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“The Low On Jim Crow”
Holly Blakely
In this lesson students will explore the events and circumstances that led up to the Civil Rights Movement. They will be able to relate social/racial injustices of the past to those of modern society. Students will explore primary sources through images and printed documents.
Jacqueline Woodson, The Other Side. New York: Putnam Juvenile, 2001.
Blue and green adhesive nametags
National Park Service. "Jim Crow Laws". Martin Luther King Jr., National Historic Site Interpretive Staff. http://www.nps.gov/archive/malu/documents/jim_crow_laws.htm.
60 to 90 minutes
1Y3
In what ways did racial and social injustices impact the Civil Rights Movement?
Written Response
- Students will be asked to respond in writing to the following questions: Have you ever been treated unfairly because of one or more of your physical features? If so, which one(s)? Briefly explain the incident. What is the best word you can use to describe the way you felt as a result?
- In their homerooms, each fifth grader will randomly draw a name-tag from a bag (blue or green). Before being released to the history teacher, the students will be asked to write their names on their name-tags, stick them on their shirts, and take the following route to their classroom:
- All students with blue name-tags will take the normal, closest route.
- All students with green name-tags will take a route in the opposite direction of the history classroom, all the way around the building, and if possible, through an exterior door and back into the building until they reach their destination.
Upon arrival, "blue" students will take a seat at a student desk or table at the front of the classroom and will begin their bell assignment. They will have full access to all supplies/resources/privileges in the classroom. ( For example, new pencils to sharpen at the electric sharpener, a small bag of candy, etc.)
The "green" students will enter the classroom to find no chairs/desks available and will be asked to sit on the floor in the back of the classroom to complete their bell assignment. They will have no pencils or paper provided, and signs will deny them access to a pencil sharpener to sharpen their own pencils. ("Blue Students Only") They will have no special privileges, such as candy, etc.. If these students question the teacher about their treatment, the teacher will simply say, "I'm sorry, but only blue students will be allowed ___________."
- After the bell assignment is completed, the teacher will ask students to return to their normal assigned seats, and he/she will facilitate an open discussion about the thoughts and feelings of both groups, using the following questions;
- Have both groups been provided "separate but equal" facilities today?
- Do "green" students feel they have been treated as "second class" citizens of this classroom? If so, in what ways?
- If this same treatment continued each day in this classroom, would you continue to accept the treatment? Or would you do something about it? Could only one of the "green" students change the group's treatment without the support of the other "green" students?
- Did the "blue" students feel superior to their "green" classmates? What other words would describe the way you felt?
- Would the "blue" students continue to allow the "green" students to be treated unfairly? Do all "blue" students share the same feelings about the separation of students by color alone?
- Can the students change their color? Does their color determine their individual talents, character, or intellect?
- Is it logical that the "green" students have to go out of their way to reach this classroom? Why or why not?
BEFORE LESSON
Key vocabulary:
- The teacher will display key vocabulary and meanings on chart paper while previewing them with students orally.
- "Jim Crow Laws"-
- discrimination-
- oppression-
- civil rights-
DURING LESSON
Teaching Strategies:
- The teacher will display a few pictures of "Jim Crow" signs, and students will work in small groups to interpret meaning. They will then view a sampling of actual "Jim Crow Laws" from various states. Each group will choose the law they think is most unreasonable and explain why. Pictures and laws may be found at http://www.nps.gov/archive/malu/documents/jim_crow_laws.htm.
- Students will be asked to read The Other Side by Jacqueline Woodson. The teacher will ask the following questions:
- Have you ever been in a situation similar to Clover's when she accepted the opinions of her friends and modeled her behaviors after them? Is this a form of peer pressure? Do you think racial discrimination is often a result of peer pressure? Explain.
- Do you think Clover and Annie's curiosities about one another were normal?
- What do you think Clover's mother meant when she said, "Because that's the way things have always been"?
- What message do you think the author intended to send through this book?
AFTER LESSON
Review:
- Teacher will allow volunteers to share their bell assignment responses orally.
Questioning:
- What do you think led to the development of the Civil Rights Movement?
Summarize:
- The students will identify a modern social injustice and write a paragraph to persuade others to share their convictions.
- How do these modern social injustices compare to the social injustices that led up to the Civil Rights Movement?
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