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Unit 3

Title: Jackie Robinson: Justice At Last

Suggested Time: 3 days (45 minutes per day)

Common Core ELA Standards: RI.6.1, RI.6.2, RI.6.3; W.6.2, W.6.4; SL.6.1; L.6.1, L.6.2, L.6.5

Teacher Instructions

Preparing for Teaching

1. Read the Big Ideas and Key Understandings and the Synopsis. Please do not read this to the students. This is a description for teachers about the big ideas and key understanding that students should take away after completing this task.

Big Ideas and Key Understandings

Brave people rise above prejudice by responding in a non-violent, dignified way in the face of adversity.

Synopsis

“Jackie Robinson: Justice at Last” is the story of two brave men who changed the course of history in sports. In the 1940s, players in Major Leagues Baseball were segregated: African American and non-white players were excluded from playing with white players. The owner of the Brooklyn Dodgers, Branch Rickey, believed that black and white athletes should play together, so he asked Jackie Robinson to become the first African American player on his team. Ricky chose Jackie Robinson because Jackie was not only a superb athlete, but also very intelligent and sensitive. In spite of warnings that this would be difficult, Robinson agrees. By accepting this challenge and acting with dignity and strength, Robinson becomes a role model for future generations, as well as opening the door for non-white players in major league sports.

2. Read the entire selection, keeping in mind the Big Ideas and Key Understandings.

3. Re-read the text while noting the stopping points for the Text Dependent Questions and teaching Tier II/academic vocabulary.

4. Prepare definitions and sentences to teach and practice Tier II/academic vocabulary words you have selected for in-depth vocabulary instruction (dignity, prejudice, rise above.

During Teaching

1. Students read the entire selection independently.

2. Teacher reads the text aloud while students follow along or students take turns reading aloud to each other. Depending on the text length and student need, the teacher may choose to read the full text or a passage aloud. For a particularly complex text, the teacher may choose to reverse the order of steps 1 and 2.

3. Students and teacher re-read the text while stopping to respond to and discuss the questions, continually returning to the text. A variety of methods can be used to structure the reading and discussion (i.e., whole class discussion, think-pair-share, independent written response, group work, etc.)

Text Dependent Questions

|How does the author introduce the idea of unfair treatment towards black baseball players in |In the second sentence of the first paragraph, the author states that Americans of all races |

|the major leagues in the first paragraph of the story? |died in the war. They gave their lives for America, just as many other men of all races had. |

| |How could they be excluded from a sport, when they gave so much? |

|Integrate means to combine or put together. Who is Branch Rickey? What does he decide to |Branch Rickey was the team owner of the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1945. He believed that that “blacks|

|integrate? Why? (page 422) |and whites should play together” and that black players should be allowed in the major leagues.|

| |He felt that baseball would become “more thrilling and fans of all colors to swarm to his ball |

| |park”. |

|Reread page 423. What qualities made Jackie Robinson the best choice to integrate a major |Jackie Robinson was the best choice because he combined superb athletic ability with the |

|league team, rather than any of the other brilliant Negro league players? |qualities of great intelligence and sensitivity. He was college educated. He was the grandson |

| |of a slave and proud of his race and wanted others to feel the same. |

|What did Branch Rickey tell Jackie Robinson when he chose him to integrate the team? What did |Rickey told Robinson that the team needed “a man that will take abuse.” At first, Robinson |

|Robinson think about this at first? What did Robinson realize after talking with Rickey for a |believed Rickey wanted someone who “was afraid to defend himself”. Later he realized that only |

|while? What did Jackie Robinson promise Branch Rickey? Quote directly from the text when |“a truly brave man” would “avoid fighting”. He promised that he “would not fight back.” |

|answering the questions. (page 423) | |

|How did Robinson’s fellow Dodger team mates react when he starting playing for the majors in |The author states, “many Dodgers were angry. Some signed a petition demanding to be traded.” |

|1947? Did all of the Dodger players feel the same? What does the author write that informs the|According to his promise to Rickey, Robinson would not fight back. Since he stayed on the team |

|reader about how the other Dodgers felt? Although the author does not state exactly how |and made it a champion team, we can infer that he was successful at keeping his promise. |

|Robinson responded, what can you infer about Robinson’s response to fellow players at this | |

|time? (page 424) | |

|What do the authors say about how black fans reacted to Robinson’s being on the team? (page |Black fans turned out to see him play. According to the text, on Opening Day in 1947, more than|

|423) |half the audience was black. “Robinson was already their hero.” The authors explain that “he |

| |was making history just by being on field”. |

|The authors state that “Robinson’s first season was difficult.” (page 423). What made it |During Robinson’s first season, fans and players threatened to hurt or kill him. The Saint |

|difficult? Use examples from the text in your answer. |Louis Cardinals promised to strike if he played. He also often couldn’t eat or sleep in the |

| |same places as his fellow teammates because of segregation laws in certain states. |

|Although it took time, what effect did Robinson’s dignified behavior and his superb baseball |Teammates and fans eventually accepted Robinson because he was a valuable player. “No one was |

|playing have on the prejudice of his teammates, the fans and the public? |more daring on the base paths or better with the glove. At the plate, he had great bat control |

| |- he could hit the ball anywhere.” Jackie Robinson was named baseball’s first “Rookie of the |

| |Year.” His dignified behavior and refusal to engage in fights caused even those who |

| |were prejudiced to accept the integration of baseball. |

| The authors wrote that ‘”Branch Rickey opened a door, and Jackie Robinson stepped through it, |The door is a metaphor/symbol/representation of the segregation of major league sports. The |

|making sure it could never be closed again.” What door was opened? What does the door |door opened when Rickey chose Robinson to integrate the Dodgers baseball team. |

|represent? (page 424) | |

|What did Robinson do to make sure this door was “never closed again?” (page 424) |His dignity and bravery changed peoples’ prejudice towards black players. Because of him, black|

| |players were accepted, and baseball became integrated. He proved that black players could be |

| |star players and could be the “spark” that makes a winning team. |

Tier II/Academic Vocabulary

| |These words require less time to learn |These words require more time to learn |

| |(They are concrete or describe an object/event/ |(They are abstract, have multiple meanings, are a part |

| |process/characteristic that is familiar to students) |of a word family, or are likely to appear again in future texts) |

|Meaning | |Page 422 major league |

|can be |Page 422 fans of all colors |Page 422 leaguer |

|learned |Page 422 swarm | |

|from |Page 422 brilliant |Page 423 rise above |

|context |Page 422 spike |Page 423 take abuse |

| |Page 422 pick a fight |Page 423 avoid |

| | |Page 423 minors |

| |Page 423 superb |Page 423 petition |

| |Page 423 truly (a brave man) |Page 423 strike |

| | | |

| |Page 424 yet |Page 424 through it all |

| |Page 424 spark |Page 424 paid off |

| |Page 424 at the plate |Page 424 set attendance records |

| | |Page 424 daring |

|Meaning | | |

|needs to | |Page 422 integrate(integration) |

|be |Page 423 determined |Page 422 prejudiced |

|provided |Page 424 rookie | |

| | |Page 423 sensitivity |

| | |Page 423 defend |

| | |Page 423 petition |

| | | |

| | |Page 424 no matter |

| | |Page 424 retaliated |

| | |Page 424 dignity |

Culminating Writing Task

• Prompt

At the end of the article, “Jackie Robinson: Justice At Last”, the authors Geoffrey C. Ward and Ken Burns conclude with the statement “Something wonderful happened to baseball- and to America- the day Jackie Robinson joined the Dodgers”. What was the “wonderful thing”? How does Jackie Robinson’s dignified response to prejudice illustrate the best way to rise above it? Explain and support your reasoning with relevant and sufficient evidence from the text, including direct quotes and page numbers.

• Teacher Instructions:

1. Teacher begins with whole group in-depth vocabulary instruction of the Tier II/academic vocabulary words students will need for the writing. Teachers can select other high-stakes academic vocabulary to teach in-depth, based on student writing samples which show which vocabulary items students use with fluency and accuracy.

2. Students identify the writing task from the prompt provided.

3. Students complete an evidence chart as a pre-writing activity. Teachers should remind students to use any relevant notes they compiled while reading and answering the text-dependent questions.

|Evidence |Page number |Elaboration / explanation of how this evidence supports ideas or argument |

|Quote or paraphrase | | |

|(evidence of prejudice) | |Baseball was segregated at the time. If people are willing to give their |

|“Americans of all races had died for their country. Yet black men were still| |lives, they should be treated with respect and included as full members of |

|not allowed in the major leagues”. |422 |society. Sports should be integrated. |

|“Branch Rickey of the Brooklyn Dodgers thought that was wrong. He was the | |Branch Rickey realized that it was wrong to segregate sports. He believed it |

|only team owner who believed blacks and whites should play together. |423 |would be better for the sport to be integrated. He realized attendance would |

|Baseball, he felt, would become even more thrilling, and fans of all colors | |go up if black players were included because the game would be more exciting.|

|would swarm to his ballpark.” | | |

|Jackie Robinson “realized that in this case a truly brave man would have to | |Jackie Robinson combined superb athletic ability with personal qualities that|

|avoid fighting.” |423 |made him the best choice. |

|“…he had great intelligence and sensitivity. Robinson was college-educated | | |

|and knew what joining the majors would mean for blacks. The grandson of a | | |

|slave, he was proud of his race and wanted others to feel the same.” | | |

|“The Dodgers needed a man that will take abuse.” | |Robinson understood the difficulty of being the first black player. He knew |

|“At first, Robinson thought that Rickey wanted someone who was afraid to |423 |he could handle it. |

|defend himself. He thought for a while, and then promised Rickey he would | | |

|not fight back.” | | |

|“Robinson’s first season was difficult. Fans threatened to kill him; players| |Because of prejudice, he was treated badly. Black people were not allowed to |

|tried to hurt him. The St. Louis Cardinals said they would strike if he took|423 |be in many of the same public places as white people, such as restaurants and|

|the field.” | |hotels. |

|“.. he often couldn’t eat or sleep in the same places as his teammates.” | | |

|“Many Dodgers were angry. Some signed a petition demanding to be traded.” | |The players who signed the petition wanted to leave the team. The authors |

|“Some..” |423 |don’t say it, but the team must have stayed together, because the team |

|“Robinson and Rickey were determined to make their experiment work.” | |continued to play. |

| | |The authors use the word “Some” when talking about Robinson’s Dodger |

| | |teammates. That means not all or even most of the players were willing to |

| | |give Robinson and integration a try. |

| | |Robinson was determined to make it work. |

|“On April 15-Opening Day- 26, 623 fans came out to Ebbets Field. More than | |They saw him as heroic just for being on the team and on the field that day, |

|half of them were black- Robinson was already their hero.” |423 |because until then black players did not play with white players. |

|“Slowly his teammates accepted him, realizing that he was the spark that | |He was a great player. Having him on the team added to their performance and |

|made them a winning team.” | |helped them get to the top of their profession. It didn’t turn fans off at |

|“That season, he was named baseball’s first Rookie of the Year.” |424 |all. |

|“- his bravery taught Americans a lesson.” | |His dignity in the face of prejudice and opposition showed that black players|

| | |could add to the game and be a fully integrated part of any team. |

|‘”Branch Rickey opened a door, and Jackie Robinson stepped through it, | |After Jackie Robinson, no one could claim that black players would make the |

|making sure it could never be closed again.” |424 |game worse and would cause conflict in a team. |

4. Include a “talk-the –writing “activity, in which students use the information they have assembled on the graphic organizer to explain their evidence to a partner or small group, using academic vocabulary and sentences appropriate to the task (i.e. expository, analytical, argumentative).

5. Once students have completed the evidence chart, they should look back at the writing prompt in order to remind themselves what kind of response they are writing (i.e. expository, analytical, argumentative) and think about the evidence they found. (Depending on the grade level, teachers may want to review students’ evidence charts in some way to ensure accuracy.) From here, students should develop a specific thesis statement. This could be done independently, with a partner, small group, or the entire class. Provide leveled sentence frame support for students who need it. Consider directing students to the following sites to learn more about thesis statements: OR ;thesis_statement.shtml.

6. Students compose a rough draft. With regard to grade level and student ability, teachers should decide how much scaffolding they will provide during this process (i.e. modeling, showing example pieces, sharing work as students go, sentence frames and transition words/phrases posted as references).

7. Teacher indicates that dignity, prejudice, and rise above must be included in students’ writing in the same context as these words appear in the text and as we have practiced them.

8. Students complete final draft.

• Sample Answer

o In the short story, “Jackie Robinson: Justice at Last,” the concluding sentence refers to a “wonderful thing” (page 423). The “wonderful thing” was Jackie Robinson himself, as he was the spark that forever changed sports in the United States. According to the authors, in 1945, “Americans of all races had died for their country. Yet black men were still not allowed in the major leagues” (page 422). Branch Rickey chose Jackie Robinson to integrate his team, the Brooklyn Dodgers, and become the first black player in Major League Baseball. During Robinson’s first season, he faced many difficulties. On page 423, the authors point out that “Fans threatened to kill him; players tried to hurt him.” Jackie Robinson’s dignified behavior in the face of prejudice paid off. He rose above the insults and violent threats and refused to retaliate. Eventually, he was accepted as a hero by even those who had opposed him at first. His fellow players, many who were at first resistant and prejudiced, eventually accepted Jackie. Because of his superb abilities as a star baseball player, combined with his bravery and courage in the face of insults, threats, and violence, Jackie Robinson changed the way black players in sports were viewed and opened the door to the integration of Major League Baseball.

Additional Tasks

• Vocabulary Graphic Organizer with academic definition and practice sentences for speaking and writing practice.

o Example: dignity - Definition: actions that make you worthy of respect. Even though his/her friend made fun of his/her ____, he/she didn’t get mad. He/She responded with dignity, saying only “_____”.

• Create a timeline showing Robinson’s contributions to the team after he joined it.

o Answer: 1945, Major League Baseball is segregated. In 1946, Robinson signed with the Dodgers and played in the minor leagues. In 1947, Robinson played on the majors. In _____, Robinson was named baseball’s first Rookie of the Year. Additional events….

• Create a realistic conversation between Branch Rickey and Jackie Robinson showing how Rickey convinced Robinson to join his team. Use events from the text. Include the promise Robinson gave. Write the dialog as if it were a scene in a play. Prepare to present it to your group.

Sample dialogue between Branch Rickey and Jackie Robinson:

Branch Rickey: Hey, Jackie, how’s it going?

Jackie Robinson: Great! I just found out I hit 387 last season.

Branch Rickey: That’s great, Jackie. You are a star player. That’s the reason I want to ask you something and don’t say no until we talk it over. How would you like to be the first black player to join the major leagues?

Jackie Robinson: I’m not sure folks are ready for that, Mr. Rickey, even though of course I would love to play in that league.

Branch Rickey: You are right, Jackie. They aren’t ready yet, and it will be hard. Folks might be very angry at first and they will jeer at you. But you know that the African American fans will start coming to the ball park. You will be their hero.

Jackie Robinson: True, but what about all the folks that throw stuff at me and want to beat me up. I’ll have to fight every day…

Branch Rickey: That’s just it, Jackie. I know this will be hard, but I need you to not fight. You will have to take abuse and not fight back.

Jackie Robinson: You mean I should just take it and not stand up for myself?

• Read Selection B; “The Shut Out,” which is a nonfiction article about the history of baseball and black players in particular. Write a brief summary of the history of baseball, including the highlights and changes as the sport became integrated.

Sample answer: Baseball may have evolved from stick and ball games that were played in Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas. In England, it may have been called “rounders.” In 1834, it was mentioned in a Book of Sports, and called “goal ball.” In 1845, the New York Knickerbockers Club was formed, which tried to establish rules for “proper play” of baseball. This is when the rules concerning the field, four bases, three outs, three strikes, and three out inning were established. The nine inning game and nine man team came later. By 1857-58, the National Association of Baseball Players was formed. Slave masters first entered slaves into competitions. Free blacks played against integrated teams in eastern cities and in small towns in the Midwest. In the North, after the civil War, returning soldiers helped inspire new interest in baseball. However, the National Association of Baseball Players voted in 1857 to not allow integrated teams. African Americans were shut out of major league baseball until after WW II. They did organize the “Negro Leagues”. The history of these leagues is hard to research because records were not kept well, but it was a sport filled with legendary players and owners.

Note to Teacher

• The CCSS emphasize the importance of teaching academic vocabulary items well. This entails not just in the context of the sentence in the story, which aids comprehension, but also refining and clarifying definitions and teaching students how words and phrases are used in sentences (what prepositions go with it, how we commonly use it). Academic vocabulary words that you want to see in students’ writing should be taught before the writing, in an in-depth way with examples to develop the concept and sentences to practice how to use the words correctly. Not all vocabulary items need this in-depth instruction, but when we ask students to synthesize and express concepts, we need to give them the tools.

• Possible sentence frames to discuss the graphic organizer and to use in student writing:

o According to the authors, ____.

o Because of ____, _____.

o As a result, _____.

o In the short article, the authors show how _____.

o ____ led to ____.

o By examining the role of _____, the reader learns the importance of _____.

Supports for English Language Learners (ELLs) to use with Anthology Alignment Lessons

When teaching any lesson, it is important to make sure you are including supports to help all students. We have prepared some examples of different types of supports that you can use in conjunction with our Anthology Alignment Lessons to ensure ELLs can engage fully with the lesson. While these supports reflect research in how to support ELLs, these activities can help ALL students engage more deeply with these lessons. Note that some strategies should be used at multiple points within a lesson; we’ll point these out. It is also important to understand that these scaffolds represent options for teachers to select based on students’ needs; it is not the intention that teachers should do all of these things at every lesson.

Before reading:

• Read passages, watch videos, view photographs, discuss topics (e.g., using the four corners strategy), or research topics that help provide context for what your students will be reading. This is especially true if the setting (e.g., 18th Century England) or topic (e.g., boats) is one that is unfamiliar to the students.

• Provide explicit instruction, using multiple modalities, on selected vocabulary words that are central to understanding the text. When looking at the lesson plan, you should note the Tier 2 words, particularly those words with high conceptual complexity (i.e., they are difficult to visualize, learn from context clues, and are abstract), and consider introducing them ahead of reading. For more information on selecting such words, go here. You should plan to continue to reinforce these words, and additional vocabulary, in the context of reading and working with the text. (See additional activities in the During Reading and After Reading sections.)

Examples of Activities:

o Provide students with the definition of the words and then have students work together to create Frayer models or other kinds of word maps for the words.

o When a word contains a prefix or suffix that has been introduced before, highlight how the word part can be used to help determine word meaning.

o Keep a word wall or word bank where these new words can be added and that students can access later.

o Have students create visual glossaries for whenever they encounter new words. Then have your students add these words to their visual glossaries.

o Create pictures using the word. These can even be added to your word wall!

o Create lists of synonyms and antonyms for the word.

o Have students practice using the words in conversation. For newcomers, consider providing them with sentence frames to ensure they can participate in the conversation.

• Use graphic organizers to help introduce content.

Examples of Activities:

o Complete a Know, Want to Learn, Learned (KWL) graphic organizer about the text.

o Have students research the setting or topic and fill in a chart about it. You could even have students work in groups where each group is assigned part of the topic.

o Fill in a bubble map where they write down anything that they find interesting about the topic while watching a video or reading a passage about the topic. Then students can discuss why they picked the information.

During reading:

• Allow ELLs to collaborate in their home languages to process content before participating in whole class discussions in English. Consider giving them the discussion questions to look over in advance (perhaps during the first read) and having them work with a partner to prepare.

• Allow ELLs to use English language that is still under development. Students should not be scored lower because of incorrect spelling or grammar (unless the goal of the assignment is to assess spelling or grammar skills specifically). When grading, be sure to focus on scoring your students only for that objective.

• Scaffold questions for discussions so that questioning sequences include a mix of factual and inferential questions and a mix of shorter and more extended responses. Questions should build on each other and toward inferential and higher order thinking questions. There are not many factual questions already listed in the lesson instructions, so you will need to build some in as you see fit. More information on this strategy can be found here.

• Provide explicit instruction, using multiple modalities, on selected vocabulary words (e.g., 5–8 for a given text) that are central to understanding the text. During reading, you should continue to draw attention to and discuss the words that you taught before the reading.

Examples of Activities:

o Have students include the example from the text in a student-created glossary.

o Create pictures that represent how the word was used in the passage.

o Create sentences using the word in the way it was used in the passage.

o Have students discuss the author’s word choice.

o Examine important sentences in the text that contribute to the overall meaning of the text.

• Examine sentence structure of a particular sentence. Break down the sentence to determine its meaning. Then determine how this sentence contributes to the overall meaning of the passage. Determine if there is any figurative language in the sentence and have students use context clues to determine the meaning of the figurative language.

• Use graphic organizers to help organize content and thinking.

Examples of Activities:

o While reading the text, have students fill in a story map to help summarize what has happened.

o Have students fill in an evidence chart while they read to use with the culminating writing activity. Make sure to model with the students how to fill in the evidence chart by filling in the first couple of rows together as a class. Go over the prompt that the evidence should support, making sure to break down what the prompt means before having the students get to work. If some of your students frequently struggle to understand directions, have the students explain the directions back to you.

o Provide somewhere for students to store new words that they encounter. Students could use a chart to keep track of these new words and their meanings as they read.

o If you had students start a KWL before reading, have them fill in the “L” section as they read the passage.

After reading:

• Reinforce new vocabulary using multiple modalities.

Examples of activities:

o Using the words that you had students work with before the reading, require students to include the words in the culminating writing task.

o Create Frayer models with the words. Then cut up the Frayer models and have the students put the Frayer models back together by matching the pieces for each word.

• After reading the passage, continue to examine important sentences (1–2) in the text that contribute to the overall meaning of the text. Guide students to break apart these sentences, analyze different elements, and determine meaning. More information on how to do this, including models of sentence deconstruction, can be found here.

• When completing the writing assignments after reading, consider using these scaffolds to support students depending on their English proficiency.

Examples of Activities:

o For all students, go over the prompt in detail making sure to break down what the prompt means before having the students get to work. Then have the students explain the directions back to you.

o Have students create an evidence tracking chart during reading, then direct them to look back over their evidence chart and work with a group to see if their evidence matches what the rest of the class wrote down. If some of the chart does not match, students should have a discussion about why.

o For students who need more support, model the proper writing format for your students and provide them with a properly formatted example for reference.

o For newcomers, you may consider creating sentence or paragraph frames to help them to write out their ideas.

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