Place
"Already, I am being named for this place"
"Already, I am being named for this place"
In Brown Girl Dreaming Jackie's father describes Interstate 70 "could get you on your way west to Chicago" or Ohio and potentially other places that mean freedom. It is his avenue to leave behind the dominate practice of segregation ingrained into the deep green south in South Carolina. It also leads Jackie from her father and to her mothers parents, and him away from her. Woodson's delicate voice in verse leads us to all the places that she resides and how only a child within her culture would see them. These are maps of those places.
Maps-political, highways, city, and county
Complexity should be at or below for the intended audience. Average fifth grade students should find ease due to prior experience with map legends and reading of names. Students prior experience with reading a map will influence that determine. Fifth graders may be unfamiliar with a county map and this might require a quick explanation.
Teachers could provide the geography described in anchor text, Brown Girl Dreaming, so students can visualize the settings in the text. When examining the maps it should help provide an understanding of Greenville South Carolina, Columbus Ohio, Brooklyn New York and adjacent neighborhood.
Standards
Grade 5 Reading Standards
Reading Standards for Informational Text
3. Explain the relationships or interactions between two or more individuals, events, ideas, or concepts in a historical, scientific, or technical text based on specific information in the text.
4. Determine the meaning of general academic and domain-specific words and phrases in a text relevant to a grade 5 topic or subject area. (See grade 5 Language standards 4–6 for additional expectations.) CA
9. Integrate information from several texts on the same topic in order to write or speak about the subject knowledgeably.
Reading Foundational Skills
4. Read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension.
a. Read on-level text with purpose and understanding.
b. Read on-level prose and poetry orally with accuracy, appropriate rate, and expression on successive readings.
References
All maps retrieved from
https://www.mapsofworld.com/usa/usa-cities.html
Ohio road map https://www.mapsofworld.com/usa/states/ohio/ohio-road-map.html
Ohio cities map https://www.mapsofworld.com/usa/states/ohio/