History and ELA Departments Collaborate to Teach about Civil Rights at Vassal Lane
For several years, 8th grade history students in
Cambridge have studied the integration of Little
Rock High School in 1957 with an eye to
exploring the role that individual “upstanders”
play in promoting social change. To support this
exploration, CPS 8th grade history teachers have
been trained by
Facing History and Ourselves
to teach their
Choices in Little Rock curriculum.
This spring, 8th grade history teacher
Bill Folman
and ELA teacher
Caitlin O’Brien collaborated
with HSS Coach
Estefania Rodriguez and
literacy coach
Sarah Foleno to create a
powerful new interdisciplinary unit on the Little
Rock Nine. This year, O’Brien’s students read
Carlotta Walls Lanier’s autobiography, “A
Mighty Long Way.” O’Brien used personal
narrative, song lyrics and photography to help
students understand Lanier’s horrific
experiences as the youngest of the Little Rock
Nine. In Folman’s class, students viewed Ava
Duvernay’s critically acclaimed documentary
“13th,” and explored the connections between
the abolition of slavery and our current mass
incarceration system. This collaboration
allowed students to understand
institutionalized racism and the tools civil rights
leaders used to transform society. Students
also envisioned their own roles as active citizens
and upstanders.