Unit 2.3 Harlem Renaissance
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
stariStrategic Adolescent Reading Intervention Unit 2.3 Harlem Renaissance © SERP 2014 This page has been intentionally left blank for printing purposes. © SERP 2014 Unit 2.3—Harlem Renaissance | p. !2 Harlem Renai!ance In Unit 2.3, we’ll be reading about a time when many African Americans in the United States moved from the South to cities in the North. In the 1920s, in the part of New York City called Harlem, African American music, art, and writing got the attention of the world. That time was called the Harlem Renaissance. We’ll also read a novel about teenagers living in New York City today, studying the Harlem Renaissance. Our new unit explores the question below: Can we find a place where we can be our true selves?? Day 1 © SERP 2014 Unit 2.3—Harlem Renaissance | p. !3 Previewing B"ks for this unit Complete this activity with your partner. Preview the book for the new unit called The Great Migration: An American Story. What do you notice about the illustrations? _____________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ Preview the book called Langston Hughes: Poetry for Young People. Which poem title looks interesting to you? ______________________________ ________________________________________________________________ Look at the Contents for Harlem Stomp! Which chapter number and title looks interesting to you? __________________ ________________________________________________________________ Read the text on page 5 of Harlem Stomp! under the heading, “Fueling the Embers of Black Pride.” What’s one fact you find here about the Harlem Renaissance? ______________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ Preview the novel, Bronx Masquerade. What do you notice about the way the novel is organized? __________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ Day 1 © SERP 2014 Unit 2.3—Harlem Renaissance | p. !4 Photos from the Great Migration Work with your partner to answer these questions about your photo. Write complete sentences. How would you describe what is happening in the photo? Who is doing what? _______________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________ What is the scene of the photo? _______________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________ Do you think your photo shows the South or the North? How can you tell? _______________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________ Think about what the person or people in the photo might say about their life and what they are doing. Write what you think they are saying in the speech bubbles. ____________________ ____________________ ______________________ ______________________ ______________________ ______________________ ______________________ ______________________ ______________________ ______________________ ______________________ ______________________ ______________________ ______________________ Day 1 © SERP 2014 Unit 2.3—Harlem Renaissance | p. !5 Questioning The Great Migration Questions can have “right there” answers. These questions start with the words who, what, when, or where. Answers to these questions are one place in the text. Here’s a “right there” question about panel 9 in The Great Migration: What was destroying the cotton crops? Find and write down the words in the book that answer this question. _______________________________________________________________ Now make up your own “right there” question about panel 5, 6, 7, or 8: _______________________________________________________________ Have your partner write down the answer to your question here: _______________________________________________________________ Questions with the words how, describe, and explain are “think and search” questions. Here’s a “think and search” question about panels 14-17: How was life hard for African Americans in the South? Copy all the words for these panels that answer this question. ________________________________________________________________ Did you notice any words to clarify for these panels? _____________ _____________ _____________ _____________ Day 2 © SERP 2014 Unit 2.3—Harlem Renaissance | p. !6 Questioning, continued Make up your own “think and search” question for panels 18-22. Use the words how, describe, or explain to start your question. _______________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________ Have your partner copy words that answer your “think and search” question. _______________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________ Was the answer hard or easy to find? ____________ Did your partner find the answer in just one place in the passage? _____ Read the text for panels 23-40 with your partner. Stop and ask your partner a “right there” question for information you want to remember. “Right there” questions use the words who, what, when, or where. My “right there” question: ___________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________ My “think and search” question:______________________________________ _______________________________________________________________ Day 2 © SERP 2014 Unit 2.3—Harlem Renaissance | p. !7 Asking and answering questions Jacob Lawrence Jacob Lawrence was just a teenager when he began work on the 60 paintings that make up The Great Migration. Growing up in Harlem, Jacob almost fell into art. His mother worked long hours so she enrolled her children in an after-school program. At Utopia House, Jacob learned to paint. The students worked with simple materials, mainly poster paints on brown paper. He remembered later, “At that time I didn't have any attitude. Because I didn't know what art was. It was something I just liked to do. It was like, I guess some kids ride bikes and some kids hike. Some kids join the Boy Scouts.” His art teacher said, “And I noticed almost immediately what an interesting eye this kid had. He didn't work like the other kids. He knew pretty definitely what he wanted to do and it didn't relate to the typical kind of thing that children of that age do. At that time he was interested in very fantastic masks. I showed him how to build up forms and make papier-mache masks and then he would paint them.” To help support his family, Jacob dropped out of high school after two years and worked construction jobs. His teacher from Utopia House remembered his talent, however, and invited him to join the Harlem Art Center. After working all day, Jacob took painting classes at night. His teacher, Charles Alston, had told him, “It is what you say, rather than how you say it” that matters. Jacob Lawrence knew what he wanted to say. He began to win grants to produce paintings about Black history. Jacob’s family was part of the wave of African Americans who moved from the South to northern cities between 1915 and 1940. He began talking to family and friends about their experiences. He also studied documents in the New York Public Library. Telling the story of this movement became his focus and inspiration. continued Day 2 © SERP 2014 Unit 2.3—Harlem Renaissance | p. !8 At age 22, Jacob planned his master work, The Great Migration. Beginning with sketches and captions, he prepared 60 plain white panels. He worked with the same kind of simple poster paint he had used at Utopia House. All the red details for all 60 panels were painted at one time, then the blue, then the brown. He felt the story would feel connected if the colors matched across the panels. Some images were repeated: hats and train tracks, for example. When all 60 panels were complete, they were shown at a famous gallery in New York. Fortune magazine spotlighted the work, showing 26 of the panels. Jacob Lawrence was recognized as a unique voice in American art. Questioning Jacob Lawrence Questioning can help you remember what you read. Questions can have “right there” answers. “Right there” questions start with the words who, what, when, or where. You can find the answers to “right there” questions in one place in the text. Here’s a “right there” question about the Jacob Lawrence passage above: What was Jacob Lawrence’s master work? Underline the words in the passage that answer this question. Was the answer hard or easy to find? ____________ Could you find the answer in just one place in the passage? _____ Day 2 © SERP 2014 Unit 2.3—Harlem Renaissance | p. !9 Questioning, continued Now make up your own “right there” question about this passage: _______________________________________________________________ Underline the words in the passage that give the answer to your question. Was the answer hard or easy to find? ____________ Could you find the answer in just one place in the passage? _____ We also ask ourselves more complicated questions while reading. Questions with the words how, describe, and explain get more complex answers. We call these “think and search” questions. The answers to “think and search” questions are found several places in a passage. Here’s a