Using Primary Resources to Make Connections, Ask Questions, and Determine Importance:

   Desegregation of Schools in the United States

Paige Waggoner

Summer Fellowship 2009

 

Abstract:  Making connections, asking questions and determining importance are reading strategies that help students navigate informational text in a meaningful way that helps them think about what they are reading and then use that thinking to understand, remember, and use that information to further their learning.  The primary resources regarding the fight to desegregate the schools in the United States will allow students to use these comprehension strategies to further their understanding of this historical period.

 

Essential Questions/Enduring Understandings:

  • What is a primary resource?
  • What is segregation and desegregation?
  • What did the Brown vs. Board of Education ruling do?
  • Why were there protests and court cases about schools during the civil rights movement?
  • How does making a connection help me understand what I’m reading?
  • Can I merge my thinking with new learning?
  • What are the different types of questions I can ask to understand text better?
  • How can I tell if information in the text will help me understand what I’m reading?
  • How do graphic organizers help organize my thinking?

 

Assessment:  Students will be assessed throughout the unit by completing graphic organizers, reading response journals, and participating in classroom discussions.  The final assessment will be a small group project where students choose to research three of the questions generated during classroom discussions, then develop a poster about one of the questions researched, and orally presenting it to class.

 

Setting the Purpose:  The purpose of this lesson plan is to improve students’ abilities to read strategically by using a variety of comprehension strategies that will allow them to understand and access primary documents more effectively which in turn will help them understand history in a more meaningful way.

 

Lessons:

 

Lesson 1

Lesson 2

Lesson 3

Lesson 4

Materials and Resources