Impact on Segregation

Impact on Segregation: Readers’ Theater is an activity in which students read directly from scripts and tells a story in a most entertaining form, without props, costumes, or sets. This is a reading activity, and students are not asked to memorize their lines. They are, however, encouraged to "ham it up" and use intonation and gestures appropriate to their characters and their characters’ words.

Students travel on a tour bus in 1955 with a white bus driver and black and white citizens in Montgomery, AL. The purpose is to help students understand the inconsistent rules of riding the bus during that period in history. The bus illustrates ways African Americans were discriminated against. At the end of the assignment, the students are asked to describe his/her emotions and reactions to the humiliating bus ride. The activity is designed for elementary/middle school students but can be adapted for high school students.

Equipment:
Microphone, computer, speakers, audio editing software and internet connection

Lesson:

Introduce Podcast 30 minutes
Students may or may not be familiar with a podcast. Listen to a podcast such as http://millard.esu3.org/willow/radio/shows/Willowcast33.html , with the students and then brainstorm what they just heard. Share idea with students that they too could create record and host their own podcast.

Review the Montgomery Bus Boycott website: http://www.montgomeryboycott.com/frontpage.htm

Questions to ask after the podcast:
What does it mean to be the person who, by law, must sit in the back of the bus? What does he or
she see and feel when sitting in the back? Ask the same questions about the person at the front of
the bus.
• Rosa Parks was arrested for not following the bus rules. Could you see yourself making the same
decision she did under similar circumstances?
• What about the bus drivers? Are they responsible for their actions or were they “just enforcing the
rules”?
• Is it different to ride the bus today than in 1955?
• Does segregation exist today?
If so,
o Is it mandated by law?
o Does it happen by choice?
o Does it happen by circumstance?
o What can be done to improve the situation?