Teaching American History Grant
American Tapestry
Lesson Plan Template
Teacher: Gina Coniglio & Wendy Holmes
Grade: 2/3
Unit Topic: Women’s Contribution Month:
The Story of Sojourner Truth
History Essential Questions:
What contributions did Sojourner Truth make & what freedoms came as a
result?
Standards of Learning:
History SOL: The student will:
Develop an awareness and understanding of the role of women in history;
enhance critical thinking skills; understand the role of Sojourner truth in
suffrage and abolitonism
Reading SOL: The student will:
LACC.3.SL.1.2: Determine main idea & supporting details of a text read
aloud or information presented in diverse media & formats, including
visually, quantitatively, & orally.
LACC.3.W.4.10: Write routinely over extended time frames (time for
research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a
day or two) for a range of discipline-specific tasks, purposes, and audiences.
LACC.3.SL.1.3: Ask and answer questions about information from a
speaker, offering appropriate elaboration and detail.
LACC.3.W.3.8: Recall information from experiences or gather information
from print and digital sources; take brief notes on sources and sort evidence
into provided categories.
Lesson Objectives:
Content: The student will:
Be presented with information about Sojourner Truth in order to gain an
understanding of her character traits and how, the person that she was, shaped
the events of her life.
Process: The student will:
Listen to information given about Sojourner Truth and discuss events
surrounding her life. Students will have time to listen, think, and share
information with their classmates in order to draw conclusions.
Materials:
Tradebook: Only Passing Through by Anne Rockwell
(Other books listed under Resources)
Handout: Historical Figure Character Trait Chart
Primary Source Document:
The websites listed below contain primary source documents and additional
background information:
http://www.loc.gov/teachers/classroommaterials/primarysourcesets/womenssuffrage/
http://www.sojournertruth.org/
Sojourner Truth Ain’t I a Woman? By Patricia McKissack & Frederick
McKissack This chapter book is a wonderful resource full of primary source
documents. Photos, letters, newspaper headlines, etc.
United Streaming Videos:
http://player.discoveryeducation.com/index.cfm?guidAssetId=0E57D69B018F-4CFE-AD37-D573DA420AAF&blnFromSearch=1&productcode=US
http://player.discoveryeducation.com/index.cfm?guidAssetId=B17DFDBAD0CB-4455-A5E9-258A72B9D91E&blnFromSearch=1&productcode=US
Assessment/Evaluation: The student will:
The students will write one diary entry from the perspective of Sojourner
Truth. The entry must include at least 4 facts learned from the reading and/or
additional research. Evidence of Sojourner’s character traits must also be
evident. Students will share their diary entry aloud. Costumes or props are
acceptable.
Lesson Procedure
Background Knowledge and Purpose Setting: The teacher will:
Ask, “What freedoms do we enjoy in the United States?” Chart responses.
Conduct a think-pair-share about the freedoms charted. Individually, ask
students to think of what they would miss most if their freedoms were taken
away. Ask students to list their choices on a post it or in a notebook. Next, in
pairs, students share the freedoms they listed. As a whole class, partners share
their ideas. Chart these responses. Have the class vote on their top four.
Before Reading: The teacher will:
Explain the terms suffrage and abolitionism. Show video clips on United
Streaming about Sojourner Truth. Share Primary Source Documents from
given websites.
During Reading: The student will:
Listen to the read aloud, Only Passing Through by Anne Rockwell (or use
any other book listed). The teacher will stop periodically to discuss character
traits that Sojourner Truth shows through out her life. Chart these using the
Historical Figure Character Trait Chart provided. Students can copy the
organizer in a notebook or teacher can make copies for students to fill in.
After Reading: The student will:
Turn and talk to a partner. Discuss the most important character trait you
think Sojourner Truth possessed and how it helped her accomplish her goals.
Closure: The student will:
Come together as a whole group and discuss the ideas generated in the After
Reading activity.
Extension/Differentiation: The student could:
*Use first person interpretation to conduct an interview with Sojourner Truth
or present information from her perspective. The teacher or the students can
dress as her to present.
*Work in cooperative groups to identify a problem in your or community.
Come up with a solution. Create a poster advertising solution and present to
the class.
*Conduct more research on Sojourner Truth. Create a timeline of her life and
include major historical events of her time.
*Imagine that Sojourner Truth has been given the opportunity to apply for a
job. List her qualifications, education, etc.
RESOURCES
A powerful picture book biography of one of the
abolitionist movement's most compelling voices.
Only Passing Through by Anne Rockwell is the inspiring story of how a
woman, born a slave with no status or dignity, transformed herself into one of
the most powerful voices of the abolitionist movement.
The authors' meticulously researched account describes Truth's
relationships with such noted figures as William Lloyd Garrison,
Frederick Douglass, Harriet Beecher Stowe and Abraham Lincoln,
underscoring the book's value as a chronicle of not just one, but
many courageous individuals' battles against injustice. Ages 8-12.
An introduction to the life of the woman born into slavery
who became a well-known abolitionist and crusader for
the rights of African Americans in
the United States.
Using
the
slave
simple language, Merchant relays
story of one of this nation's most
inspirational women--a former
who became an abolitionist,
preacher, and advocate for
women's rights.
A wonderful biography written in simple text and filled with
primary source documents.
Action
Historical Figure Character Trait Chart
Historical
Figure
ion
Action
Action
Action
Action
Listened to people
speaking English and
memorized the words
ambitious
Historical Figure Character Trait Chart
SAMPLE
optimistic
fearless
ion
Action
Historical
Figure
Sojourner
Truth
t
d to free
ne year
Sojourner went
to court to get
her son back. No
slave or woman
had done that.
Action
Isabella changed
her name to
Sojourner Truth
& traveled
around telling
her story.
Action
Sojourner told her
story even when
people got violent
courageous