3-28-13
Review
Discuss Kizzy Ann Stamps
Book Talks: Civil Rights books; other books
YA Lit in civil rights units
Looking at “Unit Plan” assignment
Last week, we looked at a variety of
ways to use poetry to teach and
assess content.
Do you have any lingering questions?
Book talks
I am happy to join with you today in what will go
down in history as the greatest demonstration for
freedom in the history of our nation.
Five score years ago, a great American, in whose
symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the
Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous
decree came as a great beacon light of hope to
millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in
the flames of withering injustice. It came as a
joyous daybreak to end the long night of their
captivity.
But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not
free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro
is still sadly crippled by the manacles of
segregation and the chains of discrimination. One
hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely
island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of
material prosperity. One hundred years later, the
Negro is still languishing in the corners of
American society and finds himself an exile in his
own land. So we have come here today to
dramatize a shameful condition.
from King’s “I Have a Dream” speech
That envelope and the writing paper are so
creamy and thick. . . . I haven’t ever held on
to paper like that before. Mrs. Warren gave
us paper to write our letters to you. I go to
her house each time I need new paper and
she gives me more. She told me she will
give me as much as I want, but paper is not
something we just have lots of sitting
around. I didn’t even know it came in
different types. I guess there are lots of
things I don’t know, though.
from Kizzy Ann Stamps, 3-4
[Frank Charles] lives on the next farm over, and
even though we have farmed our place for nigh
onto three generations (my ancestors got it fair
and square after the war), Mr. Feagans doesn’t
take kindly to having darkies (that’s what he calls
us, and I really hate that word) living so close. He
even moved his homeplace across his land and
built a whole new house so as not to have to see
our land when he gets up of a morning. I wonder
how Frank Charles feels, seeing cows in his old
living room and hay stored up tighter than a tick
on a dog’s head in the whole upstairs of his
childhood. (21-22)
“Most of the teachers won’t eve look at us kids,” he said. “They don’t call our names on the
roll, and you can’t take tests since you didn’t show up on the roll according to the way they call it. If
anybody asks, they say you didn’t come to class, because you didn’t answer the roll. But of course, you
didn’t answer because they didn’t call your name. I heard them talking—they call it their ‘silent
protest.’ They say that Dr. King isn’t the only one who can have a nonviolent protest. They don’t give
us textbooks so we can’t study, and they don’t call on us in class, even if we raise our hands. It’s like
we’re invisible.
“The one time a teacher did speak to me, he said, ‘Mister, they may tell me I have to let you
in my room, but they can’t make me teach you. So there.’” (97)
March 13, 1964
March 21, 1964
I won the bee! The words pouring over my mind,
spilling off my tongue! I’m going to Richmond!
The rush of beautiful words. I was not amazed at
the hug from you—I know by now that you really
do love me even if you are white and I am not—
but when the crowd gasped, I thought we were in
trouble. I think Mrs. Warren saved the day when
she came up and wrapped you and me both in a
hug that stunned us all. (157)
Yes, ma’am. I see. I should have known that
winning the spelling bee wouldn’t have meant I
could really go. Of course they wouldn’t have a
way to reserve a room for a black girl in the
hotel. Of course that will mean the runner-up,
Laura Westover, will have to go. Of course I
understand. You owe me no apology. This is the
way things are. This is the way things are for me.
(166)
“Gifted Hands” trailer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31kep9XRHcU
What other passages from Kizzy Ann Stamps might you
use in conjunction with, say, “Letter from Birmingham
Jail,” or other often-studied texts?
How might you use other YA books for civil-rights or
civil-rights-era units of study?
Sample 11-day “Unit”
Part 1:
Introductory
Activities
Daily Lesson:
Goals,
Strategies,
Assessments
Daily Lesson:
Goals,
Strategies,
Assessments
Part 2:
Major “Content”
of the Work
being Studied
Daily Lesson:
Goals,
Strategies,
Assessments
Daily Lesson:
Goals,
Strategies,
Assessments
Daily Lesson:
Goals,
Strategies,
Assessments
Daily Lesson:
Goals,
Strategies,
Assessments
Daily Lesson:
Goals,
Strategies,
Assessments
Daily Lesson:
Goals,
Strategies,
Assessments
Part 3:
Concluding
Activities
& Final Assessment
Daily Lesson:
Goals,
Strategies,
Assessments
Daily Lesson:
Goals,
Strategies,
Assessments
Presentation
of Projects
and/or Exam
Sample 5-day “Unit”
Part 1:
Introductory
Activities
Daily Lesson:
Goals,
Strategies,
Assessments
Daily Lesson:
Goals,
Strategies,
Assessments
Part 2:
Major “Content”
of the Work
being Studied
Daily Lesson:
Goals,
Strategies,
Assessments
Part 3:
Concluding
Activities
Daily Lesson:
Goals,
Strategies,
Assessments
Presentation
of Projects
and/or Exam
Possible Units:
• American Revolution
YA component: YA graphic novels for content
• Author Study
YA component: YA author(s)
• Rhetoric of “Letter from Birmingham Jail”
YA component: various YA novels
• Literature of War
YA component: Things a Brother Knows
• Genre Study: Dystopias
YA component: 2 or 3 YA dystopian novels as options
What You Need to Turn In:
• Unit Overview
(narrative: mention goals, standards, rationale; “arc” of study)
• Lesson Plans
(outline or narrative OK)
• Supplemental Documentss
(study sheets/questions, ppts, texts)
• Assessments
(quizzes, tests, paper assignments, rubrics)
In short, provide enough material to allow a colleague
to use or adapt the unit for his/her own class.
From the website:
Create whatever documents or files you would use for yourself (such as lesson plans,
lecture notes, and PowerPoint or Prezi presentations), plus everything you would give to
students (such as handouts, assignment directions, study questions, quizzes, review sheets,
and exams) for the unit. Create the materials in electronic form (Word, PowerPoint, Excel,
or html files) and post them on the "Sample Units" page on the class wiki. (If you have
trouble posting, you may email the files to me and I will post them for you.)
Grading - This assignment is the big "take-away" from this class. It is therefore the most
heavily weighted assignment, at 30 points. I will grade the unit holistically, focusing on
the theoretical soundness of your use of YA lit, the thoroughness of the documents (that is,
the degree to which everything necessary for the unit is included, so a colleague could use
the posted materials to teach the unit), and the general practicality or feasability of the
unit. Grades will be assigned as follows:
Superior: 27-30 pts; Above Average: 24-26 pts; Adequate: 21-23 pts; Less Than Adequate: 0-20 pts.
Posting your work (due April 11):
Questions?
Looking Ahead:
April 4 – spring break; no class
April 11 – Unit Plan due; explain plan briefly in class
April 18 – Final Exam due; wrap-up and celebration