Why Migrate? Exploring The Migration Series Brewer Elementary School, San Antonio, Texas

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1 Why Migrate? Exploring The Migration Series Brewer Elementary School, San Antonio, Texas Created by Mark Babino, second-grade classroom teacher Christian Rodriguez, Matthew Perez, and Lee Ann Gallegos T 2 Project description Brewer s students examined issues of migration, segregation, and discrimination, which became the focus of their student artwork and writing. Lessons connected many curriculum areas: social studies, including citizenship and geography; science, with links to human and animal migration; language arts, with creative writing; and fine arts, with portrait drawings and dramatic readings. The dignity of labor. After discussing the civil rights movement and discrimination, we focused on Lawrence s Panel No. 57 of a laundress washing clothes, which became a vehicle for students to compare working conditions for Southern African American women in the past and workers today. Each student then drew a portrait of a hard worker typically a family member along with the tools of his or her trade. Students followed Lawrence s technique, using simple geometric and organic forms and bold colors. Divided portraits. Initiated by a visit to the McNay Art Museum, we discussed and analyzed Lawrence s Panel No. 49, which depicts a scene of segregation. Students reflected on the emotional impact of segregation and discrimination, and wrote about instances when they felt attacked, teased, or misunderstood. The essays became a springboard for student artistic exploration of the emotional effect of being divided a metaphor for being hurt and separated from one s sense of self. When the students saw The Migration Series on our trip to the McNay, their excitement was electrifying. They eagerly made connections among the series, our classroom discussions, and our projects. Mark Babino Curriculum connections: Visual Arts, Language Arts, Math (Geometry), Social Studies Length: 5 6 classes, minutes Grade level: Second grade

2 Objectives Students will: Compare living conditions in the rural South to those in the urban North. Discuss discrimination and living conditions in the South. Discuss the concept of segregation and explore its emotional impact. Discuss forms of communication used by southern African Americans that spurred migration (African-American newspaper and Pullman car porters). Write letters. Compare past and present working conditions. Create a portrait of a person who works hard, including various tools of his/her trade. Create a self-portrait focusing on a time when they felt divided or discriminated against. Materials 8 x 11 inch paper, fine point felt-tip markers, crayons, pencils. Teaching Kit resources Primary sources: 15, 16, 17, 18, 22, 28, 29, 30, 38 Visual resources: The Great Migration poster; Jacob Lawrence, The Migration Series poster; Jacob Lawrence, The Migration Series, Panel No. 1 poster National standards of learning Language Arts: 2, 4, 8, 9, 10, 11 Social Studies: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 Visual Arts: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 School profile Brewer Elementary is an inner-city public school of 555 students in San Antonio, Texas, with a predominantly Hispanic population. Brewer has been recognized by the Texas Education Agency for performance on statewide standardized tests and is ranked in the second-highest category for overall school performance. Panel No. 57 T 3

3 to identify what happens when one group is favored over another. (Caution: teacher must talk about unfair treatment immediately; carrying this subject over to another day could be upsetting for some students.) Step 3. Connecting student experience to historical segregation Step 1. Introduce concepts Step-by-step teaching unit Students make connections between the staged segregated experience and conditions of historical segregation. Students discuss Jim Crow Laws (found in the Teaching Kit) and Martin Luther King Jr. s opposition to segregation. Teach with jacob lawrence T 4 Step 1. Introduction to concepts of migration Students are introduced to the causes and effects of the Great Migration; students look at photographs, either from the Teaching Kit or online, of African-American families living in the South during the period and discuss hardships and discrimination. Students discuss the term migration and consider how it occurs in nature (birds, butterflies, etc.). Using a United States map (the primary source of a railway map in the Teaching Kit), students identify areas of the country considered the South and the North. Step 2. Discrimination and segregation Students are divided into two groups (i.e., use uniforms, hair color, eye color, boys v. girls, etc.) without knowledge of the reason for the division. While a regular classroom lesson takes place, students in one group are given praise and positive feedback while the other group is somewhat ignored. Allow students to figure out what is going on and discuss how they feel about the treatment at the end of the lesson. Students learn the term discrimination Step 4. Museum visit to the McNay Art Museum Students view The Migration Series at the McNay Art Museum to describe, analyze, interpret, and decide how effectively Lawrence told the story of the Great Migration. Teacher profile Mark Babino currently teaches at Brewer Elementary School, which serves a largely Latino population, similar to many schools in the San Antonio Independent School District. Babino is a longtime professional storyteller and writer who has often performed at the McNay Art Museum in San Antonio. A native of Beaumont, Texas, he draws on the Creole neighborhood of his childhood for source material. When The Migration Series came to the McNay, Babino was selected to develop and present a teachers workshop titled Telling Stories of Our Ancestors. Lawrence s The Migration Series and its narrative description of a community history fascinated Mark. He has frequently included drama, storytelling, and using the imagination in his teaching.

4 Step 5. The dignity of labor Students view and discuss Migration Series Panel No. 57; students compare and record working conditions for women workers in the South with those in the North. Students explore the tools for cleaning clothes, and then discuss the hardships associated with doing laundry. Encourage students to stretch vocabulary beyond words such as hard or tired. Step 6. Letter writing Students write letters to the woman worker in Panel No. 57, addressing the hardships of migration, poor living conditions, and one wish for her future. Students edit and revise letters according to the writing process. Panel No. 49 Step 7. Hard worker symbol portraits Students brainstorm examples of hard workers, including their teacher, and list the tools of each trade. Individually or in small groups, students identify someone who works hard, like the laundress in The Migration Series or a parent. Students whose parents are unemployed should think of the type of work that occurs in their homes. Students draw a portrait of the hard worker, and then identify and draw the hard worker s tools around his or her portrait. Students refer back to Lawrence s use of color and simple forms and create a background for the portrait that reflects Lawrence s attention to color and shape. Students outline forms with a fine-point pen and mount their artworks on construction paper. Step 8. Divided self-portraits Students examine and analyze Panel No. 49, which features a group of white and African- American diners divided by a golden rope. Students think of a time when they witnessed discrimination or felt divided as in Panel No. 49. (Students might identify with the idea of feeling different by discussing incidents of bullying or teasing that they have experienced.) Brainstorm at least three things that made students feel different or divided and rewrite the different or divided items on the paper that has the divided portrait with the words coming out of the head. T 5

5 Student voices I feel like a bomb that s blown up inisde of me, but the bomb is my heart. Matthew Miller Teach with jacob lawrence T 6 Rubric for assessment Writing rubric (used in both projects) Objectives Focus on Topic Low Performance 1 point The main idea is not clear. There is a seemingly random collection of information. At or Below Average Matthew Miller 2 points Main idea is somewhat clear, but there is a need for more supporting information. Step 8. Divided self-portrait At or Above Average Exemplary Performance 3 points 4 points Main idea is clear, but the supporting information is general. There is one clear, wellfocused topic. Main idea stands out and is supported by detailed information. Conclusion 1 point 2 points 3 points 4 points There is no conclusion; the paper just ends. The conclusion is somewhat recognizable but not much elaboration. The conclusion is recognizable and some elaboration. The conclusion is strong and leaves the reader understanding what the writer is getting at. Score:

6 Impact statement Originally, I thought focusing on the theme of migration fit naturally with the transient population of my school, particularly with our close proximity and cultural ties to Mexico. I planned for students to interview relatives about familial migration. I thought students might explore their cultural heritage with relatives who had migrated from Mexico, but I discovered that most families had lived in San Antonio for generations. Consequently, I decided to focus more on the why of the Great Migration, as well as issues of segregation and discrimination. Reflecting on our project experience, the trip to the McNay to see The Migration Series represented a high point in the school year. When the students saw the paintings, their excitement was electrifying. They eagerly made connections among the series, our classroom discussions, and our projects. The field trip inspired a greater appreciation for Museum profile Marion Koogler McNay opened The McNay Art Museum, Texas s first modern art museum, in McNay believed the experience of great art should be accessible to everyone, and today the museum promotes the advancement and enjoyment of modern art. She gave her collection, residence, and surrounding land to the museum. Her collection was originally strong in French postimpressionist painting, early 20th-century European art, modern American watercolors, and southwest folk art. The museum houses over 7,000 works from the medieval period to the present day and holds one of the nation s leading collections of related theater arts. Student voices Hi my name is Lee Ann Gallegos. I am eight years old and in the second grade. We studied Panel No. 1 in my class. I like the way everybody s clothes are leaning. They look like they are rushing. They are excited to leave. Nobody is scared of going to a new place. This picture reminds me of me, because sometimes I am scared of trying new things. My teacher says don t be afraid be like the people in the picture, go for it! Lee Ann Gallegos the artworks, especially panels with which they were unfamiliar. The divided portraits made in class clearly resonated with the segregation and discrimination represented in Lawrence s panels. By identifying hard workers in their own families and connecting their own difficult experiences to those of the migrants, my students became more caring and empathetic. My students, now experts on The Migration Series, recorded audio responses to specific panels for The Phillips Collection. Now their voices and experiences are actually a part of The Migration Series. They were excited to hear that their voices have migrated to our nation s capital. While only seven students from this class returned to Brewer the following year common in our transitional neighborhood I know the whole class, wherever they may be, acquired a greater understanding and appreciation for both the arts and their fellow classmates. T 7