Grade 5 | Unit 4 | Lesson 20 | Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, Chapter 11 pp.

251-256 (RWa)
READING TASK
Reading: Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, Chapter 11 pp. 251-256
Guiding TDQ: Is Mildred Taylor’s characterization of the white characters on pages 251-256 effective? Why or why
not?
CCSS Aligned Standards: RL5.3; RL6.3

HOW WILL YOU KNOW THIS LESSON IS SUCCESSFUL?

In this lesson students will read a tension-filled scene a white mob goes to the Avery house to lynch T.J. At the same
time, Mr. Jamison and the sheriff go to make sure that a lynching does not happen and that T.J. is brought to the jail
for attacking the Mr. and Mrs. Barnett. The Logan children are in the woods, watching the scene, and Stacey stays
there and tells Cassie to get their parents and Mr. Morrison.

First, scholars will read for literal meaning (i.e., what happened?). Then, scholars will read to analyze Taylor’s
characterization of the white characters. You’ll know this lesson was successful if scholars are able to make a claim to
the guiding question and use evidence from the novel to support their claim.
WHAT DOES EXCELLENCE LOOK LIKE?
Exit Ticket | Is Mildred Taylor’s characterization of the white characters on pages 251-256 effective? Why or why not?
Exemplar Response |
Example CFS
Mildred Taylor’s characterization of the white characters on pages 251-256 is effective -Makes a claim in
because she illustrates the deep hatred and evil that motivates the mob and she shows how answer to the
Mr. Jamison, again, tries to stand up and do what is right. Taylor describes the savage question
behavior of the mob as they fling the Avery children, attack Mr. and Mrs. Avery, and “drag” TJ -Analysis focuses
out, bleeding. They discuss lynching him and joke about whether they need new ropes. This on the dialogue
callous and repulsive behavior is similar to the Klan’s behavior when they attached Mr. and actions of
Morrison’s family in 1876. However, Taylor also describes Mr. Jamison’s behavior. He tries specific white
to stop the mob, and when they start dragging TJ away, he rushes “to shield T.J. with his own characters
body.” (255) Mr. Jamison represents a group of white people who don’t support the violence -Supports with at
against the black community. He has backed their credit and now he rushes to help T.J. least two pieces of
Overall, Taylor’s description is effective because she shows two very real, very different sides evidence from the
of the white community: the angry, repulsive, deadly side and the moral and just side. novel

KEY THEMATIC CONCEPTS

 Response to Oppression

KEY VOCABULARY
 Emitted (253)  Prone (253)  Crescendo (254)
 Affirmation (255)  

INTELLECTUAL PREPARATION
 Follow the steps for IPP with a Literature Network Plan
 Ensure that your scholars have copies of the novel prior to the start of today’s class (or that you have a system
for doing this efficiently at the start of class), other unit resources (e.g., the text-companion) and a system for
taking notes (if they are not annotating in the book)
 Accommodate the homework as necessary for your scholars who need those accommodations.
PART OF THE READING MODALITY, READING TASK, AND KEY QUESTIONS
LESSON
DIRT Quiz: Administer and efficiently review the DIRT quiz.
Build the Narrative: A lot happened during the evening’s homework! Teachers may build the
narrative with the following questions:
Launch  What happened between TJ, RW, and Melvin? The pistol?
(5-8 minutes)  Who went to the Avery house & why?
 What do you think will happen next?
Set Purpose & Background Knowledge: Explain to scholars that today they will be focusing on a
really important and emotionally charged scene. It will require a lot of maturity.
Prompt “Exemplar response” – Teacher script
Let’s read the prompt Is Mildred Taylor’s characterization of the white characters on pages
aloud. 251-256 effective? Why or why not?
What are the key Taylor = the author
words in this prompt? Characterize = how an author creates and develops characters by
Attack the describing their actions, words, and how other characters respond
Prompt White characters = the Wallaces, the mob, Mr. Jamison, the sheriff,
(2-4 minutes) Mr. Granger, RW & Melvin Simms
Effective = is it believable? Is it consistent with what we know about
these characters?
So, what do we have to Plan:
do to answer this 1) Explain how the white characters are characterized
question correctly? 2) Decide – Is the characterization effective?
AIR: Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry pp. 251-256 (“Kaleb Wallace and his brother…” to “…reach
Papa.”)
Contextualization: We will pick up on page 251. The Wallace brothers arrive at the Logan house
in search of T.J., who is being blamed for the attack at the Barnett Store.
Annotation & Discussion Prompt: What happens during this scene?
1) Underline events
2) Write a short summary statement on the bottom of page 226. Be sure to include the
Read and following:
Heavy-Lifting Loop #1

Annotate a. What does the mob do?

(5 min) b. What do Mr. Jamison and the sheriff do?
c. What happens to TJ and his family?
d. What do the Logan children do?

Example Summary Statement: A white mob goes to the Avery house to lynch T.J. Additionally,
Mr. Jamison and the sheriff go to make sure that a lynching does not happen and that T.J. is
brought to the jail for attacking the Mr. and Mrs. Barnett. The Logan children are in the woods,
watching the scene, and Stacey stays there and tells Cassie to get their parents and Mr. Morrison.
The teacher should facilitate a brief discussion in order to make sure that scholars all have an
accurate, complete summary of the events. Teachers may opt to use show-calls to facilitate this
Discuss
discussion. The teacher should be prepared to clarify meaning as needed and should prompt
(3-5 min)
scholars to revise and add to their annotations as needed. Additionally, the teacher should
prompt scholars, as needed, to support their ideas with text evidence.
 AIR - Reread: Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry pp. 251-256 (“Kaleb Wallace and his brother…” to
“…reach Papa.”)
Annotation & Discussion Prompt:
1) Underline the things white characters say, do, think or how other characters react to
them
2) Label and Explain:
 (Name) = (adjective) b/c _____
3) Consider the following characters:
 The mob (the Wallaces, the Simms)
 Mr. Jamison
 The Sheriff

Exemplar Response Evidence BPQs

The white mob = cruel  Pages 252-253: lots of evidence  How does the crowd treat
b/c they intentionally for how the mob hurt the Avery TJ? His sisters, Claude,
caused the Avery children and Mr. and Mrs. Avery and his mother and
family to be hurt  “We just likely to take care of father?
The white mob = evil ourselves a __ lover tonight.”  Who does the mob
b/c only someone truly (254) threaten in addition to
evil could delight in  “A crescendo of ugly hate rose TJ?
killing and hurting from the men” (254)  Why does one of the men
children  “I saw what we oughta do is take say he has new rope?
Heavy Lifting Loop #2

The white mob = him on down the road and take
repulsive b/c they care of that big black giant___ at
Re-read and were hurting innocent the same time!” (255)
Annotate people and  “And why not that boy he
(8 min) threatening others; working for too?” (255)
they were using  “I got me three new ropes!”
repulsive racial slurs (255)
and planning  “There was chilling laughter and
gruesome murders the men moved toward their
cars, dragging TJ with them.”
(255)
Mr. Jamison =  “Mr. Jamison leaped out… ‘Y’all
principled and calm decide to hold court out here
b/c he wants to stop tonight?” (254)
the lynching  “Mr. Jamison’s placid face was
unchanged by the threat” (254)
 “’No!’ cried Mr. Jamison, rushing
to shield TJ with his own body.”
(255)
The sheriff = uneasy  “The sheriff looked uneasily at
b/c he doesn’t want a the crowd as if he would rather
lynching but he’s not not be here at all, then at Mr.
ready to defend a Jamison.”
black person to an
angry white mob.
 What is the mob’s
attitude toward lynching?
What evidence best
supports this?
 Where else have we seen
this type of behavior?
(Mr. M’s Christmas story)
 Whose car “came crazy
and fast” to the Avery’s
house on page 254?
Why?
 What does Mr. Jamison
do/say to the mob?
 Where else have we seen
Mr. Jamison act in a
similar way?
 Why does Taylor include
both the mob and Mr.
Jamison in this scene?
 What line best describes
the sheriff’s attitude
toward what is happening
at the Avery house? Does
this resonate with what
we’ve learned about law
 enforcement in the Jim
Crow era?

The teacher should facilitate a discussion around the annotation questions, first clarifying
Discuss meaning and then focusing on the guiding questions. Scholars will discuss and the teacher should
(5-8 min) prompt scholars to revise and add to their annotations as needed. Additionally, the teacher
should prompt scholars, as needed, to support their ideas with text evidence.
Give students the following directions:
1) Go back to the guiding question and plan your response (Taylor’s characterization of the
Plan/Prepare
white characters is _____ because _____.)
(7 minutes)
2) Now, find the STRONGEST evidence to support the STRONGEST argument.
Circulate and provide feedback. Collect data that will help you facilitate the discussion.
The teacher should facilitate a discussion around the day’s guiding question, prompting scholars
Discuss to use evidence from the novel to support their claims. The teacher should facilitate the
(5-8 minutes) discussion so that time is spent on the mob and time is spent on Mr. Jamison and the sheriff.
(See exemplar for ideas for what scholars could surface during discussion.)
Write! Exit Ticket: Scholars should write a paragraph response to the guiding TDQ.
(8 minutes)

HOMEWORK
Assignment: Read Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, pp. 257-276. Annotate for the genre-based thinking jobs that are in
the text and jot the CI.
NOTE: This is more reading than what was originally indicated in the unit overview. This is to ensure that lesson 21 is
spent focused on the most important parts of the final chapter of ROTHMC.