In general, a whole or half chapter a day of Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred Taylor is assigned daily with 3-4 chapters being completed each week, BUT, the classroom is "flipped"; reading or listening to the audiobook is started in class, while vocabulary work, chapter questions and other assignments are completed at home. This ensures that all students have read the book and can participate in and understand class discussions as well as be successful with other classwork or homework. 

PRE-READING/CHECK FOR PRIOR KNOWLEDGE:  Read the short story, Not Poor, Just Broke, (aka Shame) by Dick Gregory. The key to this story is understanding that the teacher in the story is Black, so ask the students this question and discuss what context clues they used to determine this.  They will most likely respond that, because she is so mean, she must be White. The actuality is that Dick Gregory would have attended a segregated school with a Black teacher. This is a re-introduction to the culture of the segregated South after the Civil War, and an introduction to Jim Crow Laws, and the setting of the novel, 1933 Mississippi. 

VOCABULARY: Students can complete a Vocabulary List or keep a vocabulary log and collect 10 words per week, OR vocabulary.com has vocabulary lists based on chapters read. 

CHAPTER/ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS: Chapter Questions can lead daily class discussions. Continue to discuss and model how the answers are found using the 3 Levels of Reading strategies and how the answers should be written with PEA or PEAEAEAL.

READING ACCOUNTABILITY: Besides being accountable for daily reading, students will summarize each chapter on a Plot Chart. Chapter reveals the climax! A character web could also be drawn on the inside cover and kept as a strategy for remembering who each main character is.

SUMMARY: Set in 1933 Mississippi, Cassie narrates an important few years of her childhood that begin when she and her 3 brothers are walking to their segregated school. It is her youngest brother's first day of school, and, on the way, they hear about the lynching of several black neighbors.  Throughout the novel, Cassie, who is 8 at the beginning of the novel, seems to be learning about the racism that surrounds her.  She also learns that fighting back can have dire circumstances.  In fact, the events in the novel seem to mirror the Civil Rights Movement.  In the end, the Logan family's defiance is noble, but the racism and prejudice, of course, continues.  The symbolism of the novel -- including the title -- is powerful! (In fact, midway through the novel, examining major events of the Civil Rights Movement -- A Civil Rights Virtual Field Trip -- can reveal why Mildred Taylor included similar events in the novel. In addition, an analysis of the song Strange Fruit and the photo of the lynching that inspired it is important midway through the book when students seem ready to confront the difficult content. Maya Angelou's poem, Caged Bird  is important to read during the novel too.

INTEGRATED WRITING PROJECT: The Tic-Tac-Toe Final Writing Project incorporates Howard Gardner's Multiple Intelligences and is designed to promote the students' exploration of multiple skills. Student choice is also a major component of this assignment; the required task is researching and composing a Feature Article.

POST-READING SUGGESTIONS TO BRIDGE NOVELS: 

Watch The Children's March/1963. Just like the novel, the children's defiance against the racism and prejudice around them is inspiring. Dick Gregory is also an activist highlighted in the film!

Read Shirley Jackson's short story, The Lottery, while listening to the audio; students should complete a Pre-reading and Post-Reading activity. It introduces the themes of man's inhumanity to man and a society's participation in violent and unfair societal traditions and norms.  After all, aren't racism and prejudice a situation where people stand by and watch, until they are the victim?