Rosa Parks

The Life of Rosa Parks

A WebQuest for 4th and 5th Grade (Social Studies)

Designed by

A. Whittle & B. Lunsford

Rosa Parks, Pioneer of Civil Rights.

Newspaper headline
Introduction

In December of 1955, a woman named Rosa Parks became known to man. Rosa Parks was considered to be one of the most important citizens of the 20^th Century. She refused to give up her bus seat to a white passenger. After her action, she was arrested and convicted of violating the local ordinance. After her action, there was a boycott in the city where she lived. The boycott raised action from a local minister named Martin Luther King Jr. The actions of this activists resulted in the U.S Supreme court outlawing segregation on city buses. You are going to go back in time to Montgomery, Alabama and try to identify yourself with Mrs. Parks. In class there will be chairs set up in rows to portray bus seats. On one seat there will be a sticker to designate the “Rosa seat” each of you will be able to see or experience a bit of what she went through. http://www.spokesmanreview.com/blogs/video/play.asp?file=102505_rosa&filetype=swf visit this site to see a slide show of pictures regarding Rosa Parks you will also be able to hear her speak and see pictures from 1955.

The Task

Your task will be to write an essay on why Rosa Parks was a hero because she did not move to the back of the bus.

The Process

1. First you will research the life of Rosa Parks.

2. Once you have learned about her actions, how do you think she impacted our society?

3. After you have found your information, write an essay on why she was considered the

“Mother of the Civil Rights Movement”.

Student Resources:

http://www.achievement.org/autodoc/page/par0pro-1 click on biography and you will be able to read in detail about the life of Rosa Parks.

http://teacher.scholastic.com/rosa/ An inside look how she fought for civil rights

http://www.achievement.org/autodoc/page/par0int-1 click on video with her picture, click high.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosa_Parks This site has detail information pertaining to Rosa Parks early years, events leading up to the boycott, the Montgomery Bus Boycott, later years, her death and funeral and awards and honors.

Help on writing an essay:

http://members.tripod.com/~lklivingston/essay/

Evaluation

Describe to the learners how their performance will be evaluated. Specify whether there will be a common grade for group work vs. individual grades.

	Beginning 1	Developing 2	Accomplished 3	Exemplary 4	Score
Amount of information on Rosa Park’s life.	Gathered minimal info about the life of Rosa Parks.	Gathered just enough info to get by.	Gathered enough info to get the point across.	Goes over and beyond with info.
Participation in class activity.	Did not participate.	Some participation.	Enough Participation.	Worked great with participation.
Essay	Did not do the essay.	Wrote some of the essay.	Wrote proper requirement.	Wrote more or above requirement
Grammar	Grammar mistakes throughout essay.	Some mistakes, good essay.	Few mistakes, great essay.	No mistakes, essay complete.

Conclusion

After this activity, the students will be able to tell why Rosa Parks was the “Mother of the Civil Rights movement”. After the essay, they will be able to share additional information about her personal life.

Teacher Resources, References & Credits

· http://www.achievement.org/autodoc/photocredit/achievers/par0-014 The academy of achievement shares a profile, biography, interview and photo gallery of Rosa Park’s life.

· http://www.achievement.org/autodoc/page/par0pro-1 This link tells how Rosa stood up for freedom.

· SS4CG1 The student will describe the meaning of

a. Natural rights as found in the Declaration of Independence (the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness).
b. "We the people" from the Preamble to the U.S. Constitution as a reflection of consent of the governed or popular sovereignty.
c. The federal system of government in the U.S.

· SS4CG2 The student will explain the importance of freedom of expression as written in the First Amendment to the U. S. Constitution.

· SS4CG5 The student will name positive character traits of key historic figures and government leaders (honesty, patriotism, courage, trustworthiness).

· SS5CG1 The student will explain how a citizen's rights are protected under the U.S. Constitution.

a. Explain the responsibilities of a citizen.
b. Explain the freedoms granted by the Bill of Rights.
c. Explain the concept of due process of law.
d. Describe how the Constitution protects a citizen's rights by due process.

· ELA4C1 The student demonstrates understanding and control of the rules of the English language, realizing that usage involves the appropriate application of conventions and grammar in both written and spoken formats. The student

a. Recognizes the subject-predicate relationship in sentences.
b. Uses and identifies four basic parts of speech (adjective, noun, verb, adverb).
c. Uses and identifies correct mechanics (end marks, commas for series, capitalization), correct usage (subject and verb agreement in a simple sentence), and correct sentence structure (elimination of sentence fragments).

· The students will learn how the Constitution protects their rights of a citizen. Also, they will be able to use the rules of the English language practicing how to write and use correct mechanics (commas for series, capitalization etc.) Students will be able to identify with an important historical figure that exemplifies (courage, heroism).