Rosa Parks Day

Rosa Parks Day lesson plan

Use recycled materials to create props to act out Rosa Parks' historic role in the U.S. Civil Rights movement.

  • 1.

    Read about Mrs. Rosa Parks' act of civil disobedience, and the roles she played in the civil rights movement.

  • 2.

    Use a tissue box to create a bus. Paint your bus with Crayola® Tempera Paint and Paint Brushes. Dry overnight. Add details with Crayola Washable Markers.

  • 3.

    Use Crayola Scissors to cut wheels from recycled cardboard. Decorate them with markers. Attach wheels to your bus with Crayola School Glue. Dry completely before standing on its wheels.

  • 4.

    Make bus seats from construction paper. Glue them inside the bus. Dry.

  • 5.

    With construction paper, make puppets of people who were involved at the beginning of the Montgomery bus boycott: Mrs. Parks, bus driver, police officer, passengers of different races, and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Draw people's features and clothing wit

  • 6.

    Write a play in your own words about Mrs. Parks' experience. Use your puppets to reenact the events.

Benefits

  • Children conduct research to learn about Mrs. Rosa Parks' historic role in the U.S. civil rights movement.
  • Children create original artwork to depict the setting in which Mrs. Parks acted for fairness.
  • Children create a puppet show to reenact Mrs. Parks' experiences on December 1, 1955, in Montgomery, Alabama, showing what they learned.<p>

Adaptations

  • Use recycled boxes to create a neighborhood map for the play. Research the Montgomery community in 1955, and make buildings to match those structures, such as the Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church and the state capitol.
  • Sing songs that promote friendship, such as "Peace Is the World Smiling." Learn songs (and their meanings) that were sung during the civil rights movement, such as "We Shall Overcome" and "If I Had a Hammer."
  • Students research additional details about pivotal events leading up to and during the civil rights movement. Students learn more about the ideas that shaped Dr. King's philosophy for attaining peace and justice.