• Pre-assessment Jim Crow Laws and Civil Rights
• Teacher observation
• Venn Diagram
• Final Project from Tic-Tac-Toe Menu
• Civil Rights quiz (page 286 in Fourth Grade FCPS POS)
• Research Rubric
• Creative Thinking Rubric (obtained from http://www.adifferentplace.org/creativethinking.htm)

Day One:

1. Define culture. Discuss how cultural norms affect the school and classroom. List ideas on chart paper to be posted in the class. (ie. Holiday breaks)
2. Give students the Pre-assessment and collect to review.
3. Read aloud, The Other Side by Jacqueline Woodson
4. Discuss the story and make a Venn diagram of cultural customs of African Americans, Virginians, and whites during the time period, 1900-1940 on the overhead. Use as a pre-assessment of background knowledge.

Day Two:

1. Review definition of culture and Venn diagram from previous lesson. Provide background knowledge on Jim Crow, segregation, discrimination, desegregation, integration, Civil Rights as needed per pre-assessment.
2. Play pre-selected interviews of African Americans sharing their perspective of life during and after Jim Crow laws. Excerpts of interviews are found at: http://www.americanradioworks.org/features/remembering/. Add additional observations to Venn diagram. List student generated
3. Pose project question to the class: How might your life have been different if the Civil Rights Movement had never happened or if leaders of the Civil Rights Movement had not made their contributions? Share Word Sort with class on overhead. Tell students to choose a topic from the overhead to help them investigate and answer the project question. Have students write down their topic on an index card and collect.

Day Three:

1. Review the definition of culture.
2. Explain to students that they will work in groups to the topic they chose. Each team member will be responsible for choosing an activity which will show what they have learned and how an aspect or piece of their life has been affected by their topic. Students will be expected to share with the class their final project. Use Tic-Tac-Toe menu to help guide students in their product choice.
3. Direct students into subtopic groups, presorted by the teacher (using the index cards) based upon student interest. Students should begin investigating by generating a list of questions about topics.
4. Allow students time to investigate their topics with resources provided by the teacher.

Day Four+:

1. Allow students time to investigate their topics with resources provided by the teacher.
2. Allow students time to produce final products.

Final Days:

1. Student presentations
2. Teacher will fill in any important missing information on content.
3. Give optional Civil Rights Quiz (page 286 in Fourth Grade FCPS POS) and post assessment.

• Pre-assessment Jim Crow Laws and Civil Rights
• Overhead
• Poster Paper
• Markers
• Masking tape
• Venn Diagram
• Computer with internet access
• Project resources (books, journals, pictures, etc.)

Internet sites:

http://www.americanradioworks.org/features/remembering/
This site features excerpts of interviews. It is a great source for teacher background knowledge. Selected interviews may be played for students, but not all excerpts are appropriate for fourth grade student.

http://historymatters.gmu.edu

http://www.adifferentplace.org/civilwar.htm
This site includes numerous curriculum links for the Civil War and a link for the Reconstruction period. Teachers may find numerous primary resource links including photographs, letters, and diary entries.

http://www.landmark-project.com/classweb/rubrics/4x4rubric.html
http://rubistar.4teachers.org/index.php
These sites feature premade rubrics and tools to tailor your own rubric assessments.

Books:

Berson, Michael J. (Ed.). (2003) Horizons: Virginia (Vols. 1-2). Orlando: Harcourt Press.
This is our school’s history book. Any student history book could be substituted.

Virginia Studies: Fairfax County Public Schools Program of Studies, Grade 4. (2003). Fairfax, Virginia: Fairfax County Public Schools.
This document is a compilation of background information for teachers as well as serving as a succinct reference of essential understanding and additional activities.

Woodson, Jacqueline (2001). The Other Side. New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons.
This is a great supplementary book for a read aloud. It tells of two girls, one white and the other black, who gradually get to know each other as they sit on the fence that divides them.

References:

Gay, Geneva (2000). Culturally Responsive Teaching: Theory, Research, and Practice. NY: Teachers College Press.

Sharan, Y. and Sharan, S. (1992). Expanding Cooperative Learning Through Group Investigation. NY: Teachers College Press.

Sternberg, R. (2003). "Giftedness According To Triarchic Theory." In N. Coleangelo and G. A. Davis (eds.). Handbook Of Gifted Edcuation (pp. 45-54) Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

Tomlinson, Carol Ann. (2001). How to Diffenentiate Instruction in Mixed Ability Classrooms. VA: ASCD.

Winebrenner, Susan (1992). Teaching Gifted Kids In The Regular Classroom: Strategies And Techniques Every Teacher Can Use To Meet The Academic Needs Of The Gifted And Talented. MN: Free Spirit Publishing, Inc.

Jigsaw: Divide the class into 5 groups. Each group will be assigned a section of the textbook in which they will become experts. They will use the Summarizing Graphic Organizers to help guide their thoughts. After a designated period of time, the teacher will break out these teams into 5 other groups with one person from each “expert” group. The five new groups will share their expertise.

Pre-Assessment
Venn Diagram--Compare and Contrast
Civil Rights Topic Choices
Tic-Tac-Toe Menu
Group Proposal for a Project
Summarize-Graphic Organizer
Research Report Rubric