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"If you do it enough, you can do it to anybody" Milkman to Guitar
Song of Solomon 9 - The Seven Days - Chapter 6 - Discussion: Though I include a Group Work below - I don't really see it as an option. This chapter needs to be discussed. You have to be prepared - you have to stay focused and you need to make sure that everyone in class has their voice heard. This is, by far, the most controversial chapter to cover in this novel - and the discussion calling for the most thought and sensivity on everyone's part: It concern Guitar belonging to a secret society that murders people based on the crimes that are committed against African Americans in this country. They say that they are trying to achieve a balance.
I will confess, it took me quite awhile to feel comfortable and confident enough to discuss this chapter with my students - but I think that it is so incredibly important. Not only to the book as a whole, but to the bigger context of the world at large. As a teacher, I found myself playing the devil's advocate in the discussion - if I felt that students were not seeing one side of the story - I would point that out. That said, I definitely also wanted the students to see how wrong both what Guitar was doing and the reason that he felt he needed to do it were. By using a Vertext to frame the discussion - we relied on quotes. This is important when covering such a volatile subject. I don't believe in preaching to my students - so we looked at what Toni Morrison presents in the actual book - and we discuss the meaning of those words and how they can support one side or another of the moral argument.
Lesson Overview
Lesson Overview
The Quiz
The Quiz
An interesting quiz to give. The reading is short - and in some ways you can see who has read by looking at their faces for this lesson. They will be animated and ready to go - but it's always great to confirm with a short content quiz. The first question about naming 2 of the Seven Days - also tells you if they are putting the pie
Class Discussion - A Vertext
Class Discussion - A Vertext
Vertexts are important quotes to be put up on the classroom screen - which the students read aloud and comment on. They are a great way to get a discussion going, keep it text-centered, and student-centered as well. See my page on Class Discussion Methods for more on this. There are a total of 29 quotes (and a few introductory slides) in the presentation - and I have written notes for each slide to help guide you in your discussion. Remember - let the students do both the questioning and the answering (and the reading of the quote as well). Your job is to gently guide along the way. You will never be more needed than in this discussion on this very sensitive and controversial Chapter.
Often when doing a Vertext - I will start at one end of the room and have students read the quote aloud - we will discuss it - then the next person in the row reads the next quote. However, if I feel everyone isn't speaking - or in an incredibly important discussion, like today's, I will ask that the student who read the quote aloud - also starts the discussion off on that quote. This assures that everyone's voice and thoughts will be heard during the lesson.
Though I give my own thoughts on each slide it will be up to you to customize this for your own classroom. No one knows a class better than their own teacher - how much they can handle - how mature they are. I know from my own own experience that this varied greatly from period to period or from year to year. There is an audio recording if you'd like to see how my students, one year - one period - handled it. They were always so amazing.
REMEMBER: You may have to play the Devil's Advocate in this Discussion. If you students cannot even conceive of why Guitar and the Seven Days are doing this - you have to help them along - which is of course why we listened to the Emmett Till Radio Documentary the class before - and the first slide in this presentation brings them back to this.
Group Work
Once again, I wish to reiterate that Group Work should be considered as only a last resort for this Chapter. The topic, the content - everything really requires a sensitive discussion led by the teacher. Even though I have tried to steer you away from doing Group Work (over discussion), I know that sometimes you just can't be there (absent, meetings, etc.). In any case, this is not like any other Group Work and does in fact have the students do a close examination of the Chapter - using quotes from that same section. Because the subject matter is so volatile it really is important to have to students center on the text and to not get off topic (especiallly for such a controversial topic). Here are the three very different directions for doing this Group Work:
1. First 12 minutes: Begin by working by yourself – use the attached sheets and try to find as many connections, contradictions, or interesting ideas concerning the enclosed quotes. Mark up your papers profusely – draw connecting arrows, highlight, make comments on them (your pen should always be writing).
2. Next 12 minutes: Get together in a group: select a recorder and time keeper. Write down what your group sees as the most interesting ideas to come out of the sheets that you marked up. You may want to let every member share (to be recorded) what they see as the two best of their observations. Label your observations with letters (A, B, C,….)
3. Only after you complete #2 above try to answer the following questions – using the attached sheet and/or your text – make sure you have at least 1 (but more likely 2) quotes per question. If you have already answered the question (in #2) then just indicate the letter above.. Answer them quickly, in one or two sentences (just refer to the quote #’s on the attached sheet as your citation.
The Seven Days (Ch 6) - A Vertext w/notes
The Seven Days (Ch 6) - A Vertext w/notes
See above, as well as my page on class discussion methods for how to run a Vertext discussion. This is the first Vertext of the novel - and there really couldn't be a better candidate. Given the controversial and volatile nature of this chapter - it is always best to keep things focused on the text - and use Morrison's incredible words for the focus. There are my notes included (in both the PDF and the Power Point) and they should of course be turned off before projecting these quotes to the students. My thoughts (which really came from 30 years of students' comments - should not be definitive and you will have to shape this discussion based on your students - your teaching.
Group Work - The Seven Days (Chapter 6)
Group Work - The Seven Days (Chapter 6)
Once again, I wish to reiterate that Group Work should be considered as only a last resort for this Chapter. The topic, the content - everything really requires a sensitive discussion led by the teacher. Even though I have tried to steer you away from doing Group Work (over discussion), I know that sometimes you just can't be there (absent, meetings, etc.). In any case, this is not like any other Group Work and does in fact have the students do a close examination of the Chapter - using quotes from that same section. Because the subject matter is so volatile it really is important to have to students center on the text and to not get off topic (especiallly for such a controversial topic). .
A Sample Reading Page with my notes
A Sample Reading Page with my notes
The text with my notes served as a guide for the questions, comments and ideas that I ask (including Group Works) - though I was always ready for and often elicited the students ideas, questions, etc. Over the years - as I wrote notes in this text - the previous years' notes and questions become incorporated into the lesson. Again - you will find that these instructions are flexible - and I had to be - they kept changing the amount of time that we had in the classroom.
Most Recent Quizzes
Most Recent Quizzes
This chapter - The Seven Days - was, through the years - almost universally read by my students. The students love this book and they love the issues that it discusses and that we, in turn, could talk about in our classroom. If the students read, the discussions will be so engaging - it will make them want to read - nothing in the world beats the excitement of a whole class discussion - and with this book if you have 30 students, you will have 30 different takes - and it's so great to see the students learn from each other.
Song_of_Solomon_-_Christmas_6_-_The_7_days.mp3Class Recording
Class Recording
Such a small chapter and so much to talk about. Milkman and Hagar, Guitar and Milkman - and most of all the 7 Days. We put quotes up on the screen - talk about them - the contradictions - the sense - the senselessness. Then we voice our personal opinions on Guitar's murderous group.
Remote Enhancements
Remote Enhancements
We did this discussion remotely and the Vertext becomes even more necessary. It is also important, I have to add to make sure all cameras are on. Because of the nature of this chapter - you don't want students hiding behind anonimity - and you also need to gage students' reactions to what is being said.
Chapter 6 is presented here (though it was gone over in the last lesson) and Chapter 7 will be gone over again tomorrow in the whole class discussion. Chapter 7 contains what I consider to be the heart of the book. The respective decisions that Macon and Pilate make in that cave after seeing their father gunned down - explains SO MUCH of what happens in the rest of the novel - and what Macon does in that cave helps the reader to understand what The Seven Days do - and specifically the madness that grips Guitar. Group Works are great for students putting these and other connections together themselves - and then in the next lesson we can talk about it - and their observations, thought, comments can be validated. It's wonderful to see what they can come up with on their own
WHAT CAME BEFORE:
WHAT CAME BEFORE:
Song of Solomon 9 - Who Murdered Emmett Till? - A Radio Documentary
Thoughts on the Lesson
Thoughts on the Lesson
In order to do this discussion justice, you need to know yourself and you need to know your students. I am sure the reason there even is a Group Work has to do with my discomfort in leading this discussion - but it was and is necessary for a teacher to take the helm - to push their students into areas so that we can all learn and grow.
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