My primary unit objective is to present a compact, comprehensive narrative history detailing the lives and accomplishments of Frederick Douglass and Harriet Tubman as perceived by Jacob Lawrence and masterfully recreated on his canvases. Additionally, we will read and appreciate the candid and powerful first-hand account of what it was like to be a slave and to be forced to endure under what must have been incredible hardships and severe persecution. Other objectives are to dramatically improve the reading and writing skills of our students and to expose them to quality pieces of literature written by and about powerful, positive role models. We will also seek to improve their critical thinking and inferential skills as we discuss both literature and art. We hope to challenge our students to excel, to develop a greater awareness of Jacob Lawrence’s art and his modern interpretations of Black history, and to appreciate the heroic accomplishments of Douglass and Tubman alike.
My strategies for teaching this unit will reflect a diversified, interdisciplinary approach. Students will be challenged with comprehensive silent and oral readings; summarizing, finding the main idea and context skills; analytical and inferential skills; and writing and communication skills. The slides will lend themselves nicely to group lectures and oral discussions, especially concerning interpreted meanings. Throughout the autobiography of Douglass, we will highlight his heroic accomplishments as we analyze the mechanics of his writing and his writing style.