{"id":399,"date":"2008-11-19T19:08:32","date_gmt":"2008-11-20T00:08:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/openwidelookinside\/archives\/399"},"modified":"2008-11-19T19:08:32","modified_gmt":"2008-11-20T00:08:32","slug":"teaching-civics-with-childrens-literature-rosa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/openwidelookinside\/2008\/11\/19\/teaching-civics-with-childrens-literature-rosa\/","title":{"rendered":"Teaching Civics With Children’s Literature: Rosa"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Have you ever been curious at the story of Rosa Parks?\u00a0Nikki Giovanni<\/a>\u00a0tells the story of how Rosa Parks refused to get out of her seat along with a brief synopsis of the civil right’s movement and the final ruling by the supreme court that “segregation on the buses, like segregation at schools, was illegal” in her book\u00a0Rosa<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The book starts off by describing Rosa as a good citizen, taking care of her sick mother and being the best seamstress in Montgomery. \u00a0Giovanni describes Rosa leaving work early and getting on the bus. \u00a0She pays the 10 cents at the front, gets off the bus, and goes to the back door to enter the bus from the rear. \u00a0The section for blacks was full so Rosa went to the neutral section in the middle, reserved for both whites and blacks. \u00a0An officer yells at Rosa to give up her seat but she refused to get up. \u00a0The officer threatened to call the police, but Rosa refuses to get up. \u00a0Here is an excerpt from what happens next:<\/p>\n

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\tAs Mrs. Parks sat waiting for the police to come, she thought of all the brave men and women, boys and girls \twho stood tall for civil rights. \u00a0She recited in her mind the 1954 Brown versus Board of Education decision, in \twhich the United States Supreme Court ruled that separate is ‘inherently\u00a0unequal.’ \u00a0She sighed as she realized \tshe was tired. \u00a0Not tired from work but tired of putting white people first. \u00a0tired of stepping off sidewalks to let \twhile people pass, tired of eating at separate lunch counters and learning at separate schools. \u00a0She was tired of \t‘colored’ entrances, ‘colored’ balconies, ‘colored’ drinking fountains, and ‘colored’ taxis. \u00a0She was tired of getting \tsomewhere first and being waited on last. \u00a0Tired of ‘separate’, and definitely tired of ‘not equal’.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Giovanni continues to explain how a group of women snuck into Alabama State and made posters all night long that read “no riders today; support Mrs. Parks; Stay off the buses; walk on Monday.” \u00a0Giovanni tells the story of Emmett Till, of\u00a0Reverend\u00a0Martin Luther King, Jr., and how people walked and walked. \u00a0And finally on November 13, 1956, almost a year after the arrest of Rosa Parks, the supreme court ruled that segregation was wrong. \u00a0“The integrity, the dignity, the quiet strength of Rosa Parks turned her no into a YES for change.”<\/p>\n

The book is very well written and contains beautiful illustrations. \u00a0Students would definitely love reading this book and would gain a lot of information from doing so.<\/p>\n

Curriculum Connections<\/strong>
\nThis book offers a great way to teach students about Rosa Parks and give an introduction to the Civil Right’s Movement. \u00a0The book brings up important decisions, people, and events in civil right’s history as well as describing the individual story of Rosa Parks. \u00a0The book is very simple and well written and students would enjoy reading it. \u00a0In Virginia, this book could be used to identify the contributions of Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King, Jr., as well as describing the individual rights to equality under the law (Standards of Learning for Civics 3.11).<\/p>\n

Additional Resources<\/strong><\/p>\n