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RE: Teaching Civil Rights
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From: Giffard, Sue <SGiffard_at_ecfs.org>
Date: Sat, 30 Jul 2011 09:41:08 -0400
Our 5th graders work with teachers from the Alvin Ailey dance school on a 6 -week movement/dance unit in PE structured around Ailey’s “Revelations, ” which is a dance interpretation of aspects of African American history and culture. In the library I try to provide a context for this unit, by d oing a very short overview of the experience of slavery and life under segr egation, focusing on people’s resistance to oppression. I then go on to l ook at events in the civil rights movement, in order to move beyond the exc lusively Martin Luther King/Rosa Parks view of the movement. I’ve used va rious materials over the years, and now focus primarily on using sections o f the PBS documentary “Eyes on the Prize.” We stop and start frequently , and talk a great deal. We have Safari Montage, and that allows me to choo se the pieces of the documentary that I want to show. Students come out wit h a sense that the civil rights movement was a long, difficult, complex ser ies of campaigns, and that many peopl e contributed. My students also have s imilar discussions in their Ethics classes, and sing some of the movement ’s songs in music classes. It’s a challenge to keep the material from o verwhelming 10 and 11 year olds, but the focus on people fighting for their freedom helps a great deal. It’s also very powerful for students to watc h real documentary footage, as opposed to re-enactments, and we talk about editing and point of view, as well as the role of journalists.
Sue Giffard Ethical Culture School New York, NY 10023 sgiffard_at_ecfs.org (212)712-6292
"Perhaps the only victory available
the victory of the heart over its own inclinations for despair, revenge and hatred." (Leonard Cohen, Septembe r 24, 2009)
________________________________________
From: Tony Abbott
Sent: Friday, July 29, 2011 7:38 AM To: CCBC message posting Subject:
Teaching Civil Rights
I'm interested in how the Civil Rights era is taught in American schools in all parts of the country. The large time period is roughly post-Civil War to the mid-sixties, but I'm specifically interested in the years from 1920 on, the modern Jim Crow era. First of all, is it covered? When does it emer ge? (I remember my daughter learning about the Holocaust in 4th grade, so i t presumably starts then, but perhaps sooner?) Does the topic come out in d iscussions of literature (To Kill a Mockingbird, The Watsons Go to Birmingh am, 1963) and history (Dr. King, Rosa Parks, Claudette Colvin) or one more than the other? Is it a special topic, not always addressed? Anything from anecdotal notes to curriculum information is great. Having visited middle s chools whose students of all races have never heard the term Jim Crow, I ju st want to get something of a handle on this. Thank you.
Tony Abbott
Date: Sat, 30 Jul 2011 09:41:08 -0400
Our 5th graders work with teachers from the Alvin Ailey dance school on a 6 -week movement/dance unit in PE structured around Ailey’s “Revelations, ” which is a dance interpretation of aspects of African American history and culture. In the library I try to provide a context for this unit, by d oing a very short overview of the experience of slavery and life under segr egation, focusing on people’s resistance to oppression. I then go on to l ook at events in the civil rights movement, in order to move beyond the exc lusively Martin Luther King/Rosa Parks view of the movement. I’ve used va rious materials over the years, and now focus primarily on using sections o f the PBS documentary “Eyes on the Prize.” We stop and start frequently , and talk a great deal. We have Safari Montage, and that allows me to choo se the pieces of the documentary that I want to show. Students come out wit h a sense that the civil rights movement was a long, difficult, complex ser ies of campaigns, and that many peopl e contributed. My students also have s imilar discussions in their Ethics classes, and sing some of the movement ’s songs in music classes. It’s a challenge to keep the material from o verwhelming 10 and 11 year olds, but the focus on people fighting for their freedom helps a great deal. It’s also very powerful for students to watc h real documentary footage, as opposed to re-enactments, and we talk about editing and point of view, as well as the role of journalists.
Sue Giffard Ethical Culture School New York, NY 10023 sgiffard_at_ecfs.org (212)712-6292
"Perhaps the only victory available
the victory of the heart over its own inclinations for despair, revenge and hatred." (Leonard Cohen, Septembe r 24, 2009)
________________________________________
From: Tony Abbott
Sent: Friday, July 29, 2011 7:38 AM To: CCBC message posting Subject:
Teaching Civil Rights
I'm interested in how the Civil Rights era is taught in American schools in all parts of the country. The large time period is roughly post-Civil War to the mid-sixties, but I'm specifically interested in the years from 1920 on, the modern Jim Crow era. First of all, is it covered? When does it emer ge? (I remember my daughter learning about the Holocaust in 4th grade, so i t presumably starts then, but perhaps sooner?) Does the topic come out in d iscussions of literature (To Kill a Mockingbird, The Watsons Go to Birmingh am, 1963) and history (Dr. King, Rosa Parks, Claudette Colvin) or one more than the other? Is it a special topic, not always addressed? Anything from anecdotal notes to curriculum information is great. Having visited middle s chools whose students of all races have never heard the term Jim Crow, I ju st want to get something of a handle on this. Thank you.
Tony Abbott
---Received on Sat 30 Jul 2011 09:41:08 AM CDT
