Rosa Parks: Preparing to Analyze Multiple Points of View

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SWBAT analyze the same event from multiple perspectives.

Big Idea

The same thing looks different from different eyes.

Cue Set

20 minutes

I choose to introduce this new skill with something concrete because it is easier for scholars to interact with pictures and videos than with complex text.  Once scholars have experience with the skill, they will more easily apply it to text. 

I ask scholars to examine the Pictures of Jason skiing (my husband).  I ask them to tell me how they think he feels about skiing (I expect them to say, "He is happy, he loves it").  Then, I show them Pictures of me skiing and a video.  I ask them how I feel about skiing.  I expect them to say, "You are timid, reluctant, scared."  Then, I explain that Jason and I skied down the EXACT SAME mountain that day and that he thought it was fun and amazing and I thought it was terrible and scary.  I explain that even though we did the EXACT SAME thing, we told completely different stories about what happened. 

I say that the same way that Jason and I said different things about the same event, characters and people interpret the same event differently.  We're going to analyze when, how and why that happens. 

Here is me offering a bit of a more in-depth Explanation of lesson.  

Teaching Strategy

20 minutes

We do a cloze reading of pages 108-109 of Rosa Parks' autobiography.  Cloze reading is when the teacher reads out loud to scholars.  I pause over certain words and scholars fill-in-the-blank regarding missed words.  This enhances engagement and allows me to focus upon key phonics skills (i.e. Greek/Latin roots, prefixes and affixes). 

I encourage scholars to describe the political climate of Montgomery during 1955.  They also describe how the political climate affects Rosa Parks' decision to remain on the bus on December 1st.  We think, pair, share these answers.  Scholars record answers on graphic organizer.  The focus today is just on Rosa Parks' perspective of the events of December 1st.  We get into multiple points of view in later lessons.  


Guided Practice

5 minutes

Scholars get into heterogenious partnerships (determined by teacher) to finish reading chapter 8. Scholars are grouped heterogeniously so that all scholars have access to the text.  It is important to place high scholars with medium/high scholars and low scholars with medium/low scholars so that no one becomes frustrated.  Here is an example of partner reading.  

Scholars continue to answer/discuss the following questions:

    1. Describe the political climate of Montgomery in 1955.
    2. Explain how the climate in Montgomery influenced Rosa's decision to remain on the bus on   December 1, 1955.

They record thinking in the "why" section of their graphic organizer. This is shorter today because it is day 1 of a new skill.  It will be longer in subsequent lessons. 

Independent Practice

43 minutes

During this time scholars rotate through 1-2 stations.  I don't have as much time today since this is Day 1 of a new skill. 


During the rotations for this lesson, my small group objective today is to describe a point of view within books that are on each group's highest instructional level.  Scholars read a portion of the same text (different for each group depending on reading level, but the same text is read in each group).  Then we discuss point of view.

