Exploring activism and primary sources with Sweet Justice: Georgia Gilmore and the Montgomery Bus Boycott

Lesson recommended for grades 3-5, though adaptable for younger and older students Book summaryThis story about Georgia Gilmore and her efforts to aid and support the fight for justice in segregated Montgomery, Alabama, is a beautiful reminder of the power of individuals to enact change through specific and intentional efforts.This biography of a woman who protested and testified, as well as fund-raised and fed the people during the Montgomery Bus Boycott, is a needed telling of one of the oft-neglected individual stories of the Civil Rights Era.NCSS themes (1) Time, Continuity and Change (2) Individual Development and Identity (3) Civic Ideals and Practices C3 framework D2.Civ.2.3-5.Explain how a democracy relies on people's responsible participation and draw implications for how individuals should participate.D2.Civ.8.3-5.Identify core civic virtues and democratic principles that guide government, society and communities.D2.Civ.12.3-5.Explain how rules and laws change society and how people change rules and laws. D2.His.3.3-5.Generate questions about individuals and groups who have shaped significant historical changes and continuities. D4.6.3-5.Draw on disciplinary concepts to explain the challenges people have faced and opportunities they have created in addressing local, regional, and global problems at various times and places. Prior contextNote that this lesson is designed for students who have prior context with some elementary school studies of the US Civil Rights protests and reasons for protesting for equal rights under the law.