By: Robert Murphy, Sr.

Jumana Shehadeh

Emerson Middle School

Yonkers, New York

English Language Arts

We are bought up to believe that desegregation was always the way of American education. In 1957, in Little Rock Arkansas, nine African American high school students enrolled in Central High School. This was the first attempt of integrating black students with an all white population. You will learn of the painful trials and tribulations that greeted the nine unexpected new comers.

You are one of the nine students entering Central High School. How will you persevere in a climate in which people make it known that you do not belong and that you are different?

Goals and Objectives:

For this WebQuest students,

• will work in cooperative groups of four to six students and be able to determine the tone of the poem through the use of vocabulary terms
• will define the problem and propose a solution on how to persevere using the PPA format (six-step policy)
• will research Little Rock Arkansas, Central High School in 1957
• will create poetic responses where they are the students that accepted the new comers into the school
• will present their findings in a Power Point Presentation

Below are the links that will take you to required worksheets for each of the six steps required for PPA. Work with your group members to complete each one.

1. Defining the Social Problem

http://www.maxwell.syr.edu/plegal/TIPS/worksheet1.doc

2. Gathering Evidence of the Problem

http://www.maxwell.syr.edu/plegal/TIPS/worksheet2.doc

3. Identifying the Causes of the Problem

http://www.maxwell.syr.edu/plegal/TIPS/worksheet3.doc

4. Evaluating Existing Public Policies

http://www.maxwell.syr.edu/plegal/TIPS/worksheet4.doc

5. Developing Public Policy Solutions

http://www.maxwell.syr.edu/plegal/TIPS/worksheet5.doc

6. Selecting the Best Public Policy Solution

http://www.maxwell.syr.edu/plegal/TIPS/worksheet6.doc

After completing worksheets numbers one through six (1 – 6) each group will complete the following tasks for their Power Point Presentation:

• Research Central High School, 1957 in Little Rock Arkansas. The websites listed below can be used for reference:
• Read the poem entitled Little Rock Arkansas 1957 dedicated to the nine children, by Isabella Gardner
• Use the vocabulary words that are highlighted in the poem to determine the tone of the poem
• Create a poetic response to the poem where you are the students that accepted the nine new comers into the school
• Create a power point presentation of your findings

www.google.com

www.eisenhower.utexas.edu/dl/LittleRock/littlerockdocuments.html

www.americanhistory.si.edu

http://www.ourdocuments.gov/print_friendly.php?flash=true&page=&doc=89&title=Executive+Order+10730%3A+Desegregation+of+Central+High+School+%281957%29

http://www.readwritethink.org/calendar/calendar_day.asp?id=297

http://americanhistory.si.edu/events/event.cfm?key=26&eventkey=1296&date=2007-09-27

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/race_relations/july-dec97/rock_9-25.html

Your work and the process that it takes will be evaluated using the following rubric based on the NYS English Language Arts and Social Studies Standards.

	3 Excellent	2 Satisfactory	1 Fair	0 Poor (Do Over!)
Understanding the Task	Student is logical with an excellent working knowledge of material and the audience.	Student has a good working knowledge of material and the audience.	Student presentation is somewhat clear, but not engaging to the audience.	Student has very little understanding of the material and the audience for whom they are addressing.
Development and Organization	Very well organized and presented.	Good organization and development.	Some organization but needs more development.	Poor organization and development. Confusing information.
PPA Skills	Clear evidence of using several PPA resources and new resources.	Evidence of PPA resource use.	Little evidence of PPA resources.	No apparent use of PPA resources or understanding.
Vocabulary	Excellent use of vocabulary and appropriate language	Good use of vocabulary and language.	Weak word usage. Language development is poor.	Poor vocabulary skills and language usage.
Grammar and Punctuation	Excellent use of grammar and punctuation.	Good grammar and punctuation, has few errors.	Weak grammar and punctuation with too many errors.	Poor grammar and punctuation with so many errors that comprehension is impossible

1. Using written language for information and understanding

2. Using written language for literary response and expression

3. Using written language for critical analysis and evaluation

4. Using written and spoken language for social interaction

1. The quality of information provided will be accurate and come from multiple sources.

2. The findings will be clearly stated and thoughtfully presented.

3. Students will study family, neighborhood, and community.

When you have completed this activity, you will have a greater understanding of the issues and public policies surrounding the integration of public schools in the United States. You will have also demonstrated an ability to develop your own original public policy solutions through internet research and power point presentations.

All graphics obtained for this webquest project were obtained through the courtesy of the Library of Congress.