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Last updated: August 26, 2023
Lesson Plan
Chapter 15 Lesson Plan: The Watson Go to Birmingham 1963
- Grade Level:
- Middle School: Sixth Grade through Eighth Grade
- Subject:
- Literacy and Language Arts,Social Studies
- Lesson Duration:
- 90 Minutes
Essential Question
How can life experiences inspire us to do or be better?
Objective
Students will use what they know about the Watson family members to write follow-up to Chapter 15 in the form of an epilogue or subsequent chapter.
Preparation
Gather materials:
- Passage from Christopher Paul Curtis’s prologue to the 25th anniversary edition of The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963 (provided)
- Excerpts from primary and secondary sources about Flint, Michigan during the mid-to-late 1960s. (provided)
Materials
Download Protesting Wallace October 13, 1968
Download Uneasy Schools 1 of 1 October 20, 1968
Download Uneasy Schools 2 of 2 October 20, 1968
Download NAACP Steps Up Protests
Download Housing Protest August 16, 1967
Download Flint Journal 1967 Sleep In Lawn
Download Flint Journal 1967 Student Housing Strike
Procedure
- Do now: ask students to brainstorm a list of adjectives that describe Kenny and Byron in Chapter 15.
- Read aloud a segment of Christopher Paul Curtis’ prologue to the 25th anniversary edition of The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963 (provided).
- Distribute collection of primary and secondary source materials on Flint in the mid-to-late 1960s.
- Lead a class discussion of what we learn and can surmise about issues, civil rights activity, and mood in Flint in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Follow-up with, “What questions do these sources lead you to ask?”
- Ask students to draw on the primary and secondary source materials and the text to write either an epilogue or a Chapter 16 for The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963. If students choose an epilogue, they should be sure to specify the setting, including the age of each of the Watson characters. Some questions to consider: How have Kenny, Byron, and Joey changed? What role would the Watsons have in the activism and upheaval of the mid-late 1960s?
- To shorten this activity: Ask students to write an outline of the chapter or epilogue, drawing on one or more of the primary sources.
- To lengthen this activity: Have students share their chapter or epilogue with a
partner, explaining both how their knowledge of the characters informed their
choices and how the plot can be supported by the historical evidence provided.