Kerver
Post Reading Strategy: Jim Crow Laws and Segregation
Context
Post-reading strategies are an important skill for students to practice in order to help
solidify comprehension, address any questions they have about the reading, and practice new
words and concepts. For this lesson, students will be practicing their post-reading skills by
creating flashcards on the tool Quizlet. They will be reading a textbook selection that
discusses Jim Crow laws and Segregation in the United States. While evaluating these events
students will grapple with the competing ideas of Freedom within the US, and how many
Americans had to overcome many obstacles to secure their freedom. Before this lesson students
will already have learned about reconstruction and the mistreatment of African Americans in the
US. This lesson is designed to help students learn new terms and concepts pertaining to Jim
Crow and Segregation that will prepare them to be able to fully discuss and write about this
period of time afterwards.
Grade Level
11th Grade VA/US History
Topic
Segregation and Jim Crow Laws
Time
One class period, 90 minutes
National Education Technology Standards for Students
1.a) Students apply existing knowledge to generate new ideas, products, or processes.
2.a) Students interact, collaborate, and publish with peers, experts, or others employing a
variety of digital environments and media
2.d) Students contribute to project teams to produce original works or solve problems.
Virginia Standards of Learning
VUS.1 The student will demonstrate skills for historical and geographical analysis and
responsible citizenship, including the ability to
a) identify, analyze, and interpret primary and secondary source documents, records,
and data, including artifacts, diaries, letters, photographs, journals, newspapers,
historical accounts, and art, to increase understanding of events and life in the
United States;
c) formulate historical questions and defend findings, based on inquiry and
interpretation.
VUS.8
The student will demonstrate knowledge of how the nation grew and changed from the
end of Reconstruction through the early twentieth century by
c) analyzing prejudice and discrimination during this time period, with emphasis on
“Jim Crow” and the responses of Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. DuBois
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Instructional Model
The “I do, we do, you do” model is effective in giving students guided practice when
learning new skills. This is a scaffolding approach that models the skill to students, has them
practice the skills, and then has them do the skill on their own.
Flashcards are helpful for students because they help them make connections to the word,
examples and non-examples, and critical attributes. They also make connections between new
words and more familiar words. There are many different ways flashcards can be made
depending on the learning objective. Some flashcards might have students simply define the
term, others will explore examples and non-examples, and some might involve illustrations. In
this lesson students will create flashcards that will help them understand the term and then place
it within a larger historical context. Quizlet is an especially useful tool not only because it
incorporates flashcards, but it allows students to share their flashcards with each other as an
additional study component. It allows for the instructor to easily view and compile students
responses as well.
Objective
By the end of the lesson, students will have engaged in key terminology and concepts of
segregation in the United States by creating a set of 12-15 flashcards on Quizlet.
Assessment
Students will be assessed based on the completion of a group set of 12-15 flashcards, with each
student making at least 3 flashcards each.
Students will be assessed based on the thorough and logical completion of a concept map that
incorporates all of the flashcards.
Materials
Laptops
Textbook, The Americans
Projector
Plan b: Document viewer, flashcards, concept maps
Instructional Strategies
I.
Set up:
 Students will arrive in the classroom and pick up laptops to bring to their desks.
 They will log onto the computer and be directed to go the website specifically for
our class’s Quizlet: https://quizlet.com/join/EeRwuyg9e
II.
Hook/Intro:
 To introduce the topic of racial oppression, I will play the Billie Holiday song
“Strange Fruit” using Youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4ZyuULy9zs
 We will briefly discuss what the “Strange Fruit” was that Billie Holiday sings
about and about racial violence in the South. This will segue into the content.
III.
Implementing the Post Reading Strategy
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3.
I will ask the students how they remember what they have read in a textbook and how
they practice studying for a test.
 I will explain that today students will be working on making flashcards as part
of a post-reading and study strategy.
 To make these flashcards, students will be working in groups at their table to create a
set using Quizlet
Modeling the Post Reading Strategy
 Before students start the reading, I will model the strategy using the first paragraph
of the text selection. (pg. 492-495)
 A student volunteer will read the paragraph aloud. After the student finishes, I
will pick out a word that I would like to look at a little closer. I will pick the person
“Ida B. Wells”
 Using my computer screen on the projector, I will model how to create a new
flashcard. During this time, students have their laptops closed and are just watching.
 I will explain students should address two questions when they make their flashcards:
the “what” and “so what”
 The “what” is a description of the term. The “so what” addresses why this is
important, or how this connects with other aspects of history.
 I will then model the “what” in this case is “Ida B. Wells was an African-American
journalist who exposed the injustices of racial oppression and segregation”
 I will then model the “so what” in this case: “Ida B. Wells was not afraid to speak out
on the injustices she saw and experienced. She was a leader in African American’s
fight for equality that continues today.”
Practicing the Post-Reading Strategy
I will ask students to pick another term in the first paragraph they think is important or
would like to talk about.
Students might pick terms such as: lynching, racial oppression, or emancipation.
I will ask them to take out their laptop and choose a term for a new flashcard.
I will ask for students to respond to the “what” and “so what” out loud, and will check
for understanding.
Students will each be creating one flashcard for this step, and it is mostly just a
practice to see if they understand how to use Quizlet and how to make a flashcard. I
will circulate.
Students do the post-reading strategy on their own
 Students will first read the pages of the textbook, making note of any potential
flashcard terms or concepts.
 Students will work in groups to create these flashcards, because at the end they
must present a “set of flashcards.” Though they will create most flashcards
individually, they will have to strategize who is creating which ones and
discussion about the flashcards it allowed.
 The “set of flashcards” must include a combination of people, events, court cases,
terminology, or concepts. Students must create a minimum of 3 flashcards each, and
make sure there are no repeats of the cards.
 When the groups are finished making their flashcards, students will all have access to
the Quizlet, and can use it as study material for their upcoming test.
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Plan b: Students will use physical flashcards to create their own set. A document
viewer will be used to model the flashcard creation.
IV: Assessment
 Have students use the flashcards on the Quizlet to create a concept map of
everything they have covered.
 On the projector, the teacher will bring up Inspiration and show students where they can
find concept maps.
 Students will keep their laptop and use Inspiration (concept mapping software) to put
all of the ideas together into one map of their choosing.
 Students will send this concept map to the teacher as a form of assessment. The concept
map will be assessed based on the use of the flashcards, and the formation of a coherent
map.
 Plan b: Premade concept maps will be printed for students to fill out if the laptops
do not work.
Differentiation
This lesson is easily differentiated to accommodate diverse learning styles. The strategy
of “I do, we do, you do” provides students with modeling and scaffolding to help them practice
and understand the strategy. It provides students with multiple ways to learn the content: by
watching, guided practice, and then on their own. On Quizlet, students also have the option of
adding a picture which could be useful for students’ memory and understanding.
Accommodation/Modifications
Some students will need additional time for reading, but the time allotted should be
sufficient since the reading is only four pages. Since they are working as a group to create a set
of flashcards, students should be able to help each other if they end up creating the flashcards at
different paces. Students will be encouraged to work together as a group to create a complete set.
Students will also be given the option to read aloud within their small groups since the reading
selection is not very long, and since it was modeled this way. Again, the “I do, we do, you do”
strategy will be very beneficial for students in this class who work best by seeing the modeling
and then completing with guided practice.
Resources
Danzer, G. (2009). The Americans. Evanston, IL: McDougal Littell.
Fisher, D., Brozo, W., & Frey, N. (2011). 50 Instructional Routines to Develop Content Literacy
(3rd ed.). Boston, Massachusetts: Pearson.
https://www.teachingchannel.org/videos/modeling-strategy-getty