Making Sense of Historical Letters When are letters a good way to communicate?

SOL Connections: USII.8 The student will demonstrate knowledge of the key domestic issues during the second half of the twentieth century by examining the Civil Rights Movement and the changing role of women.

VUS.13 The student will demonstrate knowledge of the Civil Rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s by identifying the importance of the Brown v. Board of Education decision, the roles of Thurgood Marshall and Oliver Hill, and how Virginia responded; describing the importance of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the 1963 March on Washington, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

GOVT.11 The student will demonstrate knowledge of civil liberties and civil rights by explaining every citizen’s right to be treated equally under the law.

Directions

1. Choose one of the “Making Sense of Letters” primary source analysis tools. Read the letter from Daisy Bates to Roy Wilkins once. What can you learn from your first reading? Begin completing the analysis tool you chose.

2. Now read the bibliographic record from the Library of Congress, the information about Daisy Bates and the Little Rock Nine and examine the photograph. Reread the letter. Complete the rest of the analysis tool.

3. Why do you think this letter was written? Do you think this letter is an example of a good way to communicate? Why or why not?

REFLECTION (consider these questions)

4. What analysis strategies are students using in this activity? Are these strategies useful as reading strategies?

5. How could you use this activity to introduce a new reading activity? How could you use this activity to introduce a writing activity?