Boycott+Blues+-+Reinforcing+Activity

By Andrea Davis Pinkney Lesson Plan Author: Deborah L. Morowski, Ph.D. Auburn University Title of NCSS Notable Trade Book: ** || Author: Andrea Davis Pinkney Illustrator: Brian Pinkney Year: 2008 Publisher: Haper Collins, Inc: ||
 * NCSS Notable Trade Book Lesson Plan **
 * // Boycott Blues //**
 * // Boycott Blues //**
 * Book Summary: **
 * Book Summary: **

|| This book recounts the story of Rosa Parks and the ensuing Montgomery bus boycott utilizing the concept of blues music. Jim Crow is represented as a large black bird with bony wings. The narrator of the story, a blues-playing dog, makes the events surrounding the bus boycott accessible to young readers. The colored ink on clay board illustrations enhance the text in portraying the struggles and determination of those who participated in the bus boycott. || NCSS Standards: **

|| I. Culture II. Time, Continuity, and Change IV. Individual Development and Identity VI. Power, Authority, and Governance X. Civic Ideals and Practices ||
 * Materials: **
 * Materials: **

|| // Boycott Blues // Internet access Books on Civil Rights leaders 11x17 paper Crayons and markers Notebook paper and pencils Assessment rubric || || The student will compare and contrast life during and after segregation. The student will create a poster on a Civil Rights leader. The student will write a paragraph of at least 5 sentences about a Civil Rights leader and his or her impact on modern life. ||
 * Objectives: **
 * Objectives: **
 * ** Procedures: **

// Exploration/ Introduction: //

// Development: //

// Expansion: //

|| ** Note: ** This lesson could be used to introduce a unit on Civil Rights, including segregation and some of the important figures involved with the Civil Rights Movement.

1. The teacher will ask students seated in the front of the classroom to gather on the floor for a discussion on fairness. Students seated in the back will write 3 paragraphs on an unfair situation and how they attempted to resolve the dilemma. As students are working on the floor, the teacher will reward their efforts with a prize, such as stickers, candy, etc.

2. After 5-10 minutes the teacher has students return to their seats and asks the students who wrote paragraphs how they felt during the activity. The teacher asks the students who worked on the floor how they felt about the activity. Students who previously did not receive a reward should receive one at this time.

3. The class will engage in a discussion about fairness and means by which such situations may be resolved.

4. The teacher explains that before the 1950s and 1960s, African-Americans were not permitted to engage in public life in the same way as white Americans.

5. The teacher will read //Boycott Blues//, locating Montgomery, Alabama on a map and discussing vocabulary with which the students may be unfamiliar, such as Jim Crow, boycott, segregation, etc.

6. The teacher will show students historical photographs from the era of segregation available from [] (search segregation photos). The teacher will ask, “What do you think life was like for African-Americans during segregation? How would you feel if you were separated from other people just because of your hair color or your height, for example?

7. The teacher will show students historical photographs from the Montgomery bus boycott, also available at google images. Additional images are available through the Smithsonian at []. The teacher will ask, “If you were an African-American student during the boycott, how would your life have been different?”

8. The teacher will explain that the Montgomery bus boycott was part of a larger event called the Civil Rights Movement.

9. The teacher will ask, “How was life different after the Civil Rights Movement?”

10. The teacher will ask, “Where experiences do you have with people being unfair to others? How did you help to resolve the situation? What are other ways that we can remedy these situations?”

11. The teacher will inform the students that they are going to learn more about individuals that were involved in the Civil Rights Movement. The teacher will divide the class into groups of four students.

12. Students will research major figures from the Civil Rights Movement such as Martin Luther King, Jr., Ruby Bridges, Rosa Parks, and Thurgood Marshall, and Ida B. Wells-Barnett.

13. Each group will be responsible for finding the following facts: a. Where and when the individual was born. b. The individual’s role in the Civil Rights Movement. c. How this individual’s accomplishment(s) influence life today. 14. Each group will create a mini poster about their findings. Each student must contribute at least one fact to the poster and participate in the poster creation.

15. After the completion of the posters, each group will elect one person to serve as spokesperson for the group to share the findings with the class. Posters will be hung on the wall for the remainder of the Civil Rights unit.

16. Individually, students will write a paragraph of at least five sentences about the Civil Rights leader they researched. The paragraph should contain at least four facts learned by the students. ||
 * Assessment: **
 * Assessment: **

|| The teacher will observe and listen to students responses comparing life prior to and after desegregation.

Students will be receive a participation grade for contributing one fact to the poster and assisting in its creation. Students will be evaluated on their paragraph. (See attached rubric.) ||
 * Suggested **
 * Extension **
 * Activities: **
 * Activities: **

|| Students could engage family members in a conversation about their memories of the Civil Rights Movement.

Students could conduct independent readings of age appropriate books on Civil Rights Leaders. The students then could write reviews of the books. ||
 * Additional **
 * References & Web Links **
 * References & Web Links **

|| // The Story of Ruby Bridges // by Robert Coles and George Ford // Through My Eyes // by Ruby Bridges // Ruby Bridges Goes to School: My True Story // by Ruby Bridges // Martin’s Big Words: The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. // by Doreen Rappaport // I Have a Dream // by Martin Luther King, Jr. // Martin Luther King, Jr.; Young Man With a Dream // by Dharathula H. Millender (Childhood of Famous Americans series) // Rosa Parks: My Story Rosa Parks: My Story // by Rosa Parks and Jim Haskins // Rosa // by Nikki Giovanni // A Picture Book of Thurgood Marshall // by David A. Adler // Ida B. Wells: Mother of the Civil Rights Movement // by Judith Bloom Fradin // Yours For Justice, Ida B. Wells: The Daring Life of a // // Crusading Journalist // by Philip Dray

[|http://www.montgomeryboycott.com] [] [] // Mighty Times: The Legacy of Rosa Parks // available from Teaching Tolerance [|http://www.tolerance].org

||