Curricular Resources > 1998 Volume I > Unit 5 (98.01.05) > Section 11

The Use and Abuse of History in Film and Video

CONTENTS OF CURRICULUM UNIT 98.01.05

Unit Guide

A Film and Literature Study of The African - American Migration

Felicia R. McKinnon

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LESSON PLANS

Sample Lesson 1

Objectives:

1. The students will view films that depict working conditions of the North in the Chicago stockyards.
2. The students will identify reasons why African-Americans migrated to Northern cities.
3. The students will compare and contrast a person depicted in film with a real life person during the time of the film.
4. The students will define relevant vocabulary for comprehension.
5. The students will take notes about people and the situations as they view films.
6. The students will judge decisions made by migrants and evaluate the situations they encountered.
7. The students will use facts drawn from the documentary film to make decisions about representation of truth in the film “The Killing Floor”.

Materials:

Films- “The Killing Floor” and “The Promised Land.”
A compare and Contrast graphic organizer or chart

Grouping:

Grades two-six, whole class

Procedure:

1. Prior to viewing the two films, have students set a purpose for viewing. Instruct them to select similar vocabulary, ideas and people represented in both films.
2. Once both films have been viewed, generate a list of terms that could be found in both films and terms which were exclusive to a film (i.e. migration, stockyards, unions, attitude, family)
3. Then identify the character Frank Custer (“The Killing Floor”) and Odell Willis (“The Promised Land”).
4. Prepare the students to think about ways in which these men can be compared and contrasted with regard to the terminology listed in procedure #2.
5. Discuss the historical importance of “The Killing Floor” and encourage students to question its accuracy based on the information provided in the documentary “The Promised Land.”
6. To conclude the lesson refer to the following comprehension questions for students to discuss:
-How was the term “promised land” used in “The Killing Floor”? What were Frank Custer and his migrating comrades expecting to find in the North?
-What forms of transportation was used by Custer and the other migrants? What significance did this have to the historical essence of the movement?
- Describe how life was different for the relocated Custer? Was life better for him in the North? Explain.

Sample Lesson 2

Objectives:

1. The students will express ideas through written accounts that pertain to the paintings by Jacob Lawrence and demonstrate sensitivity to values and behaviors of the people depicted in the paintings.
2. The students will recite written versions of the various occurrences seen in paintings while recreating images depicted in the paintings.
3. The students will identify the major cities in the North to which African-Americans migrated and the areas from which they came.
4. The students will identify the reasons for the migration.
5. The students will identify the needs and wants of African-Americans as they decided to migrate North.

Materials:

Jacob Lawrence’s The Great Migration: An American Story, Writing Materials, Computer Word Processor

Grouping: Grades two-six, cooperative groups

Procedures:

1. To engage students into the text, capture their interest by providing background information about the front and back covers’ illustrations. The observant students will recognize the art from the “The Promised Land” documentary.
2. Allow students to reflect on both paintings by referring to prior knowledge of the migration.
3. Read the introduction by Jacob Lawrence. Have students understand the author’s purpose for painting and writing this book.
4. Discuss the authenticity of the written and painted information. Ask students if, based on what the author has written in the introduction, we can trust this work to be a true representation of history. Have them explain why or why not.
5. Continue to allow students to make personal reflections about the paintings by previewing each painting in the text.
6. Encourage the students think about the message the author is trying to portray.
7. Now read aloud the text and allow students to confirm their predictions about the author’s messages.
8. As you read aloud, encourage students to select a picture that they may want to reproduce and subsequently create dialogue for the people being portrayed.
9. After read aloud is over, assign students in groups of 3-5. Instruct them to decide on at least 3 paintings to create dialogue for and dramatize.
10. Allow students to word process their scripts. They should be encouraged to perform for other groups, classes, etc.
11. While performing the dramatizations, students can display their reproductions of Lawrence’s paintings in the background.

Sample Lesson 3

Objectives:

1. The students will engage in writing experiences that promote reflective, persuasive, and expository writing.
2. The students will compose final projects using a word processor.
3. The students will compare the behaviors and lives of African-Americans during the 1870’s-1940’s to today.
4. The students will compare the lives of African-Americans who migrated to those who remained in the South.
5. The students will read letters written by migrants as they traveled North and settled as well as letters by people who were trying to migrate and responding to the advertisements in the Chicago Defender.
6. The students will recite final projects to other students or to an audience.

Materials:

Writing materials, word processor, Letters of African- American migrants.

Grouping:

Grades two-six, individual

Procedures:

1. Begin by explaining the day’s objectives. Let the students know that they will be using a specific writing structure called R.A.F.T. The acronym stands for:
Role ( what position is the writer taking )
Audience ( who the writer is directing the message to )
Format ( how the writer get the message across )
Topic ( what the writer will write about )
2. Model the strategy by reading aloud letters by migrants. Asking the children to analyze each letter to determine all components of R.A.F.T. Tell students that they will be responsible for a written piece following the R.A.F.T. structure.
3. After providing practicing for the students, as a group generate a list of possible roles, audiences, and formats. The topic should remain: The Migration.
Possible roles: Southern (people who decided to remain in the South) or Northern African-Americans (recent migrants), Southern or Northern Whites, African-Americans who wish to migrate, union workers.
Possible audiences: Same possibilities as roles.
Possible formats: letter, speech, journal, poster, debate, radio script, poem, dialogue or conversation.
Topic: Migrating North or remaining in the south
4. Once the list of responses has been compiled by students, permit them to begin pre-writing by selecting one possibility from each category.
5. After this prewriting stage they should be ready to produce a first draft and complete the writing process. Encourage peer conferences so students will have practice presenting their final projects.
6. To strengthen oral speaking skills arrange a time for students to present their final projects to another class or audience.

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