Rosa Parks Lesson Plan

Book: Rosa written by Nicki Giovanni and illustrated by Bryan Collier; Published 2005
Grade Level: Second
Multicultural Themes: Civil Rights, Minority Role Model, and Overcoming
Discrimination/Segregation
Materials: Rosa by Nikki Giovanni, white board and marker, vocabulary matching worksheet
with cut apart words/phrases, construction paper, markers, colored pencils, crayons, scissors,
glue, newspapers or magazines, lined paper, and pencils
Standard: Nevada Academic Content Standards for ELA – Reading Standards for Informational
Text K-5: 4. Determine the meaning of words and phrases in a text relevant to a grade 2 topic or
subject area
Objective: Students will be able to demonstrate the meaning of words and phrases in a text by
accurately identifying key vocabulary words from the story within a group activity and in their
own written paragraph with 90% accuracy.
Procedure:
1. Introduce: Show students the book, Rosa written by Nikki Giovanni and illustrated by
Bryan Collier. Ask students “How would you feel if you were asked to leave somewhere?
Why?” Give students a moment to think about their answer and then have several
students share their thoughts with the class. Try to get different viewpoints by asking if
someone else has something different she or he would like to share. Repeat the process
with the question, “How would you feel if someone asked you to leave somewhere
because of the way you looked?” Using the same process, say, “Today we are going to
read a book about Rosa Parks who was asked to give up her seat on the bus because of
the color of her skin. What do you think will happen in this story?”
2. Read: Read the book aloud to the class, pausing to discuss complex words and concepts.
Specifically cover NAACP, civil rights, Brown v. Board of Education, United States
Supreme Court, inherently, unequal, equal, segregation, citizen, and Women’s Political
Council.
3. Discuss: Write the following 6 questions on the board and give students time to think
about their response. Give them several minutes to discuss with their table before
discussing with the entire class. Again, encourage students with different ideas to share.
a. Question 1: What happened when Rosa Parks told the police officer no? Why?
b. Question 2: Do you think it was fair that the bus driver asked Rosa to give up her
seat on the bus? Why?
c. Question 3: What happened after Mrs. Parks was arrested?
d. Question 4: What ended the need for people to stay off the buses?
e. Question 5: What do you think the world would be like today if Rosa Parks did
not say no?
f. Question 6: Why do you think it is important to stick up for what you believe in?
4. Activities:
a. Have students work with their table groups on the Rosa vocabulary matching
worksheet. Provide a copy of the vocabulary definitions and one set of the cut
apart words/phrases to each group. Allow students enough time to properly match
 each definition with its corresponding word or phrase. Check on each group
periodically to ensure they are matching the terms with their definitions correctly.
b. Students will create their own bus protest posters. They may use construction
paper, markers, colored pencils, crayons, scissors, glue, and letters/words cut out
from newspapers or magazines. (Hands-on)
c. Then, students will write a paragraph (three-five sentences) about why they chose
to make their poster that way and what they learned from Rosa Parks. They must
include at least three words from the book that were discussed and included on the
vocabulary worksheet.
Evaluation: The teacher observes students being able to properly match the words/phrases and
definitions that were included in the book. The teacher will also check students’ stories to ensure
they correctly used at least three of the vocabulary words properly in a sentence.