Concept Confession - Marian Anderson

Have you heard of Marian Anderson?

I didn't know much about her, but I had noticed the book, When Marian Sang, in our school book room. I saw an award on the cover . . . and that always draws me in. It's black history month and I wanted to expose my students to more biographies, soooooo here we are :)

This is Marian Anderson. She overcame many obstacles to follow her dream of becoming an opera singer. The video shows Marian singing at the Lincoln Memorial, after being denied the right to perform at Constitution Hall by DAR (Daughter's of the American  Revolution) because of the color of her skin. She was supported by many, including, First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt. Her story is one that has and will continue to inspire and encourage.

I created this packet to use for guided reading and it lends itself to a great close reading activity.

Teacher instructions are included, but the pages are pretty easy to understand. I wanted to start with some basic level comprehension - for the first reading. 

 

After some discussion of the book and further discussion of the time period -students can dig a little deeper and establish another purpose for reading.

For a third reading, I threw in some review skills - you can never review figurative language enough. It can always be tricky to understand and interpret. I also wanted my students to extend this book beyond Marian's story and connect it to themselves. 

This book was written by Pam Munoz Ryan and illustrated by Brian Selznick. It's a great read and a wonderful way to connect history, character building and language arts into one lesson.