Overview

Using the web links in this lesson plan, you may develop class notes or assign different readings to different groups. Students will examine the events leading up to the beginning of the Civil Rights Movement. They can then draw connections to how relations between whites and African Americans in the South mirrored Celie’s relationships as she gained more autonomy and freedom.

Objectives

Students will:

• Use the Internet as a research tool.
• Synthesize the information they learn in the context of the novel.

Skills Attained

Students will be able to:

• Read of the text of The Color Purple closely.
• Analyze The Color Purple in the broader context of the history of slavery and the Jim Crow system.
• Draw connections between the novel and the Civil Rights Movement.

Time Required

One or two classes (at your discretion)

Materials Needed

• Information from selected articles at Africana.com and jimcrowhistory.org
• Transparencies or copies of articles (teacher discretion)
• The Color Purple novel and "Dear Celie" reading logs
• Rubric for grading discussions (optional)

The Lesson

Anticipatory Set

In this activity, students will be completing the reading of The Color Purple and should have the text as well as their "Dear Celie" reading logs handy for reference. By now, they will have learned what life was like for African Americans in the Jim Crow South and how race impacted the lives of African Americans in the de facto segregation of the North, as well. As the setting of the book approaches the desegregation of the armed forces and the beginnings of the Civil Rights Movement, students will examine how the book mirrors society’s progress through its characters.

Procedures

1. You should first go through the jimcrowhistory.org web site to cull information students might want to use as resource material. Specifically, look at the following:


• From Terror to Triumph: A Historical Overview Essay
• The Unconquerable Doing the Impossible: Jackie Robinson's 1946 Spring Training in Jim Crow Florida Essay
• The Black Press Essay


2. Then, go to the Africana.com web site for these articles:


• "Entrepreneurs" at http://www.africana.com/Articles/tt_232.htm
• "Jim Crow and Black Business" at http://www.africana.com/Articles/tt_026.htm
• "Segregation and the Civil Rights Movement" at http://www.africana.com/Articles/tt_928.htm
• "Desegregation in the United States" at http://www.africana.com/Articles/tt_599.htm
• "Civil Rights Movement" at http://www.africana.com/Articles/tt_199.htm


3. You then can use the information for a lecture, a small group/large group jigsaw activity, or a large group discussion using your discretion. Procedures for each of the three formats are below:


1. Lecture:


• Read the attached articles and take notes on the Jim Crow era and the beginning of the Civil Rights Movement.



• Edit, format, type your notes and hand them out to the class.



• You also may want to make a transparency or PowerPoint® lesson of the notes so that students may follow along. Or, you can deliver the notes orally as students write down key points.



• Lead students in a discussion in a small or large-group format at the end to ensure they understand the connections between the text and the Civil Rights Movement.


2. Jigsaw:


• Prepare and distributes copies of the article to small groups (i.e., different articles for each group).



• After the small groups have discussed their articles, have group members venture forth as delegates, who move about the room disseminating what they have learned and while also learning from the groups they visit.



• Then, have all students should return to their original small groups, discuss their findings, and participate in a large-group discussion where class members share what they have read and learned from other groups.


3. Large Group discussion:


• Make and distribute copies of the articles, either giving every student all articles or giving different students copies of different articles.



• Physically set up the room in a way that facilitates group discussion.



• Then, develop questions based on the articles and lead a discussion allowing for student input and impressions on breaking down the barriers of society and the characters in the novel breaking down the barriers in their lives.

Extension Activity

Students may choose to do extra credit presentations on certain aspects of the Civil Rights Movement or on segregation in the Jim Crow South.

Assessment

You may assess students based on their participation or using the discussion rubric.

This lesson was written by ReBecca Hostler, a teacher at Centennial High School in Roswell, Georgia.

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