Diversity Lesson Plan

Book title: Child of the Civil Rights Movement

Author: Paula Young Shelton
Publication Date: December 22, 2009
Grade Level(s): 3rd – 5th grade
Multicultural Themes:
o Civil rights
o Promoting understanding
o Unity and equality
o African American culture
o Sense of community

Education Standards

1. SS.4.15. Analyze how racism and discriminatory practices have led to oppression

2. SS.5.2. Generate and answer supporting questions that help address compelling questions.
3. SS.5.17. Analyze how and why racial, ethnic, and other groups were oppressed in early
American history.

Objective
● Students will be able to summarize and identify the social activism of the story through
peer/group discussion with 90% accuracy.

● Students will be able to make a personal connection with civil rights activists through
family, classmates, and food with 98% accuracy.

● Students will be able to describe foods using adjectives.

Materials Needed
o The book Child of the Civil Rights Movement by Paula Young Shelton
o Coloring utensils (Crayons, markers, colored pencils)
o Writing utensil (pencil)
o Menu handout (To create illustrations and words of their menu)

Procedure
1. Introduce: Present the book to the class. Ask the class, “how they would feel if everyone
who had brown hair were told they could not be in this class anymore?”, and “who
would feel sad or isolated?” Let them discuss this aloud and with their peers.
 2. Read: Teacher reads the book aloud to entire class. Then rereads the chapter “The Civil
Rights Family” in Child of the Civil Rights Movement.
3. Discuss: Students will be addressed the five questions and given time to discuss them
amongst their table groups. Then, students will pair with a peer and compare their
answers. After this, we will come together as a class to compare our answers.

o Question 1: Do you and your family eat out at restaurants from time to time?
Which one is your favorite? What if you were told you couldn’t go there
anymore?
o Question 2: What did the little girl observe from underneath the table? Is she
scared or is she eagerly listening?
o Question 3: What are the people at the dinner planning? Have their plans
worked in the past?
o Question 4: How would describe your favorite meal? Who would be there?
What would be on your plate?
o Question 5: How do you feel after you eat your favorite meal? Do you think this
meal helped bring everyone together?

Activities
1. Students will work individually on creating their own menu for dinner. They may use the
menu handout and any coloring materials to create the perfect menu for their favorite
meal.
2. Once finished students will work in their table groups of four to compare and discuss the
foods on their menu. Together they will pick adjectives to describe their favorite foods
just how the authors did in the book. After they are all done each group will show their
menus around the room.

Evaluation
● Teacher will observe the group menus to see how well the students worked together to
complete a perfect comfort menu that worked for everyone.