Goals and Objectives:
Goal: Students will understand how new trends in literature, music, and art provided African-Americans with a new cultural identity, with specific attention on Zora Neale Hurston, Langston Hughes, Duke Ellington, and Aaron Douglas.
Objective: Through an analysis of primary sources, students will evaluate how the music, art, and literature of the Harlem Renaissance provided a new form of identity to African-Americans during the 1920's.
Objective: Through an analysis of primary sources, students will evaluate how the music, art, and literature of the Harlem Renaissance provided a new form of identity to African-Americans during the 1920's.
California Content Standards:
11.5.5- Describe the Harlem Renaissance and new trends in literature, music, and art, with special attention to the work of writers (e.g., Zora Neale Hurston, Langston Hughes).
Common Core Literacy Standards:
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.11-12.2
Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary that makes clear the relationships among the key details and ideas.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.WHST.11-12.2
Write informative/explanatory texts, including the narration of historical events, scientific procedures/experiments, or technical processes.
Lesson Introduction:
Students will read the short poem “Frosting” by Langston Hughes but will not be given any information about the source. Students will then respond to questions related to who they think wrote the poem, when it was written, and what it was a response to in order to prepare them for analyzing primary sources. Using equity cards, the teacher will then call on students to share their answers before revealing who the author was, when it was written, and what it was a response to, emphasizing the importance of considering time and place when evaluating primary sources.
Key Vocabulary:
Key
vocabulary will be written on the board beforehand with accompanying
definitions. The vocabulary will be used for reference throughout the
lesson.
- Harlem Renaissance
- NAACP
- Marcus Garvey
- Zora Neale Hurston
- Langston Hughes
- Duke Ellington
- The Cotton Club
- Aaron Douglas
Content Delivery (Inquiry):
The teacher will provide students with a brief historical context for the Harlem Renaissance, noting the migration of African-Americans to Northern cities, the establishment of the NAACP, and the popularity of Marcus Garvey’s movement. Students will be given a supplemental timeline which notes the key events leading to, during, and after the Harlem Renaissance in order to supplement the rest of the lesson.
Student Engagement:
Students will be divided into predetermined groups of 4. Each student will make a four window foldable, with one square for art, poetry, music, and literature to be filled out one at a time at each station. Each table in the room will be a numbered station, with 8 total stations, but only 4 being different (2 poetry, 2 art, 2 music, 2 literature). At each station, primary sources related to the Harlem Renaissance will be available for students to analyze, such as the poetry of Langston Hughes, the art of Aaron Douglas, the music of Duke Ellington, and the writing of Zora Neale Hurston. In their groups, students will discuss their opinions and then individually respond to questions related to the source on their own papers before rotating stations every 8 minutes. The teacher will circulate the class to answer questions and ensure students remain on task.
Lesson Closure:
After returning to their original stations, students will be asked to write a few sentences responding to the historical question: How did the art, literature, poetry, and music of the Harlem Renaissance create a new cultural identity for African-Americans? Students must specifically cite at least two of the sources from the station activities in their response. This will be written on the back of the foldable which will be collected as an exit card.
Assessments:
Formative: Students will turn in their completed foldable after answering the questions at each station and completing the exit card by answering: How did the art, literature, poetry, and music of the Harlem Renaissance create a new cultural identity for African-Americans?
Accommodations:
English Learners: Although most of the lesson focuses on analytical reading, the students also assess artwork and music, which help to alleviate the difficulty of diving deep into text while still immersing students in primary sources. As well, grouping is determined ahead of time in order to accommodate students of lower and higher abilities.
Striving Readers: Selected passages are short and specifically meaningful in order to make the assignment more comprehensible. For instance, Hughes poem is short and Hurston’s excerpt from “Sweat” is under a page. Thus, students must still analyze the text, but in a shorter form, giving them more time to think instead of read. As well, passages from Hurston’s “Sweat” could be re-written to include simpler English, although original copies would still be given, as the use of dialectic and phonetic language is important to the analysis.
Special Needs: Key vocabulary is written on the board in advance to provide students with references throughout the station activities. As well, groups will be predetermined based on ability in order to support students who may have difficulty with the assignment. Larger fonts or additional sources could also be used if necessary.
Striving Readers: Selected passages are short and specifically meaningful in order to make the assignment more comprehensible. For instance, Hughes poem is short and Hurston’s excerpt from “Sweat” is under a page. Thus, students must still analyze the text, but in a shorter form, giving them more time to think instead of read. As well, passages from Hurston’s “Sweat” could be re-written to include simpler English, although original copies would still be given, as the use of dialectic and phonetic language is important to the analysis.
Special Needs: Key vocabulary is written on the board in advance to provide students with references throughout the station activities. As well, groups will be predetermined based on ability in order to support students who may have difficulty with the assignment. Larger fonts or additional sources could also be used if necessary.
Check out the LiveBinder above to see all of the primary sources used in the lesson, the questions associated with each source, and a supplemental timeline of key events during the Harlem Renaissance.