My 4th grade class has been studying the Civil Rights Movement in social studies, and many of them have chosen biographies related to this subject for free-reading time. The students are brimming with facts about the movement, and I would like them to start making a deeper connection. I believe that Brown Girl Dreaming will help many of them achieve that goal. Unlike the biographies many of them are reading, Brown Girl Dreaming is written in free verse. This will allow the students to review some concepts from their recent poetry unit as well as experience a new mode of memoir. Brown Girl Dreaming is the true story of a young African American girl growing up in the U.S. in the 1960's and 70's. Born in 1963, she weaves the story of her life with the events of the Civil Rights Movement. This will give the students the opportunity to work with their recently learned vocabulary, as well as some new Tier 2 and 3 words.
As the book is quite long and I would like to fit it into three or four sessions, I have selected excerpts for the students to focus on (listed in the "Materials Needed" section below). These excerpts have been chosen for their clarity and their references to the Civil Rights Movement. In lesson one, students will explore the first two poems as class. In lesson two, students will break into groups and individually discuss the remaining poems. In lesson three, students will present their poems to the class. During these lessons, students will experience several different modes of reading: read-aloud, independent reading, cooperative reading, and shared reading. They will each have an opportunity to demonstrate and improve their reading fluency as well as their ability to encode the text.
In reviewing the text, students will make connections between the text and their social studies unit on Civil Rights. Students with also be encouraged to understand the experiences of the focal character, and they will use the text to support their discussion.
To continue the lesson, students will also have a writing unit where they can create their own free verse memoir.
As the book is quite long and I would like to fit it into three or four sessions, I have selected excerpts for the students to focus on (listed in the "Materials Needed" section below). These excerpts have been chosen for their clarity and their references to the Civil Rights Movement. In lesson one, students will explore the first two poems as class. In lesson two, students will break into groups and individually discuss the remaining poems. In lesson three, students will present their poems to the class. During these lessons, students will experience several different modes of reading: read-aloud, independent reading, cooperative reading, and shared reading. They will each have an opportunity to demonstrate and improve their reading fluency as well as their ability to encode the text.
In reviewing the text, students will make connections between the text and their social studies unit on Civil Rights. Students with also be encouraged to understand the experiences of the focal character, and they will use the text to support their discussion.
To continue the lesson, students will also have a writing unit where they can create their own free verse memoir.
lesson_plan-_civil_rights_in_free_verse.docx |