Waltrina D. Kirkland-Mullins
Weeks 6, 7, and 8: 3 days per week / 50-minute sessions (duration to be extended or shortened as required)
The three lessons that follow serve as culminating activities to reinforce understanding with regard to covered subject matter.
Week 6 - Lesson #1: "Step Into Their Shoes" Performance Task
Materials: "Separate Is Never Equal – Sylvia Mendez & Her Family's Fight for Desegregation by Duncan Tonatiuh children's book resource.
Writing Response Journals
"Step Into Their Shoes!" graphic organizer (See Exhibit A)
Journals and pencils
Preliminary Instructions: Lead a shared reading of "Separate Is Never Equal - Sylvia Mendez & Her Family's Fight for Desegregation View Sylvia Mendez and California's School Desegregation Story." Have children take a picture walk through this literary work to preliminary gather or reinforce background information.
When presenting the story, divide it into four segments. Pose a set of focus questions after each reading, to which students will respond in written form. Inform students that for each question, they are to provide explicit evidence from the text to support each response. Provide graphic organizers to those students who require additional support; encourage students to make use of multiple text features and text structures when accessing supportive details:
Pages 1 – 5: What word(s) best describe Sylvia's sentiments about Sylvia's first-day experience at the Westminster School?
Pages 6 – 13: What did Sylvia and her siblings envision upon first arriving at the Westminster School?
How might they have felt upon encountering the school secretary's office?
What word best describes Mr. Mendez' sentiments post meeting with members of the Westminster school board?
What dilemma was encountered between Sylvia's cousins, Alice and Virginia Vidaurri, and Sylvia and her siblings when attempting to enroll in the school?
Pages 14 to 24: Who was Mr. Marcus, and what word best describes his personality?
What word best describes Mr. Mendez at this point in time?
Pages 25 to 32. What words best describe the plaintiffs' sentiments as the court hearings progressed; what primary opinion supports this sentiment?
What words best describe the defendants' sentiments as the court hearings progressed?
What primary opinion supports this sentiment?
Some say the Mendez' were victorious based on the outcome of the trial; others state that they were not victors. Which viewpoint do you support?
Performance Task: Distribute a copy of the Step Into My Shoes! graphic organizer to each student. Have students collectively review its content. Inform them that they will pretend they are one of the key figures in the Mendez struggle for school desegregation. Their task is to write a journal insert from their select individual's perspective. Students will make use of our feelings word chart when through the written response exercise. They are required to provide details in sequential order, use good syntactic and semantic form, and to vividly convey their understanding of subject matter and point of view. Students will have an opportunity to revisit and craft their journal entry. (Note: the graphic organizer includes the names of key figures found at the beginning of the book. The form can be modified and reused to include additional key figures found throughout the reading and subsequently used for lesson extension.)
Week 7 /Lesson #2 – "What's Your Opinion" Performance Task #2
Materials: The Ruby Bridges Story Film. (Note: This engaging Disney film runs for 1:30 minutes. I recommend that it be strategically viewed on three separate days, followed by group discussion and journal writing exercises as noted herein. Strategically pose focus questions based on the portion of the film that has been presented.)
Literature Response Writing Journal
Pencils
The Ruby Bridges Story by Robert Coles– in print (see Bibliographic Resources). Students can make use of this hard copy resource as a follow-up to the classroom film study.
Preliminary Instructions: Inform students that they will view a film that will permit them to travel back in time, after the passing of Brown v. Board of Education. Share that efforts to enforce the law regarding school desegregation in the south had already begun. Six year-old Ruby Bridges was the first African-American child in her southern hometown to experience the process; she attended the Frantz Elementary School in New Orleans, Louisiana—an all-white school. As they watch the film, envision themselves walking in Ruby's shoes. Think of words to best describe the feelings evoked when viewing each film segment, and jot down words that best reflect those feelings. They will use of this information when completing their performance task.
Focus questions: Why did Ruby's mother push for her to attend the Frantz Elementary School?
How did attending the school impact her mother and father at the beginning of the story? At the middle of the story? At the conclusion?
What challenges did Ruby face within her family? From members within her residential neighborhood? From white residents whose children attended the Frantz Elementary School?
What word best describe Ruby Bridge's personality at the beginning of the story?
How did her personality change by the middle of the story? By the climax of the story?
Use evidence from her biography and the Ruby Bridges' film clip to support your response?
Were challenges faced by Ruby Bridges similar to those experienced by Sylvia Mendez? Explain.
Why did school desegregation meet with such resistance?
Based on Ruby's school desegregation experience, do you believe the ruling for school desegregation should have been upheld or our overruled by the court?
At the close of each segment, have students engage in discussion. Use video-camera or I-Phone equipment to record student input.
Performance Task: Have students envision themselves as news reporters, standing amid the crowd, observing Ruby Bridges as she enters the Frantz Elementary School. Their task is to create a feature article to highlight actions and attitudes surrounding that moment surrounding school desegregation. Encourage students to think about six-year old Ruby, the Federal marshals, adults and youngsters in the crowd, the sights and sounds, the human interaction... Using onomatopoeia, similes, adjectives, energized verbs, and other descriptive language, student narratives should immerse the reader into experiencing the school desegregation ordeal. Students make use of editing, proofreading and revising skills, and language conventions to craft their work. Their final product should be well-organized and written in good syntactic form. (Note: As a lesson extension, have students observe Norman Rockwell's painting, "The Problem We All Live With" (accessible on line via Goggle Search). Have them relate the pictorial image to the Ruby Bridges film and related readings. Have students create an illustration to complement their feature article. Additionally, have them watch a film clip featuring Ruby Bridges giving a first-hand account of her childhood, school desegregation experience (access http://www.youtube. com/watch?v= SKyQV0-z6HE). Have students compare and contrast feelings conveyed in the film clip with those conveyed in their story creations.)
Week 8 - Lesson #3 A Lyrical Performance – Culminating Group Presentation
Materials: Writing Response Journals
Flash Drive
ENO Board (Smart Board equivalent)
Journals and Pencils
Preliminary Instructions: Announce to students that as a culminating activity, versus emphasizing the Montgomery Bus boycott and similar triumphs traditionally noted when celebrating the legacy of Dr. King and the civil rights era, they will put a new spin on the topic. Convey that they will have an opportunity to showcase their literary effort before the entire school body, and you will rely on them to work collaboratively with peers to craft and convey a stirring message. Your role as teacher will be to serve as a facilitator, guiding them through process. Add that their presentation should emphasize why and how past civil rights efforts impact us today, and how we can continue the legacy of Dr. King. Close the discussion with a rousing, "Can we do it!" Excitement stirred, students will buy in to taking on the charge.
Call on students to work on key facets of the performance creation: some may elect to assist in developing the lyrical narrative; others may want to create illustrations to accompany the literary work. Some may opt to serve as directors, brainstorming on hand gestures to be used or body movement to complement each speaking part. Others may volunteer to serve as speakers and/or understudies; they will be responsible for memorizing and reciting the literary creation with prosody and poise. Some may want to incorporate posters and will work on artistic accompaniments. Roles will vary. The key is to allow flexibility in the designation of responsibilities. This way, students will take a vested interest in the activity.
Inform students that they should refer to previously recorded notes in their writing response journals to develop the piece. Allow students to work in small groups for between 10 to 15 minutes to gather their info. Have group members come to consensus; call on a representative from each group to provide input. Record their responses, collectively listing details in chronological order. (To facilitate the collaborative note-taking process, if available, make use of Microsoft Word and the ENO Board, keying in info is provided.)
