Using Primary Resources
to Make Connections, Ask Questions, and Determine Importance:
Desegregation of Schools in the United
States
Paige Waggoner
Summer Fellowship 2009
Abstract: Making connections, asking questions and determining
importance are reading strategies that help students navigate informational
text in a meaningful way that helps them think about what they are reading and
then use that thinking to understand, remember, and use that information to
further their learning. The primary resources
regarding the fight to desegregate the schools in the
Essential Questions/Enduring Understandings:
Assessment: Students will be assessed throughout the unit by
completing graphic organizers, reading response journals, and participating in
classroom discussions. The final
assessment will be a small group project where students choose to research
three of the questions generated during classroom discussions, then develop a
poster about one of the questions researched, and orally presenting it to
class.
Setting the Purpose:
The purpose of this lesson
plan is to improve students’ abilities to read strategically by using a variety
of comprehension strategies that will allow them to understand and access primary
documents more effectively which in turn will help them understand history in a
more meaningful way.
Lessons: