Target Audience: 8th grade English Language Arts class
Creator: Brianna Pannell
Date: November 2008
Description
This buILder was created to supplement a class reading of Nikki Grimes' novel The Bronx Masquerade. It is designed to provide background knowledge of the Harlem Renaissance and to learn more about the historical writers briefly mentioned in the novel. In addition to learning about the Harlem Renaissance and writers of this era, students will compare two literary works: one from a writer they explored in this buILder, and the other a poem from The Bronx Masquerade. This comparison can lead into a broad discussion about the differences and similarities of the writings of these two eras, or can lead into a more specific assignment such as a critical lens essay.
This buILder concludes with a blog-based class discussion about the findings and thoughts of the works reviewed during this activity.
Supporting Documents for this BuILder:
Instructional Goals
Students will:
- Understand broadly the literary, cultural, and historical significance of the Harlem Renaissance;
- Know about select writers of the Harlem Renaissance, and how their work compares to and has influenced contemporary literary works;
- Recognize how the artistic and cultural movement of Harlem in the 1920s and 30s paved the way to the future civil rights of African Americans;
- Recognize characteristics of various literary works; and
- Use a blog to discuss and share the ideas of all students, further understanding, and engage in online collaborative learning.
Learning Objectives
Students will:
- Describe the historical significance of the literary movement of the Harlem Renaissance;
- Identify 3 facts about a selected writer from the Harlem Renaissance;
- Compare two literary works using a Venn diagram;
- Compare and contrast ideas and share thoughts with classmates using a class blog;
- Describe how the literary movement of the Harlem Renaissance impacted and influenced the contemporary cultural landscape.
Motivational Goals
- Promote the importance of understanding how the Harlem Renaissance impacted contemporary American culture and literature.
- Generate interest in various literary works.
- Develop student confidence in extracting factual information from a website.
- Generate interest in using web 2.0 tools for collaborative learning.
If you do not have a class blog and are interested in creating one, here are a few sites you may consider using:
http://www.classblogmeister.com/
Questions or comments?
You may email the creator at brianna.pannell@gmail.com. Please use subject heading: BUILDER