Post-Show Classroom Activity
In A Raisin in the Sun, the Younger family carries with them their own precious belongings and dreams as they move to a beautiful new home — they also inevitably carry the knowledge that they are a Black family moving to a white neighborhood. Invite students to envision and draft their dream space as they consider what they might bring with them, from dreams and identities to histories and hardships.
As always, please note that some steps of the activity may be condensed, eliminated, or extended based on the needs of your classroom.
Although this activity is written for use in a classroom setting, it is suitable for anyone.
Full House: Dreaming a Home
Activity Preparation
- Supplies:
- Paper and writing utensils for students to draw with (one or two per student)
- If desired, image search results of basic floor plans
- Set-Up:
- The first few steps invite students to consider the Youngers and their identities, belongings, and dreams. Teachers have discretion over whether they would like to engage in these steps together as a class, or whether they would like to have students work in pairs and then regroup between steps to check in.
- Students may approach this activity with various levels of skill and excitement around artistic renderings. The activity asks students to draw one or two floor plans. Encourage students not to worry about their artistic skill, and to focus instead on representing their ideas on paper. Consider offering some students the option to write a narrative description of a floor plan as opposed to an actual illustration.
- Note that students’ floor plans might contain sensitive or personal information. If they wish to share them, they may, but do not pressure any students to do so.
This activity will take approximately 50 minutes.
Learning Sequence
- Inform students that this activity will merge the literal with the metaphorical and invite them to tap into their imaginations both for characters in A Raisin in the Sun and for themselves. (~1 minute)
- Invite students to brainstorm based on the following prompt. Facilitate the selection of a single character from within the Younger family for everyone to consider. (Alternatively, if students are working in pairs, each pair may choose their own character.) (~5 minutes)
- Ask: What do you think this character will bring with them to the new home? List physical items you believe they would bring as well as abstract concepts (attitudes, gifts, histories, and hopes) that they might bring. Give students 3-5 minutes to compile a list.
- Audit the list of “things” with the class. Mark or have students mark the concrete items by underlining them and the abstract ideas with a star. (~5 minutes)
- Then, ask: What are concrete objects that might represent each of these abstract ideas? For example, if one thing Mama is bringing with her is the pain of losing her baby Claude, perhaps an object that could represent that is a baby blanket. If Beneatha is carrying with her the excitement of connecting with her ancestral roots, perhaps she will bring with her a map of Nigeria or a book of Nigerian folk tales.
- Give students time to write concrete objects to represent each abstract dream, gift, idea, or feeling.
- Next, guide students to draw a floor plan of a brand new bedroom for that character in the Clybourne Park house. (~14 minutes)
- If students are unfamiliar with the format of a generic floor plan, show a few examples on a search engine.
- They should include things that a bedroom may typically include, but they should consider how this character might design the room. They should also consider where to place the items from their brainstormed list. Some items might be precious, placed on display or in a place of honor. Others might be painful or emotionally charged. Students may make choices around the placement of these items to capture their weight or the challenges they represent. As needed, students should label the items in their floor plans.
- As time allows, if students have drafted their floor plans in pairs, invite a few pairs to share their renderings.
- Tell students that they will now engage in a similar activity, but this time, they will create a floorplan of a dream bedroom for themselves. Have students individually brainstorm a list of what items they would bring to their dream bedroom, as well as features they would like the room to have. (~10 minutes)
- Prompt them to also consider what they would bring with them in the categories of dreams, gifts, identities, and challenges. Do they have a challenging relationship with a sibling? Are they proud of their home language? What is their dream career?
- Once students have brainstormed these abstract ideas, have them consider what physical objects might represent these, and where they might be in their dream bedroom.
- Have students draw their bedroom floor plans. They should label their objects. (~10 minutes)
- As time allows and if appropriate, invite students to share with a peer or a few students to share with the class. (~5 minutes)
- This activity aligns with the following standards:
- Illinois Arts Learning Standards
- Anchor Standard 1: Generate and conceptualize artistic ideas and work.
- Anchor Standard 2: Organize and develop artistic ideas and work.
- Anchor Standard 10: Synthesize and relate knowledge and personal experiences to make art.
- Anchor Standard 11: Relate artistic ideas and works with societal, cultural, and historical context to deepen understanding.
- Common Core State Standards
- CCSS.ELA.R1 Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to make logical inferences from it; cite specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions drawn from the text.
- CCSS.ELA.R3 Analyze how and why individuals, events, and ideas develop and interact over the course of a text.
- CCSS.ELA.W3 Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, well-chosen details and well-structured event sequences.
- CCSS.ELA.W9 Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.
- Illinois Arts Learning Standards