LESSON PLAN: Application Phase

Guiding Question: What main question do you want students to investigate? How was Ruby Bridges treated differently in school during the Civil
Rights movement?
Disciplines/Subjects: Literacy, History, Writing
Level: 5th grade
Learning Standards:
1. C3 D2. His. 4. 3-5. Explain why individuals and groups during the same historical period differed in their perspectives.
2. MO Learning Standard K-5 Grade level Social Studies K-5 3aB: Explain the causes and consequences of major political developments and
reform in U.S. history from c. 1800-2000
Materials: iPads for students or Smartboard if iPads are not available. Excerpts from Brown Girl Dreaming. Pad of paper and pencil.
Pre-requisite Knowledge: Students will have talked about the Civil War and the freeing of slaves. They will have also started talking about the
Civil Rights Movement and segregation.
Objectives: By the end of the lesson, the students will be able to:
1. Explain about the two groups in conflict in the Ruby Bridges book Through my Eyes
2. Empathize and report on what Ruby Bridges would have felt, be aware of how they would have felt.
3. Apply and come up with solutions and ideas to keep this event from happening in their own school.

Section Lesson Development Resources

Introduction Ask students about what they remember about the Civil Rights
(5 mins) Movement. Record what they say on the board so that everyone can
see. Ask them about the things they are seeing that are important and
why they are. Keep them up on the board for the lesson.
Development Read aloud the story of Ruby Bridges to the whole class. Have them iPads/Smartboard
(15 mins) follow along on their iPads or Smartboard (whichever is available.)
Pose questions during the reading to a few of the students. Such as,
How do you think this made her feel? Why do you think the
families of the white students were against her joining the school?
Activity Put the writing prompt on the board and read it aloud. Writing Journals
(10 mins) Imagine that you are going to a new school. You dont know anyone there,
and nobody wants you there. How would this make you feel? Would you
persevere and go to school anyway? (Define persevere as well)

Have them write in their writing journals from this standpoint and be
prepared for some of them to share.
Closure Come back together as a group and discuss. Call on a few students
(10 mins) who want to volunteer to share their writing.
Now ask them as a class to come up with ideas of how we can keep
this from happening to a student coming to our school.
Write these ideas up on the board for them all to see.
Assessment Read the writings in their journals, to see if they were able to empathize and construct real meaning from the lesson.
Write down the ideas the class presented of the plans to keep these events from happening at the school.
Differentiation Scaffolding if they are having problems following the text by having them with a partner if necessary. Working with them to
come up with ways to phrasing something. A document with key words from the text for them to use in their own writings.