LJHS students share Civil Rights history with Central School third graders

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[February 25, 2020]  LINCOLN - On Wednesday morning the Lincoln Junior High School eighth grade accelerated language arts and regular language arts students spend one-on-one time with the third grade students at Central School in Lincoln.

The eighth graders shared the Black History and Civil Rights reference book they have written. According to Tina Workman, who teaches the Accelerated class at LJHS, the eighth grade classes have been writing and presenting a similar book to the third graders for at least the last 15 years.

Workman said that between the two classes there are 23 students who worked on the book. There are 30 students in the two third grade classes of teachers Ren Anwelier and Jody Carroll.

On Wednesday morning, Mrs. Workman spoke to the younger students about the book and the importance of the civil rights movement in our country. Then the eighth graders were paired up with their younger counterparts and sat down to go through the book with the students, choosing particular people to read about and talk about.

Each year, the younger classes are given one book for their classroom library and encouraged to use it as a reference or mini-encyclopedia of the men and women who influenced the civil rights movement in our country.

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The Civil Rights reference book features 21 known and not so known Civil Rights leaders who fought for freedom and equality to make our world a better place. In honor of Black History Month, the students do the presentation, and then have a reading day with the younger students.

This reference book is the result of the eighth graders’ in-class study of The Little Rock Nine and the autobiographical story of one of those nine, Melba Pattillo. Following the study of the Little Rock Nine and the Civil Rights Movement, students researched 21 Civil Rights leaders and each wrote a biography explaining the contributions and sacrifices these leaders made to the cause of equality and justice.

Sixty years after the fight for equality, many Civil Rights leaders are well remembered; some, however, have received scant recognition. Thus, the uniqueness of this book is to recognize not only those who we all know made a difference, but also those behind the scenes men and women who sacrificed, struggled, and may have even lost their lives working to ensure equality for all. This book is dedicated to those within its pages and all people who were determined to bring equal rights to their fellow man.
 


Eighth graders wrote the book for a specific audience, early to mid-elementary-aged students, and had to evaluate style, format, and reading level necessary to reach their young readers. During the experience of producing this book for third grade students, eighth grade students benefited by developing their writing skills, writing for an authentic audience in which they share their writing with others, learning about the Civil Rights Movement, and peer teaching and promoting literacy. Due to the subject matter of the book, the eighth graders and third graders are learning the importance of equally valuing all members of our society, regardless of different cultures, abilities, religions, sexes or races.

The eighth grade authors of the reference book were excited to share their work, not only as a culminating activity in their study of The Little Rock Nine, but as a way to promote liberty and justice for all, while recognizing the struggles and sacrifices Black Americans have endured throughout history.


[Nila Smith with text included from Tina Workman]

 

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