Mathematic Skills in Moses Lesson

Theme:	Slavery and the Underground Railroad
Grades:	3
Subject:	Math, RLA
Duration:	45 minute class session
Standards & Goals:	Note that standards in this lesson plan are for example only. This lesson can be easily adapted to meet your state's specific standards Grade 3 CT Standards RLA 4.2 Students speak and write using standard language structures and diction appropriate to audience and task. MATH 1.2 Represent and analyze quantitative relationships in a variety of ways. MATH 3.2 Use spatial reasoning, location and geometric relationships to solve problems.
Objectives:	Students will: - Have an understanding of the definition of a slave - Read Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom by Carole Boston Weatherford - Solve logic-based math problems directly related to Harriet  Tubman’s many journeys to freedom
Materials and Preparation:	-Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom by Carole Weatherford -Writing journal -Math application worksheet  (Note: for students that learn through listening, have audio versions of the book available. This title is available from RFB&D. Playback system will also be needed.)
Procedures:	Introduction -“Slavery is a practice in which one person, known as a ‘master’ is allowed through customs or even laws to own another human being.” From 1619 to 1865 people were enslaved based solely on skin color. The definition is taken directly from the foreword of Weatherford’s book, Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom. -The Underground Railroad is not a real railroad. It is a term that is used to describe a system that helped escaped slaves. People who believed slavery was wrong used their homes to hide and aid fugitive slaves. Slaves were helped with food, shelter and money on their routes to the Northern states and Canada. Instruction -Harriet Tubman was a slave, and she allowed her faith guide her on a dangerous journey to freedom. Harriet Tubman is compared to Moses. The biblical Moses lived in ancient Egypt and led his people, slaves of the Pharaoh, to freedom. -The story will show us how Harriet let her faith guide her to freedom. She continued to travel back to the south on 19 journeys to help as many as 300 slaves. -Read the story of Harriet Tubman. -Harriet Tubman was a leader. Brainstorm what qualities make a person a leader. Practice -Each student will be given a worksheet that has mathematical application questions that relate directly to Harriet Tubman’s journeys. -Provide sufficient time for students to independently work, and then allow time for small groups to talk about how they arrived at their answers. All students should be able to explain how they arrived at their answers for each question. Wrap-up -Review each answer and discuss the logic behind the math in solving each problem.
Assessment:	Assess student success in solving the real world math.

Differentiated Instruction Lesson Tips

Student may have extended time on an individualized basis.

Provide similar mathematical/logic based problems as a model to assist struggling students.

Lesson plan taken from Learning Through Listening wesbite

We Are The Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball

Theme:Analytical Thinking Skills, Creative Responses to Literature, Appreciating African American Culture in the United States

Grades:3 - 5

Subject:Reading and Language Arts, Social Studies

Duration: 2 class periods

Standards
& Goals

1. Reading and Responding

      1.2 Students interpret, analyze and evaluate text in order to extend understanding and appreciation.

      1.4 Students communicate with others to create interpretations of written, oral and visual texts.

Objectives:

Students will: 
 

• Listen to and discuss We Are The Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball by Kadir Nelson both literally and analytically
• Complete three activities in a choice board based on the book. 

Preparation:

• Copies of We Are The Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball by Kadir Nelson
• Access to the Learning Through Listening website to access student copies and an overhead copy of the Choice Board

• An overhead projector and markers
• Copies of a blank Venn diagram
• Publishing and writing materials for the activities on the Choice Board

(Note: for students that learn through listening, have audio versions of the book available. This title is available from RFB&D. Playback system will also be needed.)

Procedures:

Introduction:

• Prior to teaching the lesson, review the Choice Board strategy in the Strategies and Activities section on the Learning Through Listening website.
• Preview the book with the students. Show them the illustrations.
• Discuss what the students know about baseball and segregation.

Instruction:

• Using the overhead projector, show the students the Choice Board for the book.
• Discuss the activities in each square. Make sure the students have a thorough understanding of the activities in each square.

Practice:

• Distribute student copies of the Choice Board.
• Allow students to complete the Choice Board independently, in pairs or cooperative groups.

Wrap-up:

• Allow the students time to share their favorite response from the Choice Board.
• Ask the students to share what they learned from reading this book. How would baseball be different today if Jackie Robinson had not crossed the color line and played in the major leagues?

Assessment:

• Participation in class discussion.
• Ability to complete three activities on the Choice Board with at least 75% accuracy.

Differentiated Instruction Lesson Tips

 

Assign specific squares to students who may need help in certain areas.

Assign students to complete the four corners or all the squares as a challenge.

Leave one square blank and have the students design an activity for it.

Just Right Stew - Classroom Cookbook

Grade: First Grade Suggested Activity Timing: Before or after a Grandparents Day event. CT State Standards: Language Arts: 1.1 Students use appropriate strategies before, during and after reading in order to construct meaning. 1.2 Students interpret, analyze and evaluate text in order to extend understanding and appreciation. Social Studies: 2.3 Create various forms of written work (e.g., journal, essay, blog, Web page, brochure) to demonstrate an understanding of history and social studies issues. 2.3 Create various forms of written work (e.g., journal, essay, blog, Web page, brochure) to demonstrate an understanding of history and social studies issues. What You Need: "Real" cookbooks; computer or typewriter; paper; markers and/or pencil crayons; three-hole punch; binder. Doing It: Food plays a major role in most families. People love the first illustration in Something to Remember Me By -- a big, sunny, bright, warm kitchen -- because it evokes food memories. Food is a way to communicate. It's a way to celebrate cultural heritage, build family traditions, bring a family together during a holiday, and forge a bond through the simple act of sharing it. Creating a Classroom Cookbook encourages children to share their own family food history, compare different traditions and cultures, and develop basic research skills. The end result of a cookbook is also a source of pride and accomplishment. Start by sharing some storybooks that deal with food and its various roles in relationships across generations: The Chicken Salad Club by Marsha Diane Arnold; The Borrowed Hanukkah Latkes by Linda Glaser; Thunder Cake by Patricia Polacco; Dumpling Soup by Jama Kim Rattigan; Just Right Stew by Karen English Talk about children's favorite food -- something special that their parents or grandparents make. Do you know whether any recipes have been preserved in your family from past generations? What was their origin? How were they passed down -- by word of mouth, by observation, in writing? Are they still made today? When? By whom? Have you ever helped make them? How does your family prepare for and celebrate special holidays? Does grandma's apple pie taste as good when your mom makes it? Children may not know all the answers to these questions, but they will get them thinking about food traditions in their family. Next, look at some "real cookbooks." What do they contain? How are they written? What do you need to include in a recipe? What are the illustrations like? Look through the categories used in cookbooks to decide on the type of food you might want to focus on for your Classroom Cookbook. For example, it might be a good idea to focus on just desserts or soups to make it easier to compare across different cultures. Everyone in the class then collects their favorite family recipe. When children get the recipe from their parent or grandparent, they can also do a mini-interview, asking the following kinds of questions: - What's the recipe? Are there any special hints for preparing it? - Where did the recipe come from? - Can you remember a time when the dish didn't turn out the way you expected? - What recipe are you famous for? - What would you prepare for a small group? A large group? - What cookbook do you use the most? - What do you remember your mother or grandmother making? - What's the most delicious meal you've ever had? - Are you allergic to any foods? - What foods do you dislike? - Do you know any food proverbs or sayings? - The last question can be a fun addition to the cookbook. You can also post proverbs and sayings about food and cooking on a classroom bulletin board -- "Don't cry over spilt milk", "A watched pot never boils", "Too many cooks spoil the broth", etc. Once all the recipes have been collected, children can each type out a page with their recipe, perhaps some background or family history about it, and an illustration or even a photograph. Three-hole punch each page and put all the pages in a binder. Extension: You can "publish" the cookbook by making photocopies of it. Have a "launch party" with foods from the book (made by children, parents, and grandparents). You can even sell autographed copies. This could be part of a Grandparents Day event.

Modified from website: http://www.legacyproject.org/grandparentsdaykit/part2/gpday2.3.html

Karen English (Author)

Karen English

Multi-cultural author Karen English has been writing children's books since 1992. This elementary school teacher and mother of four celebrated her first children's literature publishing success with Neeny Coming, Neeny Going, a picture book about two cousins growing up in a rural area in South Carolina. In the years following, English published a few more picture books, including Hot Day on Abbott Avenue which was illustrated by Javaka Steptoe and her most recent chapter book series for early readers, Nikki and Deja. 

Many of English's books focus on multi-racial friendships, feuding friends, resolving differences, and the internal struggles of young females facing a range of controversial issues from discrimination to questioning their own religious beliefs. English's book Francie, originally intended as  a picture book, evolved into a novel which was given a Coretta Scott King Honor by the American Library Association in 2000. Quoted in a Publishers Weekly interview English spoke toward continuous persistence as an author, "You have to remember publishing is a business, and not to take it personally. I count every personal response from an editor as a success. Even if your book doesn't fit their list, it means you caught their eye."  


Bibliography of the work for the author:
English, K. (2010). Nikki and Deja: The newsy newsletter. Ill. Laura Freeman. Clarion: New York, NY.
English, K. (2009). Nikki and Deja: Birthday blues. Ill. Laura Freeman. Clarion: New York, NY.
English, K. (2007). Nikki and Deja. Ill. Laura Freeman. Clarion: New York, NY.
English, K. (2005). The baby on the way. Ill. Sean Qualls. Farrar, Straus: New York, NY.
English, K. (2004). Speak to me: (And I will listen between the lines). Ill. Amy June Bates. Farrar,
     Straus: New York, NY.
English, K. (2004). Hot Day on Abbott Avenue. Ill. Javaka Steptoe. Clarion: New York, NY.
English, K. (2001). Strawberry Moon. Farrar, Strauss: New York, NY.
English, K. (2000). Speak English for us, Marisol! Ill. Enrique O. Sanchez. Albert Whitman: Morton
     Grove, IL.
English, K. (1999). Francie. Farrar, Straus: New York, NY.
English, K. (1999). Nadia's hands. Ill. Jonathan Weiner. Boyds Mills Press: Honesdale, PA.
English, K. (1998). Just right stew. Ill. Anna Rich. Boyds Mills Press: Honesdale, PA.
English, K. (1996). Big wind coming! Ill. Cedric Lucas. Albert Whitman: Morton Grove, IL.
English, K. (1996). Neeny coming, Neeny going. Ill. Synthia Saint James. BridgeWater Books:
     Mahwah, NJ.


Awards:
2005 recipient of the Jane Addams Children’s Book Award
2005 ALA Notable Children’s Book Award  for Hot Day on Abbott Avenue.
1999 recipient of the Coretta Scott King Honor for Francie
Big Wind Coming! and Speak English for Us, Marisol! have been
      featured by the Anti-Defamation League as recommended
      multicultural and anti-bias books for children

Interview with author Karen English:
The Brown Bookshelf Interview 


Six Learning Activities Using Karen English Books:
Speak to Me (and I Will Listen Between the Lines)
Classroom Cookbook (Just Right Stew)


Resources:
Something About the Author. Volume 202. pp40-42
Common Core CT Standards

Kadir Nelson (Illustrator)

Kadir Nelson

Even though he graduated from the prestigious Pratt Institute and has been illustrating children's books since 1999, Kadir Nelson credits his uncle for teaching him the importance of perspective, different mediums, and color-mixing that are signature throughout his illustrations and paintings.

Son of  motivational speaker and author, Emily Diane Gunter, and father of two daughters, Nelson self-illustrated two books, We Are the Ship: The Story of Negro Baseball (2008) and Change Has Come: An Artist Celebrates Our American Spirit (2009), as well as illustrated several other books for a variety of publishers. Ntozake Shange's picture book, Ellington Was Not a Street, earned Nelson the 2004 Coretta Scott King Award for Illustration and the 2005 Simon Wiesenthal Center's Once Upon a World Children's Books Award. Nelson was also awarded the Caldecott Honor designation in 2007 for the illustrations in Carole Boston Weatherford's Moses.


Nelson has described his work as being "all about healing and giving people a sense of hope and nobility". He explained to School Library Journal contributor, Rick Margolis, "When you see people who look like you and your family presented in a positive way, it helps you feel more pride. If you have an example in front of you, perhaps you start to think, 'I can do that, too.' That really opens children's eyes, and that's what I hope my work does."


Self-Illustrated: 
Nelson, K. Ill. (2008). We are the ship: The story of negro league 
     baseball. Forward by Hank Aaron. Jump at the Sun/Hyperion
     Books for Children: New York, NY.
Nelson, K. Ill. (2009). Change has come: An artist celebrates our 
     American spirit. Simon & Schuster: New York, NY.

Illustrated: 
Allen, D. (1999). Brother of the knight. Dial Books: New York, NY.
Allen, D. (2000). Dancing in the wings. Dial Books: New York, NY.
Jordan, D. and Jordan, R.M. (2000). Salt in his shoes: Michael Jordan 
     in pursuit of a dream. Simon & Schuster: New York, NY.
Nolen, J. (2000). Big Jabe. HarperCollins: New York, NY.
Smith, Will. (2001). Just the two of us. Scholastic, Inc.: New York,
     NY.
Grifalconi, Ann. (2002). The village that vanished. Dial Books: New
     York, NY.
Grimes, N. (2002). Under the Christmas tree. HarperCollins: New York,
     NY.
Lee, S. and Lee, T.L. (2002). Please, baby, please. Simon & Schuster:
     New York, NY.
Nolen, J. (2003). Thunder rose. Harcourt: San Diego, CA.
Shange, N. (2004). Ellington was not a street. Simon & Schuster: New
     York, NY.
Packer, T., et al. (2004). Tales from Shakespeare. Scholastic, Inc.: New
     York, NY.
Nolen, J. (2005). Hewitt Anderson's great big life. Simon & Schuster:
     New York, NY.
Richardson, C.K. (2005). The real slam dunk. Puffin Books: New York,
     NY.
Lee, S. and Lee, T.L. (2005). Please, puppy, please. Simon & Schuster:
     New York, NY.
Dial Books for Young Readers. (2005).  He's got the whole world in his 
     hands. New York, NY.
Jordan, D. and Jordan, R.M. (2006). Michael's golden rules. Simon &
     Schuster: New York, NY.
Weatherford, C. B. (2006). Moses: When Harriet Tubman led her 
     people to freedom. Hyperion: New York, NY.
Levine, E. (2007). Henry's freedom box. Scholastic Press: New York, NY.
Rappaport, D. (2008). Abe's honest words: The life of Abraham Lincoln.
     Hyperion Books for Children: New York, NY.
Staines, B. (2009). All God's Critters. Simon & Schuster: New York, NY.
Shange, N. (2009). Coretta Scott. Katherine Tegen Books: New York, NY.
Robinson, S. (2009). Testing the ice: A true story about Jackie Robinson.
     Scholastic Press: New York, NY.
Napoli, D.J. (2010). Mama Miti: Wangari Maathai and the trees of 
     Kenya. Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers: New York, NY.


Awards:
Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award, a Caldecott Honor and an NAACP Image Award for MOSES: When Harriet Tubman Led her People to Freedom
2001 National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Image Award, Just the Two of Us
2002 Silver Medal for original art, Society of Illustrators, Under the Christmas Tree
2004 Coretta Scott King Honor Book designations, ALA, Thunder Rose
2004 Coretta Scott King Award for Illustration, Ellington Was Not a Street
2005 Simon Wiesenthal Center, Once Upon a World Children's Book Award,  Ellington Was Not a Street
2007 Caldecott Honor designation, Moses
2008 Union Bank of California/KPBS Local Hero of the Year Award
2009 Coretta Scott King Author Award & Illustration Honor designation, We Are the Ship
2009 Robert F. Sibert Information Book Award, We Are the Ship


For further information about Kadir Nelson's work:
The Art of Kadir Nelson
Kadir Nelson Official Publisher Page
Reading Rockets Video Interview with Kadir Nelson
PLA Blog: Luncheon with Kadir Nelson
Henry's Freedom Box reviews
WE ARE THE SHIP: The Story of Negro Baseball


Activities for Kadir Nelson Books:
WE ARE THE SHIP: The Story of Negro Baseball (See sidebar post)

Brothers of the Knight (audio/video book activity) 
      (Grade 2: 4. Applying English Language Conventions:  Students apply the conventions of standard English in oral, written and visual communication. 4.1 Students use knowledge of their language and culture to improve competency in English.)


Ellington Was Not a Street (use book instead of movie for lesson) Grades 3-4 
      (Grade 4: 1. Reading and Responding: Students read, comprehend and respond in individual, literal, critical and evaluative ways to literary, informational and persuasive texts in multimedia formats. 1.3 Students select and apply strategies to facilitate word recognition and develop vocabulary in order to comprehend text.

Hewitt Anderson's Great Big Life Vocabulary Lesson

Moses: When Harriet Tubman led her People to Freedom (See sidebar post)




Common Core CT Standards