Segregation and racial separation is a touchy subject, but important to teach accurately and factually. I often find that these topics grab the attention of my students because they are so intrigued at the history of the world and ideas of people by the fourth grade. Starting with slavery, different ideas come up and many teachable moments happen during conversations with students about treatment of people and inequality to African Americans. This is an important concept to cover because of how it affected our country and is currently being brought up again in certain situations, as well as the importance of history starting in the fourth-fifth grade level.
Although hesitation will be apparent because of the touchiness, there are ways for teachers to approach the topic in a clear and confident way. Kiefer and Tyson came up with a ten-point model that teachers can follow in their lessons to help stay on topic and not hurt feelings or go into unknown, sketchy territory. It contains 10 steps from beginning to end of how to approach any controversial issue in a classroom. Also, this Learn NC article provides another series of steps to approach topics and includes an explanation as well. Another way teachers can approach segregation is by using books, both novels and picture books.
Many picture books provide accurate information, as well as pictures to help students visualize this time period. Lowering the reading complexity allows students to focus more on the theme or topic being presented, helping them to learn through reading. One book that is excellent to use when teaching segregation is Sit In: How Four Friends Stood Up by, Andrea Davis Pinkney and Brian Pinkney. This story recounts the day in Woolworth’s store in North Carolina where four courageous African Americans sat at a counter meant for all whites and waited to be served, peacefully at the beginning of the civil rights movement. With simple language and flowy, abstract looking photos made entirely of sketched pictures of curled strokes, Pinkney teaches this historic moment to children of all ages. Sit In is a great book for teachers to use as a support text for Social Studies in a cross-curricular sense. For example, students read the book which opens up to a reader’s theatre where students are forced to take a perspective of a main character, whether it is a worker in Woolworth or a college student at the counter; in this way, “social and emotional bonds between classmates are promoted, building interpersonal and collaborative skills in the classroom” (Thibault) which will help with the way discussions and questions flow and feelings are in the class.
Finally, teachers need to show perspectives and other stories from this era in order for children to get a fully rounded and deep understanding of segregation. Here is a link providing teachers with a list of other books, both picture and novels that are great to use when teaching this controversial topic. List of Segregation Books for a Variety of Ages
Kiefer, B. Z., & Tyson, C. A. (2014). Charlotte Huck's Children's Literature: A Brief Guide (Second
ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
Pinkney, A. D., & Pinkney, B. (2010). Sit In:How Four Friends Stood Up By Sitting Down. New
York, NY: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers.
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