This curriculum unit contains a variety of lessons on Black history that can be used in a sixth grade communications class. By the end of the unit, students should have an understanding of the importance of prominent figures in Black History and how influential those leaders have been in forming our past and shaping our present. Each activity will enable the students to strengthen speaking, writing, reading, and listening skills. All lessons are consistent with the current communication standards set by the Pittsburgh Board of Public Education.

The culminating activity of this unit will be for the students to produce an "Oprah Winfrey" kind of talk show where each guest will be a well-known figure in Black history or a current African American leader. Students will be responsible for researching, writing, acting in and videotaping their show. Each class will be divided into groups and given a list of famous African American figures from pre-Civil War, post-Civil War, also former and current civil rights leaders, as well as famous African Americans from political, academic, scientific, and sports arenas. Each group will then be responsible for selecting three to five people to research, developing a list of three to five questions that they would ask them if they were interviewing them, and developing suitable answers to the written questions.

After each group completes their research using the Internet, Carnegie Library, and the school’s library, and writes a script of questions and answers, students will be responsible for memorizing their parts. Two students will be selected to host the show. Each group will then be responsible for writing commercials. Each commercial will have to fit in with the theme of the show or the person being interviewed at that particular segment of the show. After the commercial is written, students will develop news segments from that same time period. Actual news broadcasts and coverage of important events during the civil rights movement will also be used. Students will also develop songs and dances that pertain to the time period of the interviewed guests. Students will also be required to dress in character. The students will also create signs, stage decorations, and props.

This unit will require a class period of at least an hour and will take about four to six weeks to complete so it is perfect for the month of February when we celebrate Black History Month.

This curriculum unit will fit nicely into the existing curriculum prescribed by the Pittsburgh Board of Education for my current sixth grade Communications class. My class is a block schedule of reading and language arts that is 90 minutes in length. During this class time I am responsible for concentrating on both reading and writing skills.

In developing the talk show, students will strengthen their writing skills by: practicing interviewing techniques, writing to persuade as in the commercial/advertisement writing, writing in response to literature, and writing news reports. All of these writing skills are currently a requirement in the students’ portfolios in the Pittsburgh Public Schools. Students must complete a persuasive paragraph, a paragraph written to inform (such as a news story), and a response to literature as a piece of writing.

Through work on this curriculum unit, students will enhance their reading skills such as distinguishing between fact/opinion, researching using biographies and autobiographies, being able to read different genres, and skimming and scanning for important information. Students will also have to make predictions and draw conclusions about people interviewed and researched. These skills are consistent with those outlined in the Elements of Literature series used in my classroom, which is currently used by the Pittsburgh City Schools.

This curriculum unit will also focus on communication skills. Both speaking and listening skills are developed through role- playing. In order to make students more comfortable about talking in front of the class, I will enable them to participate in an acting workshop, where they will perform various public speaking exercises to get them ready for the actual production of the talk show. This also is currently a requirement in the students’ portfolios. All students are required to make oral presentations.

By completing this unit with my sixth grade Communications classes I will not only work on all forms of effective communication, (speaking, writing, listening), I will be able to tie in cross-curricula. Depending on the students’ choices for research, they will be able to enhance their studies in science, math, social studies, and physical education. The creation of dances and music might help students in their music classes. In being responsible for creating signs, decorations, and props, they tap their artistic skills. This talk show curriculum unit is a multifaceted learning experience for each student.

Through the completion of this curriculum unit the student will be able to:

write to persuade
write to inform
write a response to literature
write a song based on certain events in history
analyze and research nonfiction
identify and distinguish between various types of genre
separate fact from opinion
use propaganda techniques
read and analyze biographies and autobiographies
distinguish between fiction and nonfiction
make critical judgments based on research
role play prominent figures in Black history
give an oral presentation
analyze public speaking techniques using a rubric
describe the parts of a good news story
recognize the significance of various people from Black history
relay certain events of the civil rights movement
practice interviewing techniques
have effective group communication skills
express themselves through art

The above objectives are goals consistent with the Pittsburgh Public Schools communication standards, portfolio requirements, and the reading and writing series; Elements of Literature, currently being taught in my sixth grade communications class.

Before I begin the actual research for the talk show I will have the students complete a week long acting workshop to get the kids used to talking in front of the class or group. This workshop will consist of a series of lessons, in which all will take part in, that will help even the shyest of kids feel at ease in front of the class

Acting Workshop

On the second day of the acting workshop I will move to having students use their voices. The warm-up will be going through a sheet of about twenty tongue twisters. I then will ask for volunteers to come to the room one at a time to say the alphabet. Each time a student comes to the front of the room I have them say the ABC’s in different ways. For example, "Say the ABC’s like you are angry." "Say the ABC’s like you are terrified, just won a million dollars, are a rapper, preacher, conceited, or a cheerleader. This exercise, I found, breaks the ice especially when you have a boy come to the front of the room as the cheerleader. This exercise can be done with nursery rhymes also. After the ABC’s and nursery rhymes I will put three sentences on the board in which they have to come to the front of the room and say them different ways. An example is, "Say the sentence: ‘No school today,’ like you are sad about it, mad about it, or extremely happy about it." The point of these exercises is to get kids to not be afraid to talk in front of the room and also to realize a lot of times that it is not what you say but how you say it or deliver to the audience.

On the third day students will do some improvisation where you give them a word and they talk about it or make up a story about it for one minute. Another activity that can be done is called, "Start a Story". In this activity you have four students come to the front of the room and stand in a line. The first one starts telling a story out loud and when I say, "Stop," the next one in line continues the story and so on. Another activity that enables students to become familiar with working in front of an audience and with each other is to role-play problems and situations. For example, "Your best friend doesn’t use deodorant and is hard to be around. Confront him/her and in a nice way try to get him/her to use deodorant."

Students are now ready to go over the points of speaking in front of the room and how to make a good speech. We will watch videos of great speakers such as Martin Luther King Jr. and analyze them using a checklist. I will go over the points to remember when making a speech such as how to have their volume, rate, pitch, tone, and posture and go over eye contact. I will then have students volunteer to come to the front of the room and read a paragraph or a few lines out loud from a book of silly poems or from a famous speech. I will then have the other students watch and critique them using a rubric.

Students will write a short paragraph, a few lines, about a famous person from Black history that they feel is important and that they admire. They then will come to the podium in the front of the room and read their paragraphs, working on some of the public speaking techniques that they learned during the week. This will allow me to tap into their prior knowledge and find out what they already know about significant figures in Black history. It will also give them another day to practice speaking in front of an audience and to work on their delivery. After this workshop students should feel more comfortable working with each other and speaking in front of the room.

I will then introduce the idea that for Black history month we as a class are going to research famous African Americans and with that research they are going to write and produce a talk show to put on for the other sixth grade classes. I will then show a clip from a talk show and we will discuss body language, interview questions being asked, and then ask them for sample questions that they could ask the person that they wrote their short paragraph on. I then will ask the class how they think that particular person might have responded to that question. I will end the class by brainstorming a list of some famous African Americans that they might want to put in their talk show. I’ll make sure to have them think of famous African Americans from different time periods and different occupations, e.g., scientists, singers, politicians, civil rights leaders, sports figures, etc.

Black History Talk Show

Students will be divided into groups and each group will be given a list of names that they will have to research. Students will then get on the Internet and begin doing searches on the names. For the first part of the week, students will be utilizing the Internet, school library, and the Lawrenceville branch of the Carnegie library. After note taking is completed toward the end of the week, students will then meet in their groups and begin generating a list of three to five questions that they would ask their research subject, if they were doing an interview with him or her. After each group is done writing questions, I will ask each group to read them out loud and as a class we will discuss good questions and bad questions. I will then have them submit their questions to me and I will go through the questions and choose which questions I want them to work on answering. When they get their questions back, they will begin to develop answers to them. A few we will read out loud, discussing good and bad answers. At the end of the week I will take home each group’s questions and answers and compile them into a talk show format with the people in chronological order.

Students will be given a working copy of the talk show minus commercials, songs, etc. We will then read through the entire talk show and will assign hosts and speaking parts. Students will then practice their parts and begin memorizing them. Any student who doesn’t have a part will pair up with a student who has a part and will help him or her practice lines. That week we will read through the entire show once a day. The rest of the time will be spent reading out loud stories relevant to different time periods in Black history and also stories about the African Americans in their talk show. *A sample talk show list and part of a talk show along with accompanying literature will be given later in this unit.

Students will begin to study persuasion and effective advertising. They will begin to write their commercials. First of all, we will view different commercials on television and then discuss the aim, method of persuasion used, and effectiveness of each commercial. We will also discuss why certain commercials are on television during certain times of the day and during certain television programs. We will discuss the difference between fact and opinion. They will then get into their groups and begin thinking of ideas for commercials that relate to the time period or famous African Americans in the talk show. They will then write rough drafts of their commercials

and begin thinking of props to use. They will then submit their commercials to me for final editing and I will choose the best four to fit in the show after every fifteen minutes. These commercials should be no longer than 30 seconds in length. In between times we will read literature dealing with the African Americans in study. At the end of the week we will run through the entire program thus far.

During this week we will concentrate on music and writing songs. We will study different music from each time period and then get into groups and write raps or songs that can be used in the show. Volunteer dancers will be given time to choose music relating to character or time period and to begin making up their dances. We will also talk about costumes and props. We will begin to make set decorations and backgrounds. At the end of the week we will run through the entire program thus far.

During this week we will practice songs, dances, and commercials and begin looking at news articles and current events from the time periods in question. We will then study how to report on a news event and how to write good news articles for television. Students will then break up in groups and begin writing thirty-second news segments, which could be put into the play during a commercial break. We will then practice reporting the news segments in front of the class. At the end of the week we will go through the entire program thus far.

Students will practice the program all week and run through a dress rehearsal at the end of the week. Time in between will be spent on reading literature based on the different time periods and people in the play.

Students will perform the Black History talk show for each of the other sixth- grade classes. The program will be videotaped and students will be required to write what they have learned from viewing the different talk shows put on by the different classes.

List of people include:

Martin Luther King, Jr. Harriet Tubman George Washington Carver
Rosa Parks                 Jackie Robinson Wilma Rudolph
Malcolm X                 Thurgood Marshall Jesse Jackson
Michael Jordan                 Singing group TLC

Introduction:

King: "I say to you today, my friends, even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."

Host 1: Good afternoon, and welcome to our show. We have an exciting program for you today.

Host2: In honor of Black History Month, we will be learning from famous African Americans who have shaped our past and who have paved the way for our future.

Host 1: Our guests include well-known leaders from the past such as Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X.

Host 2: And also some influential people from the present, such as Jesse Jackson and Michael Jordan.

Host 1: Right now we are going to take a commercial break. When we return we will hear from Harriet Tubman, George Washington Carver, Rosa Parks, and Martin Luther King, Jr.

Commercial #1

Host 2: Welcome back. (pause) She was often called the Moses of her people. She led over 300 slaves to freedom using the secret network of people who helped fugitive slaves reach the North-- the Underground Railroad. Please give a warm welcome for Harriet Tubman.

Host 1: Ms. Tubman, were you afraid that you would get caught helping slaves escape to freedom?

Tubman: No, I was not really afraid because I’d rather die than be a slave. I was treated horribly when I was a slave. I was beaten and saw my sisters sold. It’s against God’s will for people to be held in bondage.

Host 1: How long did it take you to free all of those slaves?

Tubman: It took me 12 years, and in those years I made 19 trips, sometimes traveling more than 90 miles at a time.

Host 1: What were some dangers and hardships you faced using the Underground Railroad?

Tubman: Well, we had to travel in the dark at night, and hide during the day sowe wouldn’t get caught. The weather was sometimes rough and there was always that fear of getting caught. Slave owners offered rewards of $40,000 for my capture.

Host 1: What is one thing other than freeing slaves that you feel you are the most proud of?

Tubman: In 1857, I succeeded in freeing my parents. When the Civil War was being fought, I served as a nurse, spy, and cook.

Host 1: Thank you, Ms. Tubman. You are truly a pioneer in the freedom of African Americans. Next up we have one of America’s greatest agricultural scientists. Would you please welcome George Washington Carver.

Host 2: Mr. Carver, how old were you when you first started inventing new uses for plants?

Carver: I was ten years old when I left home and started traveling around the United States.

Host 2: What are some of your accomplishments?

Carver: I introduced the peanut, pecan, and sweet potato to the cotton farmers and showed them how these crops would enrich soil worn out by years of cotton planting. I also invented new uses for the peanut. From peanuts I found you could make peanut butter, coffee, ink, and soap. From sweet potatoes I made flour, cereal, glue, dyes, and rubber.

Host 2: I hear that you are also a teacher and that education is extremely important to you. Can you tell me about the organization you established in 1940?

Carver: Yes, it is called the George Washington Carver Foundation, and it provides scholarships for Negroes in agricultural research.

Host 2: Thank you, Mr. Carver. Up next a woman whose refusal to give up her seat on the bus has changed the world. Please welcome Ms. Rosa Parks.

Host 1: Ms. Parks, by your courageous action of refusing to give up your seat on that bus you have been called heroic and brave. This one action alone has given the word equality a new tone. What was actually going through your mind the day you got on that bus?

Parks: Well, believe it or not, I didn’t get on the bus with the intention of refusing to give up my seat. It just so happened that I had had a hard day at work, and by the time I got on the bus I was very tired. I was not about to give my seat up for any person, even if it was against the law.

Host 1: Were you afraid of getting put in jail?

Parks: No. I was just trying to help my people and myself.

Host 1: How did this one incident of refusing to give up your seat help the struggle of the African-American people?

Parks: By refusing to give up my seat, the Montgomery bus boycott was started, and it was the beginning of my races struggle for not only freedom, but equality--equal treatment of all races under the law. People began to see the inequalities that existed, and this paved the way for the struggle for civil rights in America and the work of Dr. King.

Host 1: You mention Dr. King. On August 28, 1963, over 200,000 people gathered at the Washington Monument in Washington, D.C., both Black and White, to express their belief in full equality for all-Americans. Many speakers were heard that day; however, none was more eagerly awaited or better remembered than Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. His teachings on nonviolence had already made him a symbol of the struggle for civil rights.

Host 2: Welcome, Dr. King. In 1963, when you made the Freedom March to Washington, D.C., were you afraid things wouldn’t work out?

King: No, not really. I knew Black Americans were behind me. I tried to follow the teachings of Jesus and the Indian leader, Mahatma Gandhi, who shunned violence. I believe that the cause of the Negro can best be served by peaceful protests and by disobedience to unjust laws.

Host 2: Dr. King, have you led other Civil Rights marches?

King: Yes, I have led a number of Civil Rights demonstrations in the South. I have been jailed several times, threatened, and beaten, but I have never wavered from my principle of nonviolence.

Host 2: I know that you have four children, and that you have dedicated one of your books to them. Can you tell me about this dedication, and some of the things that you hope for your children and the children of your race?

King: I dedicated the book with these words…"I dream that one-day soon they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character." I hope the children of my race will not have to struggle like me or deal with oppression, and that they are truly free from prejudice, segregation, and racism.

Commercial #2/ News segment

Host 1: Welcome back. (brief statement about commercial) Right now we’ll speak with someone who knows the feelings of prejudice firsthand--the first Black Major League baseball player—Jackie Robinson. Welcome Mr. Robinson.

Host 1: Why is baseball so important to you?

Robinson: I played baseball all my life. I knew I that I was better than most players in the Major League, but I never got a chance to prove it. Then Branch Rickey approached me with the offer to play Major League ball for the Dodgers. I was shocked. I’ve always known that it wasn’t fair that Blacks were not allowed in the Major Leagues, but I only dreamed of the fact that I’d ever get the chance to do something about it.

Host 1: Why was it so important for you to succeed as the first Black player in the Major Leagues?

Robinson: I couldn’t fail. If I failed they would say that my race was a failure—that we were no good—that Blacks couldn’t play professional baseball—that we just couldn’t cut it. All eyes were watching me.

Host 1: What were some of the hardships that you had to endure when you first started in the Majors?

Robinson: Some of my own teammates were against me. Fans and other players would yell racial slurs from the stands. I would get threats. I had to endure all of these though. If I would yell back or try to fight,someone would have made a statement that Black people can’t take it—that they are hotheads, fighters. I, too, had to be nonviolent.

Host 1: Thanks, Mr. Robinson. Next up we will hear from another athlete.  She was considered the fastest woman of her time, winning three gold medals in the 1960 Olympics. The 1960 female athlete of the year, Wilma Rudolph.

Host 2: I was told, Ms. Rudolph, that you used to skip classes at school just so you could practice running. Can you tell me about that?

Rudolph: Almost everyday during my sophomore year in high school my friend Sundown and I would sneak off across the street to the municipal stadium, and we’d throw our books over the big wall that surrounded the stadium, then we’d climb the fence and run over to the track to do some running. If we heard any strange sounds, like somebody was coming, we’d run underneath the stands and hide. When the teachers caught on to that, I would fake being sick just to run.

Host 2: I hear that as a child you had some hardships to overcome. Can you tell me about that?

Rudolph: I remember being the "most sickly kid" in Clarksville, Tennessee. I spent most of my early years wearing a leg brace.

Host 2: I read a story about one of your first track meets in Tuskegee while you were in high school, when you went there thinking that no one could beat you and then you got clobbered and lost every race. What did you learn from that experience?

Rudolph: I learned a very big lesson. The lesson was that winning is great, but if you are really going to do something in life, the secret is learning how to lose. If you can pick up after a crushing defeat, and go on to win again, you are going to be a champion someday. But if losing destroys you, its all over.

Host 2: Thank you Ms. Rudolph. Next we have for you one of America’s greatest political leaders—a man who, imprisoned at age eighteen for burglary, literally educated himself, taught himself to read, while in prison by copying the dictionary. We have for you the founder of The Organization for Afro-American Unity—Malcolm X.

Host 1: I’m very glad to have you here to help us celebrate Black History Month. Education is so important and it is great to speak with someone who taught himself to read, and someone who learned to value learning. You truly educated yourself to become a great leader, and you can inspire others to do the same.

Malcolm X: I had some people to help me and who motivated me. I hope I am a role model. Everyone can learn.

Host 1: Let me start off by asking you – Where did you get your last name? What does it stand for?

Malcolm X: My real last name is Little but I took on the X. It stands for Ex-Smoker, Ex-Drinker, Ex-Christian, Ex-Slave. Part of the things in my life I used to be, that I wanted to get rid of.

Host 1: Who are some people that influenced you?

Malcolm X: I had a friend in prison named Bimbi, who taught me that I am somebody and who motivated me to learn. Also I took on the teachings of Elijah Muhammad and became a follower of the Black Muslims. From then on I formed my own philosophy that Black society must become independent before there could be a workable Black-White society. They inspired me to have pride in my Negro heritage.

Host 1: What is one thing that children can learn from life today?

Malcolm X: Education and learning are important. Take a stand. Be heard. You are somebody. Have pride in the things you do and believe in yourself.

Host 1: On the subject of education and learning—next we will meet one of the leading lawyers of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the first African-American Supreme Court Justice: Mr. Thurgood Marshall.

Host 2: Good afternoon, Mr. Marshall.

Marshall: Good afternoon.

Host 2: Can you tell me about one of the biggest cases that you won in 1954, which helped the struggle for equality?

Marshall: Yes, in 1954, I was one of the leading lawyers for the NAACP. We won from the Supreme Court that separate education was not equal. It stated that Negroes could not be kept out of white schools because of race.

Host 2: Why is this ruling important for African-Americans?

Marshall: Without it schools might still be segregated—education would not be equal. White schools would get better supplies, have more money, and receive better teachers than Black schools.

Host 2: Thank you, Chief Justice Marshall. We will now hear from a man who had another dream—a dream to be the first Black president of the United States.—Mr. Jesse Jackson.

Host 1: Even though you didn’t succeed, by running for president you made a statement for all African Americans and put the question in everyone’s mind—Is the United States ready for a Black president?

Jackson: Yes, I believe that is true. My running for president is symbolic and I have shown that an African American can be the superior candidate.

Host 1: How has your candidacy impacted and influenced Americans, particularly African-Americans?

Jackson: African Americans are now taking a greater interest in politics.  If my candidacy has done nothing else but to say to Blacks that you, too, can run for President, it has done a great service. African Americans are registering to vote all over the country. That means we are becoming involved and are striving for political and economic empowerment.

Host 1: By running for President, what impact will your candidacy have on the next two decades?

Jackson: There will be an increase in Black office holders and Black voters.  It is all about Black power and our civil rights. My candidacy concerns itself with race, class, and about changes in the country.  It is about standing up for all minorities.

Host 1: Thank you Mr. Jackson. We wish you the best of luck. You are truly an influential leader.

Host 1: Up next a word from one of the greatest sports stars of all time, along with three of today’s entertainers and their thoughts and influences that they have today regarding young people.

Commercial #3

Host 2: And now one of the top five NBA scorers of all time, with a total of 29, 277 points, welcome superstar Michael Jordan. (Pause.) (Shake hands.) Do you want young people to look up to you and admire you as a basketball player?

Jordan: No, not only as a basketball player, I’d like to help young people. I want to show them that there is more to life than just playing ball.  I am lucky. Most people aren’t. You need to stay in school and learn. You need a career to fall back on in case you don’t make it.

Host 2: Is violence a big issue to you?

Jordan: Yes. It is a very big issue especially with the recent death of my father in 1993. I would like all gang violence to stop. I feel I can have some influence on this issue by being a positive role model to kids.

Host 2: Do young kids mistake you for being just another famous person trying to help them out?

Jordan: No, not really. I think most kids know I’m sincere and want to help them. Some kids do I guess. There are kids who act tough and live in neighborhoods where they have no real, true role models.

Host 2: Thanks for taking the time to talk with us today.

Jordan: My pleasure. I feel Black History month is really important. We need to learn from the past. We also have to look at how much things have changed since slavery and Harriet Tubman, and we have to look at things we still need to change. Racism is getting better but prejudice still exists. We need to work at abolishing hatred and learn to accept all people regardless of their race, age, sexuality, and gender.

TLC: Sing and dance to the song, "Waterfalls".

Host 1: That’s a great song. It really deals with an issue that is important to us; especially to young people today. What impact do you think you have on kids today?

TLC: You know we are only in our twenties. We are almost kids ourselves, so I think that helps us write lyrics that make sense to kids and they automatically understand.

Host 1: What does the song, "Chasing Waterfalls", mean and what issue does it deal with that concerns young people today?

TLC: It deals with responsibility for your lives. It deals with current issues such as HIV, and AIDS, and drug abuse.

Host 1: Is it ever scary to have such an influence over other people?

TLC: Yes, I was really surprised at how much of an influence we do have. One fan wrote us and told us that they were thinking of committing suicide but didn’t just because they looked at our picture and listened to our music, and then I realized, Wow, we can make a difference.

Host 1: Thank you—and we wish you women much success.

Host 2: (Conclusion) This concludes our program today. Thank you for coming to our show. Black History Month is an exciting time.

Host 1: Today we have heard from many great leaders who have influenced our lives. Today we salute those leaders and their efforts in furthering progress for ALL Americans regardless of race, class, and background.

Host 2: We would like to leave you with these words:

King: When we allow freedom to ring—when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, Black men and

White men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing, in the words of the Negro spiritual:
Free at last, free at last, Thank God Almighty, we are free at last.

Ending Song: " Lift Every Voice and Sing" (The Negro National Anthem)

By completing this talk show unit, students will gain an understanding of some of the famous African Americans that brought about change both in the past and present. This unit also focuses on the Communication Standards outlined below from the Pittsburgh Board of Public Education. Students will sharpen their reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills. They will also get an opportunity to work on their social skills by working cooperatively with other students. By doing research on a famous African American, students will enhance their research skills using the Internet and a variety of sources. Students will also practice successful interviewing techniques. In all, this is a perfect unit to complete during Black History Month, because it will satisfy all communication district requirements.

The following Communication Standards from the Pittsburgh Board of Public Education will be used to complete this unit:

All students will use effective research and information, management skills, including locating primary and secondary sources of information with traditional and emerging library technologies. This standard will be met when the student researches prominent African Americans using the internet, video, and the library.

All students read and use a variety of methods to make sense of various kinds of complex text. This standard will be met when students complete research on certain African Americans. They will have to read different genre and distinguish between fact and opinion. Students will also have to use reading strategies to make sense of different text.

All students respond orally and in writing to information and ideas gained by reading narratives, informational text, and use the information and ideas to make decisions and solve problems. This standard will be met when students are required to work in a group, make oral presentations, and respond in interview style while role- playing.

All students write for a variety of purposes including to narrate, inform, and persuade in all subject areas. This standard will be met when students write commercials and advertisements, news reports, and their questions and answers for their talk show interview.

All students analyze and make critical judgments about all forms of communication separating fact from opinion, recognizing propaganda, stereotypes and statements of bias, recognizing inconsistencies, and judging the validity of evidence. This standard will be met when students write a commercial, write a news report, and analyze video.

All students exchange information orally including understanding and giving spoken instructions, asking and answering questions appropriately, and promoting effective group communication. This standard will be met when students work in their groups, make an oral presentation, participate in the acting workshop, and participate in the talk show interview.

All students listen to and understand complex oral messages and identify their purpose, structure, and use. This standard will be met when students analyze video.

All students compose and make oral presentations for each academic area of study that is designed to persuade, inform, and describe. This standard will be met when students write commercials, news stories,

speeches, and interview questions and answers and when they present those orally.

All students communicate appropriately in applied situations. This standard will be met through cooperative learning, group work, and the talk show interview.

 

Bray, Rosemary L., Martin Luther King, Greenwillow, 1995. A biography with full color illustrations.

Hansen, Joyce, I Thought My Soul Would Rise and Fly: The Diary of Patsy, a Freed Girl, New York: Scholastic Inc., 1997.
A former slave learns to read and starts a school.

Rennert, Richard Scott, Civil Rights Leaders, Chelsea House, 1993.
Biographies of Civil Rights Leaders including Martin Luther King Jr.

Myers, Walter Dean, The Journal of Joshua Loper A Black Cowboy, New York: Scholastic Inc., 1999.
A sixteen year old cowboy records in his journal about his first cattle drive

Peck, Ira, The Life and Words of Martin Luther King Jr., New York: Scholastic Inc., 1999.
A biography of Martin Luther King Jr.

Petry, Ann, Harriet Tubman Conductor on the Underground Railroad, New York: Simon and Schuster Inc., 1955.
A biography of a slave

Lindstrom, Aletha Jane, Sojourner Truth Slave, Abolitionist, Fighter for Women’s Rights, New York: Simon and Schuster inc., 1980.
A biography

Hayden, Robert C., Nine African American Inventors, New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1992.
Inventor biographies

Hansen, Joyce, Women of Hope: African Americans who Made a Difference, New York: Scholastic Press, 1998.
Biographies of female African Americans

Schraff, Anne, Coretta Scott King—Striving for Civil Rights, Enslow Pub. Inc., 1997
Info on the Civil Rights Movement

Beaton, Margaret, Oprah Winfrey TV Talk Show Host, Children’s Press Inc., 1990.
Biography

Altman, Susan, Extraordinary Black Americans from Colonial to Contemporary Times, Chicago: Childrens Press, 1989.
Biographies

Strickland, Dorothy S., Listen Children An Anthology of Black Literature, New York: Bantam Books Inc., 1982.
A collection of literature from a variety of genre

Haley, Alex and Little, Malcolm, The Autobiography of Malcolm X, from Literature and Language, McDougal and Littell, 1983.
Article about Malcom X teaching himself to read in prison

Smith, Wendell, Jackie Robinson as told by Jackie Robinson to Wendell Smith of the Pittsburgh Courier, Greenberg: Publisher a Corp., 1948.
Interview

Strickland, Michael R., African American Poets—Collective Biographies, Enslow Publishers, Inc., 1996.
Biographies of African American poets

Einstein, Charles, Willie Mays—My Life in and Out of Baseball, E.P. Dutton and Co., Inc., 1972.
Biography of Willie Mays

Louis, Joe, My Life Story an Autobiography, New York: Duell, Sloan, and Pearce, 1947.
A famous Black boxer’s own life story

Rennert, Richard, Profiles of Great Black Americans, Chelsea House Publishers, 1994.
A series of volumes on Black female writers, performing artists, jazz stars, sports heroes, and shapers of America

Rollins, Charlemae, Famous American Negro Poets, New York: Dodd, Mead and Co., 1965,
Poetry and lives of African American poets

Phelps, Shirelle, Contemporary Black Biographies Volumes 1-17, Gale Research, 1996.
Contemporary biographies in encyclopedia style

Rennert, Richard, Book of Firsts: Leaders of America, Chelsea House Publishers, 1994.
Profiles of great Black Americans

Fuller, Miriam Morris, Phillis Wheatley-America’s First Black Poetess, Garrord Publishing Co., 1971.
Biography and poetry

Grant, Adam, "Most Valuable Player", Scholastic Scope vol.44 no. 3 ISSN 0036-6412, Sept.22, 1995.
A play on the life of Jackie Robinson

Author unknown, "A Protest for Peace", Scholastic Inc., 1988.
A play on the Montgomery bus boycott

Author Unknown, "Selma, Lord, Selma", Scholastic Action vol.22 no. 6, January 11, 1999.
Play on Black voting rights

Angelou, Maya, "Scenes from Maya’s Life", Scholastic Scope vol.43 no.12 ISSN 0036-6412, Feb. 3, 1995.
Play based on Maya Angelou’s life and her autobiography, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

Baldwin, James, The Fire Next Time, in Baldwin, Collected Essays(Library of America, 1998). Originally published in 1963. Essays by the black novelist/playwright/essayist who had a strong following in the 1960’s.

Branch, Taylor, Parting the Waters: America in the King Years, 1954-1963. (Touchstone, 1988). First volume in a multi-volume history.

Branch, Taylor, Pillar of Fire: America in the King Years, 1963-1965. (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1998) Second volume, covering years of boycotts and the March on Washington.

Carson, Clayborne, et al., eds., The Eyes of the Prize Civil Rights Reader(New York: Penguin Books, 1991) Companion to the first of the PBS series.

DuBois, W.E.B., The Souls of Black Folk, (Bantam Classics, 1989). Pub. in 1903.

Friedly, Michael, Martin Luther King Jr.: The FBI File(New York: Carroll & Graf, 1993) Primary document that says as much about Hoover’s FBI as about King.

Garrow, David, ed., We Shall Overcome: The Civil Rights Movement in the United States in the 1950’s and 1960’s Brooklyn, NY: Carlson, 1989)

Hampton, Henry, and Fayer, Steven, eds., Voices of Freedom: An Oral History of the Civil Rights Movement from the 1950’s through the 1980s (New York: Bantam, 1990) A companion to Hampton’s PBS series, "Eyes on the Prize."

King, Martin Luther Jr., Autobiography, edited by Clayborne Carson (New York: Warner Books, 1998) Recent authorized edition.

King, Martin Luther Jr., ‘ I Have a Dream’ Videorecording (MPI Home Video, 1986)

King, Martin Luther Jr., The Papers of Martin Luther King, Jr., edited by Clayborne Carson (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1992)

Levine, Toby Klevan, ed., A Reader and Guide: Eyes on the Prize: America’s Civil Rights Years (New York: Penguin Books, 1987)

Parks, Rosa and Haskins, Jim, Rosa Parks: My Story (New York: Dial Books, 1992) Autobiography by the woman who touched off the bus boycott.

Pyatt, Sherman E., Martin Luther King, Jr.: An Annotated Bibliography (New York: Greenwood Press, 1986) A good starting point for bibliographical references.

Rochelle, Brenda, Witnesses to Freedom: Young People Who Fought for Civil Rights (Lodestar Books, 1993) The focus is on experiences of young African Americans in the Civil rights movement.

Williams, Juan, Eyes on the Prize: America’s Civil Rights Years, 1954-1963 (New York: Penguin Books, 1987)
First of the companion books to PBS series, written by Wash. Post reporter.