Copyright: 2007Publisher: Scholastic Press
Description:
Rosemary Patterson is no longer going to Attucks Elementary. In fact, nobody else will either - ever. Rosemary is scared and confused because she doesn't understand why everything between blacks and whites is so complicated... If the whites want to go to school with us so badly, then why don't they just ask? Even worse, this awful girl up the road named Grace is in her new class - and they are worst enemies. And to make things worse, Grace sits right next to Rosemary! And if you think things couldn't get any worse, Rosemary's best friend gets sick and isn't there when she needs him most. Will Rosemary survive her first year in a predominately white elementary school? Will she be able to overcame all of the racial issues she faces living as an African American in the 1950s? Find out when you read A Friendship for Today.
What is this book like?
- Historical fiction
- Educational (learn about segregation and typical discrimination against African Americans during the 1950s and their movement to make justice between races
- Inspirational (two children become friends that originally judged each other due to their race)
- Fast paced
- Relative (Children can relate to many aspects of this novel including bullying and friendship)
Online Resources to Support Text:
Understanding Prejudice - Classroom Activities
Site contains elementary school classsroom activites to help children understand prejudice through hands on experiences.
Stereotypes
This site offers many fabulous lesson plans for social studies, including this lesson plan on stereotypes.
This book not only has many instances of racial stereotypes, but also many gender stereotypes and sexism. This activity would be perfect so that children realize that being prejudiced is not only against race, but against many other items including sex, religion, and culture.
Teaching Suggestions:
Lesson Name: SRE Framework with A Friendship for Today Grade: 5-6
Content Standards:
· ELA Standard 1.1e: Draw conclusions and use evidence to substantiate them by using texts heard, read and viewed.
· ELA Standard 1.1f: Make and justify inferences from explicit and/or implicit information.
· ELA Standard 1.2: Students interpret, analyze and evaluate text in order to extend understanding and appreciation.
· Social Studies Framework Standard 1(6): Analyze how specific individuals and their ideas and beliefs influenced world history.
· Social Studies Framework Standard 1(26): Describe how social, cultural, and economic circumstances influence individuals lives.
Learner Background:
To assess learner background the students will create a KWL chart about what it was like to be an African American during the 1950s and earlier. Students may discuss such aspects as slavery, the Underground Railroad, separate but equal, integration, segregation, and racism. As children learn new things while reading the novel they will add them to the list. Students will also put on the list what they want to know. If subjects go unanswered then technology or books should be used to access these answers.
Objective:
Students will be able to understand the text A Friendship for Today using the SRE framework to guide their comprehension. Students will be able to answer implicit as well as explicit questions through a scaffolded reading comprehension strategy. They will be able to identify characteristics of segregation as well as integration and discuss the detriment thist caused in the 1950s and why it is essential that African Americans join our society as equals.
Assessment:
Students will be assessed formatively through class discussions during small and large literature circles and fish bowl discussions. Students will also be assessed on their ability to create a poster or newspaper article depicting why integration and desegregation is important.
Materials/Resources:
· Literature study questions
· Project rubric for assessment
· Text set of A Friendship for Today
· Poster paper
· Crayons
Learning Activities:
Students will read the novel silently at their desks and participate in a variety of discussions after each chapter is read. Generally a chapter a day will be read with the accompaniment of a discussion. The lesson will take approximately 2 school weeks. The questions that were pulled out of the novel are discussion type questions that may be difficult for the reader to understand or grasp on their own. Most discussions will tackle 5-6 questions. The class will be split up into small groups of 4-5 for most of the questions, while leaving more difficult questions for a fishbowl activity. Each chapter will generally have 1-2 fishbowl questions that will be tackled first as a whole group. During the fishbowl activity the teacher will act first as the facilitator and then jump in and out as a participant when necessary, allowing the class to facilitate most or all of the discussion. During small groups the teacher will jump in as a participant to regroup the members to a specific topic or just function as a rotating observer. All students will be encouraged to participate as much as possible. After the discussions students will create either a poster supporting integration and desegregation or a newspaper article for the same purpose. The students are encouraged to tell why segregation is wrong and why African Americans should be included as equals and what they can contribute. This should be a sort of advertisement to encourage people to support anti-segregation.
Differentiated Instruction:
ELL instruction:
For ELLs with high or moderately high ELP, students may benefit from using a Spanish/English dictionary while reading the novel and completing the poster project. It is highly likely that ELLs will need more time to finish reading the novel and to complete the assignments. ELLs may be encouraged to pre-read chapters at home before instruction or with a teacher before reading them at school silently, or ELLs should read within a small group setting receiving linguistic assistance. ELLs with low ELP may benefit from hearing the novel read orally through the use of an audio. Students will be encouraged to create their posters using the language of their choice. A Friendship for Today
Fishbowl Questions
Chapter 1: What does mamma laugh at Rosemary’s comment: “If white people want to go to school with us so much, seems to me all they needed to do was ask.”
Chapter 1: Why do you think Rosemary’s mom got so upset over her promise to J.J.?
Chapter 4: Why do you think Rosemary’s mother doesn’t want her to go to the remedial class at Adam’s School?
Chapter 5: Why do you think Mrs. Denapolis decided to keep Rosemary and Grace next to each other if she knows they are enemies?
Chapter 6: Why do you think Rosemary had a change of heart and doesn’t ‘hate’ Grace anymore?
Chapter 7: At what point did Rosemary and Grace realize they were friends?
Chapter 10: What has Rosemary and Grace learned through their friendship?
Small Group Questions
Chapter 1:
Why does the author put the relative prices of gasoline, eggs, etc. at the beginning of the chapter?
Why don’t the Hamiltons’ like Rosemary and her friends?
Why is it Rosemary’s last day at Attucks Elementary?
Chapter 2:
Why is Mrs. Washington moving to Tennessee?
Why doesn’t Mrs. Washington think it’s a good idea to open up her own school?
What school does Rosemary get assigned to? Who else is assigned to this school?
Chapter 3:
Why do you think Mr. Bob says the white school will be more difficult?
What does Rosemary’s father tell her about death?
Why does Rosemary think it is Ms. Jeans’ fault that her mother and father argue so much?
Why does Rosemary envy, just for a moment, the Hamilton family?
Why does J.J. say a girl cat would have been dead?
Chapter 4:
Why do you think Rosemary received such low test scores?
How did Rosemary score on the retest?
Why does Rosemary’s mom say that her and J.J. will be the only colored people at Robertson?
Chapter 5:
How do you think Rosemary feels on her first day of school at Robertson Elementary?
Why does Rosemary cry in class?
How is Grace portrayed by her classmates?
What did Katherine mean when she said “You know how they steal.”
How are the classroom routines the same and/or different than the ones at our school?
Chapter 6:
Do you think Mr. Bob handled the robbery effectively?
Why is J.J. and his family moving to Tennessee?
Was it wrong for Grace to say that colored people can’t be writers?
Who is Harriet Tubman?
Why do you think none of Rosemary’s classmates know nothing about Harriet Tubman?
Chapter 7:
Why didn’t Rosemary make Stuart kiss the bottom of her shoe?
What are Rosemary’s two steps forward?
Why was Grace embarrassed by her father?
Chapter 8:
How does Rosemary feel about her father?
“Rich is how you feel inside, not what you wear or where you live.” How do you feel about Rosemary’s mother’s quote?
What did Rosemary really want for Christmas?
Chapter 9:
What is Estelean upset?
How does Rosemary’s mom show that she is a good person to the Hamiltons’?
Why does the author indicate that Mr. Keggley was being prejudiced at the spelling bee?
Why was the Hawthorne restaurant empty except for Rosemary and her mother?
Why does Rosemary’s father say he made a big mistake?
Why does Rosemary like the television as a gift now, but didn’t before?
Chapter 10:
Why would Mr. Hamilton not accept the dress as a gift?
Why do you suppose Mrs. Hamilton gave permission for Rosemary and Grace to be friends?
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