So tall within: sojourner truth’s long walk to freedom

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to support teachers in utilizing the 2019 National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) Notable Tradebook, “Sojourner Truth’s Long Walk to Freedom” (Schmidt, 2018). The authors found this book to be useful, beautiful and well-written but with several complex and dense literary aspects. Thus, this lesson offers supports for students in decoding similes and metaphors within “juicy sentences” (Fenner and Snyder, 2017, p. 131). These tools are especially important for English language learners’ (ELLs) unlocking the meaning of a book. Through this lesson, learners are supported in understanding Schmidt’s “So Tall Within” retelling the life of an extraordinary citizen, Sojourner Truth, who worked for the enforcement of emancipation promised in the 13th amendment. Design/methodology/approach In this lesson, students learn to recognize similes and metaphors in texts as a tool to decode a text’s meaning. In the beginning of the lesson, students listen to a rap about Sojourner Truth’s life to initially recognize in-text similes and metaphors. Then, students apply this new skill to unlock the meaning of metaphors and similes in the “So Tall Within” book to better understand the author’s message about Sojourner’s life. Last, students each make an illustrated and written postcard to Sojourner Truth called “Walking Tall Postcards” with their given metaphor or simile and add reflections on how they do or can “walk tall.” Finally, students chronologically re-construct the postcard statements and create a class book called, “Postcards of Walking Tall.” Findings Students, especially ELLs, must be given supports to unlock the meaning of dense texts (Fenner and Snyder, 2017). To promote equity in the classroom, the lesson was created to make this text more understandable for all learners. Originality/value Like many NCSS Tradebooks that are beautiful in illustrations and lyrical prose, this book requires supports for young learners to decode and understand. This lesson plan scaffolds students’ understanding, especially ELLs’ understanding, of simile and metaphor as a tool to unlock a text’s meaning toward increased historical understanding of Sojourner’s life. Understanding the legacy of Sojourner Truth is evermore important to teach today – she was a woman empowered with knowledge of the law to recognize human rights violations and act on behalf of others.