Justice Berumen

Professor Mitchell
TED 520
July 19 2021
Madeline Hunter Lesson Plan: A Letter From Birmingham Jail

1. Anticipatory Set (focus): This refers to a short activity that draws the students' attention
before the lesson begins. This can be a handout, an example problem, or a simple question.

- Quick write & discussion: If you paid any attention to what has happened over the past
15 months, you likely heard a lot about the protests regarding police brutality following
the deaths of George Floyd and others. During these protests, many people were arrested
and jailed, sometimes in unorthodox manners (unmarked officers and vehicles). How do
you feel about the arrest of protestors in social movements?

2. Purpose (objective): The purpose outlines the objective of that day's lesson. Here the
teacher emphasizes how students will benefit from the session and how they will go about
learning from it.

- Students will learn about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his civil-rights protest efforts in
Birmingham, Alabama, as well as how and why he was arrested and put in jail. Students
will also learn about his famous Letter from Birmingham jail and how it still holds a lot
of relevance in American politics, despite being 60 years old.
- Students will learn about this content by (1) listening to and taking notes on a short
powerpoint presentation that gives context to Dr. MLK Jr.’s Letter. Students will then (2)
read the Letter themselves in small groups using the 3-2-1 During Reading Strategy.

3. Input: Input refers to the vocabulary, skills and other concepts the teacher intends to
incorporate in the session. It basically summarizes what students need to know in order to
successfully master the lesson.

- Vocabulary and Concepts:

- Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC)
- Nonviolent direct action/ Civil Disobedience
- Segregation
- Civil Rights/Civil Rights Movement
- Social Inequality
- Just vs unjust laws
- White Moderates
 - Negative peace vs positive peace
- Extremism
- Black Nationalists/Nationalism
- Declaration of Independence
- Bus protest in Montgomery, Alabama
- Police violence/brutality

4. Modeling (show): It's no secret that most students are only able to master a new lesson if
the teacher has taken the time to show how it's done. Simply walk through a problem
without student participation, allowing them to learn how it’s done.

- First, the teacher shows a short powerpoint presentation that puts the lesson into context
of the unit
- In this case, the Letter from a Birmingham Jail is placed in context of the Civil
Rights Movement
- Presentation should cover basic factual information that leads up to the Letter
itself.
- Teacher runs through section #1 by themselves:
- Teacher reads the section aloud, while also describing their thinking process as
they read through the text
- The teacher highlights or makes note of important points in the text
- The teacher can also choose to skim over sections they feel are not as significant
to the lesson
- Once they reach the end of section #1, the teacher writes down the following:
- 3 Important Details (from the text)
- 2 Connections (to previous course material)
- 1 Question (about the text or based on the text)

5. Guided Practice: Here, the teacher leads the students through the steps necessary to
perform the skill emphasized using what is called the tripodal approach or see/hear/do.
Show the students how to successfully work through problems as they attempt to do it
themselves.

- Teacher runs through section #2, asking for student input for each part:
- Teacher calls on students to read paragraphs of section aloud to class
- Teacher pauses occasionally to ask students questions that make them consider
the paragraph they just read.
- Teacher also gives students space to ask their own comments/questions
- Once section is completed, each student writes down the following:
 - 3 Important Details (from the text)
- 2 Connections (to previous course material)
- 1 Question (about the text or based on the text)

6. Check Understanding: Be sure your students understand the lesson. Ask students if they
understand and answer their questions, then adjust the lesson pace accordingly.

- Have students re-state what they have to do for each section

- “What should you write down after each section?”
- Tell them to ask for help when they have difficulty understanding something

7. Independent Practice: Allow the students to practice completing lessons on their own
and aid when necessary. Be sure all students understand the lessons of the day, including
any homework assignments.

- Teacher breaks up students into groups of 2 or 3.

- Students can be split randomly or by ability
- Opportunity for student scaffolding (higher ability students help lower ability)
- Students begin reading section #3 as a pairing/group, taking turns to read each paragraph
- Students pause to make note of important points in section
- Repeat the process until reading is completed.

8. Closure: Wrap up the lesson. Ask the students to recap what you have taught them,
telling or showing you what they have learned.

- Final Assessment: Summary and Discussion

- Once the reading and 3-2-1 notes are completed, students should be given 5-10
minutes to summarize the contents of the letter in the notebook
- Teacher should remind them that their 3-2-1 notes will help this process
- Once time is up, the teacher should start asking questions and facilitating
classroom discussion on the article.
- What your favorite part was, what stood out to you, do you think anything
applies to today, etc