Learning Fairness from a Nonfiction Text
Grade
Grade 5
UNIT
7
•
Fairness
In Unit 7, Lesson 2, “Learning Fairness from a Nonfiction Text,” students will learn examples of fairness from readings about Julius Rosenwald and the Rosenwald Schools. By independently reading a nonfiction text, students will develop their reading comprehension skills. Finally, students will create their own sentences that demonstrate their reading comprehension and share their sentences with a partner.
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SUGGESTED TIME:
- This lesson can be completed in three class periods.
- All readings are available on this website: The Rosenwald Schools: Progressive Era Philanthropy in the Segregated South by the National Park Service.
- Class period 1 — 30 minutes to play the video, introduce the topic, have students complete Reading 1: “The Progressive Era and the Rosenwald School Building Program,” and answer the questions on the worksheet.
- Class period 2 — 20 minutes for students to complete Reading 2: “Building Practical Schools with the Rosenwald Program” and answer the questions on the worksheet.
- Class period 3 — 20 minutes for students to complete Reading 3: “Rosenwald Schools, Then and Now” and answer the questions on the worksheet.
RELATED SUBJECT:
English Language Arts
LEARNING OUTCOMES:
- Read a nonfiction text independently to develop reading comprehension skills
- Demonstrate understanding of the main ideas of a nonfiction text
- Compose sentences that demonstrate comprehension of the text
- Demonstrate understanding of fairness
- Demonstrate understanding of standard English sentence structure and grammar
- Practice reading and conversation skills by sharing sentences with classmates
REQUIRED MATERIALS:
- Video: Impact of Rosenwald schools on education and how they changed the lives of Black Americans by CBS Mornings (~6 min)
- Nonfiction text: The Rosenwald Schools: Progressive Era Philanthropy in the Segregated South by the National Park Service
- Prohuman Grade 5 Unit 7 Worksheet 2: Learning Fairness from a Nonfiction Text
VOCABULARY:.
- Fairness: I treat everyone the same. If someone has been left out, I bring them in.
ELA COMMON CORE STANDARDS MET
CHARACTER AND SOCIAL EMOTIONAL (CSED) NATIONAL STANDARDS MET
LESSON PROCEDURE
- Today, we will learn about an important American who worked for fairness. Play the video: Impact of Rosenwald schools on education and how they changed the lives of Black Americans by CBS Mornings (~6 min)
- Display this website: The Rosenwald Schools: Progressive Era Philanthropy in the Segregated South by the National Park Service
- Introduce the topic:
- The Rosenwald school building program was a Progressive Era program funded by philanthropist Julius Rosenwald. He partnered with African American educator and activist Booker T. Washington, first working with Washington's Tuskegee Institute and then forming an independent foundation to manage the school program.
- After meeting in 1912, the two men built thousands of schools for black students in 15 states. The Rosenwald Schools, as they are known, were often the first schools in a black community and helped improve education across the South.
- Display the first photograph and ask the inquiry question: “What kind of building do you think this is? What makes you think so?”
- Read the section titled “Setting the Stage.”
- Display Map 1: Julius Rosenwald Fund Schoolhouse Construction Map, 1932, and ask the questions below.
- Have students complete the three readings and answer the questions on the worksheet.
- Have students share their answers with a partner.
GRADE 5 UNIT 7 WORKSHEET 2: LEARNING FAIRNESS FROM A NONFICTION TEXT
Fairness: I treat everyone the same. If someone has been left out, I bring them in.
ACTIVITY:
QUESTIONS FOR READING 1: “The Progressive Era and the Rosenwald School Building Program”
1.) What was the Progressive Movement? Who were the Progressives?
2.) Who was Julius Rosenwald and how did he work for fairness?
3.) How does education improve someone's life? How do you think it improved the lives of the students who went to Rosenwald schools?
QUESTIONS FOR READING 2: “Building Practical Schools with the Rosenwald Program”
1.) Along with schoolhouses, what other kinds of buildings did the Rosenwald Fund sponsor? Why?
2.) What problems did the school designers try to solve with their designs? How did the design of Rosenwald schools help the students and teachers?
3.) If someone asked you to build a Rosenwald School, which of the four types of building plans described in the reading do you think would be the most helpful? Why?
QUESTIONS FOR READING 3: “Rosenwald Schools, Then and Now”
1.) What did the Rosenwald school building program do to improve education for black students in the South? List some of the ways it helped.
2.) Why did the Rosenwald Fund end? Do you think it was successful? Why or why not?
3.) What happened in the 1960s that made the Rosenwald Schools close? Where do you think the students went?
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