| Kelli Sowerbrower has been reading books and talking about them with students in room 146 for the past seven years. And prior to that, 14 years in room 403b. It has been and still is the best job ever. YA Wednesday is a way for her to continue to find new books and ideas to reach kids of all levels. She presented this session at NCTE 2024 and is excited to share it with you. Feel free to send what you do with this text to her. She is always looking for innovative lessons. [email protected]. |  |
Teaching Their Eyes Were Watching God in the Classroom by Kelli Sowerbrower
̈You cannot read this book without just being drenched in love. There is so much beauty in being authentic
wherever you are. ̈– Alice Walker
wherever you are. ̈– Alice Walker
Their Eyes Were Watching God (TEWWG) is the highlight of my school year. This book. This story. This protagonist... In a beautiful narrative, we hear the voice of a black woman as she searches for love and ends up finding identity and strength. Her story can be told to all levels of students. I teach seniors and they appreciate this woman and her struggle for identity. I had the pleasure of presenting how I teach this book at NCTE in 2024 and wanted to share with you the ways that this story will change lives and some instant lessons you can use.
This tale, set in the 1930s, gives voice to the voiceless. TEWWG begins with Janie returning to her hometown after being gone for several years, decades actually. As we flash back to Janie growing up, we learn about the horrors of slavery, sexual assault, and prejudice that her grandmother and her mother endure. Being raised by Granny, Janie just wants to experience love, a love that she learns from watching the bees pollinate the trees. After realizing she will never love her first husband, a man Granny pushes her to marry for stability, she leaves him. She finds what she thinks is love with a new man who wants to establish the first Black town in the South. He raises the money, opens up a general store, becomes mayor and puts Janie on the front porch for the world to look at, but never meet or hear from. Janie is miserable after decades of marriage. When Joe dies, a new man appears in her life and she finds love, joy, heartache, identity and even a natural disaster. When she returns home , Janie is transformed ; she is a more determined, more independent, stronger and happier woman than who left all those years before. TEWWG is undoubtedly a love story, but it is also about Janie’s quest to acquire agency and find her voice and the men who contributed to her journey in this discovery.
This story matters in 2025 for as many reasons as it mattered when Hurston published it. Before we start reading, I talk about Hurston's struggles of being recognized and what was happening during the Harlem Renaissance and why she was, pretty much, kicked out. This sets the tone for a story that is not primarily about racial injustice, but a story about real life, real consequences and accepting who we are in light of our choices. In 2025 there are many gray areas that English teachers have to tiptoe around so as to not offend someone, the community, the government, etc. Watching Janie grow from a teenager living with Granny to a beautiful, confident woman is a lesson for so many who are learning how to use their voice. And because the story celebrates African-Americans and recognizes their struggles with society, nature, and each other, it rarely gets dinged on a banned book list.
Hurston´s storytelling ability allows for students to witness poetry in narrative. Her imagery is absolutely gorgeous. As a matter of fact, after reading the first two paragraphs, I have students draw the difference between men and women as Hurston describes them. The following conversation is brilliant, and a discussion that we can circle back to continuously while Janie builds relationships with men and women. As the story continues, there are a multitude of assignments/projects/discussions that are simple and students generally enjoy.
Looking at the attached pdf, here are a few favorite lessons. One is to have students choose a favorite sentence from each chapter. They can present these sentences as Snapchats, slide shows, or just a quick-write, explaining why that sentence stood out and how it fits in the context of the story. Once a week, you can choose certain students to share one or two of their sentences. Another favorite lesson is talking about figurative language. Because this story is so poetic, it is easy to point out or have students discover which-ever devices you choose to teach or that fit your state's standards. When it comes to characterization, there are so many rich characters to study. Her first husband is wealthy and offers stability, and arguably really loves Janie. Her second husband establishes the first Black town in Florida and seems like the perfect man, but falls short as the years move forward.
Her final husband, Tea-Cake, is kind of a mess, but Janie genuinely loves him. Does the reader ever really come to trust him? And does that matter for the context of the narrative? More great discussion points. The sitting on the front porch conversations are crucial scenes with minor characters that showcase the value of each interaction Hurston shares. Matt Bonner, a side character, owns a donkey and is forced to sell it for survival. The mule has its own chapter that potentially mirrors Janie's marriage to Joe.
Her final husband, Tea-Cake, is kind of a mess, but Janie genuinely loves him. Does the reader ever really come to trust him? And does that matter for the context of the narrative? More great discussion points. The sitting on the front porch conversations are crucial scenes with minor characters that showcase the value of each interaction Hurston shares. Matt Bonner, a side character, owns a donkey and is forced to sell it for survival. The mule has its own chapter that potentially mirrors Janie's marriage to Joe.
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The book alone is poetic, but there are other options when it comes to pairing poems to this story. Melissa Smith has created a website that has changed my teaching for the better. Teach Living Poets is a site that takes an extensive look at living poets, their works, their videos, and biographies. Assign students a particular poet and have him/her/they find a poem that explores a theme from TEWWG. Or you can find poems and share them with your students from this website. Melissa updates and adds new content regularly. I love this site and sharing with students that there are poets living in 2025 making a living from creative writing. There is another site called Their Eyes Were Watching God-Poem Pairings. Not only have they found beautiful poems to share with this book, they include detailed lesson plans. When thinking about short stories, what a great experience for you students when comparing Janie to the daughter in ¨Girl¨ by Kincaid. Alice Walker (the reason we even have Zora Neale Hurston) wrote a tale set in the 1960s, ¨Everyday Use.¨ This is another great story to pair with TEWWG. A mom reuniting with her two daughters thirty years after Janie finds her voice allows students to make connections between decades.
In a short clip posted by The Greene Space at WNYC & WQXR, Alice Walker discusses why this book is important and some of the controversy behind it when fi rst published. She summarizes best why TEWWG matters: ¨To have joy in your life is a great victory. True success is about being happy. And doing what you have to do to survive, but you have your good times. This is it. This is what is of value to a human life.” Share Janie´s story with your students, create your own lessons or use these, and have good times.
Activities for Teaching Their Eyes Were Watching God
Produced by Kelly and presented at NCTE 2024
1. Draw the first two paragraphs. Talk boys and girls and dreams.
2. Jane sits under a pear tree; tree metaphor throughout the story: Birds and the bees. (p. 11)
3. That made her feel the apron tied around her waist. She untied it and flung it on a low bush beside the road... (p. 32). How many levels can we did into this line.
4. "And when Ah touch de match tuh dat lampwick let de light penetrate inside of yuh, and let it shine, let it shine, let it shine" p. 45). Allusions. How is Jody God?
5. Let's just have a field day with Matt Bonner's mule. So much with this chapter. (Chapter 6).
6. I tell students who borrow books to annotate them. When Janie claps back on Jody's manhood (79), the annotations says "Go off, Quenn." Let's talk about the shift in her behavior over the course of their marriage. Is she too harsh by the time he dies?
7. "Before she slept that night she burnt up every oneof her head rags..." (p. 89). This is the new Janie. compare to the apron metaphor.
8. Tea Cake: Do we trust him? Why? Why not? Just when he is courting Janie when he is courting Janie prior to them leaving town.
9. Chapter 13: Tea Cake, 200 dollars, and the picnic. Do we trust him now?
10. The Everglades, Mrs. Turner, colorism. AND What is acceptable and what isnot in terms of abuse (This sounds disgusting, but hear me out. Chapters 16 and 17).
11. Title is found on page 160. How does it relate to the title and to the story? Talk to me, Goose (a classroom is saying).
12. A hurrican, rabies, and racism. (and Indians). Hurston is SO BUSY!
13. What is the book about, if it is not a love story? Explain.
14. i was going to do the leg work, but then I found this site: Their Eyes Were Watching God - Poetry Pairings. she did the work for me.
15. Have students go back and choose their favorite limes. Then explain why there lines struck them. Group share? Group share again? Class share? You pick.
16. If you have not spent time on Teaching Living Poets, start the day you go back to class. Have students choose a poet and find a poem that connects to theme from TEWWG.
17. Kincaid's "Girl" would be an easy short story pairing.
18. The Collectors: Stories. I love A. S. King and ALL THINGS YA Lit. This book. Wow. King emailed her favorite authors asking them to write a short story (creatively --her word) about a collection. How great to have some short stories when thinking about collections and TEWWG: the stuff Jody collects for the front porch, hair rags, keepsakes, etc.
19. Alice Walker (The GOAT) talking about the importance of Hurston and this narrative: Alice Walker talks about self perception and love in Zora Neale Hurston's work.
20. Hurston and her biography. So POWERFUL! Learn about her and why she writes the books she wrote and all of her controversy. SO GOOD! AND so much discussion.
2. Jane sits under a pear tree; tree metaphor throughout the story: Birds and the bees. (p. 11)
3. That made her feel the apron tied around her waist. She untied it and flung it on a low bush beside the road... (p. 32). How many levels can we did into this line.
4. "And when Ah touch de match tuh dat lampwick let de light penetrate inside of yuh, and let it shine, let it shine, let it shine" p. 45). Allusions. How is Jody God?
5. Let's just have a field day with Matt Bonner's mule. So much with this chapter. (Chapter 6).
6. I tell students who borrow books to annotate them. When Janie claps back on Jody's manhood (79), the annotations says "Go off, Quenn." Let's talk about the shift in her behavior over the course of their marriage. Is she too harsh by the time he dies?
7. "Before she slept that night she burnt up every oneof her head rags..." (p. 89). This is the new Janie. compare to the apron metaphor.
8. Tea Cake: Do we trust him? Why? Why not? Just when he is courting Janie when he is courting Janie prior to them leaving town.
9. Chapter 13: Tea Cake, 200 dollars, and the picnic. Do we trust him now?
10. The Everglades, Mrs. Turner, colorism. AND What is acceptable and what isnot in terms of abuse (This sounds disgusting, but hear me out. Chapters 16 and 17).
11. Title is found on page 160. How does it relate to the title and to the story? Talk to me, Goose (a classroom is saying).
12. A hurrican, rabies, and racism. (and Indians). Hurston is SO BUSY!
13. What is the book about, if it is not a love story? Explain.
14. i was going to do the leg work, but then I found this site: Their Eyes Were Watching God - Poetry Pairings. she did the work for me.
15. Have students go back and choose their favorite limes. Then explain why there lines struck them. Group share? Group share again? Class share? You pick.
16. If you have not spent time on Teaching Living Poets, start the day you go back to class. Have students choose a poet and find a poem that connects to theme from TEWWG.
17. Kincaid's "Girl" would be an easy short story pairing.
18. The Collectors: Stories. I love A. S. King and ALL THINGS YA Lit. This book. Wow. King emailed her favorite authors asking them to write a short story (creatively --her word) about a collection. How great to have some short stories when thinking about collections and TEWWG: the stuff Jody collects for the front porch, hair rags, keepsakes, etc.
19. Alice Walker (The GOAT) talking about the importance of Hurston and this narrative: Alice Walker talks about self perception and love in Zora Neale Hurston's work.
20. Hurston and her biography. So POWERFUL! Learn about her and why she writes the books she wrote and all of her controversy. SO GOOD! AND so much discussion.
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