Strategies
Facilitative Teacher
Carl Rogers, an American psychologist, stated, "the emotional environment of the classroom, open communication, and a general regard for individual students are also crucial which complement the learning process.....the teacher must understand and value cultural differences to be able to modify curriculum content and the instructional approach to meet the diverse needs and interests of students." 20
As a facilitative teacher I address both the affective domain and the cognitive domain of the learner. Carl Rogers asserts that an effectual teacher can tap into the student's understanding of one's self. The facilitative teacher can use these valuable resources in environmental learning as an active progression where students are invited to learn using their needs and interests to propel them into the learning process. A positive environment is created where children can become emergent in their own invitational education, a term coined by Purkey and Novak. They state; "All children are able, valuable, and responsible; this potential can best be a cooperative activity; children possess relatively untapped potential and this potential can best be realized by...inviting development." 21 Civil rights is the perfect place to engage students in self-reflection.
Theory of Multiple Intelligences
Howard Gardner's Multiple Intelligences (MI) theory has made me a passionate and tolerant teacher. The passion comes from the many avenues one may take when teaching a concept or preparing a project. The tolerance is delivered by knowing there are multiple ways to learn, exhibit, and assess students. The standard way does not always make it the most effective way. "One of the most remarkable features of the theory of multiple intelligences is how it provides eight different potential pathways to learning. If a teacher is having difficulty reaching a student in the more traditional linguistic or logical ways of instruction, the theory of multiple intelligences suggests several other ways in which the material might be presented to facilitate effective learning." 22
Lessons within the unit that could be expanded by using the MI Theory would be:
The students will highlight the major cases, documents, and contributions of people associated with the civil rights movement, such as, but not limited to; Thurgood Marshall, Booker T. Washington, Charles Houston, W.E.B. Du Bois. William Hastie, James Nabrit, Reverend L. Francis Griffin, Barbara Johns, Spottswood Robinson, Oliver Hill, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, Rosa Parks, Ruby Bridges, Ida B. Wells, and Chief Justice Earl Warren.
Verbal-Linguistic Intelligence is "the ability to facilitate complex acquisition and processing of language, the love of words both written and spoken."23 The creative process and synectics would be implemented on a daily basis. Students will keep creative writing journals providing a glimpse of point of view and perspective from inanimate/animate objects such as; the water gushing from the hoses on the marchers powerful yet powerless to change direction; the chartered bus full of exuberant participants rolling to a march versus the ride home; the four year old sitting on his grandmother's lap on a bus when she was asked to move or give up her seat for an able bodied white man; the waitress at Woolworth's who was ordered not to serve some, even though it may have contradicted her own personal morality; the hospital that denied Dr. Charles Drew admission after his automobile accident; the bullet speeding through the air when it neared its target; the uniform of a Klansmen hanging on a hook waiting to be worn.; a noose being tightened on a wailing tree; the animals sharing a barn filled with protesters in the middle of the night reacting to hearing dogs and seeing the light of torches closing in from 600 yards away; Lincoln's Bible with the weight of Barrack Obama's hand as he is inaugurated on January 20, 2009. Students will be given a document or information to interpret. They will first read, highlight, pair, share, and explain. Students could also create civil rights cards similar to baseball cards
Logical-Mathematical Intelligence is the ability to think logically, employing inductive and deductive reasoning skills, recognizes patterns, and work with abstract concepts.24 Students will consult the US Census and graph the population growth of Richmond by ethnicities from Reconstruction to present time. They may also look at the population of our school since it was constructed in 1911. They will then write an assessment on the results they have found.
Spatial Intelligence is "the ability to perceive images."25 Students will create a timeline by sequencing photographs. They will then question; who, what, where, when, and why. Students will create their own photograph captions. They will choose a person in the photograph that had the most impact on their own viewing. They will write a paragraph from the perspective of the person pictured.
Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence is the gift of physical movement using fine or gross motor skills. "These groups of students need to learn by acting and moving; learning by hands-on experiences."26 Students will role-play the arguments between the NAACP lawyers, and the opposing state lawyers.
Musical Intelligence is the "ability to create or interpret music, students who have keen ears to distinguish sounds and subtle nuances in music."27 Students will co-produce a video on the civil rights movement and incorporate music from each decade in history.
Interpersonal Intelligence is "the ability to understand and communicate with others and to facilitate relationships and group processes. They learn best in cooperative settings."28 Students will read the poem, I Am One Person, What Can One Person Do?29 After students read the poem they will have open dialogue and then write collaboratively answering the following questions: Discuss a time when you feel you made a difference in one's life. In what situation is it appropriate to speak up? When is it inappropriate? Describe Rosa Parks in three words. Write 10 characteristics that describe your group. Compare and contrast the words with the list that you wrote about Rosa.
Intrapersonal Intelligence is "the ability to be somewhat insulated from ones peers; have a strong sense of self; work best on projects independently."30 Students will choose from a menu of independent projects based on their talents and interests. They may also offer assistance to other groups sharing their expertise.
Naturalist Intelligence is "the ability to discriminate between living things as well as the sensitivity to other features in the natural world."31 Students will develop pride in beautifying their own school; plant flowers, weed, paint stepping stones featuring civil rights leaders.
I incorporate Gardner's theory into my methodology when students are selecting their culminating projects. I find that when students can build on their talents, interests and strengths it transfers and fortifies their end product. Students who are actively engaged and responsible in their own learning are motivated to go the extra mile. They are also able to appreciate one another's talents and accomplishments and derive joy from sharing their expertise. Students will be engaged in interactive inquiry, problem based learning emphasizing cooperative and collaborative teams, literature circles, debate, role-playing, and be responsible for independent projects.
Socratic Seminar v. Debate
The Socratic Seminar will help students hone in on students' interpreting skills. Based on collaborative learning where the goal is to comprehend the ideals, values, and issues reflected in the text. The seminar encourages dialogue and not debate. "Dialogue offers a mutual understanding to find meaning, common ground, and is open ended. (Debate however, is oppositional, two distinct opposing sides arguing to find the other wrong.)" 32 This will be useful when we interpret the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments.
Differentiated Instruction
Differentiated instruction will allow me to use strategies that will reach all learners visual, auditory, and kinesthetic via direct instruction, inquiry based learning, collaborative learning, cooperative learning, debate, interviewing, role-playing, and through literature circles. I will incorporate information processing strategies such as scaffolding, webbing, and graphic organizing, into my lesson plans. My assessments vary from child to child and are often performance based. For example, when completing the Civil Rights Unit, students may choose individual projects from a list of options such as: create a short film documentary about the history of your school; construct a scrapbook containing several poignant photographs of the civil rights movement with creative captions, sculpt a civil rights memorial, build a model of Moton High School adjacent to a model of Farmville High School dating, 1951, compose a song of protest, write a diary of a child who could not attend public school because the schools were closed, make a state flip book of Jim Crow laws, write a newspaper article about the decision of Brown v. Board of education, and so forth. Students are given rubrics and graphic organizers at the inception of their projects. Students are then given timelines that are approved by me. These time contracts are critical because many gifted students tend to be procrastinators or perfectionists, and in either case the work may take a back seat.
Bloom's Taxonomy
In 1956, Benjamin Bloom headed a group of educational psychologists who developed a classification of levels of intellectual behavior important in learning. Bloom identified six levels within the cognitive domain, from the simple recall or recognition of facts, as the lowest level, through increasingly more complex and abstract mental levels, to the highest order which is classified as evaluation.33 My main goal is to teach children how to think, and to use Bloom's higher order critical thinking skills (analysis, synthesis, evaluation) to dissect a problem; expand on an equation, solve syllogisms, use logic, and analogies as part of their daily vernacular. I would like them to address the verdict of Brown as if it was not passed. What would public education look like now? What educational opportunities would be lost?
Literature Circles
The following books would be inclusive (but not limited too) when conducting literature circles and book clubs: They Closed Their Schools,34 The Watsons Go to Birmingham,35 Mississippi Bridge, Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry, The Land,36 The Other Side,37 Freedom Riders: John Lewis and Jim Zwerg on the Front Lines of the Civil Rights Movement,38 She Would Not Be Moved: How We Tell the Story of Rosa Parks and The Montgomery Bus Boycott,39 Let it Shine, Stories of Black Women Freedom Fighters,40 A Dream of Freedom,41and The Jim Crow Laws and Racism in American History 42.
Jewels of Wisdom
Our culminating program, Jewels of Wisdom, will provide students with a panel of former Moton students, tutors, and community leaders with first hand knowledge about the case. The students will formulate questions for interviews after researching the subject. Students will use their acquired knowledge by building and contributing to a class wiki on civil rights using the decades as a guide. The wiki will become a living document and not just a culminating project.
Robert R. Moton High School is now a museum and was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1998. It is site number 24 on the Civil Rights in Education Heritage Trail. Students will tour the facilities and meet with individuals and groups related to the movement. On July 21, 2008 Virginia Governor Tim Kaine christened the Capitol Square Civil Rights Memorial in Richmond, Virginia recognizing the civil rights lawyers, community leaders, Barbara Johns and the 450 students who walked out of Robert Russa Moton High School in Farmville, Virginia. Prior to visiting the Civil Rights Memorial, students will research the sculptor, subject, medium used, and why it took almost sixty years to be recognized.
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