Lesson 11: Hidden Figures, Chapter 12

Turn and Talk

This activity helps students share and develop their thinking with a partner. Students discuss how talent and persistence can create opportunities, and how society can make those opportunities harder to access. Circulate to support discussion and deepen thinking.

Say these Directions: Turn and talk with a partner about your response to the following question:

• Ask: How can a person's talent, expertise and persistence create opportunities? How can societal rules and assumptions make it challenging to take advantage of those opportunities?

  • A person’s talent can create opportunities by helping them earn a chance others notice, like strong math skills leading to a job. But society can still make the path harder if unfair rules or prejudice limit who gets included or respected.

Connection to Today's Learning

• Say: We will now use context clues to explore vocabulary from Chapter 12. This will help us to understand the connections between the words and the challenges Katherine faces when trying to access opportunities.

Students will practice using context clues to define new and unfamiliar vocabulary as they come across it in a text. For this lesson, the target word is integrate. Students can locate the word in Hidden Figures Chapter 12 section title “Unusually Capable.” (It can be found in the sentence that begins “The governor of West . . .” and ends with “. . . the law school).”

Using Context Clues

Target Word: integrate

Say these Directions: Today you will practice using context clues to define new and unfamiliar vocabulary as you come across it in Chapter 12. Read the target word, integrate, and then turn and talk with a partner to discuss what you think the word means.

Display the Context

• “The governor of West Virginia didn’t want to fight the law. Instead, he planned to integrate the state’s public graduate schools. He asked for the names of three “unusually capable” West Virginia State College graduates who might be willing to desegregate the university.

• Say: This text may include a word we may not fully understand yet. Instead of looking it up, we’re going to use the context—the words and sentences around it—to figure out what it most likely means. Our focus word is integrate.

Read the Surrounding Sentences

• Say: Reread the section of text and listen for words or ideas that help explain what is happening or describe the word more clearly. Pay special attention to words that show a cause/effect that could be used as clues to the meaning of the word.

Identify Context Clues

• Say: With a partner, discuss: Which words or phrases explain the meaning of the target word? Then, underline the clues in the displayed text.

  • “desegregate,” “didn’t want to fight”, “planned to integrate the state’s public graduate schools.”

Infer a Meaning

• Say: Based on the clues, what does the word most likely mean in this text?

  • The word “integrate” means to put everyone together, or desegregate the students. Integration would allow students from all backgrounds into the graduate school.

Test the Meaning in Context

• Say: If we replace the word with our meaning, does the sentence still make sense?

  • Yes, when I put our definition into the sentence, the sentence still makes sense. “The governor of West Virginia didn’t want to fight the law. Instead, he planned to desegregate the state’s public graduate schools.”

Quick Application

• Say: Did the context give us enough information to figure out the meaning of the word integrate? How might we confirm the meaning if we aren’t sure?

  • We can look it up in a dictionary or an online vocabulary resource.

Verify Meaning

• Say: Check your definition using a dictionary or other reference material. Does the definition match what we figured out?

Connection to Today's Learning

• Say: We will now gather details from Chapter 12 that show how Katherine’s talent, persistence, and the challenges she faced during segregation help develop the chapter’s central idea.

Part A: Tracking Details that Show Central Ideas (RI.6.2) (15 minutes)

Have students work in pairs to reread three pivotal moments in Chapter 12: the section about Katherine’s school experiences, the section where she makes a job decision, and the section where she begins work at Langley.

Say these Directions: Reread the following three sections in Chapter 12: the section about Katherine’s school experiences, the section where she makes a job decision, and the section where she begins work at Langley.

While reading, use the 3-Column Chart to track how one experience or decision leads to an opportunity. Then explore how the detail connects to a central idea in the text. Remember, we are not just collecting events—we are gathering supporting evidence that helps us understand the chapter’s central ideas.

Label each column as indicated:

• Column 1: Experience or Decision

• Column 2: Opportunity

• Column 3: Connection to Central Idea

Work together with students to complete each part of the chart.

• Ask: Which details from the chapter reveal how Katherine’s curiosity, talent and expertise create new opportunities?

  • The clearest detail is in the part about Katherine’s strong school experiences because her math talent pushes her into more advanced learning. That matters because the chapter shows her early ability did not stay hidden. It led to the chance to do more serious mathematical work later.

• Ask: Which details show the obstacles created by society that made it harder for Katherine to access opportunities?

  • The part where Katherine enters the Langley workplace shows this best because even though she has the talent for the job, she still has to navigate a space shaped by unfair expectations. That suggests skill alone does not erase barriers.

• Ask: After reviewing the information in the 3-Column chart, what can you identify as a central idea in Chapter 12?

  • Katherine Goble’s curiosity and mathematical talent opened new opportunities for her. But social boundaries and limitations still shaped how easily she could access those opportunities.

Part B: Moving from Details to Summary (RI.6.2) (15 minutes)

Quick Write

Say these Directions: Once you identify the central idea of the text, use it as the focus of a summary. A strong summary explains the central idea and includes only the key details that support it.

Look back at your chart. Cross out any details in the chart that are not key details and which do not directly support the central idea. Revise details that might need to be clarified.

Say: Your summary should be based on the central idea. Think of the central idea as the “big message,” and the supporting details as the pieces that explain it. Start your summary with the central idea, then include only the details that help the reader understand it. Do not include personal thoughts or opinions, stick to the text to support your ideas.

Say: You may wish to use the following sentence frame to support your summary:

Display the sentence frame:

The central idea of the text is that ________________________. This is shown when ________________________. Another important detail is ________________________, which shows ________________________. These details help explain the central idea by ________________________.

• The central idea of the text is that Katherine Goble’s curiosity and mathematical talent opened new opportunities for her, but social boundaries still limited how easily she could use them. This is shown when NASA increasingly relied on her calculations while she continued to face discrimination and barriers. Another important detail is how her brilliance pushed her forward even when society tried to hold her back. These details help explain the central idea by showing both her growing importance at NASA and the challenges she still faced because of unfair treatment.

Turn and Talk

Say these Directions: Turn to your partner and to discuss these questions: What should be included in a text summary? What should not be included?

• It is important to include the central idea and key details in a summary. Personal opinions or thoughts about the topic should not be included.

Have students read Chapter 13 of Hidden Figures. Instruct students to take notes in their Journal on the following prompt:

As you read, annotate the text for the following:

• Moments that show Katherine’s work, questions, or decisions leading to discovery or recognition