Before reading the play, go over the events in âThe Fight for Equalityâ sidebar together. Text-to-Speech; Bookmark & Share. N2: Claudette, a tall girl with glasses, stands at the front of a crowded classroom, reading from a paper sheâs written. Claudette Colvin grew up black in central Alabama during the 1940s and 1950s. Judge Rives: Mr. Gray, call your next witness. For that matter, what would compel someone to go looking for information about Rosa Parks, the Montgomery Bus Boycott, or any history event if they hadn’t already heard something about it? The law officially banned segregation and unfair treatment based on skin color.  Â, Scene 6 Choose the character you will play. That white lady wants our seats. Those policemen could have really hurt you. Gray: Thank you, Miss Colvin. Call on a volunteer to read aloud the Up Close box for the class. Claudette: Do you think thatâs possible? UP CLOSE Cause and Effect. Claudette: Because we were treated wrongâlike we werenât even human beings. The Colvinsâ Living Room, In so doing, you’ll be giving your students a strong foundation in MLK history, and perhaps the inspiration to make history themselves. Have your class watch this Great Big Story interview to hear Claudette Colvinâs story in her own words. Fred Gray saves her for last, knowing that her account will be the most powerful. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5201814-claudette-colvin Mrs. Colvin: Iâm so proud of you, Claudette. Claudette: How about the fact that our school is run-down while the white kids are in fancy schools with brand-new books? Did you ever wonder where the word boycott comes from? Youâd be in the papers and on TV. Gray: It wonât be easy. Through my work with them I’ve developed a reputation for writing compelling reader’s theater about Martin Luther King and African-American history in general. (As this page contains links to many other sites, including social media, we recommend viewing it with your class.).
Dennis, Joan & Eddie: Claudetteâs classmatesÂ. Subscribers receive access to the website and print magazine. When he tried to evict some of his tenants, they decided to shun him. Le 2 mars 1955, à l'âge de 15 ans, elle refusa de laisser son siège à un Blanc dans un autobus de Montgomery, en violation des lois locales qui imposaient la ségrégation raciale dans les transports publics. This play was originally published in the October/November 2019 issue. Â. Often times, though, we don’t know what we need to know until it’s presented to us. Didnât Reverend King give you the idea that there was something wrong with the buses? Miss Nesbitt: That is a fine plan, Claudette.Â. seven of todayâs young African Americans, close-reading and critical-thinking questions. The Core Skills Workout is a series of skill-based activities that will help your students "bulk up" in the comprehension skills they need most to become strong, analytical readers. Newscaster: The judges have ruled that Montgomeryâs bus segregation laws are unconstitutional. That means each pairing represents distinctly unique points of view (Literature CCSS #6), making for livelier discussions and quality comparisons (CCSS Lit #7). N1: She is charged with breaking the law by refusing to give up her seat. N1: The courtroom is packed. Who is going to help us escape all the unfair laws we have to put up with? Bus Driver: Why are you still sittinâ there?! He was educated at Indiana University and the Yale School of Forestry.
Ten winners will receive The Watsons Go to Birmingham by Christopher Paul Curtis. I’m particularly proud of “Sitting Down.” I remember struggling over it when I was writing it back in 2002.There I was, bouncing one bad idea after another off my laptop screen, regretting having accepted the contract at all, when I realized how very simple my task was in comparison to the mammoth challenge undertaken by Dr. King. N2: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is helping lead the boycott. Eddie: At the movies, we have to sit in the balcony, a million miles from the screen, and not with the white people down below. N1: Claudette is one of four people in the case. He is also the author of Hey, Little Ant, co-authored by his daughter, Hannah, It's Our World, Too!, The Race to Save the Lord God Bird, and We Were There, Too!, a National Book Award finalist. Read the excerpt from Claudette Colvin:Twice Toward Justice by Phillip Hoose, and then read the paraphrase of it. Based on extensive interviews with Claudette Colvin and many others, Phillip Hoose presents the first in-depth account of an important yet largely unknown civil rights figure, skillfully weaving her dramatic story into the fabric of the historic Montgomery bus boycott and court case that would change the course of American history.Claudette Colvin is the National Book Award Winner for Young People's Literature, a Newbery Honor Book, A YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults Finalist, and a Robert F. Sibert Honor Book. Excerpt: Colvin recalled that, “After the other students got up, there were three empty seats in my row, but that white woman still wouldn't sit down—not even across the aisle from me. N3: Claudette walks to the witness stand. Rosa Parks (above) was arrested for refusing to give her bus seat to a white person. Just click on the image to preview or purchase on my TeachersPayTeachers storefront. All through our history, black people have fought for our rights.
Claudette: Well, my plan is to go to college and become a lawyer. These kids bravely took on the challenge of changing the unjust world they were growing up in. Â, Scene 4 Consider celebrating MLK Day and/or Black History Month in your classroom by picking any three, dividing your class into three groups, practicing for a couple weeks, and then presenting them with opportunity for discussion in between. N1: The officers drag her out and handcuff her.Â, In 1954, the Supreme Court ruled that keeping white children and black children in separate schools was against the law. Six-year-old Ruby Bridges (above) became the first African American child to attend an all-white elementary school in the South. Happy directing! N2: These lawsâcalled Jim Crow lawsâwere in place throughout the South. Project or distribute the domain-specific. Claudette: They put me in handcuffs and took me to jailâan adult jail, even though I was only 15.
N2: Rosa Parks grew tired of this injustice. Mr. Colvin: These are incredible times, arenât they? We really need to start viewing this as the Age of Disinformation, which means the facts matter more than ever. Claudette: I will never stop fighting for our rights. I’ve been fortunate to have forged a lasting relationship with Scholastic publishers, particularly the wonderful editors at Storyworks and Scope magazines. Claudetteâs teacher asks, âWho is going to be todayâs Harriet Tubman?â Hold a discussion about what the question means, then have students research to find out about a person who is currently fighting against injustice. But Claudette does not move. Students can learn more about the Montgomery bus boycottâincluding how thousands came together to organize and carry it outâby watching this brief History channel video.Â, Claudette Colvin is one of many young people who stood up for justice during the civil rights era. Instead of being celebrated as Rosa Parks would be just nine months later, fifteen-year-old Claudette Colvin found herself shunned by her classmates and dismissed by community leaders. Claudette, I came to ask if you would be one of them. She made it to the North, where she could be free. N1: A bus boycott began on December 5.