Classroom Activities
Following this section, under "Resources," are a series of detailed journal entries that can serve to shape the unit. The following are classroom activities based on three of the journal entries.
Journal Entry #2: Geography
Students will need access to laptops or to a computer lab. MapQuest is easily navigated, and Google Earth is a free application that is also easy to use. Using a county or city real estate web site could potentially cause problems if students started to compare the prices of each other's homes. MapQuest will provide a good street grid to use, and Google Earth will give an actual aerial or street view of the house/apartment. Students may also choose to take pictures of their houses with cameras or with their cell phones. This can also work, provided that students have a way to print the images.
The student will print up a street grid that shows his/her neighborhood, about a three-to-four block area surrounding his/her house. Then, the student will up a picture of his house in either black and white or in color, depending on the school's printing capabilities. Next, the student will list distinguishing characteristics of the outside of his home, including the house/apartment number, mailbox, paint colors, fences, trees, plants, steps, sidewalk, etc. The student will write these details on lined paper, or the teacher may provide larger paper on which students can attach their pictures and write the details with arrows pointing to the picture. Using the street grid, the student will list immediate landmarks, which would include the names of neighbors, the location of bus stops, nearby stores and businesses, open lots, playgrounds, schools, churches, etc. As with the house picture, the details can be listed on lined paper or put on a poster-sized paper with arrows pointing to the locations on the street map. Finally, the student will list sensory elements of his home in his journals.
The student will share this information with a partner, then with a small group of three to five students. Depending on the amount of time available, the teacher may allow one person from each group to present his house information to the class, or each student to share three to five specific details about his home to the class.
The teacher can lead a short whole-class discussion using the following questions: 1) What elements of home did the people in your group have in common? 2) Which aspect of where you live is the most important to you? Location? Size? Style? 3)How much of your self-image is affected by or shaped by the place in which you live? Evaluation will be based on completion of the three journal entry sections and participation in the class discussion.
Journal Entry #7: Flyin' West and Kinwork
Before reading this play, it is recommended that students get a little bit of background knowledge about African Americans in the American West. The teacher will assign pairs of students (or small groups) the following topics to research either in the school library or at home. There is plenty of information available online for these topics: Exodusters, Buffalo Soldiers, dugout homes, Benjamin "Pap" Singleton, the town of Nicodemus, black cowboys, John Brown, "Bleeding Kansas," the Homestead Act of 1862, and "passing" (for white). Each pair or group of students should have enough information for a two-minute presentation. Students will take notes on each presentation in their journals.
Flyin' West is a very engaging play, and students will enjoy reading it aloud in class, taking parts. The theme of family is very important in this play, and several parts of the journal entry assigned to this book have to do with the meaning of family. Many students today have single parents, divorced parents, step-parents, step-siblings, half-siblings, etc. Seeing the strong self-created family in this play speaks to many students who have struggled with shifting family ties.
About midway through the play, the teacher may want to lead a short class discussion about the character of Sophie, an orphaned mulatto who starts as a laundress, then becomes a friend, and then a sister to the black middle-class sisters Fannie and Minnie. The value of what Carol Stack calls "kinwork" (see previous notes) definitely comes into play here. Some questions may include: 1) How does the shared ownership of land reflect the relationship between Fannie, Minnie and Sophie? 2) In what ways does Sophie act as head of the family? 3) What is the dynamic between Sophie and Miss Leah? How does this relationship portray kinwork? 4) Do you have friends who have become like family? What are the differences (if any) between blood relatives and friends who are like family?
After reading the play, students should consider how it depicts the idea of home. A recommended activity is to have students debate the following question: "Is Sophie's desire for an all-black town reasonable?" To prepare, students can list the advantages and disadvantages to having a town for blacks only. They should also consider the historical period, the problem of land speculators, the town's relationship to the State of Kansas, and the basic logistics such a choice requires. The debate may be in small groups or as a whole class. One method is to form groups of five, with two students arguing for and two against all-black towns. The fifth student will take notes on the major points and conclusions, and keep the discussion on topic. If the debate is whole-class, the teacher can assign team captains, a timekeeper, and students to take notes on the discussion. After the discussion is over, the note-takers can present their findings to the class and summarize them on charts. For homework, students will write a response to the following prompt: "If you could create an ideal town, where would it be? Who would live there? List five rights and/or responsibilities each citizen would have in this town." Discussing some of their responses could be used as a warm-up activity for the next class. Evaluation will be based on presentation of original research, participation in the whole class discussion, participation in the debate, and completion of homework reflection.
Journal Entry #9 Recipes from Home
The character Mary Rambo appears in only four chapters (Chapters 12 to 15) of Ralph Ellison's novel Invisible Man, but she makes a lasting impression on the reader. Perhaps it's because of her swashbuckling last name, although she couldn't be more unlike Stallone's gritty character. She stands out in the novel as the one, maybe the only, genuinely nice person the narrator encounters. When the narrator collapses outside of the subway, she helps him up, takes him home, feeds him, and lets him get some much-needed sleep. Mary does this with no ulterior motives; she genuinely cares about other people and, when an opportunity arises, she does something about it. Mary becomes a mother figure to the narrator; she also appears to be the only person he ever trusts. She tells him he always has a place in her home and, after he is kicked out of the men's boarding house, he stays there for a while. Mary gives the narrator shelter, food, rest, and wise advice, never asking for anything in return. Only when he smells cabbage cooking for the umpteenth time does the narrator realize that Mary is running low on funds and is reduced to cooking the cheapest foods.
The first part of the journal entry asks students to respond to a quote from Chapter 14 that describes Mary Rambo singing "Back Water Blues" while cooking cabbage. One interesting feature of this quotation is the way it balances opposing details: Mary's untroubled voice is singing a troubled song; the narrator has a calm sense of his indebtedness. Students can share their responses with a partner or in a small group.
The next two parts of the journal entry are based on food memories and family recipes. The student is to write of a pleasant experience he/she had featuring a favorite dish made at home. This should be between 200 and 250 words. Then, the student will get the recipe for this dish and write it in proper recipe format. This gives students the chance to write a reflective piece as well as an informational piece. The teacher can provide students with models of recipes and a table of abbreviations to use. The memory piece and the recipe should be submitted in hard copy and in electronic format so the teacher can assemble a class cookbook. This product may be simple or elaborate, depending on time, funding, and other variables. My cookbooks have construction paper covers with an original student drawing or a color deskjet-printed picture of the class. Each student is represented by a story and a recipe. My school has a binding machine and the plastic spines are very inexpensive. The cookbook can be organized by food category or arranged alphabetically by student. Distributing the cookbooks and sharing the stories may be the culminating project of this lesson. Evaluation will consist of journal completion, editing of reflective piece, formatting of recipe, and presenting the story and recipe to the class.
To take this activity one step further, the teacher can arrange a class banquet. Each student will bring in his/her favorite dish, enough for everyone to have a sample-sized serving. There are a good number of logistical concerns with this sort of project, most of which can be addressed if the teacher has a good relationship with the school cafeteria staff. While the students are eating, each will take a turn and read the story he wrote about his favorite food. If a teacher is truly ambitious, this could turn into a community engagement project. The banquet could be held in the evening in the school auditorium or other large area, and parents would be invited. In that case, each family would need to provide enough food for approximately 40 to 50 sample-sized servings. As with the class banquet, each student would read his/her story to the group. Extra copies of the recipe book could be provided or even sold to help offset the costs of the banquet.
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