Eleanor G. Willis
Traditionally, women have played a significant role in the growth and development of children. American children of the 90’s are still strongly influenced by women, yet little emphasis is placed on where, when, why, and how women have developed. This unit explores the history of the civil rights movement in the United States from the perspective of the lives of Ella Baker, Mary McLeod Bethune, Rosa Parks, Eleanor Roosevelt, Mary Church Terrell, and Ida Wells-Barnett. The writings of Eloise Greenfield, an African American children’s author, are used as a springboard.
As a library media specialist, I will collaborate with teachers in implementing this unit. Together, we will help our students to identify a problem, formulate a focus, decide on a means of collecting data, help students collect that data, analyze the data, report findings, plan improvements, and generate further questions. Together we will plan, teach, assess, and evaluate the students work. Working with the K-2 teachers, we will explore the fiction and nonfiction works of Eloise
Greenfield in order to better understand the contributions of women to the civil rights movement.
(Recommended for Language Arts, Social Studies, and Reading, grades K-5)