Barbara P. Moss
Week 2—February 11, 1991February 15, 1991
Monday—Tuesday—Wednesday
Objective
Introduce students to reasons why Blacks write.
Procedure
Have students envision themselves as slaves being mistreated.
Have students envision being sold as slaves and separated from their parents.
Have students tell what they think it was like to ride the bus in Montgomery, Alabama in 1952.
Have students write a skit for a family of 10 living in a four room house with dad being ill and mom being the only breadwinner.
Have students cite reasons that would make poor Blacks feel the need to put their feelings in print Have students read orally the reasons why Blacks write. Break into small groups for discussion. After discussion, bring the most important reasons for Blacks writing to the whole class and the class can discuss the issues at hand.
Thursday Students should be encouraged to write out feelings that emanated from MondayTuesday and Wednesday’s assignments.
Friday Students should be assigned
The Bluest Eye
to read and tell why they feel the author Toni Morrison wrote the book.
Fun Activities and Homework Assignments
VocabularyDefine or Identify
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1. Martin Luther King
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2. song
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3. Maya Angelou
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4. rapper
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5. preacher
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6. griot
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7. liar
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8. slavery
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9 . The Color Purple
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10. Jesse Jackson
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11. poetry
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12. Winnie Mandela
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13. historian
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14. comedian
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15. theatrical
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16. trickster
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17. perpetuate
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18. itinerant
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19. Sanniquellie, Liberia
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20. indigenous
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21. revered
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22. virtuosity
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23. ‘chillun’
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24. characterizations
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25. inherit
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26. ‘dat’
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27. Yolanda King
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28. Nelson Mandela
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29. mimicry
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30. eerie
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31. folktale
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32. conjure
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33. enhance
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34. narrative
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35. myth
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36. antebellum
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37. spiritual
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38. congregation
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39. sermon
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40. chant
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41. folklore
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42. image
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43. storyteller
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44. ubiquitous
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45. phenomena
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46. aesthetic
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47. Shack Thomas
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48. Luke Dixon
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49. motifs
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50. pristine
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* 51. Vocabulary words can also be used for spelling assignments
*Students can and should do reports on famous Black people. Some suggestions of people to be reported on are the following:
1.
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Toni Morrison—author of
Beloved
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2
.
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Jean Toomer—author of Cane
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3
.
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Color Purple—
Alice Walker
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4.
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James Baldwin—author of
Go Tell It On The Mountain
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5
.
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Maya Angelou—author of I
Know Why The Caged Bird Sings
|
6
.
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Gloria Naylor—author of
The Women of Brewster Place
|
7
.
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Winnie Mandela—author of
Struggle Is My life
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8
.
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Nia Damali—author of
Golden Names for an African People
|
9
.
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Linda Goss—author of
I Cannot Tell a Lie Peach Cobbler Pie
|
10
.
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Nikki Giovanni—author of
Don’t Have a Baby till You Read This
|
*Almost all students enjoy listening to stories read to them by their teacher. An excellent time to do this is immediately after lunch. Using
Talk That Talk,
by Linda Goss and Marian Barnes, the following are excellent stories to read to children. (All authors are Black.)
1.
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AfricanAmerican History Rap
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2.
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Boogah Man
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3.
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Bush Got Ears
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4.
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CindyEllie, a Modern Fairy Tale
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5.
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The Frog Who Wanted To Be A Singer
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6.
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Harriet Tubman
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7.
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How the Slaves Helped Each Other
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8.
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How the Snake Got His Rattles
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9.
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Pizza, Pizza DaddyO
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10.
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Why the Rabbit Is Alert
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*The use of a diorama during Black History Month is another fun thing for students to do. Dioramas are scenic representations in which sculptured figures and lifelike details are displayed usually in miniature so as to blend indistinguishably with a realistic painted background.
*Students should know as much as possible about their background and heritage. Tracing one’s family tree or genealogy as it is called is another extremely interesting activity for students.
*Murals of famous Blacks can be done for the classroom or to be displayed in the library. The murals might depict the onset of the art of storytelling from slavery to the present timebeginning with the communication back and forth between slaves as they worked in the fields.
*Students can write stories telling why they feel celebrating Black History Month is important. An incentive to have students put forth maximum effort is that the best stories will be published in the school newspaper.
*Posters, flyers, pictures and even student made commercials can be made and placed at different locations in the school, designating February 1, 1991 as Martin Luther King Day as a kick off to Black History Month. On Martin Luther King Day any and all activities should be about Martin Luther King or the person chosen for the day.
*Boys can be encouraged to make up raps about one of their heroes. Girls can be encouraged to listen and respond by making up a rap about one of their heroines. The best boy rapper and the best girl will receive a gift certificate to McDonald’s.
*Using
Talk That Talk
as a text during Black History Month, a select number of students can be chosen to read and comment on the following:
1.
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Don’t Have a Baby till You Read This
—Nikki Giovanni
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2.
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The Violence of Desperate Men
—Martin Luther King
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3.
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An Old Woman Remembers
—Sterling Brown
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4.
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Song for My Mother, Prayer for My Father
—Linda Goss
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*Unscramble the following words:
1.
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elprPu roloc eth
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2.
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stisnaiorh
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3.
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thmy
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4.
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onit cager ong
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5.
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alir
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6.
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acjonsk
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7.
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stkertric
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8.
|
ktlofeal
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9.
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‘adt’
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10.
|
utlaplirs
|
11.
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imyrcim
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12.
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milyaf erte
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13.
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nonsel nmaleda
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14.
|
gson
|
15.
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perarp
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16.
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yteoreltsl
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