Amber Anderson

EDT 446/546
Lesson Plan

White, Colored, or Black?

Context: The school I am teaching at is located in what is consider an urban area in Cleveland,
Ohio. I am teaching an honors World History class and I am a tenth grade teacher. The school
has little to no diversity when it comes to race. Almost all of the students are African American
and 95% of the student free or reduced lunch. I have a class full of 25 students. My students can
read and comprehend the text that they are assigned but they do not enjoy reading. They also
have trouble making connection or comparisons with other events. So I have to search and find
suitable material that my students can be entertain and engaged with while learning valuable
information about the real world through an historical lens. For this lesson, I chose the CCSS
standards for reading that states, compare the point of view of two or more authors for how
they treat the same or similar topics, including which details they include and emphasize
in their respective accounts. For writing, I chose the CCSS Standard that states, develop
and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new
approach, focusing on addressing what is most significant for a specific purpose and
audience.

Justification: When making this lesson plan, I took in consideration the needs of my
student: to be able to read, draw conclusion, and make comparisons or connection with
other events According to the writers of Reading Thinking and Writing History, to do that,
teachers should model skills, provide background knowledge so that students can better
connect things with whats being read, and let students discuss out loud how they feel
(p.11). And as you will see, I implemented most of those throughout the lesson to help
student reading and develop literary skills. Additionally, because my students are mostly
African American, I chose a topic that would be easier for them to connect with so that
they can better connect with other things in the future. Students may not know about the
South African apartheid but they might have some background knowledge about the Jim
Crow era here in the United States. Therefore, I chose something that they can easily
compare and hopefully understand in a deeper context.

CCSS Standard in History:

Compare the point of view of two or more authors for how they treat the same or
similar topics, including which details they include and emphasize in their
respective accounts.
Ohio Academic Content Standard:

The use of primary and secondary sources of information includes an examination of the
credibility of each source

Individuals can identify, assess and evaluate world events, engage in deliberative civil
debate and influence public processes to address global issues.

Amber Anderson
EDT 446/546
Lesson Plan

Beliefs about civil and human rights vary among social and governmental systems.

Postwar global politics led to the rise of nationalist movements in Africa and Southeast
Asia

Lesson Plan
Application Questions: What was it like living in apartheid South Africa? How does it compare
to conditions in the United States during the Jim Crow Era?
Anticipatory Set? Learning about the systematic oppression in both South Africa and the United
States can help us understand race relations in both countries today. For the beginning part of
this lesson, we will go in depth about the South African Apartheid. The lesson will begin with
students learning about the context of that era in history. Therefore, we will begin with the
Second Boer war and the consequences or outcomes of it. Then we will explore the set-up of
the apartheid and learn what people had to go through living in apartheid South Africa. Last, we
will try to understand the impact that era has on the people living in South Africa today. We will
do a similar set up when we begin talking about the Jim Crow Era in the United States. We will
begin at the reconstruction period after slavery and led up to today. After we have discussed both,
student will then try to compare these times and discuss the similarities between the two.
Procedures:
Procedure #1: Interactive Lecture and Guided Note Taking
Teacher will demonstrate how to take notes properly to the students.
Teacher will give a lecture on the history and background about the South African
Apartheid.
Student will take notes and are expected to ask question throughout the lecture.
Procedure #2: Reading Groups Kaffir Boy and Your Blues Aint Like Mine

Students will learn how to annotate their text properly.

The class will be split up into two groups, one side will read Kaffir Boy, a autobiography
of a young boy growing up in South Africa during the apartheid era, while the other will
read Your Blues Aint Like Mine, a fictional book that has a collection of stories about
living in the Jim Crow era in the United States.
To read the books, student will be placed in groups of 3 or 4. While in class, student will
take 20 minutes to do group reading (partner reading). Student will take turns reading
paragraphs and checking for understanding. While at home student will be required to
read more from the book. Because I will have printed copies of the book, I will expect
every student do annotate reading of the text. At the end of each section of reading the
students are assigned, they will take a short quiz.
To help student enjoy reading, student will have time in class to do a written
conversation.

Amber Anderson
EDT 446/546
Lesson Plan

Procedure #3: Compare and Contrast: Apartheid and Jim Crow

In class, both the students and the teacher will create a graphic organizer compare the
Apartheid with Jim Crow with what they learned from the book and other sources.
Student will construct an essay comparing the two eras. Before writing, teacher will teach
and guided student about the expectation of the essay. Meaning, the teacher will give
students a format and rubric to help guide them through writing the essay.

Assessment
Student will:

Have mini quizzes after assigned reading

Write in a conversation journal or have a written conversation about their text

Write an essay comparing Apartheid and Jim Crow using the book and other resources to
do so.