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The Northern Migration
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Lesson Plans For The Northern Migration
Open Door, Closed Door Lesson Plan: Discrimination in Immigration and Migration
Grade levels: Middle school, grades 6-8
Concentration area: Social Studies
The narrative The Northern Migration mentions that several Midwest states prohibited African Americans from migrating into them and that elements of the Canadian public also discouraged migration. Open Door, Closed Door is best used with the narrative to introduce or reinforce geographical knowledge and to help visual learners to create an organizer so they better understand the narrative. Students will select a nation and learn about its immigration policies, both current and (where possible) in the past. Then, students will add their information, either on a bulletin board chart or map, or a computer spreadsheet. The class will evaluate which nations have the most restrictive racial policies and which are the most inclusive.
Push and Pull Factors Lesson Plan: Tug O' War
Grade levels: Middle school, grades 6-8
Concentration area: Social Studies, History : U.S.
The narrative The Northern Migration (along with The Great Migration, The Second Great Migration; and The Return South Migration) provides examples of push and pull factors and their roles in immigration and migration. Push and Pull Factors: Tug O' War is best used with the narrative to introduce or reinforce the concepts of push and pull factors and to help tactile learners see a concrete expression of push-pull through physical activity. Students will define the concepts and create a list of push and pull factors for the narrative (or all four narratives to cover the North, South, and West). Each distinct factor will be written up on index cards labeled "Push" or "Pull," and students will draw cards. With the Physical Education teachers, get a rope and have a Tug O' War contest between push factors and pull factors; students should analyze whether the results of their contest matched history, and if not, why.
Transportation and African-American Migration Lesson Plan
Grade levels: Middle school, grades 6-8
Concentration area: History : U.S.
The narrative The Northern Migration discusses transportation as not merely a means of migration but also a stimulus to migration. Mariners and riverboat workers sent messages from free people of color to their southern relatives and friends, and later Pullman porters distributed newspapers like the Chicago Defender, urging African Americans in the South to move to the North. In Transportation and African-American Migration, a lesson to be used with or as a follow-up to the narrative, students will examine an aspect of either railroad or marine transportation (for example: routes, Pullman porters' work routines, or African-American merchant sailors) and evaluate their impact on migration in the United States.
A Comparative Look at Migrations Lesson Plan
Grade levels: High school, grades 9-12
Concentration area: History : U.S.
The Northern Migration outlines the migration of African Americans during the decades before and following the Civil War. The narrative provides an explanation of the push and pull factors related to the migration along with the social, political, and economic impact that the migration had on both the point of origin of the migration as well as on the destination point. Similarly, The Great Migration reviews the factors leading to one of the largest population shifts in the country's history. The narrative details the social, political, and economic motivations for the movement along with the impact this had on the North and the South. In this lesson, students will examine the two narratives and provide and opportunity for them to compare the migration of African Americans at two distinct points in history.
The Communication Network Lesson Plan: Keeping in Touch
Grade levels: Middle and high school, grades 6-8
Concentration area: History
In the Information Age, communication between friends and family is only a mouse-click away. However, in the Nineteenth century, African-American communication was challenged not only by distance but also by the barriers of slavery. Students will read The Northern Migration and create an eight-frame cartoon depicting the means of communication between the freed people in the North and those enslaved in the South. Students will participate in a "Gallery Walk" to view the work of their classmates.
The Northern Migration Lesson Plan
Grade levels: Middle and high school, grades 9-12
Concentration area: History
This lesson is designed for students to use with the narrative The Northern Migration. Students also will use the site's maps and image resources in studying this migration. Appropriate for middle school and high school students, the lesson's goal is to facilitate students' understanding of the pros and cons for participation in this migration. They will assume the role of a Nineteenth Century African American who is contemplating participating in this migration, and will write a letter to a loved one explaining the reasons for their decision.
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