Curriculum / ELA / 4th Grade / Unit 6: Heart and Soul: The Story of America and African Americans / Lesson 6
ELA
Unit 6
4th Grade
Lesson 6 of 25
Jump To
Analyze the details an author includes to support a quote by Harriet Tubman.
Book: Let It Shine: Stories of Black Women Freedom Fighters by Andrea Davis Pinkney pp. 17 – 22 — Harriet Tubman (stop at the top of page 22)
We participate in the Amazon Associate program. This means that if you use this link to make an Amazon purchase, we receive a small portion of the proceeds, which support our non-profit mission.
Unlock features to optimize your prep time, plan engaging lessons, and monitor student progress.
Tasks that represents the peak thinking of the lesson - mastery will indicate whether or not objective was achieved
Harriet Tubman once said: "There was one of two things I had a right to, liberty or death; if I could not have one, I would have the other, for no man should take me alive; I should fight for my liberty as long as my strength lasted."
What does this quote show about Harriet Tubman? Why would the author include this quotation in her biography?
An example response to the Target Task at the level of detail expected of the students.
Questions about the text that will help guide the students understanding
What happened that allowed Harriet to get a glimpse of freedom? How did it impact her?
Why did Harriet stand up to the overseer? How did this event change her life? Why?
Describe Harriet's relationship with John. Was he supportive of her desires? Why or why not?
What does it mean to "relent"? Why did Harriet relent on her first attempt at escaping? What promise did she make herself? Why?
What words can be used to describe Harriet Tubman? Why?
Describe Harriet’s childhood. Give two to three specific examples that show what it was like to be enslaved.
Literary terms, text-based vocabulary, idioms and word parts to be taught with the text
sympathy
n.
(p. 18)
the feeling that you care about about someone else's sadness
despite
prep.
(p. 19)
regardless of
debts
(p. 21)
an amount of money that you owe someone
flee
v.
to run away from a place, often because of danger
Bring your most engaging lessons to life with comprehensive instructional guidance, detailed pacing, supports to meet every student's needs, and resources to strengthen your lesson planning and delivery.
RI.4.3 — Explain events, procedures, ideas, or concepts in a historical, scientific, or technical text, including what happened and why, based on specific information in the text.
RI.4.8 — Explain how an author uses reasons and evidence to support particular points in a text.
Standards that are practiced daily but are not priority standards of the unit
L.4.4 — Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases based on grade 4 reading and content, choosing flexibly from a range of strategies.
L.4.6 — Acquire and use accurately grade-appropriate general academic and domain-specific words and phrases, including those that signal precise actions, emotions, or states of being (e.g., quizzed, whined, stammered) and that are basic to a particular topic (e.g., wildlife, conservation, and endangered when discussing animal preservation).
RF.4.3 — Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills in decoding words.
RF.4.4 — Read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension.
RI.4.1 — Refer to details and examples in a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text.
RI.4.4 — Determine the meaning of general academic and domain-specific words or phrases in a text relevant to a grade 4 topic or subject area.
RI.4.10 — By the end of year, read and comprehend informational texts, including history/social studies, science, and technical texts, in the grades 4—5 text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.
SL.4.1 — Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 4 topics and texts, building on others' ideas and expressing their own clearly.
W.4.10 — Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of discipline-specific tasks, purposes, and audiences.
Lesson 5
Lesson 7
Explain who is speaking in the prologue and why the author would choose to write this way.
RI.4.6 RI.4.8
Explain the significance of the statement: "It should have been a proud moment for everybody, but, honey, we didn’t have much to celebrate." (p. 13)
RI.4.3 RI.4.5 RI.4.7 RI.4.8
Explain how the author uses details and illustrations to build a deeper understanding of slavery.
RI.4.7 RI.4.8
Analyze what evidence the author includes to support the statement that abolitionists "lit a fire inside many a slave to take their freedom."
RI.4.3 RI.4.7 RI.4.8
Explain where Frederick Douglass found his inspiration and drive.
RI.4.3 RI.4.5 RI.4.8
RI.4.3 RI.4.8
Explain the significance of the quote "Harriet Tubman’s name will never lose its distinction."
Informative Writing – 2 days
Write a multiple-paragraph essay about how courageous individuals create and drive change.
W.4.2 W.4.2.a W.4.2.b W.4.2.c W.4.2.d W.4.2.e
Explain the events that led up to the South being ready for a fight.
RI.4.3 RI.4.5 RI.4.7
Explain why the chapter was titled "Lincoln’s War" and if Lincoln’s actions helped or hurt the conditions for enslaved people.
RI.4.3 RI.4.7 RI.4.8 SL.4.1
Discussion
Analyze and discuss unit essential questions by stating a claim and supporting the claim with details from multiple sources.
RI.4.9 SL.4.1 SL.4.4 W.4.9
Informative Writing
Write a multiple-paragraph essay to answer a unit essential question.
Defend how Reconstruction was supported by segregationist beliefs.
Explain what life was like on the frontier for Buffalo Soldiers and freed Black people.
Explain what effect the Great Migration had on the lives of African Americans and the challenges they faced in their new communities.
Describe the progress African Americans made in the early twentieth century.
Describe how the experience of fighting in World War II changed the people who returned home and how it changed the country.
Explain why the author titles the chapter "Black Innovation."
RI.4.8
Explain how Jim Crow was dying.
Explain why the author titles the last chapter "Revolution" and why what happened was a revolution.
RI.4.3 RI.4.8 SL.4.1
Explain the significance of the final quote in Heart and Soul.
Debate and discuss unit Essential Questions.
Write a multiple-paragraph essay to answer a unit Essential Question.
Informative Writing – 6 days
Research and present about an African American leader.
RI.4.3 RI.4.5 RI.4.7 RI.4.8 SL.4.1 SL.4.4 SL.4.5 W.4.2 W.4.2.a W.4.2.b W.4.2.c W.4.2.d W.4.2.e W.4.7 W.4.8 W.4.9
Assessment
Create a free account to access thousands of lesson plans.
Already have an account? Sign In
See all of the features of Fishtank in action and begin the conversation about adoption.
Learn more about Fishtank Learning School Adoption.
Yes
No
Access rigorous, relevant, and adaptable ELA lesson plans for free