Units on African-American Culture

Famous Black Authors:


People who have made a difference.

By Mary Stuart

The bulletin board will have pictures of African American authors.
-African American Authors-
Books written by these authors
Technology will be Internet application
Software package-Timeliner 4.0
list of authors
Worksheet-Rosa Parks
Information on Patricia McKissack



Title: African American Authors
Grade: 3 & 4
Time: 2 hours

Objective: The students will be able to discuss different authors and find books that these authors have written and do a book report.

Material:
Paper
Pencil
Library
List of black authors

Pre lesson: Ask the students if there are any black authors that they know and find out books that the authors may have written. Discuss as a class some of the different black authors.

Lesson: The students will go over to the library and find authors and one book that they have written. Give students a list of black authors, and show them where else they can find authors and book title. The students will bring back one book written by a black author.

Post-Lesson: The students will read over the books that they have brought back from the library for the remainder of the period. The students will need to read the book before the next class, and be prepared to give an oral or written report.

Assessment: The students will give an oral or written book report over the book that they have found.



Title: Patricia McKissack
Grade: 3 & 4
Time: 1 hour

Materials:
History of Patricia McKissack
Books that she has wrote
Paper 16 *20 white
Markers, and colors

Objectives: The students will be able to discuss who Patricia McKissack is and some of the stories that she has written.

Pre-Lesson: Ask the students if they know who she is? Ask the student to brainstorm on who they think she is and what kinds of stories she has written.

Lesson: Tell the students about Patricia McKissack. Give a history of her. Patricia was born August 9, 1944 in Nashville, Tennessee, and show the students books that she has written. Read a couple of the stories and pass out the books for the students to look at.

Post-Lesson: Ask the students if there have been any of Patricia’s books that they have read? Discuss some of the books that they liked better, or books that the students did not like at all.

Assessment: Have the students design a poster advertising Patricia McKissack, by using books that she has written.



Title: Flossie & The Fox
Grade: 3 & 4
Time: 4 hours

Materials:
Flossie and the Fox
Paper-5 sheets of 81/2 * 11
Paper-16 * 20 white
Pencils
Markers
note cards
Craft paper

Objectives: The students will be able to write a paper on the story of Flossie and the fox.


Pre-Lesson: Show the students the cover of the book and read the title. Have the students make predictions about the story based on the title and illustrations on the cover. Ask questions like:
What do you think the story is about? Look at illustrations and tell me what the students see? And what might happen?

Lesson: Read the story of Flossie & The Fox, remind the students to listen carefully so they can determine whether their predictions were accurate.

Post-Lesson: Use questions like the following to encourage class discussion:
How did Flossie trick the Fox? What words describe how hard the fox tried to convince Flossie? Where do you think Flossie lives? How would you describe Flossie, and the fox? Talk about Flossie and the Fox as a folk-tale what other stories are like athis story?

Assessment: The students will write a paper on Flossie and the Fox, by telling what happened in the story.

Extension:
Vocabulary Develpment- This activity will help the students understand the meaning of some expressions that may be unfamiliar to them. The author wrote the story as she her them as a child. There is dialect that the students may not be familiar with. Ask the students what a critter is. Introduce the following: vocabulary in a similar fashion. Critter, tarry, commenced, recollect, reckon y’all fella, beckoned sho’ yo’self ‘side feline, clump, chuckled
Have the students make a thesaurus of the words they learned.

Writing Activity- Ask the students to write a paragraph descibing how they would change the story or how they would retell the story in their own words.
Organize the students into small groups, and have them write a modern fplk-tale that could take place today.
Art- Using craft paper, help the student create a scene depicting a wooded area simliar to the one that was described in the story. Have the students draw pictures of the ccharacters in the apprioprate place on the background scene.

Social Studies- Show the students a map of the United States. Assist them in naming and locating the southern states. Ask the students if any of them were born in any of these states, or if anyone in their families come from these states.

Learning Center Activities-
a.) Provide a list of events in the story.
b.) Have the students put the cards in order in which the events occuried.
c.) Provide a minuature toy animal in the center for students to uses as cues for putting the cards in order.
d.) Include a copy of the book to correct the order.


Readers Theater-
Plan a reader’s theater will Flossie and the Fox. The student will rewrite the folk tale from there group activites. Provide copies of the revised folk tale to the student.



Title: Mirandy and Brother Wind
Grade: 3 & 4
Time: 4 hours
Materials:
Mirandy and Brother Wind Book
paper
pencils
cake mix
eggs
oil
water
frosting
decorating tips
2 tubes of decorating frosting
knife
measuring cups
plates

Objectives: The students will be able to write about their family traditions or culture after we finish with the story.

Pre-Lesson: Ask the students if they know what a cake walk is? Ask any of the students if they have ever participated in a cake walk. Show the students the book. Tell them that this is another book written by Patricia McKissack. Ask if any of the students have read the book?

Lesson: Read the story, ask question after the students are finished with the story if the students are not discussing it to get a discussion rolling.

Post-Lesson: Copy phrases onto the chalkboard, have the students locate the phrases in the story. Discuss the fact that some of these words may be unfamiliar because the culture depicted in the story.

Extension:

Science: Discuss the way the wind is made to appear almost human in the story. Talk about other natural forces or events which people in different cultures endow with human qualities. The list may include Mother Nature, Mother Earth, Father time, and the names we gave hurricanes.

Math: Bake a cake, using measuring cups, decorate the cake, serve the cake to the class in equal proportions.

Social Studies: Initiate a discussion with students about family traditions and cultural backgrounds, explain what is meant by culture. The cake walk jubilee was a social habit or tradition celebration of Mirandy’s family.

Assessment: The students will write a paper on their family traditon or culture.



Title: Library Day
Grade: 3 & 4
Time: 2 hours

Materials:
Library
Material on Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King
Paper
Pencil
Computer
Timeliner 4.0

Objective: The students will be able to bring material back from the library on Rosa Parks or Martin Luther King and work in groups of three students and give a report on the person they have selected.

Pre-lesson: the students will be split up into groups of three. Before the students go over to the library they will select who they want to research. The students will be told that they need to give the class a five minute presentation on the topic. I will ask the students if they know who either person is and what they have done?

Lesson: We will go over to the library, and the students will research the topic they have chosen. I will be around if the students have any problems or need help finding any information. The students will work on their report after they find their information. Remind the students to look for the black authors that they researched at the beginning of this unit. The student will also work on the computer program-Timeliner 4.0 and create a timeline for any dates that we have studied.

Post-Lesson: The students will give their report and as a class we will discuss the information that all the students will report on. We will show the class the timelines each student created and create one as a class.

Assessment: The students will give an oral report on the topic that they have chosen.


Title: I have a Dream: The story of Martin Luther King
Grade: 3 & 4
Time: 4 hours
Material:
Objectives: The students will be able to tell what a biography is and they will be able to keep a journal on the events from Martin Luther King’s life.

Pre-Lesson: Ask the students if anyone did any research on Eloise Greenfield-she is the author of the story that we are about to read. Display a picture or pictures of Martin Luther King. Ask the students if they know who he is, and where he grew up. Ask them what he did that was so important for us to celebrate his birthday?

Lesson: Read the book to the students. After reading the chapter have the students explain the theme of the chapter, explain what a theme is. Have the students keep a journal in summarizing what they have read each day. Ask questions to stimulate discussion.

Post-Lesson: Discuss why Martin Luther King is important have the students tell some of his accomplishments. Discuss what a biography is?

Asessment: The students will keep a journal over the story.

Extension:

Write a Poem:
Encourage students to use some of the words from the story. The peom can be written with guidelines:
line 1: one word of name which is a subject
line 2: two words that describe subject
line 3: three words that tell about a feeling or feelings
line 4: four words that describe an action
Line 5: one word, phrase, or name that refers to the subject.

Vocabulary:
Worksheet fill in the blank



Title: Rosa Parks
Grade: 3 & 4
Time: 1 hour
Materials:
Objectives: The students will be able to find clues for Rosa’s courage and discuss the clues with the class. The students will be able to fill out a think sheet on Rosa Parks.

Pre-lesson: Ask the students if they remember the author Elosie Greenfield, she is the author of the story that they just finished
on Martin Luther King. She writes biographies ask the students if they remember what a biography is. Ask the students if they know what Rosa Parks has done. The students should be able to because they did the research on her a couple of days ago.

Lesson: Read the first two pages of Rosa Parks. Stop and ask the children if they think Rosa was brave. Have the students make a chart on these pages, then read the next three pages. Read the rest of the book and finish the chart. The students can write a clue on the board after the story is finished.

Post-Lesson: Discuss the clues to Rosa’s courage, ask the students if they know what courage is. Have the students answer the think sheet for Rosa Parks.


Extension:
Comparisons: Compare Martin Luther King with Rosa Parks. Have the students complete Venn Diagram to compare these characters.



Title: Celebration day
Grade: 3 & 4
Time: 1 hour
Materials:
Music with a lively beat
Cakes
Pictures
Objectives: The students will be able to celebrate black history with a party.

Pre-Lesson: Have the students discuss the activities that have occurred through the month, have the students each tell about an event that they enjoyed.

Lesson: The students will do a cake walk, they will eat cake and drink juice. The will do their reader’s theaters they wrote.

Post-Lesson: Clean up from the party. Discuss about how important authors are. Discuss why the changes these people have done are of such importance.

Assessment: The students will complete a portfolio on everything that they have done throughout the month.

Rubric:

total point : 100

Report on author ……………………...10

Drawing advertisement……………..….5

Paper on Flossie & Fox…………….……5

Vocabulary……………………….…….5

Writing Activity…………………..……10

Art………………………………..…….5

Social Studies…………………..………5

Reader’s theater……………..…………5

paper on family…………….………….10

oral report………………..……………5

journal………………..………………..5

poem……………..…………………….5

worksheet……..……………………….5

participation…………………………..10

portfolio……………………………….10