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This The Watsons Go To Birmingham—1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis activity also includes:
- A photograph of Governor George Wallace speaking in 1963
- A letter to President John F. Kennedy from Tom Oberdorfer, 1963
- “Letter from Birmingham City Jail” by Martin Luther King Jr., 1963
- A 2006 photograph of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church
- A photograph of policemen outside the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church, 1963
- Excerpts from 1972 FBI records regarding the bombing of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church
- A newsclip of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., May 5, 1963
- A newsclip from May 8, 1963 of President John F. Kennedy
- Newspaper clippings on school segregation
- Excerpts from Brown v. Board of Education, 1951
- An excerpt from the Civil Rights Act of 1964
- A photograph of Emmett Till, Chicago, 1955
- An excerpt from FBI records regarding the murder of Emmett Till
- Activity
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A primary source set of photographs, videos, newspaper articles, and FBI reports provides insight into race relations during the 1960s, the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church bombing, and the murder of Emmitt Till. Designed to be used to set the stage for a reading of Christopher Paul Curtis's novel, The Watsons Go to Birmingham, the set is also appropriate for any study of the Civil Rights Movement.
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CCSS:
Adaptable
Concepts
author's purpose, point of view, historical context, primary source analysis, primary source images, primary sources, rhetorical devices, emmett till, the civil rights movement, martin luther king jr., injustice, racism, activism, african american history, african americans, black history month, segregation, brown v. board of education, the fourteenth amendment, plessy v. ferguson, jim crow laws, social justice, social injustice
Instructional Ideas
- To save copying costs, project the documents, or if pupils have access to computers, load the documents on each group's devices
Classroom Considerations
- The documents are powerful and disturbing; ensure that a protocol is in place for a safe, respectful discussion of the events and of the times
- Requires copies of Christopher Paul Curtis's The Watsons Go To Birmingham
Pros
- The packet includes discussion questions and a writing prompt
- Offers suggestions for how to set up the documents as a station activity
Cons
- None