Renacting the Story of Martin Luther King

Literacy in Action!

With the upcoming holiday, the Haifa class has spent this week talking about Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks. We are talking about civil rights and what life was like when Sauci was a child, and where we have come from.

The story of Rosa Parks has really captivated the children. They are frequently asking for a retelling of the story, and asking questions about it. Why wouldn't she get up? Why couldn't she stay where she was? What is freedom? Why couldn't black people sit where they wanted?

This has spurred an idea for Sauci and myself. We have decided that we are going to work on a play of the Rosa Parks story. While the play may not be completely accurate (we may have six Rosa Parks and five MLKs, but the more the merrier right??), the children are really starting to remember the story. Today we worked on making signs for our play. After Rosa Parks was arrested, the black people in Montgomery boycotted the buses for over a year. At the art center today, we worked on making these signs that were used during the boycott. Some children were able to write the letters just by copying the words, while others needed help with dots to trace, or have a teacher help hold the marker.

Seeing the children so invested in this story and this project is really wonderful to see. Children who aren't normally interested in art are making their way over to help make signs, and they are getting really excited to perfom the play!

-Alison and Sauci

An important story

Jared asked at circle if we could put the story that we have been talking about in class on the blog.  I said sure as long as he could tell me the story.  Here it is in Jared's words.  There was a lady named Rosa Parks and she went on a bus.  Then a man came on the bus and he went to the back and said "Get out of the seat because I am white and you are black."  Rosa Parks said "No I am not getting up because the laws are wrong."  The man got the bus driver and told him.  Then he went to Rosa Parks and he said, "Get up" and she said "No the laws are wrong."  He called the police and took Rosa Parks to jail.  They took her fingerprints and put her in jail.  She called Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.  We are gonna change the laws by using words - and not riding the buses.  They walked.  The buses had no people on them and then the laws changed.
THE END