A Raisin In The Sun is a classic masterpiece by Lorraine Hansberry. After reading it with your class, extend student learning with these 16 incredible activities! Students can conceptualize various concepts such as the American dream, perseverance, and other symbolic elements through our selection of insightful activities.
1. Tend To Your Plant Like Mama
Tending to your plant like mama is a great goal-setting project for your students after reading Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun. Discuss that one theme of the book is having dreams! Students that make goals are more likely to be successful.
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2. Reading Flip Books
As you read A Raisin in the Sun have your students complete a flip book! They can fill each section with textual evidence and use it to analyze the book in an organized way. Afterward, they can do another one for the film version!
Learn More: Teachers Pay Teachers
3. Conscious Alley
Students will get up and move as they role-play Mama and the people of the alley. Students will try to convince Mama to use the insurance money in a specific way. Then, students will answer reflection questions based on how they felt as they played Mama.
Learn More: Triad Stage
4. Journal Entry
Have your students dive a bit deeper into the book by having them do a journal entry from one of the character’s perspectives. This is a great way to teach similes and metaphors and is a creative choice for teaching about this book.
Learn More: Triad Stage
5. The American Dream
In the Dream activity, students will discuss the American Dream and examine how it impacted people’s lives during the 1950s and other periods. They will also discuss how African Americans were complicated due to segregation, access to rights, and acceptance. This is a great lesson for analyzing how the characters in the book made their American dream attainable.
Learn More: K-12 Database
6. Create a Website
This lesson should be used as the student’s overall project after reading the novel. Students will have to use figurative language, knowledge of the American family, and American Dream Scenes to create a sequel to the Raisin in the Sun on a website!
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7. Storyboard That
Storyboard That is great for daily lesson activities. If your students are tired of reading in the book, have them listen and watch the different acts on this awesome website!
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8. Quizizz
Have your students review the novel and its central ideas or themes with this interactive game! Students will lose track of time as they have to compete against their friends to answer questions about narrative elements, themes, character analysis, and figurative language
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9. Jeopardy
Use Jeopardy as a review game for A Raisin in the Sun before the final test. Use this template or create your own using Google Slides. This lesson is a great way to get kids engaged with their learning and learn from their peers as they review the topics in the book.
Learn More: Jeopardy Labs
10. Oppression Self Reflection
After discussing oppression and racism, have your students do a self-reflection activity and how images and theatre can portray the challenges of these concepts. Students will also have to self-reflect on if they have experienced oppression and how they overcame these challenges.
Learn More: BYU Theatre Education
11. Compare and Contrast
After reading the novel, have your students watch the movie! As they watch, they can compare and contrast the differences between the text and the film production. What was changed and why? Then, they can write an explaining which one they liked more and why.
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12. Text Scavenger Hunt
Before reading Raisin in the Sun, have your students do a pre-reading scavenger hunt and poem analysis. Students will find textual evidence, and practice their literary analysis with these fun activities even before they start reading!
Learn More: Teachers Pay Teachers
13. Reverse Escape Room
Increase student engagement with the story by dropping the book and doing a reverse escape room! Students will be challenged with clues about the book and its central ideas as they try to escape!
Learn More: Ditch That Textbook
14. Creative Characterization
Analyze characters from Lorrain Hansberry’s novel with this creative characterization activity. Students will take perspectives and put them into real life as they put together a profile for characters from the book. What is on their cell phone? What is their favorite song? Students will love this activity as it gives them creative freedom and makes the story more relatable.
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15. Bingo
Review A Raisin in the Sun with this fun Bingo game! You can create your own, or purchase this ready-to-use template. Students will be quizzed on oppression, the American Dream, and other central ideas from the story.
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16. Gender Roles Activity
Discover how gender roles affect society with this fun activity! While reading the novel, students will explore gender roles and how they affect the family household. Then do a literary analysis of the gender roles shown in the novel.
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