LESSON 24 TEACHER’S GUIDE
The Montgomery Bus Boycott
by Ellen B. Cutler
Fountas-Pinnell Level T
Narrative Nonfiction
Selection Summary
The Montgomery Bus Boycott began when Rosa Parks refused to
give up her seat on a segregated bus. Others joined the effort to
protest the segregation law, and the boycott lasted 381 days and
resulted in an important victory for civil rights.
Number of Words: 1,432
Characteristics of the Text
Genre
Text Structure
Content
Themes and Ideas
Language and
Literary Features
Sentence Complexity
Vocabulary
Words
Illustrations
Book and Print Features
• Narrative nonfiction
• Third-person narrative organized in eight short chapters
• The beginning of the Civil Rights movement
• Segregation in the Deep South during the 1950s
• Rosa Parks and the united African American community
• The convictions and courage of one person can lead to change.
• Strength in numbers and solidarity
• Women were instrumental to the success of the bus boycott.
• History comes alive through inspirational text
• A mixture of short and complex sentences
• Full range of punctuation; acronyms
• Terms from history or civics: Civil Rights, segregation, boycott, Supreme Court, U. S.
Constitution
• Some figurative language: walk their way to equality
• Some challenging multisyllable words, such as distinguished, equality, significance
• Historic black-and-white photographs with captions for photographs
• Thirteen pages of text with photographs on most pages
• Easy-to-read chapter headings, sidebars
© 2006. Fountas, I.C. & Pinnell, G.S. Teaching for Comprehending and Fluency, Heinemann, Portsmouth, N.H.
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The Montgomery Bus Boycott
by Ellen B. Cutler
Build Background
Help students use their knowledge about the Civil Rights Movement to visualize the events
described in the text. Build interest by asking questions such as the following: What
do you know about Rosa Parks? Do you know that she was part of a larger movement
called the Montgomery Bus Boycott? Read the title and author and talk about the cover
photograph. Note the eight chapter heads. Tell students that this book is narrative
nonfiction so it presents facts and details about what actually happened.
Introduce the Text
Guide students through the text, noting important ideas, and helping with unfamiliar
language and vocabulary so they can read the text successfully. Here are some
suggestions:
Pages 2–3: Explain that the events in the text take place in Montgomery, Alabama
in the 1950s. Suggested language: In the 1950s, people in America were
segregated, or separated according to their race. African Americans had to attend
different schools than whites, eat in different restaurants, use separate public
bathrooms and drinking fountains, and sit in the back of buses. Have students find
the word prejudice in the first paragraph on page 2. Ask: How is segregation a
form of prejudice?
Pages 4–5: Explain that Rosa Parks was arrested for not giving up her seat on the
bus so that a white man would have more room. Direct students to the highlighted
word on page 5. Tell students that Parks remained serene, or calm, after her
arrest. Ask: How might it help to remain serene in a stressful situation?
Page 6–7: Have students read the first sentence about Jo Ann Robinson calling
for a one-day boycott of Montgomery buses. Make sure they understand the word
boycott. Ask: What do you think the problem of the book will be?
Now turn back to the beginning of the book and read to find out about what
happened during the Montgomery Bus Boycott and how it was important.
Target Vocabulary
agitation – a feeling of nervous
excitement
conceive – to form or develop
an idea
respected and recognized for
achievements, p. 8
ecstasy – extreme happiness
controversy – a public
disagreement about an issue
inclined – to have a preference
for or tendency toward
something
distinguished – highly
prejudice – a judgment or
Grade 6
2
opinion formed unfairly, p. 2
regal – characteristic of a king or
queen, p. 11
serene – calm and undisturbed,
p. 5
significance – meaning or
importance, p. 13
Lesson 24: The Montgomery Bus Boycott
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Read
Have students read silently while you listen to individual students read aloud. Support their
understanding of the text as needed.
Remind students to use the Question Strategy
as they read. Tell them
to ask questions about the selection before they start reading, as they read, and after they
read.
Discuss and Revisit the Text
Personal Response
Invite students to share their personal responses to the selection.
Suggested language: Based on her description in the text, what qualities do you most
admire in Rosa Parks? If you were able to interview her for your school newspaper, what
might you ask her?
Ways of Thinking
As you discuss the text, help students understand these points:
Thinking Within the Text
Thinking Beyond the Text
Thinking About the Text
• Rosa Parks’s actions and arrest
spurred the Montgomery bus
boycott.
• People can peacefully band
together to fight injustices.
• Historical photographs from the
1950s offer additional insight
into the text.
• Throughout the boycott,
people banded together to end
discrimination.
• A person’s bravery can lead to
changes in unjust laws.
• Sidebars describe how Jo Ann
Robinson and other women kept
the boycott going.
• The Supreme Court ruled that
bus segregation was against the
U.S. Constitution.
© 2006. Fountas, I.C. & Pinnell, G.S. Teaching for Comprehending and Fluency, Heinemann, Portsmouth, N.H.
Choices for Further Support
• Fluency Invite students to participate in choral reading. Remind them to stress
important words and quotes in the text and to pause briefly after commas.
• Comprehension Based on your observations of the students’ reading and discussion,
revisit parts of the text to clarify or extend comprehension. Remind students to go
back to the text to support their ideas.
• Phonics/Word Work Provide practice as needed with words and word parts, using
examples from the text. Remind students that learning common suffixes found in
words and seeing how the word is used in the selection can help them discern the
meaning of the new word. For example, the suffix –ly is added to words to tell how or
how often something is done. The suffix –ful changes a noun into an adjective. Have
students identify examples from the text of words with these suffixes.
Grade 6
3
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Writing about Reading
Critical Thinking
Have students complete the Critical Thinking questions on BLM 24.7.
Responding
Have students complete the activities at the back of the book, using their Reader’s
Notebook. Use the instruction below as needed to reinforce or extend understanding
of the comprehension skill.
Target Comprehension Skill
Author’s Purpose
Remind students that the author had a purpose in mind
when she wrote this book. Tell students to use text details to figure out the author’s reason
for writing. Model how to add details to the Graphic Organizer, using a “Think Aloud” like
the one below.
Think Aloud
On pages 8–9, the author describes how Montgomery’s citizens banded
together to end segregation. On page 12, she includes a photograph
depicting the Supreme Court ruling that banned segregation in public
schools. These details support the author’s purpose, which is to tell about
an important event in the history of the United States.
Practice the Skill
Encourage students to share their examples of another book in which the Author’s
Purpose is to inform readers about an important event in U.S. history.
Writing Prompt: Thinking Beyond the Text
Have students write a response to the prompt on page 6. Remind them that when they
think beyond the text, they use their personal knowledge to reach new understandings.
Assessment Prompts
• On page 6, why is the second paragraph important to the book?
• How is the text organized?
• What is the meaning of significance on page 13?
Grade 6
4
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English Language Development
Reading Support Pair advanced and intermediate readers to read the selection softly,
or have students listen to the audio or online recordings. Remind them that the bus
boycott was the beginning of the Civil Rights Movement in the United States.
Idioms This selection contains idioms that might be unfamiliar. Explain the meanings of
the idiomatic expressions give up their seats (page 3), walk their way to equality (page 5),
and the right person at the right time (page 8).
Oral Language Development
Check student comprehension, using a dialogue that best matches your students’
English proficiency. Speaker 1 is the teacher, Speaker 2 is the student.
Beginning/Early Intermediate
Intermediate
Early Advanced/ Advanced
Speaker 1: Where did African
Americans have to sit on the bus?
Speaker 1: How were white bus drivers
rude to black passengers?
Speaker 1: What perils did bus
boycotters face?
Speaker 2: in the back
Speaker 2: Sometimes they drove away
after passengers paid their fare but
before they got on the bus.
Speaker 2: Some were fired from
their jobs and couldn’t find work,
while others were arrested or had
their houses set on fire by angry
white citizens.
Speaker 1: Who refused to give up her
bus seat on December 1, 1955?
Speaker 2: Rosa Parks
Speaker 1: What did ministers ask their
church members to do?
Speaker 2: join the bus boycott
Speaker 1: Why did the boycott upset
Montgomery businesses?
Speaker 2: They were losing money
because black citizens weren’t
shopping in their stores.
Lesson 24
Name
BLACKLINE MASTER 24.7
Date
Critical Thinking
The Montgomery Bus
Boycott
Critical Thinking
Read and answer the questions. Possible responses shown.
1. Think within the text How did Rosa Parks contribute to the boycott?
She refused to give up her seat on a bus.
2. Think within the text How did taxi drivers help during the boycott?
Some of them lowered their fares.
3. Think beyond the text Boycotts are considered a nonviolent way to
bring about change. Why do you think boycotts work?
Boycotts can show how things can change without the support of
a certain group of people. They can also gain enough attention to
bring about change.
4. Think about the text The author says it took years after segregation
was made illegal for people to get equal rights. Why did it take so
long?
Just because the laws changed does not mean that everyone’s
attitudes changed.
Making Connections When people work together, they can often bring
about change. Give an example of a change that people worked hard to make
together. What did they try to change and how did they do it?
Write your answer in your Reader’s Notebook.
Critical Thinking
9
Grade 6, Unit 5: Taking Charge of Change
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Grade 6
5
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First Pass
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Name
Date
The Montgomery Bus Boycott
Thinking Beyond the Text
Think about the questions below. Then write your answer in one or two
paragraphs.
Remember that when you think beyond the text, you use your personal
knowledge to reach new understandings.
On page 8, the author asserts that Rosa Parks “was the right person at the
right time.” Why is Parks an inspiration to people who seek freedom around
the world? What qualities did Parks have that helped her advance the
struggle for civil rights?
Grade 6
6
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Lesson 24
Name
BLACKLINE MASTER 24.7
Date
Critical Thinking
The Montgomery Bus
Boycott
Critical Thinking
Read and answer the questions.
1. Think within the text How did Rosa Parks contribute to the boycott?
2. Think within the text How did taxi drivers help during the boycott?
3. Think beyond the text Boycotts are considered a nonviolent way to
bring about change. Why do you think boycotts work?
4. Think about the text The author says it took years after segregation
was made illegal for people to get equal rights. Why did it take so
long?
Making Connections When people work together, they can often bring
about change. Give an example of a change that people worked hard to make
together. What did they try to change and how did they do it?
Write your answer in your Reader’s Notebook.
Grade 6
7
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Student
Lesson 24
Date
BLACKLINE MASTER 24.11
The Montgomery Bus Boycott
The Montgomery Bus
Boycott
Running Record Form
LEVEL T
page
8
Selection Text
Errors
Self-Corrections
Accuracy Rate
Total SelfCorrections
Rosa Parks’ decision not to give up her seat was one of the
first important events of the Civil Rights movement. The Civil
Rights movement was an effort to end segregation and gain
equal rights for African Americans.
From the point of view of Montgomery’s black leaders, Rosa
Parks was the right person at the right time. They needed the
African American community to get angry enough to support a
boycott. A bus boycott would show that the segregation laws
were unfair. Parks was the perfect person. She was an
educated person who always obeyed the laws. She was a
distinguished member of the community.
Comments:
(# words read
correctly/105 × 100)
%
Read word correctly
Code
✓
cat
Repeated word,
sentence, or phrase
®
Omission
—
cat
cat
Grade 6
Behavior
Error
0
0
1
8
Substitution
Code
cut
cat
1
Self-corrects
cut sc
cat
0
Insertion
the
1
Word told
T
cat
cat

Error
1414474
Behavior
1
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