Civil Rights and Service Learning: Recent Episodes
Christy G. Keeler, Ph.D.
I recommend the following books for use when teaching the era of the American Revolution to students in intermediate-level grades:
- Mighty Times: The Legacy of Rosa Parks
- Start Something (Elementary Curriculum) provided by the Tiger Woods Foundation
- Freedom on the Menu: The Greensboro Sit-Ins by Weatherford, Carole Boston
- Abby Takes a Stand (Scraps of Time) by McKissack, Patricia and James, Gordon
- Freedom School, Yes! by Littlesugar, Amy
- Great Speeches by African Americans: Frederick Douglass, Sojourner Truth, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Barack Obama, and Others (Thrift Edition) by Daley, James
- Let Them Play! by Raven, Margot Theis
- Martin's Big Words: The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. by Rappaport, Doreen
- My Brother Martin: A Sister Remembers Growing Up with the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. by Farris, Christine King
- Rosa by Giovanni, Nikki and Collier, Bryan
- The School is Not White! by Rappaport, Doreen and Curtis, James
- The Story Of Ruby Bridges by Coles, Robert
- . . . If You Lived at the Time of Martin Luther King by Levine, Ellen
- Nobody Gonna Turn Me 'Round: Stories and Songs of the Civil Rights Movement by Rappaport, Doreen and Evans, Shane
- Malcolm X: A Fire Burning Brightly by Myers, Walter Dean
- A Sweet Smell of Roses by Johnson, Angela
- I Am Rosa Parks by Parks, Rosa
- The Civil Rights Movement: Revised Edition by Dierenfield, Bruce
- The Watsons Go to Birmingham--1963 by Curtis, Christopher Paul
- Our Friend, Martin a video by 20th Century Fox
- Delivering Justice: W.W. Law and the Fight for Civil Rights by Haskins, James
- I've Seen the Promised Land: The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. by Meyers, Walter Dean
This time line, titled "African American Freedom Struggle Timeline: An International Human Rights Perspective," appeared in the April 2008 edition of OAH Magazine of History.
"The Pay It Forward Foundation was established in September 2000 by author Catherine Ryan Hyde and others to educate and inspire students to realize that they can change the world, and provide them with opportunities to do so. By bringing the author's vision and related materials into classrooms internationally, students and their teachers are encouraged to formulate their own ideas of how they can pay it forward."
The Foundation offers mini-grants (up to $500) to educators to assist in Pay It Forward endeavors. Application reviews occur twice a year—September 15th and February 15th—but grant applications are accepted year round. Contact the Pay It Forward Foundation's Mini-Grant Explanation Website for more details.
Below are links to webquests designed by students in the Civil Rights/Service Learning module who were unable to engage in service learning with students. Their alternative assignment was to create a webquest that would guide intermediate level students through the process of conceptualizing and enacting a service project.
- Teaching American History: Civil Rights Movement/Service-Based Learning WebQuest by Verena K. Bryan
- Save the Desert Wildlife by Donelle Stevens
- Skills for Growing: Civil Rights WebQuest by Christine Thomas
- Learning Civil Rights through Service Learning by Lacey Peckham
Below are links to reports developed to provide models of action research reports for educators participating in the Teaching American History Grant module on Civil Rights/Service Learning. The documents use data collected from module participants to report on the success and needs of the module. Note the appreciation of confidentiality in the reports (names and other identifying information are removed from the report) and note that this report is based solely on assessments appearing in the form of action research reports. A true action research report would address many pedagogical elements in addition to assessment data (e.g., instructional design and delivery, student participation and attitudes toward instructional delivery).
- Phase I: "Plan of Action"
- Phase II: "Data Plan"
- Phase III: "Data Collection"
I highly recommend the Project Citizen curriculum, a product of the Center for Civic Education. There are several curricula available for varying age groupings (beginning with a grade 4-8 text) that guide students through the decision to do a project, development of an action plan, implementation of that plan, and evaluation and presentation of the results. A benefit of the curriculum is that students who participate in the program (beginning in fifth grade) are eligible to compete by sharing their projects with other Project Citizen participating teams.
To obtain a copy of the Project Citizen curriculum, teachers must receive training. Pam Bledsoe is the Regional Coordinator for Southern Nevada for Project Citizen and is eager to help teachers receive the training needed to participate in the process. Additionally, Marcia Ellis is the Law-Related Education Coordinator and State Coordinator for Project Citizen. She can also help with training and assistance throughout the program. Please contact either Pam or Marcia if you have an interest in expanding your service learning experience through the use of the Project Citizen materials and methods.
An invitation to participate in Nevada competition is available here. Information about the research supporting use of civic education programs including Project Citizen is available here.
In addition to the Freedom's Song video, Farmer's Insurance has produced other videos that are excellent. One of these, Ordinary People Doing Extraordinary Things, is available for you to view online. You can also order a DVD to keep in your classroom. See: mms://207.38.23.122/Ordinary%20People%20Doing%20Extraordinary%20Things
The video is only 4 minutes long and shows images of great men and women in history. Using written text and music, it tells how these individuals thwarted their circumstances to create great change in the world. I think the video might be a great culmination of a service learning unit. Students will see that what might not seem like a lot at the beginning can truly be the beginning of something great. I think this video is particularly good for students who are from at-risk environments including those who have special needs. Enjoy!
This recommendation comes from Margaret Loveall:
"I thought you might like information about a great MLK DVD that I found several years ago while student teaching. It is called Our Friend Martin, and is perfect for grades 3-5. It is a cartoon story about MLK that includes real video footage. Every year my students love to watch this video and discuss the impact that MLK has had on their lives.
The DVD is available from Amazon for about $10.00. It is a great investment. I have attached the Amazon site so that you can read more about the video.
A cool thing about it is that all of the voices of the cartoon characters are famous celebrities like Whoopi Goldberg, Susan Sarandon, and James Earl Jones."
I highly recommend the StoryPath unit plan by Margit McGuire titled "Freedom's Summer." During this unit, students become personally involved with civic education and the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s. The unit is targeted at students in grades 5-8. The curriculum and teacher's guide (including all needed resources) is available for free online.
For teachers hoping to teach similar concepts (e.g., service learning, civic responsibility, making community change) in the younger grades, I recommend the StoryPath unit titled "The Park." It is also available for free online.
WAYS THE GOSHEN COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT COALITION CAN ASSIST CLASSROOMS WITH SERVICE-LEARNING PROJECTS:
- Provide information on Development Assets – one service-learning project = 19 developmental assets.
- Provide information and community contacts on ways to reduce violence and bullying – how to become a bully free school.
- Mentoring.
- Tutoring.
- Research.
- Explaining the difference between volunteerism and service-learning.
- Creating field trips.
- Finding paint supplies and/or building relationships with cooperative extensions, city councils, and county commissioners.
- Provide resources on locations to find service-learning grants.
- Providing contacts for learning more about banking/savings accounts – US Bank, Washington Mutual.
- Connecting classrooms with doctors and nurses to learn more about biology and medicine.
These are just a few ways that the Goshen Community Development Coalition can be of service to the classrooms.
For more information, please feel free to contact Kathleen Dickinson or Lindsay Garcia at:
Goshen Community Development Coalition
2008 Hamilton Lane
Las Vegas, NV 89106
(702) 880-4357
www.goshenonline.org
I also highly recommend the resources from Teaching Tolerance, a project of the Southern Poverty Law Center that provides educational resources to teachers. All their kits are free to teachers, paid by generous gifts from supporters of the Center. In addition, they publish a biannual magazine about teaching tolerance in the classroom. The magazine is also available free to educators.
A list of their kits is available online and you may order kits using this form.
I highly recommend the Giving Back: Introducing Community Service Learning (Improving Mandated Community Service for Juvenile Offenders) Curriculum. It is freely available online.
The curriculum introduces the process of service learning for teachers/community service personnel interested in guiding students through the development and implementation of their own service projects. In addition, the curriculum includes a list of ten "Done-In-A-Day" service projects.
Though the curriculum is intended to teach civic responsibility to students who have committed criminal offenses, it is suitable for use by all children (though most of the projects are suited to secondary level students).
I highly recommend Freedom's Song by Farmer's Insurance. The packet includes a free curriculum, video, and timeline/resource text to use when teaching the plight of African-Americans during the 20th century as they moved toward equal rights. It chronicles 100 years of the triumphs and struggles of Black Americans in the United States with special focus on key individuals supporting civil rights and legal mandates affecting change in the nation. Order the kit online.
What Happened to Social Studies? The Disappearing Curriculum
This article is by Margit McGuire and appeared in the Kappan. It introduces methods for teaching students to be civically responsible and introduces the StoryPath approach.
Step-by-Step Planning Sheet
This planning sheet appears in the Teaching Tolerance kit titled "One Survivor Remembers."
Start Something: Unit 4
This is a copy of Unit 4 from the Tiger Woods Foundation Start Something curriculum. This unit assists teachers and students to develop action plans that will improve their communities and the world.
World Citizenship: An Alternative to 'Drill and Kill'
This article is by Bruce Mitchell and appeared in the Kappan.