The Great Migration: Family Decisions

This unit was created by educators at IDEA Public Charter School, as part of the 2022 cohort of The 1619 Project Education Network. It includes 4 weeks of lesson materials (fifteen 60-minute lessons).

Objectives & Outcomes

• Students will be able to create a timeline that both defines the Great Migration and identifies the causation factors that influenced the decisions individuals made to migrate.  
• Students will be able to use family oral history and primary sources to document their ancestors’/family’s migration.
• Students will be able to  create a story that demonstrates their understanding of their personal Great Migration and how a single choice to relocate has impacted their family. 

Essential Questions

• How have my ancestors’/family's decisions impacted my life story?
• How can historical context help me understand the decisions my ancestors/family have made? 

Unit Overview

In this cross curricular project 11th grade students will read Isabel Wilkerson’s “The Warmth of Other Suns” while conducting similar personal genealogical research in order to produce a Family Story, which reflects how their family/ancestors' (or those in their circle of care’s) decisions have impacted their present and future lives. 

This Project Based Learning unit will allow the students to progress through 4 steps/milestones that “climb” Bloom’s Taxonomy.  Students will receive supporting instruction in both of their ELA and US History courses as they work on mastering the standards.  In doing so they will grow their skills in analyzing primary sources, determining cause/effect, synthesizing secondary sources, creating plot lines, and creating stories.  

Performance Task

Step A - Define Great Migration and identify decisions that were made via a timeline.  

• Product = Timeline
• ( 3 lessons in English) 
• (2-3 in US History)

Step B - Use your Genealogical research to determine any major decisions your family made that contributed to their relocation/migration. 

• Product = Google Drive folder that includes “Step B: Biography Cards” and all primary sources from “Step B: Primary Source Research”   
• (6-8 lessons in English)
• (4-5 lessons in US His)

Step C - Synthesize Great Migration and Genealogy research to write a “Family Story.”  

• Product = Family Story Social Media Post with images reflecting personal learning of the Great Migration and family history
• (2-3 lessons in US His )
• (2 lessons in English) 

*It is very important for both teachers and students to realize that what makes the unit so unique and so engaging is that it is very personal.  Students are using their own family’s history to better understand the history of the Great Migration.  Teachers must be careful to be inclusive as possible and not limit students and their family histories.  For instance, though the unit hopes to help students better understand the causes and effects of the Great Migration, students’ ancestors don’t necessarily need to have participated in the Great Migration. Any form of migration or immigration by any families/ancestors will be helpful to better understand the Great Migration.  Additionally, though all families probably have layers of drama, unfortunately, for many students the amount of family drama may be too great to delve into for a school assignment. So, it is important to address this and offer alternatives. For instance, offering a staff members’ or even a celebrity’s family can allow all students to engage in this project and develop these historical skills.   

Sixteen-day (60 mins each day) unit plan for teachers, including pacing, texts and multimedia resources, graphic organizers for student projects, and performance tasks for the unit. Download below, or scroll down to read the complete unit plan.

Facilitation Resources

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.11-12.5

Analyze in detail how a complex primary source is structured, including how key sentences, paragraphs, and larger portions of the text contribute to the whole.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.11-12.7

Integrate and evaluate multiple sources of information presented in diverse formats and media (e.g., visually, quantitatively, as well as in words) in order to address a question or solve a problem.

RL.11-12.1. Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text, including determining where the text leaves matters uncertain.

RL.9-10.3. Analyze how complex characters (e.g., those with multiple or conflicting motivations) develop over the course of a text, interact with other characters, and advance the plot or develop the theme.

RL.11-12.3. Analyze the impact of the author’s choices regarding how to develop and relate elements of a story or drama (e.g., where a story is set, how the action is ordered, how the characters are introduced and developed).