Nightjohn Response Activities
Nightjohn and Sarny Unit
By Rick Vanderwall

Overview

This lesson allows students to react through three activities as they read Nightjohn. The first response activity relates to the first two chapters. Students write a paragraph comparing and contrasting their experience of learning to read with those of Sarny and an actual ex-slave, Mr. John W. Fields. The second response activity covers the middle three chapters. Students will explain the role that violence played in maintaining the system of slavery. They will use quotes from the Library of Congress collection of ex-slave narratives to support the thesis statement of the paragraph. In the third response, students will discuss slaves’ willingness to resist slavery in spite of extreme punishment. Finally, the Culminating Response gives students a chance to reflect on why teaching his fellow slaves to read and write was so important to Nightjohn.

Student Objectives

Students will:

• Read and compare their own experience with the experiences of a character from the novel and the experience of an ex-slave.


• Use ex-slave narratives to support a thesis statement


• Express in writing their reaction to the similarities and differences.

Skills Attained

Students will be able to:

• Compare and contrast experiences of diverse individuals.


• Reflect on what they have read and the lives of real people.

Materials Needed

• Response Handouts


• Access to the Internet

The Lesson

Anticipatory Set

Ask one or two students to share their experiences about reading and learning to read. Do they remember when they were able to decode words without help? Do they remember how it felt when the alphabet actually became a pattern of meaningful words?

Procedures

1. After students have read Chapters:


1. One and Two, hand out the Response One sheet. Ask students to make a list of everything they remember about learning to read.



2. Three-Five, introduce the concept of thesis statement and support sentences. Hand out the Response Two sheet, and discuss the violence in these chapters. Ask why the author would choose to portray their lives so authentically?



3. Six and Seven, open with a discussion of whether or not your students value the right to attend school, then hand out the Response Three sheet.


2. Give the Culminating Response prompt without introduction. After passing out the Culminating Response handout, give students 15-20 minutes to write.



3. Ask each student to share as much of what they have written as they are comfortable. You should also give students right to pass. (Most students will share a sentence or two.)

Assessment

To grade students’ work, you can use a rubric, such as the one below:

Grading Element	Points (out of 15 total)
Completion of the handouts	10
Participation in sharing (optional)	5 (optional)

Rick Vanderwall teaches Sixth Grade Language Arts and Social Studies at Price Laboratory School located at the University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls, Iowa.

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Activity Sheet

Name: __________________________________________________

Date: __________________________________________________

Period: __________________________________________________

Instructions: Read the following ex-slave narrative and write a response on this sheet comparing your experience of learning to read with the experience of both Sarny and Mr. John W. Fields.

Mr. John W. Fields, Age 89, Ex-slave interviewed September 17, 1937

"In most of us colored folks was the great desire to [be] able to read and write. We took advantage of every opportunity to educate ourselves. The greater part of the plantation owners were very harsh if we were caught trying to learn or write. It was the law that if a white man was caught trying to educate a Negro slave, he was liable to prosecution entailing a fine of 50 dollars and a jail sentence. We were never allowed to go to town, and it was not until after I ran away that I knew that they sold anything but slaves, tobacco, and whiskey. Our ignorance was the greatest hold the South had on us. We knew we could run away, but what then? An offender guilty of this crime was subjected to very harsh punishment."

Federal Writer's Project, United States Work Projects Administration (USWPA); Manuscript Division, Library of Congress

Activity Sheet

Name: __________________________________________________

Date: __________________________________________________

Period: __________________________________________________

Instructions: This section of the book portrays acts of violence. Write a paragraph explaining the role that violence played in the slave system. Use quotes from the Library of Congress slave narratives as evidence to prove your statement. Go to the web site listed below and select "Browse Narratives by Narrator," the select and read narratives. Look for a quote from the narratives that support your response thesis. Be sure you record the name of the individual you are quoting.

http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/snhtml/snhome.html

Federal Writer's Project, United States Work Projects Administration (USWPA); Manuscript Division, Library of Congress

Activity Sheet

Name: __________________________________________________

Date: __________________________________________________

Period: __________________________________________________

Instructions: Chapters Six and Seven document Nightjohn‘s return and the establishment of the pit school. In one paragraph, discuss why slaves would risk extreme punishment to attend the pit school and compare it to your own motivation to attend school.

Activity Sheet

Name: __________________________________________________

Date: __________________________________________________

Period: __________________________________________________

Instructions: In end of Chapter Four, Nightjohn explains to Mammy why he is willing to risk the worst punishment to teach reading and writing to his fellow slaves. Read the quote below and reflect in a short paragraph why Nightjohn feels that so strongly about teaching slaves to read and write.

"They have to read and write. We all have to read and write so we can write about this--what they doing to us. It has to be written."