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Overview: This unit covers
the Great Migration of African-Americans from the South to northern
cities from 1916 to approximately 1950, through the lens of push
factors and pull factors for migration. It uses source documents (letters written to
a Chicago newspaper), the Migration Series of paintings by Jacob
Lawrence, and historical census data to illustrate the concepts
involved. The unit culminates with an opportunity for
students to illustrate these migration concepts in their own lives
through an art activity, and then do some writing to compare their
own experience to the Great Migration. Objectives:
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Grade Level: middle
school Subjects: American History, Geography Required Materials
Prerequisite
Knowledge: To get the most out of this lesson, students
should have some prior knowledge in these areas:
Optional Technologies:
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Suggested Procedure (Pedagogy): Lesson 1: Introduction
– “Seven Letters from the Great Migration” (approximately one 45-minute
class period) -
Opening -
1. Tell the class that
they will be starting a new unit focusing on a major, ongoing event
that happened across several decades and had a huge impact on the
U.S.A. Tell the students that there was a newspaper in Chicago in
the early 1900s called the Chicago Defender, which was published
by African-Americans for the African-American community.
Tell them that to begin with, they will be reading some letters
sent to this newspaper and trying to see if there are any patterns
in what the letters say. -
Development -
2. Divide the class
into seven groups. To each
group, pass out an envelope containing a sheet with the text of
one of the “Seven
Letters from the Great Migration” (www.essexheritage.org/frameworks/6e_1865-1914.htm). Put
a different letter in each envelope. If a greater number of groups is desired make 2 or more copies of
each letter. Number each
letter for identification on the “Seven Letters” study sheet. -
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3. Pass out the “Seven
Letters of the Great Migration” study sheet. Ask students in their group to read the letter together in their
group and answer the questions on the study sheet regarding each
letter. Tell them they will have no more than 5 minutes
to read each letter and answer the questions. When they have finished the letter they should pass it on to the
next group so that each group has an opportunity to read all 7 letters. Explain to the students that there are some
mistakes in spelling and grammar, because the letters are shown
exactly as they were originally written. -
SOME SUGGESTIONS FOR MODIFICATION IF NECESSARY TO MEET STUDENT
NEEDS: Reduce the number of letters students must read; have all the letters together on one sheet,
and give one to each student, for individual work rather than small
group work; read each letter together as a class before having students
answer questions; allow more than 5 minutes to work with each letter. -
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Closing -
7. Tell students, “Tomorrow
we are going to take a look at what we read in these letters.” Lesson 2: Generalizing from the “Seven Letters” and preparing
to look at the Migration Series paintings. ” (approximately one 45-minute class period) -
Opening -
1. Ask, “Who can summarize for us what did yesterday?” -
2. Ask students to take out their “Seven Letters” study sheet.
Have different students take turns reading the responses
they wrote down for each letter. -
Development -
3. Ask students, “What
do these letters have in common?
What’s the pattern?” (African-Americans in southern states
urgently asking for help in getting jobs in Chicago or other northern
cities). Ask students, “Why were they so eager to work
in the North? What were
some of the reasons these letter-writers gave for wanting to leave
their homes in the South?” (Lack
of jobs, unable to support family, racial discrimination). -
4. Tell students that
the writers of these letters were just a few among millions of African-Americans
who left their homes in the south to go looking for jobs in northern
cities from about 1916 through 1950 and even beyond. Explain that this trend of African-Americans
moving from the south to northern cities has been called The Great
Migration. -
5. Ask students to
write the word “migrate” on the open area on the back of their “Seven
Letters” study sheet. Ask,
who knows what it means to “migrate”?
(Answer should be “to move from one place to another to live”
or something similar). Ask them to write the definition down. Also have them write down the words migration
and migrant and help them define the words and write down the definitions.
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6. Ask students whether
they have heard of a famous painter named Jacob Lawrence. Give a brief introduction to Lawrence beyond
what students have shared if necessary, mentioning that he was an
African-American who painted a lot about the African-American experience. Tell students, “Lawrence made a famous series
of paintings which tell a story about The Great Migration. It’s a wonderful series of paintings and we
are going to look at it and learn from it in this book. But first, we are going to read the introduction
to the book and see what Jacob Lawrence himself can tell us about
why he painted this series.” -
7. Break students
into small groups (perhaps the same groups in which they read the
“Seven Letters”). Hand out
a copy of “The Great Migration: An American Story” to each group,
explaining that they will need to look at the book together as best
they can. Take turns reading the introduction aloud together as a class; or
have students in each group take turns reading it to each other. -
8. Hand out a copy of the “Jacob
Lawrence’s Introduction” study sheet.
Have students answer the questions using the introduction
text which they have just read. -
Closing -
9. Tell students: “Tomorrow
we’re going to look at the series of paintings in this book and
see what we can learn from them about the Great Migration and about
some migration concepts.” Lesson 3: Reading the “Migration Series” paintings ”
(approximately one 45-minute class period) -
Opening -
1. Briefly review some
of the information about Jacob Lawrence learned in the previous
lesson. Be sure to review
what it meant that his family was part of the Great Migration. Development -
2. Ask students, “How
many of you have migrated? Raise your hands.” Remind them that a person could migrate from one country to another,
within a country, within a state, within a city, or within a neighborhood, if they are changing
the location of where they live.
Remind them that if they stay with Grandma for the summer
and then go home, they were temporary migrants.
Stress the fact that virtually everybody migrates. Allow two or three students to share an example
of a time when they or someone they know migrated. If they are willing, ask them what caused them
or that person to migrate. -
3. Ask students to take out a sheet of paper. Write the words “Why migrate?” on an overhead
transparency and have students do the same at the centers of their
papers. Ask students, “WHY
do people migrate?” Challenge
students to think of at least 10 reasons why people sometimes migrate
and have them put the words into a “word web” on their papers.
After a few minutes, solicit answers and write a quick word
web on the overhead transparency. -
4. Tell students,
“Let’s take a look at the list we’ve created of reasons why
people migrate. Sometimes people migrate because they want to get away from something
unpleasant or bad. Sometimes
people migrate because the place they’re going to is attracting
them. Much of the time it’s both. Let’s look at these and put a “+” by each positive
reason for migrating (being attracted to a new place) and a “-“
next to each negative reason for migrating (wanting to escape the
old place).” -
5. Tell students there
is a name for these plusses and minuses.
Plusses are called “pull factors.”
These are the good things about a new place that make a person
want to leave their home and go there.
The minuses are called “push factors.”
These are the bad things about where a person lives that
pushes them away from wanting to stay. 6. Tell
students, “Let’s look at the paintings from the Great Migration
and take turns reading the captions.
Be sure to follow the story as we read.
And as we read I want you to think about push and pull factors. What are some of the push factors – things
about living in the south that were bad for African-Americans and
made them think about going somewhere better?
And what are some of the pull factors – good things they
heard about life in the northern cities that made many of them want
to leave their homes and move there?” -
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7. Take turns reading the book to its conclusion. If time allows, have students read the closing
poem by Walter Dean Myers. -
Closing -
8. Tell students, “Tomorrow
we’ll take another look at the paintings and you’ll have a chance
to further identify push and pull factors” Lesson 4: Push and Pull Factors in the “Migration Series”
(approximately one 45-minute class period) -
Opening -
1. Briefly review the
concepts of migration, push factors, and pull factors. Then ask what is meant by the Great Migration;
clarify any misconceptions. -
2. Tell the students that they are going to look at the book
with the Great Migration paintings
again, and that this time they will be required to write
down push factors (things that made many African-Americans want
to leave their homes in the South) and pull factors (things that
attracted many African-Americans to want to move to cities in the
North) starting around 1916. Development
which you will fill in as you read.”
On a projected overhead transparency draw a chart (or have
it pre-drawn before class) titled “The Great Migration.”
After students have written this title at the top, they should
draw a vertical line down the center of the paper and label 2 columns:
“Push Factors (what made made many African-Americans want to leave
the South?”) and “Pull Factors (what attracted many African-Americans
to cities in the North?”) 4.
Have students get into small groups again and pass out copies
of The Great Migration: An American Story. Have students take turns reading out loud to the class through Panel
10; solicit responses and write answers on the overhead transparencies
in the correct columns (Pull Factor: shortage of workers in northern
factories due to World War I – new workers needed; northern industries
offered train tickets which could be paid back later;
Push Factor: Nature
had ravaged the south (floods, boll weevil).
5.
Have students in their groups read through the remainder of
the book, completing the chart.
Tell them they should try to find at least 10 factors to
put in each column. Tell students that not every picture or every
caption will describe a push or pull factor. Be available as students work to help those who need clarification. 6.
After students have had adequate time to read and complete
their push-pull factor charts, put the overhead transparency up
again and solicit answers, putting the answers (in shorthand if
necessary) into the proper columns.
Have students check their own work and make corrections if
necessary. -
Closing -
7. If time allows,
asks students, “What are some major migrations which are
happening in today’s world? What are some of the push and pull factors
which are encouraging people to migrate?” -
8. Tell students, “We’ve
looked at a series of paintings which helps us understand the Great
Migration. Tomorrow we’re
going to map the Great Migration.” Lesson 5: Mapping
the Great Migration (approximately one to two 45-minute class
periods) -
Opening -
1. Review what has
been learned so far about the Great Migration:
What was it? During
which years did it happen? (approximately 1916 through 1950, although
those dates are open to interpretation).
What were some of the Push Factors which encouraged African-Americans
to leave the South? What were some of the Pull Factors which attracted
African-Americans to move to the North? Was everything wonderful in the North for those who migrated there?
(no - there was racial discrimination and poor housing, but generally
better opporunities for jobs, education, and voting rights). -
2. Tell students they
are going to have an opportunity today to map the Great Migration. -
Development -
3. Put up an overhead
transparency with a blank outline map of the U.S. with the 50 states
and ask, “If we wanted to map the Great Migration, which part of
this map would we most want to focus on?” (the eastern half).
“We would probably want to label the states in the eastern
half of the country. What
might we want to label within those states?” (major cities; railroad
lines which were the main form of transport for migrants). “Which
regions might we want to label?” (South and North – explaining that
there is often disagreement about where one ends and the next begins).
“What could we put on the map to show that millions of African-Americans
migrated from south to north between 1916 and about 1950?” (arrows) -
4. Hand out to each
student a blank outline map of the U.S. with the 50 states (or a
map of the eastern half of U.S. if preferred to allow more space
for writing). Hand out the “Mapping the Great Migration”
study sheet. Hand out
a map of major rail routes in the eastern U.S. during the Great
Migration (such as “Major Rail Lines in 1935” from http://mikes.railhistory.railfan.net/r024.html (If
this map is used, explain to students that even though the Great
Migration began well before 1935, the major rail routes were well-established
by 1900). -
5. Hand out atlases
and colored pencils to students and allow them to work, following
the directions on the “Mapping
the Great Migration” study sheet. Be available to answer questions and direct
students to the necessary resources.
(The teacher might want to have a set of transparencies made
ahead of time which could be overlayed, each showing one stage of
the labeling, which could be projected on the screen as most students
are completed with that particular stage of the product, to help
them check their work as they proceed).
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Closing -
6. Tell students that
the next stage of their project will be to answer the question,
“How do we know the Great Migration really happened?” -
Lesson 6: Graphing the Great Migration (approximately
one to two 45-minute class periods; longer if students find their
own percents using the data ) -
Note: teacher will need to prepare census data ahead of time
using the U.S. Historical Census web site: http://fisher.lib.virginia.du/census -
TO PREPARE THE DATA: Choose 3 southern states (suggested: Georgia,
Alabama, Mississippi) and 3 northern states with larger cities (recommended:
Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania).
Using the Historical Census website, find the percent of
African-Americans among the total population in each state for the
years 1910, 1920, 1930, 1940, and 1950.
(This will take some time but the website is well worth exploring). For some years there are separate categories
for “Negro male” and “Negro female” which need to be added together
before dividing by the total population of the state. When graphed, this data will show a continuous
decline in the percent of African-Americans in the southern states
selected and a continuous increase in the percent of African-Americans
in the northern states selected.
For a moderately more dramatic effect, instead of IL, OH
and PA, it is possible to find data for Cook County, IL (essentially
Chicago), Hamilton County, OH (essentially Cincinnati), and Allegheny
County, PA (essentially Pittsburgh).
(ALTERNATIVE POSSIBILITY: with adept students, if time and
interest allows, have students take the data and find the percentages
themselves before graphing them). -
Opening -
1. Ask students to
briefly summarize what they have learned so far about the Great
Migration. Fill in any important information students
might have omitted in their responses. -
2. Ask the students,
“We’ve read about the Great Migration, we drew a map… but how do
we know the Great Migration really happened?” (Reports of those
still living, written documents, etc.).
Ask, “We can find lots of reports by individuals who describe
how and why they migrated. How could we find out how much the population
in the south and the north changed over time?” (census data) -
Development -
3. Tell students, “ We are going to look at some census data
from the years of the Great Migration and see if the pattern of
African-American migration from the south to northern cities happened
the way the textbooks tell us.”
Explain what the U. S. census is if they are not already
familiar with it. -
4. Making the graph: give oral instructions and demonstrate
on overhead while students write it on paper: -
A) Have students take out a sheet of paper and write “The Great
Migration” across the top. -
B) Hand out rulers. -
B) Have students draw the Y axis along one of the lines on
the paper, approx. 4 inches from the bottom of the paper. Instruct them to make a mark along the every
inch for 5 inches. At each
inch students should write the year of the census data: 1910, 1920, 1930, 1940, 1950. Underneath
students should write Year of U.S. Census. -
C) Have students draw an X axis along the margin line of the
paper, going up at least 12 lines.
On each line of the X axis, have students number by 5, starting
with 0 where the X and Y axes meet, and stopping at 60.
Have students label the X axis as “Percent of African-Americans
in the Population.” -
D) Pass out colored
pencils. Below the graph,
have students make a key with the name of each of these states written
with a different color of pencil: -
Alabama -
Mississippi -
Georgia -
Pennsylvania -
Ohio -
Illinois -
E) Hand out the prepared
data sheets. Have students
graph the data, making a dot with the appropriate colored pencil
to match the key. After all the data has been plotted, have students
connect the dots using their rulers. -
F) Where there is space
remaining on the front of the paper, or on the back, have students
write a short paragraph about what this data shows. Closing 5.
Ask students to summarize what the graph shows. Ask, “Does this data support what we have learned
about the Great Migration? Explain.”
Ask whether there were any surprises in what they learned.
Tell them that in the next lesson they will have an opportunity
to look at migration in their own lives or the lives of someone
they know. Lesson 7: Making
Your Own Migration Series (at least one 45-minute class period;
more if students are primarily completing the project in class) Opening 1. Tell the class, “ We’ve looked at the Great
Migration, but as we talked about near the beginning of the unit,
virtually everybody migrates, including you and me.
Now I want you to think about a migration story from your
own life – either yourself or someone you know.
You are going to take Jacob Lawrence’s idea of telling a
migration story in pictures and make your own picture series.” -
Development 2.
Pass
out the “Planning Sheet for
Your Own Migration Series” to each student. Read through the directions with students and
see if they have any questions.
Explain to the students which media they may use to make
their pictures, whether the assignment will be done in class, at
home, or both, and when the project is due.
Go over the scoring rubric together and let them know how
much each item will be worth. Tell them how the final product will be shared
with others (read by others within the class, posted within the
classroom or in hallways, etc). 3.
Give
students time to get started on their projects in class. Have the Great Migration books available for
students to look at for inspiration.
Be available to give assistance and feedback.
The teacher will decide how many days to allow students to
work in class and how much of the project will need to be completed
outside of class. Closing 4. When ready
to move on to the final step of the unit, tell students,
“To wrap up this unit, you’re going to be asked to do some writing
about the migration story you have told with your pictures and how
it compares to the Great Migration. “ Lesson 8: Comparing
Your Migration Story to the Great Migration
(one 45-minute class period) Opening 1. Tell students, “We’ve looked at the Great Migration,
and we’ve looked at our own migration stories. Now we’re going to wrap up this unit by having
you compare the migration story you made with the experience of
the Great Migration. Development 2. Pass out copies of, OR display using an overhead
projector, the rubric for this writing assignment. Have students write the essay in class, at
home, or a combination of both, as is fitting. Closing 4.
Invite students to share some of their answers in class and
discuss. Student Activity—Online: An
alternative to obtaining the Great Migration books would be to have
the students read the paintings and their captions on-line at www.jacoblawrence.org/art04.html
– under “Series” select “Migration of the Negro.” Note: this site has the original captions, rather than the updated
captions of the book e.g. the original text uses the term “Negro,”
while the newer text found in the book uses the terms “African-American”
and “black”. Suggested Assessment: The
lesson as presented here features on-going assessment. For example
the rubrics for the “Make Your Own Migration Series” and “Comparing
Your Story to the Great Migration” require the student to demonstrate
an understanding of the concepts of migration and push and pull
factors. Teachers may want
to add additional assessments such as quizzes or items on a test
regarding the Great Migration. RESOURCE
BAR Definitions migrate:
to move from one place to another to live migration:
the act of migrating migrant:
a person who migrates push
factor: something that makes a person want to leave where he/she
lives pull
factor: something that attracts a person to a different place The
Great Migration U.S.
Census Geography and
History Standards This
lesson fits with the following national geography standards: 1. The World in
Spatial Terms 3. How to analyze the spatial organization of
people, places, and environments on Earth’s surface. 2 6. How culture and experience influence people’s
perceptions of places and regions. 4 9.
Characteristics, distribution, and migration of human populations
on Earth’s surface. 5 15. How physical systems affect human systems. 6 17.
How to apply geography to interpret the past. This
lesson fits with the following Minnesota Profiles of Learning standard: History
and Citizenship 2.
illustrating a theme of change or migration that encompasses historical
events Web Links for
Teachers and Students “Seven Letters of the Great Migration”
www.essexheritage.org/frameworks/6e_1865-1914.htm Jacob
Lawrence Archives – entire Migration Series in original form www.jacoblawrence.org/art04.html Map
of U.S. railroad routes in 1935
http://mikes.railhistory.railfan.net/r024.html Historical
U.S. census data http://fisher.lib.virginia.edu/census Discussion Questions
Are
there “great migrations” going on today?
What are they? What
are some of other “great migrations” which have occurred in history? Can
the results of any current or past mass migrations be seen in your
own city, town, state or province?
What were those migrations and what evidence do you see? Extension Activities
Research
whether the patterns of the Great Migration still hold: are more
African-Americans moving from south to north, or has the pattern
stabilized? Or has it reversed? Or is movement in some other direction altogether? Research
another ethnic group’s migration patterns and compare them to the
Great Migration, along with push-pull factors for the migration. Research
the impact of the Great Migration on a particular city, county or
state. |
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Credits Dave Hedenstrom, Social Studies, Franklin Middle School, Minneapolis, Minnesota |
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