Takaki 13 differentiated

I would start the class by having students think about and respond to the following on page 368 of Takaki- “W.E.B. DuBois decided that they should consider “voluntary segregation” …”They should “create a closed economic circle” - shop at Negro-owned stores stocked with Negro-grown good transported by Negro shippers, and processed by Negroes.”

I would then delve into the issue of “is segregation a logical solution?” I would have students in the lower level class first make their own list of advantages and disadvantages of segregated living for a minority group, in this case African-Americans. I would then have them get together in groups and share their responses with each other. The group would then be able to use the book to pick out advantages and disadvantages and add to their list. We would then come back together as a class and discuss the issue.

For the “on-level” class I would have them dig deeper into this issue and I would have them use higher order thinking skills. They would be forced to adopt one position over the other in two teams and then prepare for a mini-debate on the issue to be held in the second half of class. They can use the book to help them form their arguments but also build collaboration and group skills as they prepare their team strategy in the debate.

For the advanced class I would explore the same issue. I would have them do the advantages/ disadvantages list for homework the night before. We would then do the debate but then we would expand by exercising transfer and seeing if they can transfer their conceptual reasoning to other situations like for example- is it moral to use segregation as the solution as in the Israel/ Palestine conflict? Might it be the only practical approach? Does it have to be one or the other?