Dear Families--
I spent a great deal of time reviewing videos
outlining the Civil Rights Movement of the '50s and '60s in preparation for our discussion about Martin Luther King (1929-1968). I found them
particularly moving--in part because I recall what it was like living
in the deep south from 1957 to 1964. Though I was a young child in 1957
when my family moved there from Vermont's Northeast Kingdom, I vividly
remember segregation. There were no
black children enrolled at my school. Access to public toilets and water
fountains was determined by the color of our skin. Black and white
children did not live in the same neighborhoods nor did they often
play together in the same streets. As disturbing as those times were
for the people who lived through them--their ultimate value has been in
reminding us how our country has struggled in defining "freedom" and
"equality." Our discussion about the Civil Rights Movement was time well spent. Ask your child to tell you about what they learned today.
Students: See how much you learned by completing the interactive timeline found here.
~
I
keep trying to find interesting ways for the kids to learn important
concepts in Social Studies--after all, the key to our future is in
understanding our past...
Martin Luther King image: http://seattletimes.com/art/mlk/index.jpg
