Dear Parents (note from my daughter's 4th grade teacher)

[underpants]

Last edited Wed Jan 28, 2015, 09:32 PM - Edit history (1)

We have been studying Martin Luther King Jr. and the Civil Rights Movement in Social Studies and Reading. Part of our focus has been, and will continue to be, on the lives and experiences of African-Americans and Native Americans during this time. Throughout the year we will be discussing discrimination, prejudice, Jim Crow laws, segregation, civil rights, and integration. In addition, we will be viewing the film "Remember the Titans". I feel this film is valuable in giving the children a small sense of what life was like for children and adults during that time period. Some issues that come up in discussions during this unit can sometimes be sensitive. We will approach our learning with open hearts and minds, as we have done the entire year. You may find it valuable to take this time to speak to your child about your family's experiences and understanding of the Civil Rights Movement and what it has meant for people in your life.
Thank you for your ongoing support.

[Dont call me Shirley]

1. This 4th Grade Teacher...

[madamesilverspurs]

2. Excellent.

My fourth grade reading material included a magazine-size text (bright red, of course) that showed pictures that illustrated the horrors of living under communism, which added to the fear factor of duck-and-cover drills. History? Not so much. It was McCarthyism every day.

[Wellstone ruled]

3. Forgot about all that drivel.

Remember my father talking about the tail gunner who served in the same outfit and it wasn't nice how much of a fake the guy was.

[NBachers]

10. "In Russia, the newspapers tell people what to think. They don't know the real news."

Remember that one?

[world wide wally]

4. I was faer too young to understand about Joe McCarthy and all that, but I do know

that my father was a Democratic, Union truck driver when I was growing up. I also had no idea what he meant at the time, but he always used this expression when talking about McCarthy,
"they should just stick a flagpole up his ass and let himg hang there". Now it's all so clear

[NBachers]

11. Wally, that's the quote of the day!

[vkkv]

5. Spelling error "" I fell this film is valuable ""

" FEEL .. this film.."

But whatever, I never went to 4th grade.

[underpants]

7. Typo on my part

Edited

[mountain grammy]

6. I spent the end of 4th grade and all of 5th in a segregated school in North Carolina

My Dad was stationed at the Cherry Point Marine base. Base housing was integrated, but the public schools in town were not. Yes, children must learn about real American history.

[spartan61]

8. I so agree with your statement.

When I was 16 I worked one summer in a small sandwich/ice cream shop in Michigan. A Black man came in and sat at the lunch counter and the owner (my boss) told the waitresses not to wait on him. I ached for this man but was a shy teen ager and followed the owner's instructions. I have carried this pain with me since that time and always use this example with my second graders during Black History month. I want them to understand what racism and prejudice really is. I was so hopeful during the mid 60s with the Civil Rights movement that racism would be gone forever. Unfortunately, it is still with us.

[pkdu]

29. Good on you for working with kids this way.....I'm afraid tho that racism will always be with us

which is why the laws put in place in the mid 60s should stay on the books...what the Supreme Court did last year was a disgrace.

Racist politicians have just gotten " smarter " on how to " Jim Crow " the results they want .

[AverageJoe90]

35. Sorry to hear that.

If the owner was willing to do something like that, one must wonder what *other* ethics violations he was willing to commit.....

But I'm glad you took this and used it to help educate people. I like that.

[Tanuki]

9. When I was in the 4th grade in 1965, in a county in West Virginia which was almost all white,

our teacher would read us a book chapter each day after recess as a transition to settle us down to work for the rest of the school day. One of the books that I will always remember was "Mary Jane," by Dorothy Sterling. The title character was one of two African American students who were the first to integrate an all-white southern high school, and the book focused on her experiences throughout the year. Much like the teacher in the OP, our teacher (Mrs. Mills) was thoughtfully giving us a lesson in empathy, fairness, and how much prejudice hurts. I looked up the book just now and found this review in a blog, which tells a bit more about it:
http://thejoyofthewrittenword.com/2011/07/29/book-review-mary-jane-dorothy-sterling/

[certainot]

12. lucky she didn't say anything too liberal

with some publicity the local rw radio blowhards might e going after her.

thanks. my bro is a teacher like that.

[niyad]

13. but she did talk about "open hearts and minds". we simply CANNOT have that in the process

of brainwashing, errrr. . . educating, the latest batch of serfs.

[Duppers]

14. impressive

All the more so since this is in Richmond, VA!

Yay for our purple state!

[ALBliberal]

15. Excellent!

We watched Return of the Titans over Christmas with my in laws who had never seen it. They loved it. An important movie. What state are you in?

[underpants]

17. Va

Remember the Titans is based on TC Williams highschool in northern Va.

[ALBliberal]

20. Even more excellent!

Great to see this lesson in civil rights in VA and local history applies. Just terrific. Yay 4th grade teacher!

[2naSalit]

16. That teacher

needs to be recognized for excellent public service and get a raise!!

[Jefferson23]

18. +1. n/t

[underpants]

28. Today's homework

An excerpt from "A Letter from a Birmingham Jail" - the nonviolent direct action, gadflies part - and what it means.

[Jefferson23]

19. Can I ask which state?

I really like this teacher. K&R

[2naSalit]

21. Bet it wasn't Idaho!!

[Jefferson23]

22. lol

[underpants]

23. Virginia

Central Va

[Jefferson23]

24. Thank you. n/t

[TimeToGo]

25. Great but

"Remember the Titans"?

[underpants]

27. I would think that it ties in with the football season

And keeps the boys interested.

I never actually finished watching the movie myself. It fit too many film formulas for me.

[TimeToGo]

33. I guess

It's just that it's fiction -- I would want some reality, but . . .

[appleannie1]

26. I celebrated my 8th birthday in Mobile, Alabama. I still vividly remember stopping

at a gas station on the way there and walking the sidewalk to the restrooms. At the end of the walk was a sign driven into the ground with the name 'N****rs" painted on it. There was an arrow pointing to a path into the woods behind the gas station. I stopped, turned around and asked my mom why that was there because we were not allowed to use that word in our house. That is how I learned about the horror of segregation in this country. I was not quite 8 but it was a lesson I never forgot. Hopefully that teacher is perfectly truthful and does a good job because those children are old enough to learn this country is not perfect and never has been and there is plenty of things done that were downright shameful.

[elleng]

30. Great!

And this is in VIRGINIA, right? Public school???

[underpants]

31. Yep

I am very impressed with the material let alone the teacher. Very impressed.

[elleng]

32. I'm pleased to see this.

Any idea how other teachers in that school handle, or don't handle, these matters?

[underpants]

34. No idea

We are just busy getting homework and projects done

[TexasMommaWithAHat]

36. This is terrific!

I hope this first year teacher is in a school where his enthusiasm and creativity are nurtured and where he and his students have adequate support to have a successful school year.

If he has that, we might see him as a future national teacher of the year recipient.