11 Grade Diversity Lesson Plan

Book Title: Becoming Billie Holiday

Author: Carole Boston Weatherford, 2008
Grade Level: 11 Grade

Social Justice Standard(s)

Identity Anchor Standards #2 ​Students will develop language and historical and cultural
knowledge that affirm and accurately describe their membership in multiple identity groups.
Diversity Anchor Standards #1 ​Students will express comfort with people who are both similar
to and different from them and engage respectfully with all people.
Diversity Anchor Standards #2 ​Students will develop language and knowledge to accurately
and respectfully describe how people (including themselves) are both similar to and different
from each other and others in their identity groups.

Materials:
● Mobile Devices
● Becoming Billie Holiday by Carole Boston Weatherford

Nevada Academic Content Standard(s):

Grades 9-12: World History & Geography (1300-Present)

Social Studies,11.G
23. Identify
16. Describe the factors that shape group, national, or individual identity, including but not
limited to: institutions, religion, language, social class, geography, culture, and society.

Objective(s):
Students will be able to discuss different elements of Jazz songs and the meaning behind them
with 95% accuracy.
Students will be able to analyze different elements of Jazz songs and the meaning behind them
with 95% accuracy.

Procedure:
Introduction: ​Going through the decade (the 1900s, 1910s, 1920s, 1930s, etc.) timeline in
America. As we dive into the 1920s, I will introduce the birth of jazz music in New Orleans, LA. I
will Talk about the different musicians that influenced Jazz music across the nation. I will have
students was a 10 minutes documentary about Jazz music, and how it inspired thousands of
music in today's music industry
Read: In-class
Discuss (In Pairs) the questions below
1. “What feelings did this book evoke for you?”
2. “What do you think the author’s purpose was in writing this book? What ideas were they
trying to get across?”
 3. “Knowing the background you do on Jazz music, would you listen to it on your own
Time?”
4. “What was Billie Holiday's home life like?”
5. “Do feel that making music was the only option for Billie Holiday in her life?”
Activities:
1. Think/Share/Pair researching popular Jazz musicians and songs analyzing their meaning,
and then sharing.
2. Grouped centers -​ ​Students will be assigned groups, in those groups students will be given a
Jazz musician artist, the students must then research giving artists following a group
presentation.

Assessment: ​Students will Individually present in class with their choice of song describing the
meaning of selected songs based on historical events going on in the daily 1920s.