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 The students took their finished compositions over to
Central Elementary School on Wednesday morning. There they broke
into small groups and read to third graders about black and white
people who influenced America in various ways to help the black
people get their civil rights.
The Civil Rights Book of Heroes is awesome and is designed to be
used as an encyclopedia of 21 known and not-so-known people who
helped in the Civil Rights movement. The reference book created by
the students 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.
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.
The eighth graders wrote the book for a specific audience - early to
mid-elementary-aged students - had to evaluate style, format, and
reading level necessary to reach their young readers.
One book will be placed in the third graders library at Central
Elementary School. Tina Workman, the eighth grade teacher, said they
have 10 years of books the students have made.
“It is productive to have student teachers (the
eighth graders) to be role models to the third graders,” said Mrs.
Workman.
She also said she wanted to see the students know about other people
to memorialize, go deeper, and learn more.
“The students had to write for third grade understanding and edit
the information about black heroes for them,” said Workman.
Sixty years after the fight for equality, many Civil Rights Leaders
are well remembered; some, however, have received scant recognition.
Many black names are written about in the Civil Rights Book of
Heroes such as Eldridge Clever, Booker T. Washington, Malcom X,
Melba Pattillo, Harriet Tubman, Coretta and Martin Luther King, John
F. Kennedy, Philip Randolph, Thurgood Marshall, Homer Plessy, Bobby
Seale, Emmett Till, Fannie Lou Hammer, Medgar Evans, W.E.B. Du Bois,
James Chaney.
Did you know that Viola Gregg Liuzzo was a brave hero who supported
the Civil Rights Movement? The Civil Rights in those days stood up
for black people to vote and sit in restaurants and buses with white
people. She joined Martin Luther King Jr. in a march to support the
Federal Voting-Rights Bill.
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She was followed by the KKK, They drove up to her car
and shot her. She gave her life to help her fellow Americans achieve
equality in the United States.
Did you know that Jackie Robinson changed baseball history forever?
He was the first black athlete to play in Major Baseball. It changed
baseball history because it paved the way for other black major
league baseball players. He had to keep strong because the crowds in
the bleachers would shout out at him and harass him, but some of his
fans and team members stood up for him.
Robinson was the best paid Dodger. He also got mad at the Yankees
because they were against blacks playing on their team
Did you know that Andrew Goodman, an educated white man, along with
two others, James Chaney and Michael Schwerner were killed in
Mississippi because of their work in Civil Rights to help people get
the right to vote?
The federal government did step in and charged some of the people
who were involved with their deaths.
The students that taught the third graders had done
research to depict the black hero they wrote about. Here are some of
their answers to a few questions:
When asked what he liked about the research on Booker T. Washington,
Jadyn Fish replied, “How important he was in the Civil Rights
movement. He wanted everyone to be equal.”
What do you think about black people voting? Jenny Martens said, “I
think it’s fine. It shouldn’t matter what color of skin they are.”
What are the benefits of Black History Month? What can we be
appreciative of? Payton Johnson answered, “ We can appreciate the
people that work hard to change America like Malcom X.”
Describe what black freedom means to you. Lukas Morgan said, “It
means/shows how far black’s rights have come in the country."
Kylee Overton said the Book of Heroes has 29 pages. Two books go to
Mrs. Donita Biggs third grade and one book each will go to Tina
Workman and Mrs. Ren Anweiler eighth grade classes.
The eighth grade authors of this reference book are excited to share
their work, not only as a culminating activity in their study of The
Little Rock Nine, but also as a way to promote liberty and justice
for all, while also recognizing the struggles and sacrifices Black
Americans have endured throughout history.
[Catherine Carkulis] |
