Alicia Nunn and Shelley Pierce Co-teaching- team teaching

Lesson Title: Intro to Black History Month: Martin Luther King Jr. and
Rosa Parks
Have students look at interest center during small groups/reading centers*
Objectives: Students will:
1. Answer comprehension questions from stories
2. Simulate the Rosa Parks bus event
3. Complete shared writing activity: writing a letter to Rosa Parks
ALCOS SS K #3: Identify historically significant events as they relate to self and
family.
Materials:

Martins Big Words by Doreen Rappaport

Rosa by Nikki Giovanni
Labels (5 white, 3 black, 1 bus driver)
9 chairs
10 coins
Chart paper and markers
Famous African American web

Behavior Expectations: (Alicia) Remember the 6 rules that are posted below the
board, stay on your bottoms, raise your hand if you have something you want to
ask, and make sure youre listening while your friends are talking.
Attention Getter: (Shelley) You looked at something new in the room today. Turn
and tell your partner what you saw. Pull equity sticks for student responses.(3)
Activate Prior Knowledge: (Alicia) Did you see someone back there that weve
already learned about? What do we already know about Martin Luther King Jr.?
(Draw 2 equity sticks to answer)
Lesson Set-Up: (Shelley) This week we are going to be talking about many
different famous black people. This month is Black History Month; think about how
on your birthday everyone celebrates the whole day in honor of you. Well, during
this month the whole month is about celebrating the good things that black people
did and overcame. A long time ago, before all of us in this whole room were alive,
black people were not allowed to do the same things as white people. Im going to
give you a few examples and I want you to be thinking about how you would feel if
it were like this today: black people couldnt drink out of the same water-fountain
as white people, they couldnt walk through the same doors as white people, they
couldnt eat at the same restaurants as white people, they couldnt go to the same
schools as white people, they couldnt vote, they werent allowed to do hardly

anything the same as white people.(Alicia) During this time white people thought
that black people were not as good as them so they treated them poorly. It took a
lot of time and hard work but they eventually proved that they should be treated
the same as white people. This week the people were learning about, such as
Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks, were some of the really important people
during that hard time that worked really hard to show why black people should have
the same freedoms as white people. They had to do things that could get them in
trouble or even hurt them in order to prove their point. Because they were so brave
and because they worked so hard to change things, we will also learn about people
who are accomplishing great things today. We now spend a whole month
celebrating their accomplishments.
(10 mins)
Body of the Lesson:
1. (Shelley) Show Martins Big Words by Doreen Rappaport. Lets reread the
book to see how much our brain remembers from the book as we reread it.
2. Read story and ask comprehension questions throughout the book.
a. Questions are on sticky notes in the book.
b. On page about Rosa Parks say, Take a picture of this page in your
brain. We are going to learn more about Rosa Parks and what she did
in just a few minutes.
c. Just like Martin Luther King Jr. used his words and not violence to show
that black people deserved just as much as white people did, Rosa
Parks also used her words and actions as a role model for others.
d. Rosa Parks wanted to show people that if they worked together they
could get things changed.
e. Martin Luther King Jr. helped Rosa Parks get her point across by using
his words and giving motivation to never give up.
3. (Alicia) Ready Rosa by Nikki Giovanni. Ask comprehension questions.
a. Comprehension questions on sticky notes.
b. So what did Rosa Parks do that made her so important?
c. Why couldnt she sit wherever she wanted?
d. We are going to see how it would look and feel to be a black person
during that time and not allowed to sit wherever you wanted on the
bus.
4. Pass out labels for who is what (bus driver (1), black people (3), Rosa
Parks(1), white people (5))
5. Talk about paying to get on the bus. Pass out coins to get on the bus.
(30 mins)
6. Bus Simulation (Shelley) (9 seats including bus driver set up like bus
seating)
a. Have students line up, with 1 white person last, to get on bus.
b. Bus Driver will get in first.

c. Next a white person will get in and we will question where they will sit.
d. Repeat for every student until last white person.
e. Last white person gets on but there are no seats left. Rosa Parks is
sitting closest to the white people so she is asked to give up her seat
but refuses.
f. Did she scream at him? Did she push him out of her face? No. She
just sat for what she believed to be right.
g. How do you think the other black people felt? Do you think they were
proud of her or scared that she was causing trouble?
h. How do you think Rosa Parks felt? Do you think she was scared to
stand up for herself? Do you think she made the right choice? Should
she have just given up her seat instead of breaking the rules? Why?
Were the rules fair? Do you agree with the rules.
i. Think about if you were Rosa Parks and you knew it was against the
rules to not give up your seat. What would you have done in her
position? Would you have been brave enough to just sit their knowing
its against the rules but its whats equal.
j. (Alicia) If Rosa Parks was still alive today, what would you want to tell
her?
k. Would you want thank her? Tell her how brave she is? Ask her any
questions? Like how she felt? How was she so brave? What made her
make that decision? Think about what we can learn from her. How can
you help me to be more brave?
7. As you walk back to your spot on the rug, think about what you would want to
ask or say to Rosa Parks.
8. Lets pretend that she is still alive and write a letter to her.
9. Quick reminder of what goes in a letter:
a. Heading, greeting, body, closing, signature
10.While theyre sitting on the rug, do shared writing activity.
a. Teacher writes as students give responses.
11.Read letter aloud when its finished.
(20 mins)
Closing of the Lesson (Alicia and Shelley)

Make web of Famous Black People.

Review what we learned today.pp