Summary
This lesson focuses on the reasons for the Great Migration, in which African-Americans left the South during the early 1900s. Students will analyze push and pull factors that led to the Great Migration, observe and summarize a painting series about the Great Migration, and listen to an author discuss her findings about the event.
Essential Question(s)
Why do people move?
Snapshot
Engage
Students identify four "mystery words" by examining images related to each word.
Explore
Students brainstorm possible push and pull factors that led to the Great Migration.
Explain
Students examine a painting series about the Great Migration and take notes about the event.
Extend
Students listen to an audio interview about the Great Migration and apply the event to their own experiences.
Evaluate
Students reflect on the essential question by using their new knowledge and prior experience.
Materials
Lesson Slides (attached)
Great Migration Note Catcher (attached; one per student)
Notebook paper
Pen/pencil
Personal device (one per pair of students)
Engage
10 Minute(s)
Guide the lesson using the attached Lesson Slides. Begin by displaying slide 3. Students will view the images and guess what the word might represent independently.
Move to slide 4 and have students find a partner. Using the 30-second timer embedded in the slide, ask students to use the Think-Pair-Share strategy to discuss what the mystery word might be based on the images. Ask for volunteers to share their thoughts about the mystery word, then reveal that the word is "north" and write it on the board.
Move to slides 5-6 and repeat the process. After the timer expires, ask for volunteers and then reveal the word is "journey" or alternatively, "trip," and write it on the board as well.
Move to slides 7-8 and repeat the process. After the timer expires, ask for volunteers and reveal that the word is "family" and write it on the board.
Move to slide 9-10 and repeat the process. After the timer expires, ask for volunteers then reveal that the word is "jobs" and write it on the board.
Once all the mystery words are written on the board, have students and their partners discuss what they all have in common. Ask a few pairs to share out.
Once they have shared, reveal to students that they are going to learn about an historical event called the Great Migration in which many families moved north for job opportunities.
Move through slides 11 and 12 and review the essential question and lesson objective.
Explore
10 Minute(s)
Have students create a T-chart on a piece of notebook paper and ask them to label the columns with "Push" and "Pull."
Move to slide 13 and ask students to think about some push and pull factors that led to African Americans migrating north in the early 1900s. Provide time for students to create a list of push and pull factors with an elbow partner.
If necessary, remind students that push factors are reasons why people leave an area and pull factors are reasons why people move to an area. Ask for volunteers to share their thoughts and as students share, create a list on the board of push and pull factors.
Explain
20 Minute(s)
Pass out the attached Great Migration Note Catcher handout to each student. Move to slide 14 and tell students to pair up on a personal device such as a laptop.
Ask students to navigate to the Migration Series paintings by Jacob Lawrence. A shortened url, http://k20.ou.edu/migration, is provided for students on slide 14.
Have students view the paintings in pairs and read the provided captions. Explain to students that the captions were written by the artist before he created the paintings. The paintings and captions together tell the story of the Great Migration.
Students should use the Great Migration Note Catcher to summarize the causes for the Great Migration and the conditions workers faced once they moved north.
After students have taken notes on the paintings, ask for students to share the causes of the Great Migration and how life was different for African Americans in the North. Have a class discussion about the reasons for leaving the South and the different types of hardships that migrants faced in the North.
Extend
15 Minute(s)
Open the "Great Migration: Journey that Reshaped America" NPR author interview that describes the Great Migration from journalist Isabel Wilkerson's perspective.
Move to slide 15. The link to the audio story is in the Lesson Slides notes for reference. Introduce students to the Windows and Mirrors strategy. Tell students to think about how the story Isabel tells is a window into other people's lives and how the story is a mirror into their own experience.
Have students write down their thoughts on a piece of notebook paper. Ask for volunteers to share their thoughts but only if student's feel inclined to share. The topic of migration might be personal to students and they may not feel comfortable sharing out to the class.
Evaluate
5 Minute(s)
Move to slide 16 and revisit the essential question: "Why do people move?". Ask students to reflect on what they have learned about the Great Migration and their prior knowledge to write a response to the essential question. Students can use their notebook paper to write their individual responses.
Collect the student's notebook paper and review their responses to assess understanding of the lesson content.
Resources
The Chicago Defender. (1920). Great migration. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Great_migration.jpg
Jacob Lawrence The Migration Series. (2022). The Philips Collection. https://lawrencemigration.phillipscollection.org/the-migration-series/panels/1/during-world-war-i-there-was-a-great-migration-north-by-southern-african-americans
K20 Center. (n.d.). Elbow Partners. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/116
K20 Center. (n.d.). Think-Pair-Share. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/139
K20 Center. (n.d.) Windows and Mirrors. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/948
K20 Center. (2021, September 21). K20 Center 30 second timer [Video]. https://youtu.be/o9ViOMe_Wnk
Staff, N. P. R., & Wilkerson, I. (2010, October 2). The Great Migration: Journey That Reshaped America. NPR. Retrieved May 31, 2022, from https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130291351
