1. Students will listen to an African American spiritual. http://www.negrospirituals.com/song.htm
2. While listening to the music, students will write their thoughts about the song in a stream of consciousness format.
3. After writing, students will turn and talk to a partner using the following conversation stems: “From listening to this song, I can infer that the life of the singer was________________________. I made this inference because the song lyrics say _________________________.”
4. Teacher should listen in on student groups to formatively assess whether or not students were able to make inferences.
5. Teacher should have pairs share out the inferences that were made.
Examples may include inferences such as the following: the singer had a tough life, though life was tough, he kept a positive outlook, he wasn’t going to give up, etc.
1. Students will receive a copy of Quobna Cugoano’s “A Former Slave Speaks Out.”
2. Using their Post-it strips, students will flag and tag text where they have questions or comments. They will write these questions or comments on the strips. The teacher will model the first chunk of text, making certain to have at least one question and one comment.
3. After the first chunk, the students should read the remainder of the selection, flagging the text as they read.
1. Students will divide a sheet of paper into four quadrants. They will mark two questions with a Q (question they have about the text), one with a C (text to text connection, text to world connection, or text to self connection), and one with an S (spark.)
2. As the teacher reads the text, students will hold up a card if they have a question, comment, or can make a spark off another student by making a comment regarding the previous speaker's comment. Students may only speak if they have a card. Once they’ve used all cards, they cannot make comments.
3. Students should have the attached scoring rubric easily accessible and should note that it will be used for assessing whether or not the students mastered the standards.