Choral reading is an often overlooked strategy for building reading fluency. It is also a powerful tool to help students "hear" the voices of history and to provide a basis for learning about historical events. This learning experience as presented here focuses on the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Quotes were pulled from websites and Russell Freedman's 2006 book, Freedom Walkers. Quotes from primary sources from any event in history can be used.

• New York State Social Studies Standards:
  • Key Idea 1.3: Study about the major social, political, economic, cultural, and religious developments in New York State and United States history involves learning about the important roles and contributions of individuals and groups.
  • H9: identify individuals who have helped to strengthen democracy in the United States and throughout the world.
• Purpose: This lesson provides students with the opportunity to "hear" the voices of people who lived through the Montgomery Bus Boycott and to begin to develop the understanding that history is the lived experience of diverse peoples. Through participation in this lesson, students will be able to place the Rosa Parks story within a broader, more accurate context and to begin to see the Montgomery Bus Boycott as a campaign for social change that didn't simply "happen" but that came about because large numbers of people participated in and contributed to this major social and political development.
• Materials:
  • Download our list of quotations. Feel free to edit them or to add any quotations about the boycott that you come across in your reading and research, as well.
  • Copy of quotations cut into strips.
• Number of class periods: 1

Connection

You should explain to the students the purpose of the day's lesson and how it fits into the broader context of the unit for study. You might say something like this:

"We have been learning about the Civil Rights movement in school. As part of this study, we have been learning about key events in the Civil Rights movement. The Montgomery Bus Boycott was one important event. We often think about Rosa Parks when we think about this event. Today, we are going to share out quotes from people who were involved in this event or who remember it. While we are reading the quotes, remember to be thinking like a historian: Ask yourself how this fits with what you already know, what questions it raises for you, and how different people's voices are important in this story."

Procedure:

1. Provide each student with a quote. (A sample of quotes from the Montgomery Bus Boycott follows. If you create your own, you should try to provide attribution for each quote).
2. Have students read their quote silently several times. This rehearsal will help students read aloud smoothly and with confidence. You may also want to have students practice reading their quote aloud for a partner.
3. When students are ready, explain to them that they will be reading quotes aloud in "popcorn" fashion -- there is no particular sequence. Students should just read their quote aloud when they are ready. The only rules are that only one person can read at a time and that they should read loudly enough for all to hear.
4. After everyone has shared, debrief the experience with the students. Consider some of the following questions to guide the conversation:
   • What did you learn about the Montgomery Bus Boycott from this reading?
   • Did you hear anything that surprised you? Perhaps things that didn't match the story as you knew it from before?
   • What questions do you have about what you heard?
   • Was there any unusual language, words, or phrases that surprised you? Why?

Extensions:

• You can have students try to sort the quotes by speaker, by content, or by time frame. What other patterns do they notice?
• Students can select parts of the quotes and create a found poem with the excerpts.

Assessment

In the conversation that results from this exercise, listen for evidence that students understand that the participation of many people was necessary for the Boycott to succeed.

Written reflection

Have students work in pairs or small groups to complete the following statements:

• I used to think..., but now I realize....
• I used to think..., but now I wonder....