USC Aiken School of Education Lesson Plan Format

Candidate Name: Elayna Hatchell

Lesson Title: African American Influences in US Culture
Subject Area(s): ELA/Social Studies
Grade Level(s) 2nd grade
Date: 4-23-18
Duration: 20-30 minutes
Standards: Standard 2-4: The student will demonstrate an understanding of cultural contributions made
by people from the various regions in the United States.
2-4.3 Recognize the cultural contributions of Native American tribal groups, African
Americans, and immigrant groups.
2-4.4 Recall stories and songs that reflect the cultural history of various regions in the
United States, including stories of regional folk figures, Native American legends, and
African American folktales.
Standard 11: Analyze and provide evidence of how the author’s choice of point of view,
perspective, and purpose shape content, meaning, and style.
11.2 Recognize differences between the points of view and perspectives of the narrator and
various characters.
Learning Objective: Students will demonstrate an understanding of African American influence in American
culture through food, music, and literature. Students will also be able to decipher key details
within the story, Brer Rabbit and the Tar Baby, and determine the difference between the
narrator and character voices.
Essential Question(s): What is an example of each African American influence? (food, music, and literature)
What are the key details and differences between the narrator and character voices?
Number of Students: 23
Evaluation / Students will complete a T chart as a class on the whiteboard to compare and contrast the
Suggested Assessments: differences between narrator and character voices/dialogue.

*Attach a copy of all T chart is as follows

assessment sheet(s) to
your lesson plan. Include Narrator | Character (s)
any rubrics, checklists, ___________________
rating sheets, scoring
guides, etc. that will be
used.

Accommodations N/A
Student Learning

and/or
Diversity for

Modifications for
Special Needs
Differentiation

Grouping Whole class

Materials/Resources: 1. Powerpoint presentation, musical instruments, printed out story of Brer Rabbit,
whiteboard, markers, T chart (drawn on board).

USC Aiken Lesson Plan Format 5_26_16 Page 1 of 3

*Attach a copy of all
handouts to your lesson
plan.
Educational Technology:
Pedagogical Strategies:
Procedures:
Structure the lesson
according to your
instructor’s prescribed
instructional model (e.g.
Learning Cycle, The E’s,
Gradual Release, etc.).
Include time estimates for
each phase of your lesson.
Provide a detailed
description of the lesson’s
step-by-step procedures in
chronological order.
Include:
1) Launching the lesson
with a strong opening
2) One or more
opportunities for student
exploration
3) Direct teaching
4) A meaningful closure
Formative assessment/
comprehension checks
should be embedded
throughout the lesson.
USC Aiken Lesson Plan Format 5_26_16
Powerpoint presentation
What are you going to do to achieve your learning objective? Check all that apply.
☒ Hands-on Activity ☒ Manipulatives ☐ Modeling
☒ Graphic Organizer ☒ Lecture ☒ Guided Practice
☐ Thinking Map ☐ Drawing/Artwork ☒ Brainstorming
☐ Small Groups ☐ Mnemonic Device ☐ Movement
☐ Think-Pair-Share ☐ Game ☒ Music
☒ Interactive Read Aloud ☐ Web Quest ☐ Video
☐ Reading Workshop ☐ Inquiry Stations ☐ Roleplay
☐ Writers Workshop ☐ Problem-Based Learning ☐ Journal Writing
☐ Other:
1. (Class will enter the room and automatically hear African music playing from the
powerpoint. Once they get to the carpet, I will begin the lesson) Good morning
class! Today we are going to talk about how African Americans influenced our
culture here in the United States. There are several ways that they influenced us,
such as through music, which is what you are hearing now.
2. (I will then launch into the powerpoint) Africans came to the US and brought along
various instruments with them that became a part of our culture. They substituted
drums with hand clapping and feet tapping because they didn’t have drums when
they came over from Africa to the US. As a result, rhythmic song and dance came
about. This led to spiritual hymns, such as this one (click on sound clip). However,
sometimes, Africans could bring instruments with them. A “shekere” (or sekere) is a
beautiful and unique instrument originating in West Africa that appears in various
shapes, sizes, and forms throughout the continent of Africa. This was when a gourd
was hollowed out and beads were placed within it to create a shaker instrument
(demonstrate with actual shakers). Now as I pass out the shakers, I want you all to
shake along with the rhythm of the songs that we listen to.(Pass them out and play
sound clips). The "banja" or "banshaw," now known as the banjo, was one of the
African instruments that continued to be built and played in America (ask who
knows what a banjo is/ demonstrate banjo to students). Another instrument that was
influenced by this is the guitar. Guitar music led to the blues, heavily influenced by
African American culture (play sound clip). Later on, jazz music (play clip) was
influenced by these African American sounds.
3. Another influence was through food (go onto next slide). There were several foods
that were influenced by African Americans when they came to the US, such as rice.
Rice was grown by many slaves on plantations. Rice is planted in water and under
the soil, so sometimes they planted with their feet. Another food is black eyed peas.
In Africa, a traditional dish called akara is made of mashed black-eyed peas to
which is added salt, onions and/or peppers. The mixture is then fried. Another food
is peanuts. George Washington Carver, a famous African American scientist made
dozens of uses for peanuts, even peanut soap! Sweet potatoes, or yams, are also an
African American influence, this are usually served hot and with brown sugar
glazed on top. (ask how many students know what corn bread is) One such dish is
fufu, which came from Africa. In South Carolina this dish is called "turn meal and
flour." This meal is prepared by boiling water and adding flour while stirring the
corn meal, hence the name "turn meal and flour." This makes delicious corn bread
when cooked in a skillet pan. (Will point out pictures of food on slide when
discussing them).
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 4. Lastly, African American culture greatly influenced literature and stories of today.
Folktales passed down from generation to generation have become very popular
stories. Folktales were used to teach lessons, such as the story of Brer Rabbit and
the Tar Baby. Pictured here (point out clip of BR) is Brer Rabbit, who lives in the
South, just like us, but he lived a long time ago. He also lived with Brer Fox and
Brer Bear (point out their clips). They lived a long time ago, and spoke in a little bit
of a different language, which you will hear in this story. Now, as we are reading,
be sure to tell the difference between the narrator, and the characters of the story.
We will do an activity later based on this.
5. (Then, I will read the story to the students, while using a different and more
animated voice as the characters)
6. Okay class, now we are going to do a T chart. This chart will help us spot the
differences between the narrator and character voices. (Go to white board and draw
T chart as depicted above). Okay, who can raise their hand and tell me something
that helped you figure out when the narrator was speaking? (Continue to ask
questions based on both narrator and character voices, maybe three examples
each).
7. I hope that everyone now understands the differences between narrator and
character voices, as well as African American influences. Thank you class!
Safety Considerations: Be mindful of students using shakers, ask them to please be careful and mindful of those
around them when shaking them.
Follow Up: The purpose of the T Chart is to see who was paying attention to the story, and to assess and
see if they understand the difference between the narrator and character voices.
Reference(s): Youtube.com, makingmulticulturalmusic.wordpress.com, jamplay.com,
www.america’slibrary.gov, nationalgeographic.com

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