Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry - English 7

For the past six weeks, we have been studying the novel Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry. My students have been tackling such difficult topics as segregation, Jim Crow Laws, and racism is 1930's Mississippi.

Using pictures to introduce this unit, we looked at photographs from the 1930s - found online at the Library of Congress website! This was a great resource for photographs to introduce this historical time period in a concrete and visual way. Students then studied these photographs, sketching them and writing what they observed about history from them.

http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/fsa2000001258/PP/

During these several weeks that we have been studying this novel, my students have learned so much about history through literature. I love the connections that they are making between literature and their own lives. We have also been making connections between the literature and our Biblical worldview. One of the many ways that we have done this is through the study of Biblical passages and the application of those passages to the choices that the characters are making. For example, after the Logan children dig a ditch to waylay the white children's school bus, we discussed the idea of revenge as instructed through the Bible. We have further made connections between the friendship of Stacey Logan and T.J. Avery and what the Bible instructs us on friendship.

Combining a love of the Lord, literature, and history is one of my favorite ways to get my students to engage in their study of literature.