: 40 minutes
Materials:
Journals
Pencil
Culture Map

Objectives:
The students will be able to define the word culture.
The students will be able to brainstorm cultures that they learn from other people.

Pre-Lesson:
The students will brainstorm ideas of what culture means to them. While the students are thinking, they will think of things that they have learned from other people.

Lesson:
After the students have brainstorm ideas, the class will talk about the ideas. The class will write the ideas on the board. The ideas will consist of things that they have learned. The teacher will give the students the definition of culture. Culture has to deal with our manners, feelings about other people, our religion, what we think is right and wrong, our education, what we want to be when we go up, the holidays we celebrate, the food we eat, the clothes we wear, and the games we play. We learn many things from our parents, grandparents, friends, neighbors, churches, and schools. The students will be put into groups of four. In the groups, the students will make a culture map. Each student will have a culture map and they will write down information on their own culture. The students are in the groups to help each other if problems occur. The students will write things down for each subject. The subjects will consist of my country, my neighborhoods, my school, my church, my family, and my friends. They will think about how all the areas have influence them and to see who they are today.

Post-Lesson:
The students will share their culture web with everyone in the class. After everyone is done, they will think about how African-American culture is different from theirs. The students will think about food, holidays, people, history, country, and school. The students will write a journal on how they might see how African-American culture is different from their own culture.
Assessment:
The students will be able to brainstorm ideas of their culture by using a culture map.
The students will be able to write a journal by comparing their culture to African-American.
Week One
Day Two

Title: Africa Surfing
Subject: Social Studies, Technology , Speaking
Grade: 3rd
Time: 40 minutes
Materials:
Computers with CD-ROM
Internet
How Leopard Got His Spots, Encarta
Culture Map
Pencil

Objectives:
The students will be able to find information on African culture by using Internet.
The students will be able to take the information found and develop a culture map.
The students will be able to talk about the information that they found in detail on African culture.

Pre-lesson:
The students will define the word culture and relate it to their own. As a class, the teachers will have the students pick one thing that defines culture to them. The students may use their culture maps to help them refresh their memory.

Lesson:
The class will be put into pairs. In each pair, the students will have to find culture on African-Americans. The students will use Internet, Encarta, and How Leopards Got His Spots. While on the programs, the students will find information on African culture. The teacher will tell them to find information on country, food, music, art, education, and religion. Each student will write down the information that they find on to the culture map. If the students find other information on African culture, they can include it to the culture map. Each student has to find famous people to include on their culture map.

Post-lesson:
The class will come back together. They will talk about their findings on African culture. Each student will have to name one thing that they have learned from their findings. The students have to say something different that the other students. The teacher will have an overhead of the culture map. The teacher will write down the information on to the overhead so the students can use all the information.
Assessment:
The students will be able to explain one piece of African culture with 100% accuracy.
The students will be able to develop a culture map by the use of resources with 80% accuracy.
Week One
Day Three and Four

Title: "Eggsperiments"
Subject: Science, Writing, Cooperative Groups
Grade: 3rd
Time: one hour each day
Materials: Materials will be given for each experiment.
Daily Journals
Objectives:
The students will be able to write their own hypothesis to an experiment.
The students will be able to test their hypothesis to see if they are true.
The students will be able to set up their own experiment by following directions.

Pre-lesson:
The teacher will read "The Talking Eggs" by Robert D. San Souci. The students will talk about the book. The teacher will ask the students what is meant by hypothesis. The teacher will put the students into groups of four. The teachers will tell the students the activities that they will be doing the next two days.

Lesson:
The students are in their groups. Each group will be doing four different experiments with eggs.
Activity One: Is It Magic?
Materials: A hard-boiled egg
A jar filled with fresh water
A jar filled with "ocean" water which is made by mixing 2 tsp. of salt into 2 cups of fresh water.
Directions:
1. Write a hypothesis.
The students will come up with questions to test their hypothesis. The questions might be: What do you think will happen when you put the egg in the fresh water?, or What do you think will happen when you put the egg in the "ocean" water?
2. Test your hypothesis.
The students will put the egg into the jar of fresh water. They will observe and record their results. The students will write some observations down that happen to the experiment.
3. Draw conclusions.
The students will draw conclusions on the question, How did the salt in the water affect the egg? The students will write some sentences down that will explain the question.

Activity Two: Cooked or Raw?
Materials: A raw egg
A hard-boiled egg
A flat surface
Directions:
1. Write a hypothesis.
The students will come up with questions to test their hypothesis. The question that students can ask is What will happen if I stop a spinning hard-boiled egg, and then let it go?, or What will happen if I stop a spinning raw egg, and then let it go?
2. Test your hypothesis.
The students will carefully spin the hard-boiled egg on a flat surface. While the egg is still spinning, stop the egg for a moment and let it go. The students will observe the egg and write the results on a piece of paper.
Next, the students will spin the raw egg on a flat surface. While the egg is still spinning, the students will stop it for moment and let it go. Then the students will observe the egg and write down the results of this part.
3. Draw Conclusions.
The students will draw conclusions from their experiment. The students will ask themselves, Why do you think there was a difference in the results for the cooked egg and for the raw egg? The students will write several reasons from what they observe from the experiment.

Activity Three: Squeeze an Egg
Materials: A raw egg that does not have any cracks
A sink or a plastic washtub
Directions:
1. Have the students remove any jewelry that they are wearing.
2. The students will place a raw egg directly in the palm of their hands.
3. The students will hold their hand over the sink or washtub. They will squeeze their hand as hard they can.
4. The students will write a summary of what they learned from the experiment. The students will find that in spite of the egg's size, the egg is strong. The reason for this is that the egg is so hard to break because of the three-dimensional arch and the force the students have to use to squeeze the egg.

Activity Four: Egg Engraving
Materials: A wax crayon
A hard-boiled egg
A glass or cup
Vinegar
Soft-bristled toothbrush
Scouring Powder
Directions:
The students will use the crayon to draw a design and write their name on the shell of the hard-boiled egg. They will put the egg into a glass. Then they will pour vinegar into the glass until the egg is covered. The students will notice bubbles forming on the egg and not where the crayon markings are. The students will let the eggs soak for about two hours or until all the bubbles are gone.
Then the students will pour out the vinegar from the glass and pour fresh vinegar in until the egg is covered again. The students will let the eggs soak for four hours. They will remove the egg from the glass and use running water to wash it off. The students will continue to run water and very carefully use the soft-bristled toothbrush and some scouring powder to rub the crayon wax from the shell. Then the students will observe their design and name on the eggshell. The design should appear as though it was engraved on the shell.

Post-lesson:
The students will write journals about the results from each experiment. The students should reflect on what they learned from each experiment and if their hypothesis was true or false. On the last two experiments, the students will talk about what kind of things that they learned and what they liked about the experiment.

Assessment:
The students will be able to write their own hypothesis to the experiments with 80% accuracy.
The students will be able to set up their own experiment by following directions with 100% accuracy.


Week One
Day Five

Title: Nsikwi
Subject: Math, Social Studies
Grade: 3rd
Time: 45 minutes
Materials:
One Orange (or a rubber ball about the size of an orange) for each group.
A dry corn cob for each student.
Daily Journals

Objectives:
The students will be able to solve multiplication problems.
The students will be able to brainstorm games that are played in Africa.

Pre-lesson:
The students will be put into small cooperative learning groups. In the groups, the students will brainstorm games that African children would play at their schools. Then students will think of games that American children might play to think of games. After the students have brainstormed some ideas, the teacher will introduce the game called Nsikwi. The teacher will ask the students what is meant by Nsikwi.

Lesson:
The teacher will tell the students that Nsikwi is a popular bowling game that Nigerian children play. It is similar to bowling but the children sit around in a circle. The teacher will explain that they use corn cobs and oranges instead of a bowling ball and pins.
The teacher will prepare each corn cob by cutting off the thick end so that they are flat and can stand on its end. The students will be in their groups and will sit in a large circle. Each student will stand their corn cob on ends to the left of themselves. Each group will decide who will go first. After everything is done and the students are in the circles then the teacher will explain the directions.
The first student has to try to knock over the another player’s corn cob by rolling the orange on the ground. If the student knocks over the corn cob, he or she has the chance to score a point by responding with the correct answer. The students are randomly assigned numbers. For the student to score a point, the student who is taking a turn must multiply his or her number times the number of corn cobs that are lying down. The other students in the group will decide if the answer is correct. The student continues to play until he or she misses the question, fails to knock down a corn cob, or has knocked down all the corn cobs. The corn cobs are reset and the play continues as the orange is passed to the left. Each student will have the chance to play. The students have to keep score and determine who the winner is by who has the most points.

Post-lesson:
In the student’s daily journal, the student will reflect on what they learned from the game. They will tell if they were able to know their multiplication facts by using this game. The students will be given a worksheet that has some problems for them to do.

Assessment:
The students will be able to solve multiplication problems with 90% accuracy.
The students will be able to brainstorm games that are played in Africa by using their prior knowledge.



Week Two
Day Six

Title: The Patchwork Quilt
Subjects: Reading, Art
Grade: 3rd
Time: 60 minutes
Materials:
Book called The Patchwork Quilt by Valerie Flournoy
Daily Journals
Colored Construction Paper, markers, or crayons
chart paper and marker

Objectives:
The students will be able to discuss questions about the book that was read to them.
The students will be able to design their own square of a quilt.

Pre-lesson:
The teacher will show the students the cover of the book and read the title to them. The students will make predictions about the title and the illustrations. The teacher will ask the students different questions. The questions will consist of What do you think a story like this is about? Another one, What do you think will happen in the story? The last question to the students is What does the title of the book mean to you? The teacher will write the answers of the questions on the chart paper for the students to look at. The students will compare their ideas to what really happened in the book.

Lesson:
The teacher will read the story to the students. After reading is done, the teacher will ask the students different questions about the book. The teacher will ask the students, Who were the main characters in the story and what were they like? The students will take a piece of paper and describe what the character is like. Then the teacher will ask the students, When did the story take place? The following questions will be asked by the teacher: In what ways do we know that Tanya cares a lot for her grandmother, Are there ways that Tanya’s life is similar to your own?, and what kind of story was this? After the questions have been answered, the teacher will have the students sit into a large circle. In the circle, the students will go around and retell the story. The first student will talk about the first thing that happens and then the next student will tell what happen next this will go on until the story is done. After the story is finished, the students will return to their seats.


Post-Lesson:
The teacher will have the students think up steps on how to make a quilt. The students will decide what the steps are and the order that they go in. After the steps are done then the teacher will give each student a piece of colored construction paper. The students will pick out what color they want. With the paper, the students will design their own quilt square. The students have to base their square to the African culture. The students can use fabric, wallpaper, or other materials. Once everyone is finished, the teacher will put holes around the paper. The teacher will give the students some yarn and they will tie the yarn to their piece. Once that is finished, the teacher will take the squares and put the quilt together. When everyone has their square on the quilt, the teacher will display the quilt in the room for everyone to look at. The teacher will have the students tell what their square is about.

Assessment:
The students will be able to discuss questions about the book with 90 % accuracy.
With visual concept, the students will be able to design their own square of a quilt.



Week Two
Day Seven

Title: Exploring Africa
Subject: Social Studies, Writing, Speaking, Research, Drama
Grade: 3rd
Time: This activity will be done an hour in the morning and then again in the afternoon for one hour.
Materials: Computer with CD ROM
Internet, Encarta
Culture Maps = the students did on day two
Paper and Pencil

Objectives:
The students will be able to research on one topic on Africa.
With the research information, the students will write a play and perform it in class.

Pre-Lesson:
The students will take their concept web and pick a topic that they want to research. The students will brainstorm ideas that they could find with the topic. The student will not all have the same topic if a problem occurs then let two students research the same topic.

Lesson:
The students will each take their topic. Then the students will research their topic on Internet, Encarta, or at the library. Once the students have found enough information on the topic, they will write a play about the information. The student will have to use at least three different resources.

Post-Lesson: In the afternoon, the students will put on a little play from the information that they found on their topic. The students can use another students in their play. After everyone is finished, the students will reflect on the things that they learned from everyone’s play.

Assessment:
The students will be able to reflect on information that they learned from the plays.
The students will be able to take one topic and research it.


Week Two
Day Eight
Title: Boundless Grace
Subject: Reading, Poetry
Grade: 3rd
Time: 45 minutes
Materials: The book called Boundless Grace
Paper and Pencil
Dictionary, and thesaurus
Objectives:
The students will be able to talk about the story that they read.
The students will be able to write a poem on their topic from day seven.

Pre-Lesson:
The teacher will ask the students what they think "Boundless Grace" is about. The teacher will have the students look at the title and the cover. The students will learn more about Mary Hoffman and Caroline Binch who are the author and illustrator of the books called "Amazing Grace" and "Boundless Grace."

Lesson:
The teacher will read the story to the students. Once the story is finished, the teacher will ask questions about the story. The teacher will ask the students what was one thing that Grace learned from her father. The students will look at the pictures of the book. The pictures of the book deal with culture. The class will talk about the story. They will look at the different things that they do in Africa.
Post-Lesson:
The teacher will have the students take out their plays and information that they found. The teacher will have the students write a poem on their topic. The poem will consist of some words that might describe their topic. The poem will follow the following guidelines. On line one: one word or name which is the subject. On line two: two words that describe the subject. On line three: Three words that tell about the feeling or feelings. Line four: Four words that describe an action. Line five: one word, phrase, or name that refers to the subject. The students may change the feelings part to what their subject is. Once the students are finish, they will read their poem to the class.
As an extended project, the students can read "Amazing Grace" and write a poem or journal on how Grace felt in the story. The students can write a journal by telling how they would feel if that ever happens to them.
Assessment:
The students will be able to write a poem on their topic by using the correct words.
The students will be able to talk about the story with 100% accuracy.


Week Two
Day Nine

Title: Africa Music
Subject: Music
Grade: 3rd
Time: 40 minutes
Materials: Internet Information on African Music
Web Site: Http://www.unix-ag.uni-kl.de/~moritz/daten/artikel
Chart Paper and marker
Objectives:
The students will be able to identify what gospel, motown, rap, and soul music means.
The students will be able to identify what musicians go under each category.

Pre-Lesson:
The teacher will tell the students that they will be learning four different kinds of music that dealt with African culture. The teacher will introduce each kind of music.
Lesson:
The teacher will write each kind of music on the chart paper. The students will listen to the information that the teacher will provide for them. The information can be found under the web site that is provided. With each music type, the students will list characteristics of that type of music. Then the teacher will have the students guess what kind of musicians play under each category. If the students are having problems then the teacher will help them out.

Post-Lesson:
The students will review what they learn by answering questions that the teacher has provided for them. The student will be given a short quiz. The quiz will deal with the four music types. The students will explain each one and tell an musician under each one.

Assessment:
The students will be able to identify gospel, motown, rap, and soul music with 80% accuracy.
The students will be able to identify one musician under each category with 90% accuracy.



Week Two
Day Ten
Title: African Timeline
Subject: Social Studies, Technology
Grade: 3rd
Time: 50 minutes
Materials: Computers
The Timeline Program
Colored construction paper

Objectives:
The students will be able to take their information and form a timeline.
The students will be able to work together to form the timeline.

Pre-Lesson:
The teacher will have the students find their information that they have collected from early days. The teacher will have the students read their information to find important dates that occurred.

Lesson:
The teacher will have the students read some of their information that contains information about dates. The students will tell what they have. The teacher will write the information on the board. Once all the information has been said then the students will enter their information on the computer in the correct order. The teacher will print out the timeline. While the timeline is being printed, the students will find pictures that explain more about their information. When the timeline is done, the students will glue their picture to the timeline. The colored paper will be a border around the timeline.

Post-Lesson:
Once the timeline is done, the teacher will have the students go around and read their information on it. The students will explain what they put on the timeline as their picture.

Assessment:
The students will be able to form a timeline with their information and work successfully in cooperative groups with 100% accuracy.


Week Three
Day Eleven
Title: What is Kwanzaa Karamu?
Subject: Reading, Social Studies
Grade: 3rd
Time: 50 minutes
Materials: The book called Kwanzaa Karamu Cooking and Crafts for a
Kwanzaa Feast
Daily Journals
Web Site: http://www.melanet.com/kwanzaa/#background

Objectives:
The students will be able to define the word Kwanzaa.
The students will be able to compare and contrast Kwanzaa with Christmas.

Pre-Lesson:
The teacher will have the students brainstorm ideas on what they think Kwanzaa means to them. When everyone has brainstormed, the teacher will ask the students what the meaning is. The teacher will put the students into four different groups.

Lesson:
Each group will have an area to look at. The students will have information from the web site. The groups will be given topics of the background of Kwanzaa, an introduction of Kwanzaa, the focus and purpose of Kwanzaa, and sense of direction and goals of Kwanzaa. The groups will read their information and make up a presentation to present to the class. The students will explain what the information means and make it easy for the other students to learn. The groups will write up charts of what their information deals with. The students will present their information to the rest of the class.

Post-Lesson:
The students will write a journal on how Christmas is different and similar to Kwanzaa. The students will use the information that they read to write their journals.

Assessment:
The students will be able to write a journal comparing and contrasting Kwanzaa to Christmas.



Week Three
Day Twelve

Title: Fundamental Values of Kwanzaa
Subject: Reading, Social Studies
Grade: 3rd
Time: 40 minutes
Materials: Web site information:
http://www.melanet.com/kwanzaa/#background

Objectives:
The students will be able to discuss the seven principles of Kwanzaa.

Pre-Lesson:
The teacher will review what is meant by Kwanzaa with the students. They will review all the things that they talked about on day eleven. The teacher will have the students define the word "principle." The students will be divided into seven cooperative groups.
Lesson:
In the cooperative groups, the students will be given one principle. With that principle, the students will talk about what they think is meant by their topic. The students will look up the definition in the dictionary. With the definition the student will explain what their principle means. The students will make posters to help the other students to learn that principle. The students will relate their principle to how a community can use it.

Post-Lesson:
The teacher will have the students stay in their own groups. The teacher will tell the students that one day they came across a little town. In this town the students have to set up some kind of principles for the people to follow. The students have to use the seven principles to develop the town. Once the students are finished, they will present their town to the class. The class will vote to see if the students’ town can make it.

Assessment:
The students will be able to define the seven principles by creating their own town.




Week Three
Day Thirteen
Title: Symbols of Kwanzaa
Subject: Art, Social Studies
Grade: 3rd
Time: 45 minutes
Materials: Web sites: http://www.melanet.com/kwanzaa/#background
3 to 4 rectangular sheets of 12 by 9 inch construction paper
ruler, pencil, scissors, and glue
Objectives:
The students will be able to discuss the primary symbols of Kwanzaa.

Pre-Lesson:
The teacher will have the students define the word symbol. The students will describe the word symbol by using things from their own personal knowledge.

Lesson:
The student will talk about the different symbols that deals with African-American. The teacher will provide a sheet that has the symbols on it. The teacher will explain what each symbol means and how it is related to Kwanzaa. The teacher will have the students explain how the symbols are related to their own culture. Then the teacher will tell the students that they are going to make mkeka which are straw mats.

Post-Lesson:
The students will be making the mkeka for the bulletin board as background. The students will fold one sheet of piece in half. Then the students will place a ruler next to the fold and use the pencil to mark along the fold every inch. They will do the same on the opposite end and draw lines joining the opposite pencil marks. The students will cut through both thickness of the paper along the pencil lines from the fold to about 1in. from the unfolded edges. Then the students will unfold the sheet and put it aside. The students take the other sheets of paper and cut them into 1 inch wide strips that are 9 inch long. Then the students choose one strip and weave it in and out of the cuts on the first sheet. Pull the woven strip snugly to one end of the sheet. Then the students pick a different color and weave it. The students continue until the sheet is full up. The students will reflect on what they learned about the symbols in their journals.

Assessment:
The students will be able to discuss the symbols of Kwanzaa to their own culture.





Week Three
Day Fourteen
Title: Kwanzaa Celebration
Subject: Social Studies
Grade: 3rd
Time: 45 minutes
Materials: Web site http://www.melanet.com/kwanzaa/#background

Objectives:
The students will be able to design a Kwanzaa celebration.
The students will be able to relate the Kwanzaa celebration to Christmas.

Pre-Lesson:
The teacher will tell the students that they are going to plan their own Kwanzaa celebration. Each student will have a job in the celebration. The teacher will ask the students what do they think happens in a Kwanzaa celebration.

Lesson:
The teacher will read the information on schedule for a Kwanzaa celebration. The teacher will talk to the students about the names of certain items. The teacher will explain the different things that they do to celebrate Kwanzaa. The student will make a time-line on paper of how each day goes. For example, on what day does Kwanzaa begin and end. Also what kind of things does the family do on certain days. The teacher will explain that the students will be making some of the things on the seventeenth day and put them on the bulletin board.

Post-Lesson:
The teacher will have the students pick certain tasks that they would like to do. With the certain tasks, the teacher will write a letter to student’s parents explaining that next week they are planning a Kwanzaa celebration and each student has a certain task. With the certain task, some children may have to bring certain things from home. The teacher will also explain that the students will be taking a field trip to the local grocery store and that each student needs to bring five dollars for the party on day fifteen. The students will make a card to invite their parents to the party on the last day which is the nineteenth day.

Assessment:
The student will be able to relate Kwanzaa with Christmas.
With active participation, the students will design a Kwanzaa celebration for the last day of the unit.




Week Four
Day Fifteen and Sixteen

Title: Culture Food
Subject: Social Studies and Math
Grade: 3rd
Time: first day: 40 minutes and day two: 1 to 1 ½ hours
Materials: Kwanzaa Karamu Cooking and Crafts for a Kwanzaa Feast
The recipes will have the materials needed.
Notebook and pencil

Objectives:
The students will be able to decide on what to make for the Kwanzaa celebration.
The students will decide how much each item will cost and what the total cost will be.

Pre-Lesson:
The teacher will tell the student that they are going to make certain food for the Kwanzaa celebration. The teacher will ask the students to think about the book called Boundless Grace. The teacher will have the students think about what kinds of foods do many African-American eat for the Kwanzaa celebration.

Lesson:
The teacher will tell the students the different kinds of foods that they eat. Some of the food is Ants-on-a-log, Hush Puppies, Cornmeal and Wheat Corn Bread, Chapatis (thin bread that can be served with butter or jam), Deep-fried Catfish, Red Beans and Rice, Hopping Johns, Luku, Meat Curry, Betty’s Browned-Down Chicken, Mixed Salad Greens with Orange-Lemon Dressing, Baked Plantain on the Shell, and Sweet Balls. The teacher will let the students decide what kind of food they want to eat. After the students have decided the food, then the teacher gets the recipes out for them. The teacher tells the students what kinds of things are in the food. The teacher will make a list on the board. The students will talk about how much the items are and decide how much money they need. The teacher can give the students ranges on how much certain items would cost. After the students have done the math then the teacher will review the field trip rules with the students. The teacher will tell the students that they will go shopping for the ingredients on the next day.

Post-Lesson:
The teacher and the students will take a field trip to a local grocery store to buy their ingredients for the party. The students will have a notebook with them. They will keep track on what each item will cost. Once the students get back to school, they will compare the prices to what they thought the price was. The students will see how far or short they were. The students will write down their cost and the cost at the store on a piece of paper and hand it in to the teacher.
Assessment:
The students will be assessed on how far or short they were with their figures on the groceries.
The students will be observed on how well they paid attention and behavior at the grocery store.


Week Four
Day Seventeen
Title: Kwanzaa Crafts
Subject: Art
Grade: 3rd
Time: 1 hour
Materials: Kwanzaa Karamu Cooking and Crafts for a Kwanzaa Feast
Scissors, Pencil, Glue, Tracing Paper, Velcro Fasteners, Rectangles of felt in five colors(red, black, gold, and another color your choice)

Objectives:
The students will be able to make Kinara Tapestry for their art project.

Pre-Lesson:
The teacher will explain the custom of the Kinara Tapestry to the students. The teacher will tell the students that each candle represents the seven principles that were talked about in an early lesson.

Lesson:
The students will cut out candle shapes from the green, red, and black pieces of felt. The students place the cut out tracing paper on top of the felt and trace around. Then they cut along the lines. The students will need three red candles, three green candles, and one black candle. Then the students cut out a candleholder shape from the gold piece of felt. The teacher has to make sure the middle piece is higher than the rest. Now the students take the fifth piece of felt and lay it flat. This is the background color and the base of the tapestry. The students have to lay the kinara and candle pieces on the base. The teacher has to make sure that the students have the black candle in the middle, with the red candles on the left side and the green candles on the right side. Then carefully glue the pieces down. From the gold felt have the students cut out seven teardrop shapes. The students can glue or velcro them on.

Post-Lesson:
The students will write a journal on all the things that they have learned about African-American culture. Once they are done, they will hand in their journals.

Assessment:
The students will be observed by what kind of things they have in their journals.

Week Four
Day Eighteen

Title: Culture Day
Subject: Listening, Social Studies
Grade: 3rd
Time: 40 minutes
Materials: Speaker
Objectives:
With auditory perception, the students will listen to the information about the life of a person.

Pre-Lesson:
The teacher will explain that there is going to be a speaker and that everyone needed to be on their best behavior. The teacher will have the students think of question to ask the speaker.

Lesson:
The speaker is a person that is dressed up as Harriet Tubman. The speaker is going to talk about her life in slavery and what their culture was. The students will ask questions to the speaker.

Post-Lesson:
The students will write a newspaper article on the speaker. The students would include what they learned from the speaker and how life was different for them. The students will have another student proofread their article and make corrections. Once the article is correct then the students can type it on to the computer.

Assessment:
The students will be assessed on how well they listened to the speaker when they write their articles.

Week Four
Day Nineteen

Title: Kwanzaa Celebration
Subject: Social Studies, Reading
Grade: 3rd
Time: 2 hours in the afternoon
Materials: The book called Pink and Say
The food

Objectives:
The students will be able to take on their tasks that were assigned.

Pre-Lesson:
The students and teacher will get the room cleaned up and everything in a good order. The students will welcome their parents that came to the celebration.

Lesson:
The students will read their poems to their parents and classmates. After that is done then the students will pass out the food that they decided to have. The students will show their parents the art work they did and the timeline. With the timeline, the students will read off the days that they had and what kind of picture they have. When everyone is eating, the teacher will read the book "Pink and Say" by Patricia Polacco. The teacher will talk to the parents about the book so there are not any angry parents. The teacher will ask the students what do they think the book is about. The teacher will read the book.

Post-Lesson:
The teacher will ask the students questions about the book. Then the teacher will ask the students what kind of things did you learn from this unit. In addition what are some things that they liked about the unit and why.

Assessment:
The students will be assessed on how well they took on their task.


Classroom Environment

Bulletin Board:

The bulletin board consists of Mkeka (woven mat) as the background. With the Kinara Tapestry (the candle) in the middle of the board. Then around the candle the teacher will print out the seven principles and other words that goes with Kwanzaa.

Contents of Display Table:
On the table, the teacher will have different books on African-American that the children can look at over the period of time.


Evaluations

The teacher will evaluate the students on their journal writing. They will also be graded on the different projects that they do throughout the unit. The main thing that is going to be graded is the newspaper articles, poems, and the plays.


List of Web Sites

http://www.melanet.con/kwanzaa/#background
http://www.unix-ag.uni-kl.de/~moritz/daten/artikel/gospel.art
http://www.unix-ag.uni-kl.de/~moritz/daten/artikel/motown.art
http://www.unix-ag.uni-kl.de/~moritz/daten/artikel/rapmusic.art
http://www.unix-ag.uni-kl.de/~moritz/daten/artikel/soulmusi.art


List of Books

The Patchwork Quilt by Valerie Flournoy
Amazing Grace by Mary Hoffman
Boundless Grace by Mary Hoffman
Pink and Say by Patricia Polacco
Africa by Yvonne Ayo
Misoso Once Upon a Time Tales from Africa by Verna Aardema
Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt by Deborah Hopkinson




Bibliography

Books:
Brady, April A. "Kwanzaa Karamu Cooking and Crafts For a Kwanzaa Feast."
Flournoy, Valerie. "The Patchwork Quilt"
Hoffman, Mary. "Amazing Grace"
Hoffman, Mary. "Boundless Grace"
Polacco, Patricia. "Pink and Say"


Other Resources:
African Americans. Teacher Created Materials, Inc.
Exploring Cultures Through Literature African American. Carson-Dellosa
Publishing, Inc.