The Gift of Alex Haley's "Roots"

As a young boy Alex Haley was intrigued by the stories his grandmother shared with him about their family's history. These oral histories would be the basis for his novel "Roots", which chronicles his family's history from Africa to America. The novel has been published in 37 languages, won numerous writing awards and was made into a feature film. This novel is ideal for a thematic or humanities unit that combines social studies and language arts.

When creating an inter-disciplinary unit it is important for students to be able to differentiate between the historical events that actually occurred, and the fictional historical events that are represented in the novel. Building background is also important when developing a unit. In order to understand the novel "Roots", students should be given background information on the writer, geography, and, most importantly, the time period. They should know about important historical events including the Trans-Atlantic slave movement and the Middle Passage. In addition to building the historical background, it is also important to introduce some literary elements. These may include characterization, point of view, and conflict just to name a few.

In Alex Haley's novel he traces six generations of his family, starting from the mid 1750s.  Providing students with this information can be a springboard for students to research their family roots or genealogy. How many students can honestly say that they know the history, or roots of their families? Before the reading of this novel have students create a family tree. During the unit they can compare and contrast it with Alex Haley's family. Some questions for students to consider would be why his family moved from one place to another? This question can also be the foundation for other questions that students may have about the movement of their own families. Why did your family move from one place to another? Or a more general question would be, has your family ever moved from one location to another and why?  To further create the connection to the novel, have students prepare an oral history taken from their grandparent, or from another relative, and present it to the class.  There are various other activities that can be developed for a unit combining language arts and social studies. The following lessons below details other novels that make tremendous connections to history.

Historical Fiction Lesson Plans:  

Things Fall Apart- This website offers a great unit plan for the novel "Things Fall Apart" by Chinua Achebe. This is a true humanities unit covering everything from art, history, and literature. The website also provides a list of additional resources related to the background of the novel.

To Kill a Mockingbird- PBS has an interesting unit based on the novel "To Kill a Mockingbird". This unit also incorporates African American history during the Jim Crow era. In addition the unit also includes music and other resources to support various themes.

The Red Badge of Courage- This unit plan focuses on elements of realism using the novel "The Red Badge of Courage".  The novel is no used in its entirely but uses specific excerpts based on personal accounts of the Civil War.

Their Eyes were watching God- In this lesson plan students learn about the life of Zora Neale Hurston growing up after the Civil War. This lesson offers a tremendous amount of information related to teacher preparation and student activities.

90 Miles- "90 Miles" is a personal memoir about a young man who was exiled from Cuba. The film touches on the relationship between the United States and Cuba. A lesson plan is not included but there is a wealth of internet resources that relate to the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro and the United States policies regarding Cuba.