The Rise, Fall, and Rise Again of the Civil Rights Movement

Strategies

My school year 2009-2010 begins with a new structuretwo "houses"one the Capital School of the Performing Arts (CASA) and the other Capital School for Sciences and Technology (CAST). I will teach in CASA allowing much closer relationship with students and especially their families. The school periods will move to a block schedule reflecting longer classes for more in depth coverage of material. In CASA, I will teach "across the curriculum" with English, Drama and Science teachers.s.

My 125 students (both juniors and seniors) will also have ninety-minute block classesmore time to implement thorough study, Internet research, discussion and role-play/drama activities. Juniors tend to be focused on developing a school work ethic and doing well on standardized testing, while Seniors are "feeling their oats" and waiting to get into college or the community college and pursue gainful employment.

I teach a wide variety of student capabilities ranging from "gifted and talented" to "English language learner" to "special needs children," all of which must be dealt with in the same classroom by one teacher. It is very important to be able to set high goals for all students and remediate with the reluctant and challenged learner on a one-on-one basis. It is also helpful to be 'in sync' with other teachers, parents and the community.

I will employ a number of other strategies to keep students interested and engaged. Our "house" CASA expects to have a packet of agreements in English and Spanish between students and parents regarding attendance, assignments and parent and student participation. Turning the leadership over to the class, establishing small, balanced working groups, a protocol for field trips and volunteerism require standardized agreement and participation. In addition, I hope to use cross-cultural role-plays and simulations that will build on the drama and arts component of CASA.

Because our school is in New Mexico's capital, we are able to visit the Roundhouse (the State capital, Legislative offices and Governor's office). We are also able to meet with our two US Senators Bingaman and Udall who give students a voice in the law-making process. Students will be exposed to a variety of guest speakers such as Attorney John Draper who argues water rights cases before the US Supreme Court.

We have an Internet service in the computer lab with 30 computers that enable us to watch videos and use common documents such as Supreme Court briefs. We can also access various websites and research on line.

With movies, I will use guided questions such as: 1) who are the major characters? 2) where does the action take place? 3) which cultures are depicted in the movie, 4) are there examples of discrimination in this movie, 5) what are the causes of conflict? 6) What is the moral of the story?

Curriculum Pacing

The school year is set in advance and pacing of various aspects of curriculum will be important. My plan is to have students read Dreams early in the fall. However, this will depend on the funding request I have submitted to Partners in Education for 60 copies of the book. In the winter, we will cover the three branches of government as well as important cases of discrimination against Hispanics. In the spring, students will begin their volunteer assignments.

Semester scheduling

Assessment

Evaluation of this curriculum will include grading of student weekly work, their autobiographies and family trees, presentations on discrimination and Hispanic civil rights, community service plans and reflections on their voluntary service. Students fill out study sheets, perform dramas, and make class presentations. A rubric is used for scoring all essays. Students will have to write thank you letters to community service organizations. Some will submit a written story to the local newspaper.

Classroom Activities

Phase 1 Identity

• Reading Dreams: Who am I? project
• Writing, or acting out autobiographies
• Making family trees as mobiles
• Answering questions from Dreams about families
• Making cultural list: food, clothing, music, languages
• Defining structural list: employment and educational opportunities
• Viewing movie Sin Nombre about gangs and economic refugees to the US
• Learning about Executive Branch of Government
• Analyzing Obama's Inaugural address and speech on education and making annotations on the references to civil rights they contain

Phase 2 Civil Rights and Discrimination

• Demographics in the US of the Hispanic Population (Attachment 1)
• Brain mapping and working definition discrimination (Attachment 2)
• Identifying Hispanic identity; New Mexico? (Attachment 3)
• Sonia Sotomayor: how did she become a justice; confirmation process Analyzing comment for discrimination "would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn't lived her life" (Attachment 4)
• Analyzing Government Text and handout on Supreme Court (Attachment 5)
• Santa Fe Lawyer talks about his career and presentation of his cases before the Supreme Court; students ask questions
• Activity on Texas v. Hernandez 1953: read the 14^th Amendment highlight, discuss the role of the Supreme Court (Attachment 6 for Chief Justice Warren's draft opinion)
• Students review the New Mexico Civil Rights Act of 1955 (Attachment 7)
• Activity on Dennis Chavez: El Senador from New Mexico;
• Cesar Chavez, La Causa, Union organizing farm workers
• Students make speeches about their favorite NM hero

• Planning for careers and college: writing resumes; letter of recommendation
• Assessing Santa Fe's demographics and community development
• Identifying & completing a volunteer opportunities 20 hours of service
• Completing a survey of observations of people, social activities and practices
• Writing a diary and making a final presentation on volunteerism
• Evaluating curriculum unit and suggesting for next year