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NLB Vocabulary
Lesson Plan

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Lesson Plan

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Negro Leagues Baseball
Vocabulary

Lesson Summary:
This lesson introduces students to Negro Leagues baseball, its history, and basic terminology through online exploration. As a final product, students will understand the elements of and create a political cartoon reflecting societal attitudes.

Key Features of Powerful Teaching and Learning:
(National Council for the Social Studies. “A Vision of Powerful Teaching and Learning in the Social Studies: Building Social Understanding and Civic Efficacy.”
http://www.socialstudies.org/positions/powerful/)

Meaningful: Students think critically and creatively while researching Negro Leagues baseball vocabulary terms and producing a political cartoon defining those terms.

Integrated: Includes technology in the extension and enrichment section. The content is anchored by the Negro Leagues baseball theme, and ideas are drawn from local examples of political cartoons and issues.

Value-Based: Promotes sensitivity to cultural similarities and differences, recognizes racial tensions, and encourages understanding of other points of view.

Challenging: Student groups function as a learning community and engage in reflective discussion. Students and teachers work collaboratively to deepen the understanding and meaning of Negro Leagues baseball vocabulary terms related to political tensions and issues of the time.

Active: Students work cooperatively in groups and then have leeway in their ability to independently create political cartoons; this requires flexibility on the teacher’s part and demonstrated organization and creativity on the students’ part.

Purpose/Rationale/Introduction:
This lesson introduces students to Negro Leagues baseball, its history, and basic terminology through online exploration. As a final product, students will understand the elements of and create a political cartoon reflecting societal attitudes.

Objectives:
1. Students will be able to define important vocabulary words basic to understanding NLB history.
2. Students will navigate the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum website and gather information about what NLB was and when it ceased to exist.
3. Students will be able to explain a basic history of Negro Leagues baseball and how it began.
4. Students will understand the elements of and create a political cartoon reflecting societal attitudes toward African Americans.

Materials/Primary Resources:
Access to the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum website and the Internet, vocabulary and fact worksheet, political cartoon clippings, and note-taking materials.

Procedures and Activities:

Day 1:
Step 1:
Discuss and help students define terms such as barnstorming, integrated team, segregation, Jim Crow Laws, clown teams, and the Great Depression.

Step 2:
Divide students into groups of two. Student groups log on to the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum website at http://www.nlbm.com and A Look at Life in the Negro Leagues site at http://coe.ksu.edu/nlbm/. Let students explore the various sections of the museum and read information from different sections gathering ideas and taking notes regarding the Negro Leagues and American society. Student should be able to answer:

• What were societal attitudes towards Negro League baseball players and African Americans before 1960? How did Negro League baseball reflect those attitudes?

• What was going on in America when Negro League baseball ceased to exist?

Why was it important for Negro Leagues teams to barnstorm, form clown teams, and find new innovations?

What innovations did Negro League teams contribute to baseball?
Were they necessary for Negro League teams to continue? Why?

It is a good idea to have students choose a role in the project as note-taker or navigator. Students can switch roles later in the day or the next day. If students have difficulty defining vocabulary terms, they can look up the words in the index of the book Black Diamond for further assistance.

Step 3:
For further information, students can explore these websites:
The History of Jim Crow
http://www.jimcrowhistory.org/home.htm

Jim Crow Laws
http://www.nps.gov/malu/documents/jim_crow_laws.htm

Day 2:
Step 1:
Allow students time to finish researching, review definition terms, and discuss group findings to the questions listed above.

Step 2:
Explain that students will be creating a political cartoon reflecting society’s beliefs about Negro League players and Blacks in America. Explain what a political cartoon is, the basic elements, and show examples. See the websites:

Political cartoon definition
http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/Editorial-cartoon

Political cartoon elements rubric (page 2), and student created examples (page 3):
http://sbci.cps.k12.il.us/assessments/social_science/
stage_j/socsci14CJ.pdf


Political cartoon examples pertaining to segregation/integration:
http://memory.loc.gov/learn/features/political_cartoon/
resources.html

Students should view Inch by Inch, Dark Laughter, and I’m Eight… Explain the meaning of and the different elements of each cartoon.

Step 3:
Students begin creating their political cartoons.

Day 3:

Conclusion: Review societal attitudes towards Negro Leagues baseball players and African Americans during this time. Discuss with students the meaning of their political cartoons and how they can be used to educate society or express points of view.

Extension and Enrichment:
Students technologically animate and/or recreate their political cartoons and publish them on the web.

Online Resources:

African American World: Timeline
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/aaworld/timeline.html

Black History on Film
http://www.springfieldlibrary.org/reading/
blackhistoryfilms.html


Negro Leagues Legacy
http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/mlb/history/
mlb_negro_leagues_story.jsp?story=kaleidoscopic



Secondary Resources:
Black Diamond: The Story of the Negro Baseball Leagues, McKissack & McKissack.

Assessment
Ask students to finish creating a political cartoon depicting at least one vocabulary word and reflecting society’s beliefs about Negro League players and Blacks in America (see rubric link below). The political cartoons could be added to a webpage if time permits, or at later date, to complete a subject ebook

Alternative Assessment:
Students draw plans for a new invention that would have been helpful to Negro League baseball. Students must define the parts of the invention; explain its function(s), and how it would have assisted Negro League players, owners, or fans.

Political Cartoon Elements Rubric(page 2):
http://sbci.cps.k12.il.us/assessments/social_science/
stage_j/socsci14CJ.pdf


Student Created Examples (page 3):
http://sbci.cps.k12.il.us/assessments/social_science/
stage_j/socsci14CJ.pdf


Resources for Diverse Learners:
Please see link at top left to download.


Grade level: 7-10
Subject: Social Studies

Standards:
NCSS Standards:
I, II, III, V
ISTE Standards: 1, 3, 4, 5
Missouri Standards: 2, 5, 6

Time Allotment:
3, 60-minute periods