MLK Jr, Rosa Parks, Ruby Bridges

I'm so proud of myself for posting so soon! :) 

We are literally just finishing up our Civil Rights unit this week.  Over the last 3 weeks, we have been studying three important historical figures from that time. MLK Jr., Rosa Parks, and Ruby Bridges.  I always love teaching this unit, especially Ruby Bridges! The kids love learning, relating, and connecting with Ruby Bridges.

The first book I read to introduce the unit was White Water by Michael Bandy. This story is about a boy who doesn't understand why he has to drink from a separate water fountain than the white boys. He has this strong desire to taste the "white water". He is determined to figure out if it tastes better or if it is colder that the "colored water". This is just a quick introduction to how things were different back then and to show what segregation was like. 

Our first week, we studied MLK Jr. and we created a Was, Had, Wanted chart using stickies. I have to use stickies because I have two classes and I can't make two of everything! SO, I usually use two different colored stickies for the two different classes. It works out wonderfully!

I also put a few sections of his I Have A Dream speech on chart paper. We went over these two sections and discussed some of the vocabulary and what the sections meant.

I also began to create a list of important vocabulary words that we heard as we read. As a class we decided upon these five important words;

Civil Rights

Segregation

Justice

Injustice

Protest

We discussed the words as we read. Then I assigned each table a vocabulary word. I had them write it, come up with a definition, and draw a picture to represent the word. Then I hung them on the board so that they were in plain sight for the rest of the unit. This is the first year that I did this and I REALLY think that it helped immensely! They have really grasped the meaning of these words.

The second week we moved on to Rosa Parks. I didn't get a picture of my Rosa Parks anchor chart, but we created a bubble map for Rosa Parks using stickies {of course}. Then the students used the Active Inspire  program{the Smart Board program is just as good!} to show what they learned throughout the week. I had them apply their knowledge by coming up with 3 character traits to describe Rosa Parks and to tell me how she portrayed those traits. Here are a couple examples of what they came up with. 

Now we are in the middle of the third week. My favorite week! We are studying Ruby Bridges and her contribution to the Civil Rights Movement. Once again, we have been reading stories and watching videos to learn about her. Here is an example of the anchor chart for this week. 

This is a link to a GREAT PBS video which includes an interview and actual footage of Ruby Bridges walking into the school while being bombarded by the angry mob of people and the white families taking their children out of the school. Such a great video, I highly recommend it!

Ruby Bridges Video

SO, to sum up the whole unit, we will be doing a triple bubble map {as my district calls it} to compare and contrast all three of these famous people.

This basically sums it all up!

Hope you enjoyed the post! We are up next to study nonfiction text features, structures, researching and writing nonfiction! Here is a sneak peak into my next post!

Stay tuned for some nonfiction research fun!!