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Let the Children March


Title: Let the Children March
Genre: Coretta Scott King
Author: Monica Clark-Robinson
Major Awards: Coretta Scott King Award
Age Group: 2nd-5th grade

 This is the story of a young girl during the time of segregation. She explains that she could not play on the same playground as the white kids, could not go to school with, them could not drink from their water fountains, etc. One day, her and her family went to hear Dr. King speak about marching for freedom. Her parents explained that they could not march for fear of losing their jobs. The girl and her brother did not have anything to lose, so they told their parents that they would be willing to march. Dr. King urged all the young children in town to march to end the segregation. Havoc struck during the marching-they were sprayed, attacked by dogs, and jailed because of their marching. They did not let any of this stop them, though. In the end, the children were hailed as heroes and they won the fight against segregation.

 I would use this in my classroom if we were learning about Dr. King and segregation. I think this story does a wonderful job of teaching students about history and the harsh realities that people of color had to undergo day in and day out. It does a great job of shedding light on an important time in history, while also making it easy for young students to understand. 

 I believe that second through fifth graders would gain the most from this story. It is short and to-the-point, teaching about this time period in a way that is easy for students to grasp. It does have some pretty tough images to look at and some tough points to hear about, so I think that by second grade, students would be mature enough to handle the content.

 In my classroom, I could have my students write about what freedom means to them. We could also have a class discussion on the importance of treating everyone the same, no matter what they look like. Also, I could give them a popsicle stick attached to a piece of paper (making it look like a poster), and have them write something important to them that they would march for. 

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