'Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry' Resources Update

It seems a lot of people are working on this wonderful novel at the moment. I have used it a number of times with different year 10 and 11 classes and found that it worked well as a critical study of text and as the prescribed text for a conceptual study. While there are some wonderful resources available, as with 'Goodnight Mr. Tom', they often seem to be pitched at Primary School age students.
I use Animoto a great deal as it is a way to give an overview snapshot of a topic. For this text, I wanted to familiarize students with the contextual situation before beginning close study of the text itself. The text had been handed out for pre-reading and journal responses and this Animoto clip along with other resources such as a prezi presentation made by another teacher. 


http://animoto.com/play/ydBWUBGRmKO10eu4D90zuA

I also used a ppt for covering 'The Great Depression' as another important aspect that students needed to understand to really come to grips with the text.
 'Issu' was another important resource for designing  the response booklet that had analysis questions on the text. 
The poem/song 'Strange Fruit' also works well as a related text but obviously it needs to be kept for older students who can better deal with the confronting issues that are addressed within the book and related texts.

Below are the online website guidelines for the first part of this study unit

For this Area of Study unit, your interpretive response to this text will largely be based on 'online learning' tasks. You will be asked to work your way through a number of resourced steps that will be provided on this site. Each stage will require submission of varied tasks to show your evaluative understanding of 'Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry' as a Journey text that explores another time and place. You will be evaluating how the text reflects inner journeys where individuals struggle to cope with the social issues and attitudes of an important period in time.

The aim of this unit is to develop analytical writing as well as time-management and self-directed learning skills.

Stage One: Evaluating historical, social and economic context
This stage will involve examining a number of resources that offer details about the novel's context. Such information will be needed to support your extended response about the novel. An online copy of the novel has also been provided so that you can highlight any quotes that you think might be useful to keep as textual reference for use later.

Animoto Clip

Write two paragraphs that detail your first impressions of the era in response to this animoto clip. You need to support what influenced your ideas by making close reference to what has been presented.

Useful Websites

http://thebestnotes.com/booknotes/Roll_Of_Thunder/Roll_Of_Thunder_Hear_My_Cry01.html

http://www.loc.gov/teachers/classroommaterials/presentationsandactivities/presentations/civil-rights/

http://www.gradesaver.com/classicnotes/titles/thunder/

http://www.emints.org/ethemes/resources/S00001567.shtml

Watch unitedstreaming.com video called: Civil Rights: The Long Road to Recovery. 


Hope you find the animoto resource useful.Barbara