Caitlin Deters Lesson 2
1. Grade level: 5th Grade
2. Title of the day’s lesson with a brief description:
“The Children Take a Stand”
This lesson focuses on the children’s role in the Civil Rights Movement. The lesson begins with an activity to demonstrate how African American students were segregated from Whites in schools during the Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s and 1960s. The children were the “secret weapons” to defeating segregation in Birmingham by marching in the streets for a week, which resulted in thousands of children sent to jail. The white police and firemen could not stop the children from marching for equal rights. The first day of the children’s march was known as D-Day, May 2, 1963. The students will be “reenacting” the children’s involvement and learn about a key aspect of their march, the music.
3. Materials/resources needed:
· Paper
· Pencils
· CD player
· Music (familiar tunes without words such as Row, Row, Row your boat; Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star; You Are My Sunshine; The Old Gray Mare)
· Tape
· Pictures that show segregation & the Civil Rights Movement from my trip to Montgomery and Birmingham, Alabama
· Student MLK, Jr. timeline projects
· Dry-erase markers and white board (1 white board, 3 markers)
· Tag board
· Map
· Teacher’s lyrics for freedom song
· Teachers Narrative Piece
· Create Your Own Freedom Song Directions
· Freedom Song Lyrics
4. Teacher Preparation:
· Get music to the song The Old Gray Mare (no words)
· Print lyrics that the Birmingham youth sang to The Old Gray Mare tune on tag board
· Print chant on tagboard (“2, 4, 6, 8, We don’t want to integrate!”)
· Get music to familiar tunes (no words)
· Print pictures
· Write script that narrates events on D-Day (May 2, 1963) *provided in lesson
· Make sign that says 16th St. Baptist Church (hang in the corner of the room)
· Make a sign that says jail and hang in opposite corner as church sign
· Copies of Freedom Song Directions
5. Minnesota Academic Strand(s) and sub-strand(s) addressed by your lesson:
Strand I. U.S. History
· Post WWII Era, 1945-1980: Understand the social and political transformation of the United States
Strand VII. Government and Citizenship
· Civic Values, Skills, Rights, and Responsibilities:
o Recognize the importance of individual action and character in shaping civic life
o Understand the importance of participation in civic life
6. NCSS Strand(s) and substrand(s) addressed by your lesson:
V. Individuals, Groups, and Institutions
· Demonstrate an understanding of concepts such as role and status in describing the interactions of individuals and social groups
· Identify and analyze examples of tensions between expressions of individuality and group or institutional efforts to promote social conformity
VI. Power, Authority, and Governance
· Examine persistent issues involving the rights, roles, and status of the individual in relation to the general welfare
· Explain and apply concepts such as power, role, status, justice, and influence to the examination of persistent issues and social problems
X. Civic Ideals and Practices
· Explain and analyze various forms of citizen action that influence public policy decisions
7. Goal(s) for today’s lesson:
The students will understand how the youth of Birmingham, and surrounding cities, played a significant role to end segregation.
8. Objective(s) for today’s lesson:
· The students will be able to understand and describe what it feels like to be segregated from your peers.
· The students will be able to actively demonstrate how the children were involved in the Civil Rights Movement.
· The students will recognize music as an important asset to the marches.
· The students will create their own freedom song.
· The students will brainstorm steps it would take to organize a secret event such as D-Day.
9. Procedures
a. Introductory Experiences:
The teacher should begin using segregation with the students at the beginning of the day throughout daily activities without telling them why. Examples on how to implement this “segregation” are making the students who have brown hair go to the end of the line, letting blue-eyed students eat snack first, allowing only the students who are not wearing jeans to drink from the water fountain, make the students with short hair sit at the back of the room, etc.
When the lesson begins, ask the students if any of them felt as though they were not treated equally today. Lead a discussion about the students’ experiences and how they felt when they were discriminated against or segregated from their peers. [5 min]
· Was there anything that I did today that you did not think was fair? (Students responses: “Yes, I had to go to the back of the line because I have brown hair.” “You would not let me get a drink because I was not wearing jeans!”) Why was it not fair?
· What does segregation mean? (To separate a minority group from the main group, to isolate)
Teach the tune, play music to The Old Gray Mare (no words, just music) –for later use in lesson
b. developmental experiences:
1. Explain to the class that the African American students in Birmingham, Alabama were not only segregated from White students, but often isolated. They had to go to separate, all-black, schools, had to use separate bathrooms and water fountains, and were not allowed to eat at certain restaurants. Using a map, show the students where Birmingham, Alabama is, and explain that it was the most segregated city in the United States during the 1950’s and 1960’s. Show the students pictures of segregation in society (pictures from my travels to Montgomery and Birmingham). [5 min]
2. Use a MLK, Jr. timeline that one group made in a previous lesson as an example to reiterate the important events in his life. (If a group put MLK, Jr.’s arrest and time in jail as an event, use that timeline; otherwise choose any timeline). Explain that after MLK, Jr. got out of jail, he spoke at a gathering asking the people to “volunteer” to go to jail…only the children volunteered to go to jail. Many plans were made ahead of time to organize this event; however, it was kept secret from everyone but the African American community. [5 min]
3. As a class, discuss what steps need to be made to organize a secret event. The secret event was named D-Day, and only the children and other African Americans who protested against segregation knew what would occur on D-Day. They met at the 16th Street Baptist Church on May 2, 1963. From there, they were directed to go to Kelly Igram Park where the police officers and other White officials were located. They knew the officers would arrest them because they were marching in the streets without a permit.
a. Explain that this would be like our whole class getting arrested for walking through the school halls without getting permission from the principal first.
b. The class will discuss what would have to be done to organize a secret event. (Every African American needed to know what to do and when without the Whites finding out. –Radio was a means of transportation of this idea- D-day secret code)
c. Once an idea is discussed, a student writes it on the board. [5 min]
4. The teacher divides the class into two groups with one group containing ¾ of the students and the remaining ¼ in another group. The group with the larger number of students represents the African American youth. The group with the smaller number of students represents the White youth and city officials. (An open area is needed so all the desks should be cleared out of the way.) The teacher is the narrator.
a. The students representing the White Youth stand in the open area, while the African American youth are off to the side in the 16th St. Baptist Church (by sign). (The teacher explains that this church is where all the African American youth met on D-Day. D-Day was the secret code for the day they would march in the streets without a permit, knowing they would get arrested.) The White youth chant, “2, 4, 6, 8, We don’t want to integrate!”
b. On the teachers command, the African American youth start walking into the open circle by the White officers (represent policemen and firemen instead of White children now). The African American youth walk in different increments (this is all narrated by the teacher, so the students follow the teacher’s directions.) “First two walk in, then 3, then 4, then 5…the White officers yell, ‘Arrest them!’ and start taking some to jail. All the African American youth start singing the freedom song that goes to the tune The Old Gray Mare. [15 min.]
“Ain’t a-scared of your jail, ‘cause I want my freedom, I want my freedom, I want my freedom. Ain’t a-scared of your jail, ‘cause I want my freedom. I want my freedom now!
Ain’t a-scared of your dogs, ‘cause…
Ain’t a-scared of your hose, ‘cause…”
“Being sent to jail did not stop the students from coming to the park, instead many more students came. Police officers used dogs that attacked the children and fire hoses to spray them, but nothing stopped the children from marching!”
5. Discuss how music is an important part of many political movements. The students are given pencil and paper and should write down at least five events/topics that interest them about political issues or something they want freedom from in their life. (examples: bullying, eating disorders, doing the dishes, not playing during a basketball game). The teacher explains that a familiar tune was used for the freedom song so they only had to learn new words not a new rhythm, which allowed them to focus on the message. The teacher sings the song he/she wrote on a political issue to a familiar tune (words below). The students will be writing their own freedom song. As homework, each students needs to decide on a topic, choose a tune (it can be to any artist or genre of music, get creative!), and start coming up with their own lyrics. [5 min]
c. culminating experiences
For the remaining five minutes, the class sits together in the open space on the floor and discusses what if felt like to be either an African American child, or a White Child/Officer. (How did you feel? How did the music influence the event? Would it have been different if the children did not sing? Did anything surprise you?) The teacher can reiterate important details. (How the children took a stand against segregation on that day, D-Day, and continued to protest for a week. The White officials could not stop the children, because they wanted to go to jail.) The class together will sing the African American freedom song that the children sang when they were arrested (hold up poster board). [5 min]
10. Assessment(s) used during lesson:
· Observation and participation are the two forms of informal assessment used during this lesson. The teacher will monitor student understanding based on his/her participation in discussions and the reenactment of the children’s march.
Resources:
Deters, C. (May 2007). Personal Photos. Taken at Civil Rights Memorial Center.
Deters, C. (May 2007). Personal Photos. Taken at National Voting Rights Museum and Institute.
Teaching Tolerance. Activity 4. Mighty Times: The Children’s March. (p. 15) Teaching Kit from The Southern Poverty Law Center
Teacher Model- Equality of boys’ and girls’ sports teams
Tune: This Little Light of Mine
We want the same resources
That the boys’ team gets.
We want the same resources
That the boys’ team gets.
We want the same resources
That the boys’ team gets.
Equity!
Equity!
Equity!
How many women athletes
Can you name out loud?
How many women athletes
Can you name out loud?
How many women athletes
Can you name out loud?
Marian Jones!
Anna Kornikova!
Mia Hamm!
Annie Lauterer!
Create your own Freedom Song!
1. Find a music tune that you like. Get to know the music, not lyrics! You will be creating your own lyrics to the music you chose.
(need to know the tune, do not bring in lyrics of the song)
2. Look at list where you brainstormed ideas and pick one topic that you want to write your own freedom song
3. Start writing lyrics for your own freedom song.
4. Be creative!
Freedom Song
“Ain’t a-scared of your jail, ‘cause I want my freedom,
I want my freedom,
I want my freedom.
Ain’t a-scared of your jail, ‘cause I want my freedom.
I want my freedom now!
Ain’t a-scared of your dogs, ‘cause I want my freedom,
I want my freedom,
I want my freedom.
Ain’t a-scared of your dogs, ‘cause I want my freedom,
I want my freedom now!
Ain’t a-scared of your hose, ‘cause I want my freedom,
I want my freedom,
I want my freedom.
Ain’t a-scared of your hose, ‘cause I want my freedom,
I want my freedom now!
Teacher’s Narrative Piece during Reenactment.
The church, 16th Street Baptist Church, is where all the African American youth met on D-Day. D-Day was the secret code for the day they would march in the streets without a permit, knowing they would get arrested.
The White youth chant, “2, 4, 6, 8, We don’t want to integrate!
African American youth start walking into the open circle by the White officers. The White children now represent White policemen and firemen. The African American youth walk in different increments.
First two walk in, then 3, then 4, then 5…the White officers yell, ‘Arrest them!’ and start taking some to jail. All the African American youth start singing the freedom song that goes to the tune The Old Gray Mare (hold up poster board with lyrics).
Being sent to jail did not stop the students from coming to the park, instead many more students came. Police officers used dogs that attacked the children and fire hoses to spray them, but nothing stopped the children from marching!
1. Grade level: 5th Grade
2. Title of the day’s lesson with a brief description:
“The Children Take a Stand”
This lesson focuses on the children’s role in the Civil Rights Movement. The lesson begins with an activity to demonstrate how African American students were segregated from Whites in schools during the Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s and 1960s. The children were the “secret weapons” to defeating segregation in Birmingham by marching in the streets for a week, which resulted in thousands of children sent to jail. The white police and firemen could not stop the children from marching for equal rights. The first day of the children’s march was known as D-Day, May 2, 1963. The students will be “reenacting” the children’s involvement and learn about a key aspect of their march, the music.
3. Materials/resources needed:
· Paper
· Pencils
· CD player
· Music (familiar tunes without words such as Row, Row, Row your boat; Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star; You Are My Sunshine; The Old Gray Mare)
· Tape
· Pictures that show segregation & the Civil Rights Movement from my trip to Montgomery and Birmingham, Alabama
· Student MLK, Jr. timeline projects
· Dry-erase markers and white board (1 white board, 3 markers)
· Tag board
· Map
· Teacher’s lyrics for freedom song
· Teachers Narrative Piece
· Create Your Own Freedom Song Directions
· Freedom Song Lyrics
4. Teacher Preparation:
· Get music to the song The Old Gray Mare (no words)
· Print lyrics that the Birmingham youth sang to The Old Gray Mare tune on tag board
· Print chant on tagboard (“2, 4, 6, 8, We don’t want to integrate!”)
· Get music to familiar tunes (no words)
· Print pictures
· Write script that narrates events on D-Day (May 2, 1963) *provided in lesson
· Make sign that says 16th St. Baptist Church (hang in the corner of the room)
· Make a sign that says jail and hang in opposite corner as church sign
· Copies of Freedom Song Directions
5. Minnesota Academic Strand(s) and sub-strand(s) addressed by your lesson:
Strand I. U.S. History
· Post WWII Era, 1945-1980: Understand the social and political transformation of the United States
Strand VII. Government and Citizenship
· Civic Values, Skills, Rights, and Responsibilities:
o Recognize the importance of individual action and character in shaping civic life
o Understand the importance of participation in civic life
6. NCSS Strand(s) and substrand(s) addressed by your lesson:
V. Individuals, Groups, and Institutions
· Demonstrate an understanding of concepts such as role and status in describing the interactions of individuals and social groups
· Identify and analyze examples of tensions between expressions of individuality and group or institutional efforts to promote social conformity
VI. Power, Authority, and Governance
· Examine persistent issues involving the rights, roles, and status of the individual in relation to the general welfare
· Explain and apply concepts such as power, role, status, justice, and influence to the examination of persistent issues and social problems
X. Civic Ideals and Practices
· Explain and analyze various forms of citizen action that influence public policy decisions
7. Goal(s) for today’s lesson:
The students will understand how the youth of Birmingham, and surrounding cities, played a significant role to end segregation.
8. Objective(s) for today’s lesson:
· The students will be able to understand and describe what it feels like to be segregated from your peers.
· The students will be able to actively demonstrate how the children were involved in the Civil Rights Movement.
· The students will recognize music as an important asset to the marches.
· The students will create their own freedom song.
· The students will brainstorm steps it would take to organize a secret event such as D-Day.
9. Procedures
a. Introductory Experiences:
The teacher should begin using segregation with the students at the beginning of the day throughout daily activities without telling them why. Examples on how to implement this “segregation” are making the students who have brown hair go to the end of the line, letting blue-eyed students eat snack first, allowing only the students who are not wearing jeans to drink from the water fountain, make the students with short hair sit at the back of the room, etc.
When the lesson begins, ask the students if any of them felt as though they were not treated equally today. Lead a discussion about the students’ experiences and how they felt when they were discriminated against or segregated from their peers. [5 min]
· Was there anything that I did today that you did not think was fair? (Students responses: “Yes, I had to go to the back of the line because I have brown hair.” “You would not let me get a drink because I was not wearing jeans!”) Why was it not fair?
· What does segregation mean? (To separate a minority group from the main group, to isolate)
Teach the tune, play music to The Old Gray Mare (no words, just music) –for later use in lesson
b. developmental experiences:
1. Explain to the class that the African American students in Birmingham, Alabama were not only segregated from White students, but often isolated. They had to go to separate, all-black, schools, had to use separate bathrooms and water fountains, and were not allowed to eat at certain restaurants. Using a map, show the students where Birmingham, Alabama is, and explain that it was the most segregated city in the United States during the 1950’s and 1960’s. Show the students pictures of segregation in society (pictures from my travels to Montgomery and Birmingham). [5 min]
2. Use a MLK, Jr. timeline that one group made in a previous lesson as an example to reiterate the important events in his life. (If a group put MLK, Jr.’s arrest and time in jail as an event, use that timeline; otherwise choose any timeline). Explain that after MLK, Jr. got out of jail, he spoke at a gathering asking the people to “volunteer” to go to jail…only the children volunteered to go to jail. Many plans were made ahead of time to organize this event; however, it was kept secret from everyone but the African American community. [5 min]
3. As a class, discuss what steps need to be made to organize a secret event. The secret event was named D-Day, and only the children and other African Americans who protested against segregation knew what would occur on D-Day. They met at the 16th Street Baptist Church on May 2, 1963. From there, they were directed to go to Kelly Igram Park where the police officers and other White officials were located. They knew the officers would arrest them because they were marching in the streets without a permit.
a. Explain that this would be like our whole class getting arrested for walking through the school halls without getting permission from the principal first.
b. The class will discuss what would have to be done to organize a secret event. (Every African American needed to know what to do and when without the Whites finding out. –Radio was a means of transportation of this idea- D-day secret code)
c. Once an idea is discussed, a student writes it on the board. [5 min]
4. The teacher divides the class into two groups with one group containing ¾ of the students and the remaining ¼ in another group. The group with the larger number of students represents the African American youth. The group with the smaller number of students represents the White youth and city officials. (An open area is needed so all the desks should be cleared out of the way.) The teacher is the narrator.
a. The students representing the White Youth stand in the open area, while the African American youth are off to the side in the 16th St. Baptist Church (by sign). (The teacher explains that this church is where all the African American youth met on D-Day. D-Day was the secret code for the day they would march in the streets without a permit, knowing they would get arrested.) The White youth chant, “2, 4, 6, 8, We don’t want to integrate!”
b. On the teachers command, the African American youth start walking into the open circle by the White officers (represent policemen and firemen instead of White children now). The African American youth walk in different increments (this is all narrated by the teacher, so the students follow the teacher’s directions.) “First two walk in, then 3, then 4, then 5…the White officers yell, ‘Arrest them!’ and start taking some to jail. All the African American youth start singing the freedom song that goes to the tune The Old Gray Mare. [15 min.]
“Ain’t a-scared of your jail, ‘cause I want my freedom, I want my freedom, I want my freedom. Ain’t a-scared of your jail, ‘cause I want my freedom. I want my freedom now!
Ain’t a-scared of your dogs, ‘cause…
Ain’t a-scared of your hose, ‘cause…”
“Being sent to jail did not stop the students from coming to the park, instead many more students came. Police officers used dogs that attacked the children and fire hoses to spray them, but nothing stopped the children from marching!”
5. Discuss how music is an important part of many political movements. The students are given pencil and paper and should write down at least five events/topics that interest them about political issues or something they want freedom from in their life. (examples: bullying, eating disorders, doing the dishes, not playing during a basketball game). The teacher explains that a familiar tune was used for the freedom song so they only had to learn new words not a new rhythm, which allowed them to focus on the message. The teacher sings the song he/she wrote on a political issue to a familiar tune (words below). The students will be writing their own freedom song. As homework, each students needs to decide on a topic, choose a tune (it can be to any artist or genre of music, get creative!), and start coming up with their own lyrics. [5 min]
c. culminating experiences
For the remaining five minutes, the class sits together in the open space on the floor and discusses what if felt like to be either an African American child, or a White Child/Officer. (How did you feel? How did the music influence the event? Would it have been different if the children did not sing? Did anything surprise you?) The teacher can reiterate important details. (How the children took a stand against segregation on that day, D-Day, and continued to protest for a week. The White officials could not stop the children, because they wanted to go to jail.) The class together will sing the African American freedom song that the children sang when they were arrested (hold up poster board). [5 min]
10. Assessment(s) used during lesson:
· Observation and participation are the two forms of informal assessment used during this lesson. The teacher will monitor student understanding based on his/her participation in discussions and the reenactment of the children’s march.
Resources:
Deters, C. (May 2007). Personal Photos. Taken at Civil Rights Memorial Center.
Deters, C. (May 2007). Personal Photos. Taken at National Voting Rights Museum and Institute.
Teaching Tolerance. Activity 4. Mighty Times: The Children’s March. (p. 15) Teaching Kit from The Southern Poverty Law Center
Teacher Model- Equality of boys’ and girls’ sports teams
Tune: This Little Light of Mine
We want the same resources
That the boys’ team gets.
We want the same resources
That the boys’ team gets.
We want the same resources
That the boys’ team gets.
Equity!
Equity!
Equity!
How many women athletes
Can you name out loud?
How many women athletes
Can you name out loud?
How many women athletes
Can you name out loud?
Marian Jones!
Anna Kornikova!
Mia Hamm!
Annie Lauterer!
Create your own Freedom Song!
1. Find a music tune that you like. Get to know the music, not lyrics! You will be creating your own lyrics to the music you chose.
(need to know the tune, do not bring in lyrics of the song)
2. Look at list where you brainstormed ideas and pick one topic that you want to write your own freedom song
3. Start writing lyrics for your own freedom song.
4. Be creative!
Freedom Song
“Ain’t a-scared of your jail, ‘cause I want my freedom,
I want my freedom,
I want my freedom.
Ain’t a-scared of your jail, ‘cause I want my freedom.
I want my freedom now!
Ain’t a-scared of your dogs, ‘cause I want my freedom,
I want my freedom,
I want my freedom.
Ain’t a-scared of your dogs, ‘cause I want my freedom,
I want my freedom now!
Ain’t a-scared of your hose, ‘cause I want my freedom,
I want my freedom,
I want my freedom.
Ain’t a-scared of your hose, ‘cause I want my freedom,
I want my freedom now!
Teacher’s Narrative Piece during Reenactment.
The church, 16th Street Baptist Church, is where all the African American youth met on D-Day. D-Day was the secret code for the day they would march in the streets without a permit, knowing they would get arrested.
The White youth chant, “2, 4, 6, 8, We don’t want to integrate!
African American youth start walking into the open circle by the White officers. The White children now represent White policemen and firemen. The African American youth walk in different increments.
First two walk in, then 3, then 4, then 5…the White officers yell, ‘Arrest them!’ and start taking some to jail. All the African American youth start singing the freedom song that goes to the tune The Old Gray Mare (hold up poster board with lyrics).
Being sent to jail did not stop the students from coming to the park, instead many more students came. Police officers used dogs that attacked the children and fire hoses to spray them, but nothing stopped the children from marching!
