Lesson
2
:
Learning Fairness From a Nonfiction Text
Grade
Grade 7
UNIT
7
•
Fairness
In Unit 7, Lesson 2, students will learn an example of fairness, and other character strengths, from the life of Claudette Colvin. At the age of 15, Colvin refused to give up her seat on a Montgomery bus nine months before Rosa Parks and the infamous Montgomery bus boycott. Students will develop their critical thinking and academic dialogue skills by answering questions about the text and engaging in class discussion.
SUGGESTED TIME:
- 1 class period to introduce the topic and watch the short videos
- Several sessions of in-class silent readings or several homework assignments to complete the book, Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice by Phillip Hoose. The book is 107 pages divided into 10 chapters, an epilogue, and an author’s note.
- Suggested reading assignments:
- Assignment 1: Chapters 1-2
- Assignment 2: Chapters 3-4
- Assignment 3: Chapters 5-6
- Assignment 4: Chapters 7-8
- Assignment 5: Chapters 9-10
- Assignment 6: Epilogue, Author’s Note
- 1 class period to discuss the book
- Have students answer the worksheet questions as they read the book.
- Allow at least 50 min of class time to have a class discussion of the worksheet questions.
RELATED SUBJECT:
English Language Arts
LEARNING OUTCOMES:
- Read a nonfiction text and demonstrate understanding of the central ideas
- Determine the author’s purposes in the text
- Write answers to questions about the book, demonstrating an understanding of standard English sentence structure and grammar
- Engage effectively in collaborative discussions about the book
REQUIRED MATERIALS:
- Book: Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice by Phillip Hoose
- Video: Jim Crow Laws In the South by NBC News Learn (~3 min)
- Video: The Montgomery Bus Boycott of 1955 | Black American Heroes by History Channel (~5 min)
- Video: Civil rights pioneer Claudette Colvin honored for bus protest by ABC News (~ 4 min)
- Prohuman Grade 7 Unit 7 Worksheet 2: Learning Fairness from a Nonfiction Text
VOCABULARY:
Fairness: I treat everyone the same. If someone has been left out, I bring them in.
ELA COMMON CORE STANDARDS MET
CHARACTER AND SOCIAL EMOTIONAL (CSED) NATIONAL STANDARDS MET
LESSON PROCEDURE
Step 1:
- Ask the students who has heard about Rosa Parks. Ask what they know about Rosa Parks and write a list on the board.
- Ask students if anyone has heard of Claudette Colvin. Explain that we will be reading a book about Claudette Colvin who, at the age of 15, refused to give up her seat on a Montgomery bus nine months before Rosa Parks and the infamous Montgomery bus boycott.
Step 2:
- To understand the historical context and significance of this event, we first need to understand the meaning of the term Jim Crow. Ask who knows the meaning of this term.
- Play video: Jim Crow Laws In the South by NBC News Learn (~3 min)
- We also need to understand the Montgomery bus boycott. Play video: The Montgomery Bus Boycott of 1955 | Black American Heroes by History Channel (~5 min)
- In our final video, we will learn about the role Claudette Colvin played. Play video: Civil rights pioneer Claudette Colvin honored for bus protest by ABC News (~ 4 min)
Step 3:
- Have the students read the book, Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice by Phillip Hoose, either as a series of in-class silent reading assignments or for homework.
- Have students answer the worksheet questions while reading the book.
Step 4:
- Reserve an entire class period to facilitate a whole-class discussion of the worksheet questions.
GRADE 7 UNIT 7 WORKSHEET 2: LEARNING FAIRNESS FROM A NONFICTION TEXT
QUESTIONS TO ANSWER WHILE READING
- What were the economic conditions for Claudette Colvin and other African Americans in Alabama in the 1950s?
- How were African Americans discriminated against on public buses?
- What historical event happened on May 17, 1954, and why was this important?
- How did Claudette’s teachers who focused on African American history inspire Claudette?
- What did Claudette say she thought about when deciding to remain in her seat?
- How did Claudette’s refusal to give up her seat cause her to connect with both Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King, Jr.?
- What was the MIA network and what did it do?
- What was the ruling announced in Browder v. Gayle?
- How did segregationists retaliate against the African American community?
- What do we learn in the author’s note about how the author wrote this book? How does this give the book credibility?
- What did Claudette tell the students at the Q&A at Booker T. Washington Magnet High School in 2005?
- What did you learn about fairness from the life of Claudette Colvin? How can you show fairness to others in your life?
Prohuman K-12 Curriculum © 2025 by Prohuman Foundation is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0.
To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
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