E. Quinson

Room D-201

Periods 2 and 3

 

Friday, November 7, 2008

SWBAT:  consider why change at Central High was a slow, often painful process.

DO NOW:  Write an entry:  What does Melba mean when she writes that “integration is a much bigger word than I thought.” p. 113.

DEVELOPMENT:

1. Review do now.
2. Discuss how we often show how we change, how our opinions change in our writer’s notebooks or journals.  That is what Melba uses her diary for. 
3. Students will review the entries from Melba’s diary.  You can tell them in the book pretty easily, because they are set off from the rest of the text and they are italicized.
4. When they have finished re-reading the diary entries they will write an entry:  What does the progression of these entries suggest about the way attitudes begin to change?  How important are small gestures—a smile, a friendly gesture—in that process.  Use specific details to support your answer.
5. Sometimes small gestures are not, enough, of course, and confrontation can be necessary.
1. Two confrontations are described in this section of the book.

                                                               i.      Meeting with Superintendent of Schools Blossom

                                                             ii.      Roundtable discussion for black and white students.

                                                            iii.      Compare and contrast the two events. 

                                                           iv.      How are they similar?  Different?  What differences are most striking? 

                                                             v.      Which is more likely to shatter stereotypes and widen perspectives?  Why? 

                                                           vi.      What can that teach us for our own community/school?

6. Review/summarize.

H.W.:  1.  Read pp. 141-156, chaps 12 and 13.  Guess vocabulary as you read.  2. Post-it!  Write at least one post-it note about a moment when you see one of Melba’s friends treating her differently because of her enrollment at Central High School.  What does it make you think?  How does it deepen your understanding.  3.  Write one page in your w.n. in response:  How does Melba’s enrollment at Central High affect her relationship with her old friends?  Why do you think they are no longer willing to socialize with her? 

 

Monday, November 10, 2008

SWBAT:   practice using envisioning and inference to deepen their understanding of NAACP officials’ motivation in counseling the Little Rock Nine.

DO NOW:  Independent reading. 

DEVELOPMENT:

1. Check writer’s notebooks of those students who were absent Friday and check independent reading over the weekend.
2. Review use of post-its and envisioning. 
3. Next discuss the need to infer and make connections to other events in the story or with other things we have experienced or seen. 
4. Model think aloud about a topic we have addressed in passing
1. How do NAACP officials want Melba and the others to respond to harassment?  Why?  How successful are Melba and her friends at following this advice? 
2. Discussion – let’s all find a moments in the text (any point of the novel, actually, but especially the last few chapters, where we can find events that help us figure out the answer to this question. 
3. All students find moments where they think they see evidence of NAACP officials’ advice to Melba and the other Little Rock 9.
4. Model think aloud, slow down and re-read.  OK, so they want them to react this way:  now comes the hard part: 

                                                               i.      what does this tell me? 

                                                             ii.      what can I INFER or figure out about their motivations. 

                                                            iii.      What small clues help me understand this? 

                                                           iv.      How can I use this detail to enrich my writing of post-its, which are right there with me as I read, and then also how can I use these details in my writer’s notebook entries. 

·        Why shouldn’t the students complain?

·        Don’t the NAACP care about the Little Rock Nine?

·        What does this tell us about the Civil Rights Struggle as a whole.

·        Make a connection to the article we read about the reaction of the Little Rock Nine to President Elect Obama’s victory.  Do we stand on each other’s shoulders?  Are we all responsible for making sacrifices for those who come after us?

5. If time allows, students may begin their homework reading, focusing on envisioning, and inferencing.

H.W.:  1.  Read pages 157-183, chaps 14 and 15.  Guess vocabulary as you read.  2.  Post-it!  Write at least one post-it where Link helps Melba elude her attackers.  Write about what happens and what clues you may be getting about the risks that Link and Melba are each taking.  Use your post-it notes to find small details which can help you write a good detailed writer’s notebook entry.  3.  Write one page in response:  Why do you think Link secretly helps Melba elude her attackers?  What risks is Link taking in offering Melba his friendship?  What risks is Melba taking in becoming friends with Link?  3.  Independent reading.  Read for one full hour at one time in your independent reading book.  You certainly don’t need to use post-its, you shouldn’t, in fact, but consider the same skills of envisioning and inference that we have been discussing in class.

 

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

SWBAT:  analyze developments in the novel and how racism shapes relationships in different parts of Little Rock society. 

DO NOW:   Independent reading. 

DEVELOPMENT:

1. Check independent reading.
2. Discuss last night’s homework entry about Link helping Melba.  Ask if students had any idea of why Link wanted to help Melba?
1. Elicit answer of Mrs. Healy who had helped raise him.
3. Ask students to review last night’s reading and write post-its when they find moments where they see that Link feels responsible for Mrs. Healy. 
1. Look for the section where he discusses his parents’ reaction to her needs. 
2. Write a post-it where you explore why you think his parents do not feel as responsible for her welfare. 
3. What does this tell us about his parents? 
4. Also, what does this tell us about Link?
4. Discuss how going through this process of re-reading with a purpose helps us deepen our understand different characters’ motivations.  This is what we mean by what does it make me think and what connections can I make. 
5. Discussion Questions:
6. Mrs. Healy
1. How does Link’s relationship with Mrs. Healey affect his attitude toward all African Americans? 
2. How does racism affect Link’s relationship with Melba? 
3. To what extent does Link take a stand against racism?
7. Review/summarize.   Taking time to re-read and look for extra details can help us deepen our understanding of how racism shapes relationships in many corners of Little Rock society (and perhaps our own?).

H.W.:  1.  Finish the book!  Read pp. 204-226, chapter 18 and epilogue.  Guess vocabulary as you read.  2. Post-it!  Write a post-it note when you see details that help the reader know what Ernest Green’s graduation meant to African Americans in Little Rock.  3.  Write one page in your w.n. in response:  What does Ernest Green’s graduation from Central High School mean to African Americans in Little Rock?  Why is it a matter of such concern for segregationists?  4.  Independent reading.

 

Thursday, November 13, 2008

SWBAT:  consider why change at Central High was a slow, often painful process.

DO NOW:  Write an entry:  What does Melba mean when she writes that “the newspapers said Ernie’s diploma cost the taxpayers half a million dollars. Of course, we knew it cost all of us much more.”

DEVELOPMENT:

1. Review do now.
2. Class discussion;

Ø      Discuss how we often show how we change, how our opinions change in our writer’s notebooks or journals.  That is what Melba uses her diary for. 

Ø      Discuss how the media has affected events in Little Rock for good and for ill. 

Ø      Students will look at media calls outs in the book. 

Ø      Discussion Questions:

Ø      Warriors Don’t Cry focuses on a single year in Melba’s life.  Identify some internal and external conflicts she faced that year.

Ø      Describe how Melba’s year at Central High affected the way she sees herself and others.

Ø      How does Melba change in the course of the book?  To what experiences does she attribute those changes?  To what experiences do you attribute those changes?

Ø      What does Melba’s story mean to you?

Ø      Why do you think she wrote this book?

Ø      What is the meaning of the title, Warriors Don’t Cry?

3. Review/summarize.
4. Tomorrow’s test will be part multiple choice, vocabulary, plot, etc.  Then there will also be an essay portion, which will be begun in class and finished at home.

H.W.:  1.  Review vocabulary, characters, and plot.  2.  Independent reading. J 

 

Friday, November 14, 2008

SWBAT:   demonstrate mastery of vocabulary, characters and plot of Warriors Don’t Cry.  DO NOW:  Take out pencils! 

DEVELOPMENT:

1. Administer test.
2. Students may use extra time to plan essay.  Essay is open book. 

H.W.:  1.  Work on essay.  2.  Independent reading.