Stephanie Brunette

ED398 Critical Literacy Invitation

Summer 2014

Butler University

Student Version: Leadership & Action

This invitation will challenge you to:

Disrupt the commonplaceby…

  • Examining American history from a leadership and action perspective
  • Questioning who can be a leader in the United States
  • Thinking about who we picture as leaders in terms of race, age, and gender

Consider multiple perspectives by…

  • Analyzing the viewpoints of White leaders and African American leaders
  • Considering children as leaders capable of taking action
  • Thinking about qualities of leadership in Americans

Focus on sociopolitical issues by…

  • Recognizing that American history predominately glorifies White males as the leaders of our country
  • Considering whether everyone has equal rights, liberties, and freedoms in today’s society

Take action by…

  • Thinking about how unlikely people can take action and become leaders
  • Discuss qualities of leaders that you can bring into our classroom and community
  • Reflecting on your own experiences to analyze historical American leaders

Standards addressed in this invitation:

Social Studies

1.1.3Identify American songs and symbols and discuss their origins.

1.1.4Identify local people from the past who have shown honesty, courage and

responsibility.

1.1.5Identify people and events observed in national celebrations and holidays.

1.2.3 Describe ways that individual actions can contribute to the common good of the

classroom or community.

1.2.4 Define what a citizen* is and describe the characteristics of good citizenship.

English Language Arts:

1.2.7Relate prior knowledge to what is read.

1.4.1Discuss ideas and select a focus for group stories or other writing.

1.4.6Organize and classify information by constructing categories on the basis of observation.

1.5.5Write for different purposes and to a specific audience or person.

Gateway Engagement

Leadership and Action

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." -Margaret Mead

This critical literacy invitation will give you a chance to explore the qualities that make someone a leader. You’re invited to think about people who have become leaders in America, who we accept as our leaders, and events in our American history that resulted in change due to actions a leader has taken.

History Strips:

In this starting activity, you will have 7 cards with the following words: Abraham Lincoln, Bald eagle, Great Britain, July 4, 1776, George Washington, and America. In a small group, work together to create a story or sentence using these words. Talk with your group members, and try to make as many connections as possible between the words.

When your group has created a story connecting these words, ask yourself:

  • What events from our history have you uncovered? Who is responsible for these events?
  • What does an American leader look like?
  • What is an act of leadership?
  • How have the leaders in this gateway engagement taken action in their leadership roles?
  • Who are our leaders in America?
  • What characteristics do leaders have?

As you discuss these questions with your group, consider the following images:

From the text Heart and Soul:

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Gives his “I Have a Dream” Speech(pg. 96)

Rosa Parks(pg. 87)

Painting:

The Problem We All Live With by Norman Rockwell

Engagement 1: Taking Action

John Hancock, Paul Revere, George Washington, and Ben Franklin are the Founding Fathers of America who helped separate America from Great Britain’s power.

David, Joseph, Franklin, and Ezell were inspired by a speech from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to take peaceful action in a white only diner.

Ruby Bridges was the first African American child to attend an all White elementary school in the south.

Abraham Lincoln believed that our country should no longer have slavery and traveled to give speeches about why he wanted to make this change.

Unspoken: A Story from the Underground Railroad tells the story of a girl who takes care of a slave in her family’s barn.

Activism is taking action for change. People may take action about many different issues and for many different reasons, but it all starts with a leader who believes that something is not right.

With a partner or small group, consider the following sources:

John, Paul, George, and Ben

Sit-In: How Four Friends Stood Up By Siting Down

Through My Eyes

Unspoken: A Story from the Underground Railroad

Abraham Lincoln (Focus on minutes 1-3)

As you explore these resources, think about:

  • What does action look like?
  • What caused these people to take action?
  • Why might someone consider them leaders?
  • Who supports leaders?
  • What surprises you about these leaders?
  • Who can be a leader in America?
  • How can you become a leader in our classroom and community?

You’re invited to share your thinking and learning about leadership in a way that describes who and what a leader is. This may include writing a letter to a character or person shown in these sources, creating a skit, or sketching your image of a leader, and so on.Please be sure to leave your creations in the folder so that other people can appreciate your thinking.

Engagement 2: Liberty

Liberty is the idea of being free of control from someone of power, or having the power to act as you want. Our Founding Fathers fought Great Britain in the American Revolution for liberty so that the United States could become “The Land of the Free.” Think about the freedomsand rightsthat you have in your life. What rights do you have as a citizen in the United States? Is everyone’s rights equal?

Individually or with a partner, consider the following resources:

Celebrate America in Poetry and Art

-Our Fathers Fought for Liberty (pg. 53)

America the Beautiful

Heart and Soul:

-War Munitions Factory, circa 1914 (pg. 56)

-President George Washington and Slave, Mount Vernon, Virginia (pg. 13)

Follow the Drinking Gourd

As you explore, think about:

  • Whose voices are shared in these sources? Whose voices are not shared?
  • Are their people in these sources who have liberties that other people do not have? Who has them?
  • What rights do you have as a citizen in the United States?
  • Does everyone have equal rights in America?
  • What rights do you have as a member of our classroom and community?
  • How can we use our rights and freedoms to become leaders in our classroom and community?
  • In what ways do our rights allow us to take action in our community?

Think about ways that you can illustrate some of your rights and freedoms in and out of our classroom, and ways that we can use our rights to take action in leadership roles. You may choose to share your thinking about liberties, freedoms, and rights by creating a painting similar to ones you have seen in Heart and Soul, writing a poem modeled from Our Fathers Fought for Liberty, or you may even consider creating a Wordleabout words that come to mind when you hear the word ‘liberty’. However you decide to share your thinking, please be sure to leave your creations in the folder so that other people can appreciate your thinking.

Engagement 3: Who and what is America?

There are often many images or symbols that come to mind when someone thinks of America. A symbol is something that stands for something else. They can be important places, objects, or words that make people feel like they belong to and are part of a proud, united country.

The symbols that share what the United States stands for may include the bald eagle, Statue of Liberty, American Flag, and National Anthem. All of these symbols are said to represent every race, country, and religion in the world since Americans speak many different languages, eat different foods, and have different customs.

Consider the following resources individually, with a partner, or in a small group:

Celebrate America in Poetry and Art

-Sparklers on the Fourth (pg. 86)

-The Pinta, The Nina, and the Santa Maria; And Many Other Cargoes of Light

(pg. 87)

An American ABC

O, Say Can You See?

I, Too, Am America

As you explore, you’re invited to think about:

  • Who is represented in these sources? Who isn’t represented?
  • Whose voices can you hear? Whose voices can you not hear?
  • Where do you see symbols that you can identify with?
  • Where do your own customs fit into these ideas about America?
  • How do these symbols make you feel?
  • How do these authors and illustrators demonstrate qualities of leadership?
  • What qualities of leadership can you bring into our classroom and community?
  • What are some symbols that represent you as a leader?

You’re invited to share your ideas about symbolism and who and what it means to be a leader in America, as well as in our classroom. You may choose to work individually or in a group to create a collage of images and symbols, draw or use clay to craft a symbol of yourself as a leader, or write a poem using the model I, Too, Am America. Please be sure to leave your creations in the folder so that other people can appreciate your thinking.

Bibliography

Bates, K. L. (2004). America the Beautiful. Little, Brown, and Company.

Bridges, R. (1999). Through My Eyes. Scholastic Press.

Cole, H. (2012). Unspoken: A Story From the Underground Railroad. Scholastic Press.

Hughes, L. (1994). I, Too, Am America. Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers.

Keenan, S. (2004). O, Say Can You See? Scholastic, Inc.

Nelson, K. Heart and Soul. Harper Collins.

Petersham, M. a. (1941). An American ABC. New York: The Macmillan company.

Pinkney, A. D. (2010). Sit-In: How Four Friends Stood Up By Sitting Down. New York, New York: Little, Brown, and Company.

Rockwell, N. The Problem We All Live With. Stockbridge, Massachusetts.

Smith, L. (2006). John, Paul, George, & Ben. New York: Hyperion Books for Children.

Smithsonian Institution. (1994). Celebrate America in Poetry and Art. New York: Hyperion Books for Children.

Soul, H. a. (2011). Kadir Nelson. Harper Collins.

The Life of Abraham Lincoln By Kids (2013). [Motion Picture].

Winter, J. (1988). Follow the Drinking Gourd. Alfred A. Knopf.