Remember++The+Journey+to+School+Integration+Reinforcing+Activity

By Toni Morrison Jennie Williamson Judy Butler University of West Georgia
 * //Remember: The Journey to School Integration//**

2005 NCSS Notable Trade Book
 * **Abstract:** || This //Remember: The Journey to School Integration// lesson introduces students to the ideas of segregation and school integration. The lesson is designed to be a combination of teacher-led instruction and student-centered learning. The lesson requires students to build and develop their background knowledge on the topics of segregation and the integration of public schools. Once a knowledge base has been established, students will look at the pictures from Toni Morrison’s book, think critically about the message being conveyed in them, and create their own comprehensive response to the material presented in the lesson. ||
 * NCSS Notable**
 * Trade Book Title:** ||
 * Trade Book Title:** ||

//Remember: The Journey to School Integration// by Toni Morrison (2004). Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company ISBN: 0-618-39740-X

Recommended ages: Upper elementary grades, but can be modified for middle and secondary grades.

This lesson is designed to last 3 class periods. || V. Individuals, Groups, and Institutions VI. Power, Authority, and Governance || Photo Analysis Worksheet (see attachment) Rubric for Authentic Assessment (see attachment) Internet access || -Students will participate in a book walk for //Remember: The Journey to School Integration//. -Students will analyze photographs from Civil Rights Movement and the integration of public schools. -Students will construct an original response. ||
 * Book Summary:** || //Remember: The Journey to School Integration// is a collection of photographs from the Civil Rights Movement and the era of public school integration accompanied by poignant and thought-provoking narration written by Toni Morrison. She takes on a fictional persona of the adults and children depicted in the photographs, which makes reading this book even more touching and convicting. The book documents key events in civil rights and school integration history from the passing of //Brown vs. Board of Education// to the passing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The collection of photographs in this book not only shows key events during a momentous time in history, but also illustrates how the future of the United States was changed forever. ||
 * **NCSS Standards:** || II. Time, Continuity, and Change
 * **NCSS Standards:** || II. Time, Continuity, and Change
 * Materials:** || //Remember: The Journey to School Integration//
 * Materials:** || //Remember: The Journey to School Integration//
 * Objectives:** || -Students will discuss the topics of segregation and school integration.
 * Objectives:** || -Students will discuss the topics of segregation and school integration.
 * **Procedure:**


 * //Exploration/ Introduction//**


 * //Development//**


 * //Expansion//**


 * //Assessment//** || **__Note:__** Segregation is a difficult topic for many teachers to explain to elementary school children, especially if they are learning about it for the first time. We recommend using the book, //Ruby Bridges Goes to School: My True Story*//, during the Exploration/Introduction section of this lesson if you are teaching young children. Ruby Bridges does a wonderful job explaining segregation in a way children can understand:

“A long time ago, some people thought that black people and white people should not be friends. In some places, black people were not allowed to live in the same neighborhoods as white people. In some places, black people were not allowed to eat in the same restaurants as white people. And in some places, black children and white children could not go to the same schools. This is segregation (Bridges, 2003).


 * Publication information for this book is available in the “Additional References” section.

1. In order to introduce students to the topic of segregation, the teacher should conduct a teacher-led discussion on the general definition of segregation and explain why segregation was, at one time, lawful in the United States (for information on //Plessy vs. Ferguson//, see []).

2. The teacher should also use //Ruby Bridges Goes to School: My True Story// to develop students’ background knowledge of segregation in public schools. The goal for this part of the lesson is to provide the information students will need in order to understand the photographs in //Remember: The Journey to School Integration//. For additional information on //Brown vs. Board of Education// and the subsequent events, see the website for the National Visionary Leadership Project under the Educational Resources tab at the “Timeline” feature. [|http://www.visionaryproject.org]

3. After the students have gained an understanding of the concept of segregation, they should sit in a semi-circle across from the teacher while the teacher reads aloud //Remember: The Journey to School Integration.// It is suggested that the teacher not pose questions or answer students’ questions during the initial reading of the book. By the teacher not adding his/her personal input during this stage the students are able to have an untainted experience of segregation and school integration through photographs. The teacher should end the read aloud by asking the students to return to their seats and complete a Quick Write/Ticket-out-the-Door Activity in response to the question, “What does segregation mean?”

Having several copies of the book would make this activity go easier.

4. The teacher should provide the students with the Photo Analysis Worksheet and ask students to choose one of the photographs found on pages 22, 29, 39, 40, 42, 43, 47, 52, 61, 66, or 70 of //Remember: The Journey to School Integration// to compete their analysis. The teacher should provide an example of a photo analysis s/he completed on one of the pictures of their choosing (preferably not one of the students’ choices). It is suggested that the teacher explain that a photograph is a visual depiction of a single moment in time, and the students should think about the events leading up to and following the moment after the picture was taken.

5. In order to help students grasp a better understanding of the impact children had on the Civil Rights Movement and school integration, the teacher should divide students equally into groups of four for a cooperative learning (jigsaw) activity (these are the “mother” groups). The teacher should then number each student 1-4 in the individual groups. Each mother group will be given one of the following events to research using the provided websites and suggested book readings: Little Rock Nine, Ruby Bridges, Birmingham Children’s Crusade, and 16th Street Baptist Church Bombing. Once each member of the mother groups has an understanding of their event, they should break away and form the 4 other individual groups. These individual groups will be made up of all of ones, twos, threes, and fours from each mother group. The students will be responsible for teaching each other about the event s/he learned about in their mother group. By the end of the activity every student will know what role children played in the civil rights movements and era of school integration.

· Little Rock Nine [] Lucas, E. (1997). //Cracking the Wall: The struggles of the Little Rock Nine.// Minneapolis. MN: Carolrhoda Books. Beals, Melba. (1994). //Warriors Don’t Cry: A searing memoir of the battle to integrate Little Rock’s Central High//. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster. · Ruby Bridges-New Orleans [] Bridges, R. (2003). //Ruby Bridges goes to School: My true story//. New York, NY: Scholastic.

· Children’s Crusade-Birmingham, AL [] Mayer, R. H. (2008). //When the Children Marched: the Birmingham Civil Rights Movement//. Berkley Heights, NJ: Enslow Publishers, Inc.

· 16th Street Baptist Church bombing- Birmingham, AL [] Curtis, C. P. (1995). //The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963.// New York, NY: Bantam Doubleday Dell Books for Young Readers.

6. In order have students demonstrate what they have learned in this lesson, the teacher should have the students look at //Remember: The Journey to School Integration// one more time, review their Photo Analysis Worksheets, and review what they learned during the cooperative learning activity. The teacher should then ask students to respond in writing to the following question: Do you believe a child can change the world? See the attached rubric for the requirements for the writing assignment. Students will receive a grade for the whole lesson based on the score from the rubric. || The teacher could create a free Delicious webpage bookmarked with information and appropriate websites on the Civil Rights Movement for the students and parents to use. For more information: []
 * Extension**
 * Activities:** ||
 * Activities:** ||

If possible, take students on a field trip to a historical Civil Rights museum or landmark. For more information, check out the National Park Service website that maps historical sites. ([]) || Bridges, R. (2003). //Ruby Bridges goes to School: My true story//. New York, NY: Scholastic. Curtis, C. P. (2000). //Bud, Not Buddy//. New York, NY: Scholastic. Curtis, C. P. (1995). //The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963.// New York, NY: Bantam Doubleday Dell Books for Young Readers. Johnson, A. (1993). //Toning the Sweep//. New York, NY: Orchard Books. Levine, E. (1993). //Freedom’s Children: Young Civil Rights activists tell their own stories.// New York, NY: The Hearst Corporation. Lucas, E. (1997). //Cracking the Wall: The struggles of the Little Rock Nine.// Minneapolis. MN: Carolrhoda Books. Mayer, R. H. (2008). //When the Children Marched: The Birmingham Civil Rights Movement//. Berkley Heights, NJ: Enslow Publishers, Inc. ||
 * Additional**
 * References:** || Beals, Melba. (1994). //Warriors Don’t Cry: A searing memoir of the battle to integrate Little Rock’s Central High//. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster.
 * References:** || Beals, Melba. (1994). //Warriors Don’t Cry: A searing memoir of the battle to integrate Little Rock’s Central High//. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster.
 * Digital Resources:** || []
 * Digital Resources:** || []

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[|http://www.visionaryproject.org]

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 * About the Authors:** || Jennie Williamson is currently a graduate student in the Department of Curriculum Instruction at the University of West Georgia. Her interests are Language Arts and Social Studies education at the middle grades level. Her e-mail is jwilli28@my.westga.edu.
 * About the Authors:** || Jennie Williamson is currently a graduate student in the Department of Curriculum Instruction at the University of West Georgia. Her interests are Language Arts and Social Studies education at the middle grades level. Her e-mail is jwilli28@my.westga.edu.

Judy Butler is an Associate Professor of Education in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at the University of West Georgia. Her research interests are civic education, and secondary education with an emphasis on school integration and the Civil Rights Era. Her e-mail is jbutler@westga.edu. ||