Note: Please check out my complete Homegoing teaching unit on Teachers Pay Teachers for all the resources mentioned in this post! They are also sold individually, if you only want quizzes, essays, reading questions, intro materials (free), or journals!
Sample Homegoing Unit Calendar (45-Minute Class)
We will use a mix of Fishbowl, TQE, Socratic Seminar, Gallery Walk, and Stations for our class discussions, using the reading questions from the study guide as well as student-generated questions. Each chapter’s discussion notes (completed in class) can be completed as a simple page of notes in your notebook/on lined paper. Homework each night is to respond to one of the journal prompt options for that chapter. Write ½ to 1 page.
| DATE | DATE | DATE | DATE | DATE |
| Anticipatory Activities HW: Read the Historical Context reading (Intro Packet) and mark it up (active reading) | Share takeaways from the HW reading with peers (jigsaw activity—teacher info here) HW: Read Ch. 1 “Effia” & complete journal | Quiz #1 (Ch. 1) Discuss “Effia” (5 min small group discussion (Thoughts, Questions, Epiphanies), 30 min whole-group discussion of study guide reading questions) HW: Read Ch. 2 “Esi” & complete journal | Quiz #2 (Ch. 2) Discuss “Esi” HW: Read Ch. 3 “Quey” & complete journal | Quiz #3 (Ch. 3) Discuss “Quey” HW: Read Ch. 4 “Ness” & complete journal |
| DATE | DATE | DATE | DATE | DATE |
| Quiz #4 (Ch. 4) Discuss “Ness” HW: Read Ch. 5 “James” & complete journal | Quiz #5 (Ch. 5) Discuss “James” HW: Read Ch. 6 “Kojo” & complete journal | Quiz #6 (Ch. 6) Discuss “Kojo” HW: Read Ch. 7 “Abena” & complete journal | Quiz #7 (Ch. 7) Discuss “Abena” HW: Read Ch. 8 “H” & complete journal | Quiz #8 (Ch. 8) Discuss “H” HW: Read Ch. 9 “Akua” & complete journal |
| DATE | DATE | DATE | DATE | DATE |
| Quiz #9 (Ch. 9) Discuss “Akua” HW: Read Ch. 10 “Willie” & complete journal | Quiz #10 (Ch. 10) Discuss “Willie” HW: Read Ch. 11 “Yaw” & complete journal | Quiz #11 (Ch. 11) Discuss “Yaw” HW: Read Ch. 12 “Sonny” & complete journal | Quiz #12 (Ch. 12) Discuss “Sonny” HW: Read Ch. 13 “Marjorie” & complete journal | Quiz #13 (Ch. 13) Discuss “Marjorie” HW: Read Ch. 14 “Marcus” & complete journal |
| DATE | DATE | DATE | DATE | DATE |
| Quiz #14 (Ch. 14) Discuss “Marcus” | Look over the essay assignment page & prompts; choose a prompt Begin “How to Write the Essay” lesson (use the slides included) | Finish “How to Write the Essay” lesson Go over expectations for timed vs. typed/cited essays (available timed and typed directions here if you do not have your own lessons) | Begin planning your typed essay (outline + textual evidence gathering) | Timed Essay |
| DATE | DATE | DATE | DATE | DATE |
| Writing Time (typed essay drafting) | Writing Time; go over common typed-essay issues & answer questions | Final revisions & edits; conference with the teacher as necessary Essays are due by 3 PM |
Days 1–2: Intro Packet (historical context + anticipation activities). Note: You could easily stretch the anticipatory activities and historical context reading from 2 days to 4 days! This would make a full 5-week unit! / Days 3–16: One chapter per day: reading quiz for that chapter, then discussion built from the study guide’s reading questions (140 questions across 14 chapters ≈ 10 questions/chapter). Journal prompts (4/chapter) are used as HW assignments. You could use them as Entrance or Exit tickets if you have a longer class period. / Days 17–20: Use the Essay Prompts & Directions handout + the 17-slide “How to Write the Essay” PowerPoint, leading into the timed essay. / Days 21–23: Formal/typed essay writing, revision, and due date.
Alternative Homegoing Calendar (45-Minute Class) with Clustered Quizzes
Note: We will use a mix of Fishbowl, TQE, Socratic Seminar, Gallery Walk, and Stations for our class discussions, using the reading questions from the study guide as well as student-generated questions. Each chapter’s discussion notes (to be completed in class) can be completed as a simple page of notes in your notebook/on lined paper. Homework each night is to respond to one of the journal prompt options for that chapter. Write ½ to 1 page.
| DATE | DATE | DATE | DATE | DATE |
| Anticipatory Activities HW: Read the Historical Context reading (Intro Packet) and mark it up (active reading) | Share takeaways from the HW reading with peers (jigsaw activity—teacher info here) HW: Read Ch. 1 “Effia” & complete journal | Discuss “Effia” (10 min small group discussion (Thoughts, Questions, Epiphanies), 35 min whole-group discussion of study guide reading questions) HW: Read Ch. 2 “Esi” & complete journal | Discuss “Esi” HW: Read Ch. 3 “Quey” & complete journal | Discuss “Quey” |
| Quizzes #1–3 (Ch. 1–3) + turn in journals for Ch. 1–3 HW: Read Ch. 4 “Ness” & complete journal | Discuss “Ness” HW: Read Ch. 5 “James” & complete journal | Discuss “James” HW: Read Ch. 6 “Kojo” & complete journal | Discuss “Kojo” HW: Read Ch. 7 “Abena” & complete journal | Discuss “Abena” |
| Quizzes #4–7 (Ch. 4–7) + turn in journals for Ch. 4–7 HW: Read Ch. 8 “H” & complete journal | Discuss “H” HW: Read Ch. 9 “Akua” & complete journal | Discuss “Akua” HW: Read Ch. 10 “Willie” & complete journal | Discuss “Willie” HW: Read Ch. 11 “Yaw” & complete journal | Discuss “Yaw” |
| Quizzes #8–11 (Ch. 8–11) + turn in journals Ch. 8–11 HW: Read Ch. 12 “Sonny” & complete journal | Discuss “Sonny” HW: Read Ch. 13 “Marjorie” & complete journal | Discuss “Marjorie” HW: Read Ch. 14 “Marcus” & complete journal | Discuss “Marcus” | Quizzes #12–14 (Ch. 12–14) + turn in journals for Ch. 12–14 HW: Look over the essay assignment page & prompts; choose a prompt |
| Begin “How to Write the Essay” lesson (use the slides included) | Finish “How to Write the Essay” lesson Go over expectations for timed vs. typed/cited essays (available timed and typed directions here if you do not have your own lessons) | Begin planning your typed essay (outline + textual evidence gathering) | Timed Essay | Writing Time (typed essay drafting) |
| Writing Time; go over common typed-essay issues & answer questions | Final revisions & edits; conference with the teacher as necessary Essays are due by 3 PM |
How this version differs from the first option
- Quizzes are batched, not daily. Instead of a quiz the day after every chapter, students take 3–4 chapter quizzes together.
- More reading/discussion runway between quizzes, so those days can lean fully into Fishbowl/Socratic Seminar/Gallery Walk formats without a quiz eating into the period.
- Trade-off: this version runs 27 class days instead of 18, since each quiz cluster needs its own dedicated day rather than sharing a day with a chapter discussion. If you’re tight on calendar time, the first (daily-quiz) version is more efficient; if you’d rather protect full discussion periods and don’t mind a longer unit, this clustered version gives you that space.
- Note: You could easily stretch the anticipatory activities and historical context reading and/or add days to the writing in class time to make this a full six-week unit
Please check out my complete Homegoing teaching unit on Teachers Pay Teachers for all the resources mentioned in this post! They are also sold individually, if you only want quizzes, essays, reading questions, intro materials (free), or journals!
Leave a Reply