February is Black History Month. When teaching your students about how African Americans have shaped history in the United States, the struggles they have faced, and the challenges they have overcome, you may want to teach them about one of the best known figures who took a stand (by taking a seat) during this time period: Rosa Parks.
According to the National Women's History Museum, Parks made history on December 1, 1955. After she boarded a bus, she decided to sit in the front of the bus instead of the back, an area designated for African Americans. When asked to move and give up her seat to a white passenger, she refused, leading to her arrest. Her act of defiance became a milestone in the civil rights movement, resulting in the now famous Montgomery bus boycott, a key event of the era.
Rosa Parks Lesson Plan
You can download a lesson plan from HMH Classroom Libraries below, with Rosa Parks activities in language arts and social studies, including primary source analysis, to better understand the immediate and long-term impacts of Parks's actions.
Note that while page 1 of this lesson plan includes some activities surrounding the book I Am Rosa Parks by Rosa Parks with Jim Haskins, students can complete the subsequent activities by conducting some online research, including on the Library of Congress website, as noted in the downloadable.
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The Rosa Parks lesson plan above originated from HMH Classroom Libraries. Click here to request a science or social studies libraries teaching sampler with free reading plans and activities.
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