Marissa J. White
Lesson One
Gallery Walk of the Plessy Era & Civil Rights Movement
Objective: Students will be able to define the term 'segregation' in order to identify what it "looks like" by taking a gallery walk with pictures from the Plessy Era, writing their thoughts and having a class discussion.
Materials: Four to five enlarged pictures that portray segregation during the Plessy Era and Civil Rights Movement, post-its, pens and pencils, chart paper, markers
Procedure:
-
- Hang the enlarged pictures around the classroom with the post-it notes and pencils next to each picture.
-
-
- Gather the class to the rug and have a class discussion pertaining to what they already know about segregation.
-
-
- Tell students that they will be talking a gallery walk around the class but they must be completely silent.
-
-
- They will use post-it notes to record their thoughts, questions and opinions and post them next to the picture they are observing.
-
-
- As they continuously rotate from picture to picture, tell students that they are able to respond to other students' comments or questions.
-
-
- Once all students have responded to each picture, gather the students to the rug again, and record some of their thoughts and opinions on chart paper with the heading 'Segregation'.
-
-
- Allow time for students to turn and talk to one another about their reactions.
-
-
- Have students define what segregation is and "looks likes" to them, based on their gallery walk, reactions and discussions.
-
-
- Record that definition on the chart paper and hang in your classroom.
Lesson Two
Segregation Experiment
Objective: Students will be able to add on to the term 'segregation' in order to identify what it "feels like" by being separated from one another for various reasons in a quick classroom experiment.
Materials: Anchor charts, markers
Procedure:
-
- As students enter your classroom, tell them to sit in different areas of your class based on their shoe color (Don't let them know what you are doing at first).
-
-
- Separate them by black shoes (back of the classroom), white shoes (front of the classroom) and colored shoes (off to the side of the classroom).
-
-
- Tell the class that the students in the front section are able to have extra recess for that day; the students in the back of the classroom have to stay in for recess; and the students who are off to the side, some can have extra recess and some have to stay in for recess (based on how much white they have in their sneakers; more white gets to go to recess and have extra recess and less white have stay in for recess).
-
-
- Let the students think about this for a minute without you saying anything or explaining your reasoning, they may talk to each other, complain and figure out what is going on.
-
-
- After a few minutes, when the students ask why tell them you were conducting an experiment on segregation and review the definition you came up with as a class the day before.
-
-
- Have students stay in the groups you separated them into and write how they felt during this experiment on an anchor chart. (Each group should have different feelings and emotions written on their anchor chart depending on which group they were separated into.)
-
-
- Have students share out to the class how each group felt about their situation.
-
-
- Have students add on to the anchor chart from the previous day about the term 'segregation' in order for them to complete their definition of segregation as a class and what it means to them.
Lesson Three
Story Writing to Linda Brown
Objective: Students will be able to identify issues during the Civil Rights Movement in order to contribute to the book
You Are Not Alone Linda Brown
by writing a short story about a fictitious character during that time.
Materials: Book (
You Are Not Alone Linda Brown
), story map graphic organizer, lined paper, pencils/pens
Procedure:
-
- Read a story out of the book.
-
-
- Explain to students that these are personal accounts of people that have their own stories to tell about this era and what they went through. Explain to them that Linda Brown and other historical figure that we have been studying are not the only people that went through suffering during this time.
-
-
- Have students brainstorm about the issues, on a story map, they have read about and how people have struggled.
-
-
- Allow students to create a name for their character, a place where they have grown up and an issue that they had to face as a young person during the Civil Rights Movement.
-
-
- Have students then create a short story, similar to the ones they have read in the book,
You Are Not Alone Linda Brown.
Once students finalize their stories, have a publishing party. Invite administration, their parents and other grade levels to see what they have been learning about in history and to show off their writing skills!
Lesson Four
Data Analysis
Objective: Students will be able to analyze graphs and charts pertaining to the
Sheff v. O'Neill
case in order to create their own opinion of the question "Are schools still segregated?" by working in cooperative groups and sharing their findings.
Materials: Map of the racial composition of Metropolitan Hartford (Map 1), a brief chronology of
Sheff v. O'Neill
, chart of the school districts in Metropolitan Hartford by race throughout the years (Chart 1), pictures of an urban setting, picture of a suburban setting, chart paper, Writer's Notebook, markers highlighters, pencils
Procedure: (This lesson may take a few days)
Day 1 (Explanation of the terms
minorities, urban
and
suburban
)
- Hang the pictures of the urban setting and the suburban setting on the board and gather students to the carpet.
- Ask students to turn n' talk about what they notice about the two settings.
- Bring the class back to a whole discussion after a few minutes.
- Record their answers on chart paper in a Venn diagram.
Day 2 (Jigsaw Activity)
- Split students into four groups.
- Give the students different sections of the Brief Chronology of
Sheff v. O'Neill
.
- Have students Close Read their sections in their groups.
- Tell students that they are responsible for education their peers about their section when they are done.
- After each group is finished Close Reading, have each group share out what they have read and what are the important ideas we need to take away from each section.
- As each group is sharing out, on chart paper, record the important events of the
Sheff v. O'Neill
case as a time line.
- Hang the timeline up in the classroom.
-
Day 3 (Analyzing the maps of Hartford)
- Review with the class the timeline of events from the
Sheff v. O'Neill
case that was presented the day before.
- Break students into two groups.
- Group one will receive Map 1 and group two will receive Chart 1.
- Ask each group to record what they notice about the map or chart they are analyzing.
- Have students report out to the entire class what their findings were and what those finding mean to them.
- Record their finding on the board.
- Have students find commonalities among what was recorded on the board and write their opinion in their Writer's Notebook of whether they believe segregation is still a factor in Connecticut schools today.
Lesson Five
Debate: Is what the plaintiffs in Brown v. Board of Education faced the same as what the plaintiffs in Sheff v. O'Neill faced?
Objective: Students will be able to participate in a debate in order to argue and address the question: "Is what the plaintiffs in Brown v. Board of Education faced the same as what the plaintiffs in Sheff v. O'Neill faced?" by using a formal debate format using facts, reasons and examples.
Materials: Prepared notes from videos clips, readings, graphs and charts and activities done in the classroom; timer, index cards, markers
Procedure:
-
- Split class into two teams. (Team A: Believes that the plaintiffs in the Sheff v. O'Neil case did not face the same as the plaintiffs in the Brown v. Board of Education case; Team B: Believes that the plaintiffs in the Sheff v. O'Neil case did face the same as the plaintiffs in the Brown v. Board of Education case.)
-
-
- Give each student two index cards.
-
-
- Have students write on one card 'Comment' and 'Question' on the other card. (Students only have one time to make a comment that adds to their team's argument and one time to ask the other team a question pertaining to their argument. When they are ready to use one of their options, they must hold the card up and then hand the card in once they are finished with either the comment or question.)
-
-
- Each student will get a maximum of three minutes to make a comment and one minute and a half to ask a question.
-
-
- Allow students time to review notes and talk with one another, from their team, and plan the argument points they will use when presenting their comments.
-
-
- Toss a coin to see what team will go first.
-
-
-
- Facilitate the time of comments and questions, collect cards once each student has used them and add up points for teams that have the most compelling arguments.
-
-
- Allow the students to debate one another without your input.
-
-
- Once everyone has stated a comment and/or question pertaining to their stance add up their points and see who won the debate.
-
Lesson Six
Venn Diagrams
Objective: Students will be able to create Venn Diagrams in order to compare and contrast the
Brown v. Board of Education
case and the
Sheff v. O'Neill
case by using chart paper and working in cooperative groups.
Materials: chart paper, markers, notes on both cases
Procedure:
- Split class up into four different groups.
- Give each group a piece of chart paper and markers.
- Tell students that their job is to work together to find major differences and similarities within the
Brown v. Board of Education
case and the
Sheff v. O'Neill
case.
- Students are able to use the notes that they have collected during the data and research phase of this unit.
- Students need to record their evidence and finding in the Venn diagram.
- Once student are done in their groups, have students discuss whether they believe what the plaintiffs in the
Brown v. Board of Education
faces is the same as what the plaintiffs in the
Sheff v. O'Neill
case faced.
- When all the groups are done completing their Venn Diagrams and discussion, have student share in front of the class and record similarities and differences of the thinking of each group.
Lesson Seven
Argumentative Letter
Objective: Students will be able to write an argumentative letter to the Connecticut State Department of Education in order to argue their stance of whether or not they believe that all children in the State of Connecticut has access to a fair and equal education by using the information that have acquired during the data analysis phase of this unit and class discussions.
Materials: prepared notes from the debate (including notes taken throughout this unit from different stories and activities), lined paper, pencils (or computers)
Procedure:
- Review letter writing and formatting with your class.
- Tell students that they will be taking their arguments that they used in the debate to write a letter to the Connecticut State Department of Education to express their concerns or applause.
- Make sure that students have their argument statement, evidence (including facts and examples), and a closing statement with either a question or a compliment to the Connecticut State Department of Education.