Civil Rights Study in 5th and 6th Grade
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“During this study we’re working to understand the concept of a “movement”- how and why social movements form and what contributes to their success or relative effectiveness. ”
As educators, we ask our students to observe, think, work, wonder, and collaborate in many different ways:
- like scientists, as they observe, ask questions, and pose and test hypotheses,
- or writers and linguists, as they create stories in English and Spanish,
- or like mathematicians, tinkerers, and artists, as they discover many different ways to solve challenging problems and explore math, tinkering, art, and music as languages they can use to describe and share their experiences.
Currently, Fifth and Sixth Graders are studying the U.S. Civil Rights Movement. We’re learning about this vitally important - and ongoing - part of our history, and we’re exploring what it means to question, work, and think like a historian. We began, as we always do, by asking students to share what they wonder about the topic we’re going to study, what they may know already, what questions they have, and what they’d like to learn or understand. We use their questions and comments (Who started racism? How have those ideas spread? Why is our justice system and police system organized the way it is? How can individuals make a difference?) to help guide our planning as teachers.
To prepare for our in-depth study, which includes landmark Supreme Court cases, we reviewed what we know about our country's Constitution and our government’s three co-equal branches of government. After viewing a few carefully chosen videos that provided short summaries of U.S. history from Reconstruction until the mid-1950’s, students discussed the patterns they observed as different groups have fought for equal rights and equal treatment under the law in our country. We observed a pattern of progress followed by backlash, and many students commented they see this pattern being repeated today.
During this study we’re working to understand the concept of a “movement”- how and why social movements form and what contributes to their success or relative effectiveness. Students have learned about lightning rods (individuals in a social movement that attract a lot of attention and energy), how different media impact social movements, and why it’s important to notice whose voices we hear when we study history and to ask whose voices are missing. As we continue to explore resources, 5th and 6th graders are adding quotes, biographies, images, and other information to a bulletin board outside our classrooms that highlight the Voices, Media, and Lightning Rods in this movement, and any other social movement they are curious about or find interesting.
Recently, we began an interactive read-aloud of Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice by Phillip Hoose. This book details the story of an unsung hero and activist growing up in Montgomery, Alabama before the historic bus boycotts of the 1950s. Nine months before Rosa Parks’s act of civil disobedience, fifteen year old Claudette Colvin refused to give up her seat on a city bus to a white passenger and was arrested. As we read this book, we're developing our ability to think like historians and to pose some of the questions historians might ask. Because Hoose has included many primary sources in the book - photos, letters, interviews, etc. - we examine each of these to see what it can tell us about the time and place in which this part of Claudette's story took place, and to discuss what questions these images and words provoke.
Reading Claudette Colvin:Twice Toward Justice has become a cornerstone study for 5th and 6th graders at Breakwater as it shares the voice and account of a young person alongside the voice of the author, Hoose. As Claudette’s story unfolds, students learn more about the courage, perseverance, and collaboration it takes to create meaningful change.
To help students deepen their understanding of this period in history, and to connect with the lives and experiences of other children and their families who lived during the 1930’s-1960’s, our current novel study groups are reading books related to our study: Glory Be by Augusta Scattergood; The Watsons Go to Birmingham - 1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis, and Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred Taylor. Daily, we hear students making connections between the stories in these novels, Claudette Colvin’s story, and current events.
During the last part of this curriculum unit, students will create something that expresses their understanding of what they’ve learned and connects these ideas to their own lives. In the past, 5th and 6th graders have written original songs about a current social movement, created and recorded “The Claudette Colvin Rap” and sent it to Ms. Colvin, written poetry and stories, interviewed friends and family members about their participation in a movement, created visual art, and connected with organizations that work on causes they’re drawn to learn more about. Our students will be showcasing their work in May or June.
Written by 5th/6th grade teachers, Cheryl Hart and Alex Millan