Lessons & Units :: When Marian Sang: The True Recital of Marian Anderson 4th Grade Unit

Paired Text Questions: "Going to Bat—in Jackie’s Footsteps" & When Marian Sang: The True Recital of Marian Anderson

Lesson Plan

When Marian Sang: The True Recital of Marian Anderson | 780L

When Marian Sang: The True Recital of Marian Anderson
Learning Goal
Integrate information from the non-fiction passage “Going to Bat—in Jackie’s Footsteps” and the book When Marian Sang: The True Recital of Marian Anderson to compare and contrast the challenges faced by Jackie Robinson and Marian Anderson.
Necessary Materials
Provided:
  1. Questions
  2. Non-fiction reading passage “Going to Bat—in Jackie’s Footsteps”

Not Provided:
When Marian Sang: The True Recital of Marian Anderson
 
  • Questions 1 and 2 refer to the non-fiction passage "Going to Bat—in Jackie’s Footsteps." Questions 3 and 4 refer to the non-fiction book When Marian Sang: The True Recital of Marian Anderson. Questions 5 and 6 refer to both the passage and the book.
  • Student versions of the questions are in the 'Texts & Materials' tab.
 
Part 1: "Going to Bat—in Jackie’s Footsteps"
 
Read the passage “Going to Bat—in Jackie’s Footsteps” out loud to your students. Alternatively, students can read the passage independently or as a group.
 
Question 1: Who was the first African American to play major-league baseball?
 
Sample student answer: Jackie Robinson was the first African American to play major-league baseball.
 
Question 2: Describe the challenges that Jackie Robinson faced after he joined the Dodgers.
 
Sample student answer: Robinson was the target of abuse from fans and other players. Students may also mention Branch Rickey’s comments about what would happen to Robinson after he joined. Rickey said that people would call Robinson names and that other players would try to hurt him.
 
Part 2: When Marian Sang: The True Recital of Marian Anderson
 
Question 3: What was Marian Anderson invited to do in many states?
 
Sample student answer: Marian Anderson was invited to sing in many states.
 
Question 4: Describe the challenges that Marian Anderson faced when she traveled to sing.
 
Sample student answer: Responses may vary as long as they reflect the text. For example, students may respond that Anderson had to travel in a dirty and crowded train car reserved for African Americans. Many times she could not get a hotel room because she was African American.
 
Part 3: "Going to Bat—in Jackie’s Footsteps" and When Marian Sang: The True Recital of Marian Anderson
 
Question 5: Compare the challenges that Jackie Robinson faced with the challenges that Marian Anderson faced. Support your answer with information from both texts.
 
Sample student answer: Answers may vary, as long as they are supported by the texts. At minimum, students should recognize that both Robinson and Anderson were treated unfairly because they were African American. Robinson was treated rudely by baseball fans and players. Anderson was not given the same accommodations as white people when she traveled.
 
Question 6: Contrast the challenges that Jackie Robinson faced with the challenges that Marian Anderson faced. Support your answer with information from both texts.
 
Sample student answer: Responses may vary, as long as they are supported by both texts. For example, students may respond that many of the challenges Robinson faced were targeted at him as an individual. He was singled out for abuse because he was the first African American to play major-league baseball. Many of the challenges Anderson faced were systemic and shared by other African Americans. Other African Americans of her time would have faced the same challenges she did when riding a train or trying to get a hotel room.

Texts & Materials

Standards Alignment

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User Comments

Excellent passages my students are really enjoying reading them.

Submitted by yzamora_1157075 on 3/6/15