SOLs Ruby Bridges Monologue 1.2 The student will describe the stories of American leaders and their contributions to our country, with emphasis on George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Abraham Lincoln, George Washington Carver, and Eleanor Roosevelt. Materials/Time/Space: Ruby Bridges Monologue; Through My Eyes Book; Writing a Friendly Letter Paper; Pencil; Eraser Lesson Description: The teacher will act and read a monologue about the life of Ruby Bridges. The teacher will introduce who Ruby Bridges was as well as the connection of Eleanor Roosevelt and her impact on the United States. The student will write a friendly letter to Ruby Bridges. Objective and its Purpose: The student will listen to the teacher as she portrays Ruby Bridges through a monologue. The student will understand the importance of Ruby Bridges and that she helped end segregation in schools. The student will learn the importance of what it means to be a leader and how Eleanor Roosevelt was a great leader who helped with Equal Rights for all people. Anticipatory Set: (3 minutes) The teacher will come into the classroom dressed up as Ruby Bridges and ask if anyone knows who she is? The teacher as Ruby Bridges will have the students gather around the rug and start her monologue. Input/Modeling: (20 minutes) The teacher will read her monologue as Ruby Bridges. Throughout the presentation the teacher will check for understanding on what is meant by the hat and the sunglasses. The teacher will use a few pictures from the book, Through My Eyes in order to help build a further bridge between the character, Ruby Bridges and the student. Guided Practice: (5 minutes) After the monologue, the teacher will model how to write a friendly letter to Eleanor Roosevelt. The teacher will ask the students if they can tell her what the five steps (date, heading, body, closing, and name) are to write a friendly letter. The teacher, as Ruby Bridges will write a thank you letter to Eleanor Roosevelt using these five steps. Check for Understanding: (2 minutes) The teacher will ask the students what are some ideas that they could write about that described Ruby Bridges? What could they share about themselves in the letter? How could they inspire Ruby Bridges and tell her how brave she was? Independent Practice: (10 minutes) The student will write a friendly letter to Ruby Bridges. They will need to use the five steps (date, heading, body, closing and name) in order to complete the letter. Complete and thoughtful sentences are needed. Closure: (2 minutes) The teacher (now as Ms. George) will ask the students what happened while she was gone? Who came to visit? What is something that they can share with her about the special visitor? Why was Ruby Bridges important? What is her connection to Eleanor Roosevelt?
Evaluation Formative: The teacher will check for understanding of what it means to wear a hat and sunglasses, and if anyone can pick up on the idea based on the monologue. Summative: The friendly letters will be collected and graded upon if they incorporated all five elements in creating a friendly letter.
Ruby Bridges Monologue Hello boys and girls my name is Ruby Bridges. I would like to share with you a story about my childhood. It is one of bravery and struggle. I have experienced so much and I want to share with you my story. I became a leader at the age of 7. Now I know from your teacher that many of you are around the age of 7, and so I want you to know that you can be a hero and a leader too even at such a young age. Now in order for me to tell you my story, I need for all of you to close your eyes and imagine that you are back in the year of 1954. 1954 was many years ago and life was a lot different back then, but your teacher has told me that you have been studying about other famous people from the past like Martin Luther King Jr. and Abraham Lincoln who both wanted change and equality for all people. These men are some of my heroes. Now let me take you back to the year 1954. Imagine a hot day with the sun beating down upon the cotton fields in Mississippi on September 8, 1954 the year I was born. My parents were sharecroppers. Sharecroppers are people who work on a farm, but do not own the land and use the food grown like vegetables and cotton to trade and make money. I remember when I was young the summers that I would spend working in the fields with my cousins and grandmother. Even though it was hard work I was so happy and it was the best years of my life. I loved my grandmother and she gave me a lot of attention and made me feel very special. Now when I was four years old my family moved to the big city of New Orleans. My parents needed to make some more money so we moved to New Orleans in the hopes of making it rich. I had two brothers and a sister and our house had only two bedrooms so all four of us kids squished inside one bedroom to sleep at night. My family grew to eight kids but that would come later. When I was five years old I started kindergarten. Now back then people who wore hats like me all went to the same school. If you wore a hat you went to a school where everyone wore the same hat, even the teachers. Other kids who did not wear hats but wore sunglasses went to a different school. I had to walk a long ways to get to my school where everyone wore the hats, but I didn t mind it too much since I could walk with my friends. Now in that year I took a test to see how
smart I was. I was a very smart student and people who worked at the sunglass school wanted to know if I could read and write. I do not remember the test being hard, but I was told that it was supposed to be a difficult test to keep the hat kids and the sunglass kids separated. Some people from a big corporation called the NAACP came to my house and told my momma that I was one of the few students to pass the test and that I had been chosen to attend a new school called William Frantz Public School where I would be with kids who wore sunglasses. The men from NAACP told my momma that if I went to the all sunglass school that it would really help the hat school and the sunglass school to get along. My momma wanted me to go and get a better education, but my papa did not want me to go to the new school he thought that it might be dangerous. But after some long talks my parents decided it was worth me to give it a try. Now during this time a lot of people did not want the hat kids to hang out with the kids who worse sunglasses because they thought we were just too different from one another, but some big lawmakers fought and made some new laws that allowed for me to attend a sunglass school. There were four of us hat girls chosen to go to an all sunglass school, but I was the only girl who went to William Frantz. I was going alone. When my momma told me that I was going to a new school, I was not afraid but I was very sad that I had to leave all of my friends. Have you ever been afraid or sad before? The next morning four men wearing sunglasses came and picked my momma and me up to go to the new sunglass school. They were called federal marshals. I do not remember being scared driving in the car that day to my new school. The men with the sunglasses told me that once we got to the new school that they would take my momma and me inside and that no matter what happened they would be there to protect me. When we arrived at the school, there were a lot of people who wore sunglasses, shouting and holding up signs. I thought that it might be a big parade. When I got out of the car, I couldn t see any of their faces because I was so small
and was surrounded by the men who wore sunglasses. Walking to into my new school people were screaming, shouting and threw things, but all I noticed was how nice the school looked and how big it was. It must be a college, I thought to myself. Once inside the new school, my momma and I waited in the principal s office and I noticed that everyone outside and in the school were all wearing sunglasses and my momma and I were the only two wearing hats. I could tell that a lot of the people wearing sunglasses were not happy about my momma and me being at their school. I did not know why, was it because of my hat? All day long we didn t talk to anyone and no one spoke to us, we just sat in the principal s office all day. When it was 3:00pm and time to go home I was glad. That night after school my papa came home and called me brave little Ruby. Have you ever been to a new school before? How did you feel? The next day my momma and I drove back with the men wearing sunglasses, but this time there were many more people also wearing sunglasses who were not happy about me coming back to school. I had never met anyone who wore sunglasses before, so I was a bit nervous. My new teacher was named Mrs. Henry. She wore sunglasses. Mrs. Henry led me upstairs to a big classroom with lots of rows of desks, but there were no other children in the classroom. I thought that I was early, but Mrs. Henry said that I was right on time and began to teach. I spent the whole day with just Mrs. Henry. I never saw or met any other kids my age who wore sunglasses. The next day my momma didn t come to school with me, I was scared and cried. Have you ever been scared before? What did you do to help you conquer your fear? Over the next few weeks people who worse sunglasses were very upset that I was at their school wearing my hat. They would throw things, shout, and break windows all because I was wearing my hat and did not have sunglasses like them. My papa lost his job because I was going to an all sunglass school, but my family received money and letters from people all over the world saying how brave
I was and how proud they were of me. I got presents as well. I got toys, books and clothes for school. I had to share my gifts with my other brothers and sisters because my momma didn t want me to get all of the attention. I wasn t too happy about that, but it was only fair. One day I got a letter in the mail from a very famous woman, the First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt. She was President Roosevelt s wife. My momma loved that letter from Eleanor Roosevelt the most, but it was lost in a flood after a hurricane, it was a really sad loss. But I can still remember what that letter she wrote me said. Dear Ruby Bridges, You are such a brave and courageous young lady. Thank you for making a difference and for being so strong even at such a young age of seven. I wish you all the best. Sincerely, The First Lady, Eleanor Roosevelt. How would you feel if you received a lot of letters in the mail telling you that you were very brave? Even though I was scared sometimes during my first year at the all sunglass school being the only girl wearing the hat, I knew that I was very brave. I was the only student in Mrs. Henry s class the whole first grade. But it was fun and I felt special. I knew that Mrs. Henry cared and loved me even though I wore my hat and she wore her sunglasses. Since I could not go outside and play with the other students, Mrs. Henry and I would push the desks back and do jumping jack exercises. Near the end of the year, a few sunglass children came into my class. We talked a few times, but one boy who wore sunglasses told me that his mama didn t want me to play with him because I wore a hat. It was in that moment I realized that it was because I was African American that his mama didn t want me to play with him. Even though it hurt my feelings that the boy did not want to play with
me I knew that my culture as an African American is what made me wonderfully amazing, and I was making a change by coming to an all-white school. Throughout the rest of the school year it was mainly just Mrs. Henry and me. When the summer came, I thought that nothing had really changed. I was still the only girl who wore a hat at my school. However, when I went back to school for the second grade something magical happened. No men wearing sunglasses came and picked me up, so I walked to school. When I entered William Frantz I thought that I would be on my own, but to my surprise I walked into a classroom filled with twenty other students some with sunglasses and some wearing hats just like me! I was upset to learn that Mrs. Henry would not be my teacher again because I loved her so very much. In my first year I was the only girl wearing a hat and now there were many people wearing hats just like me and there were kids wearing sunglasses too. We all played outside together and we all ate lunch together. It was a magical moment. I knew that my bravery had made this possible. Even though I was only seven years old I had become a hero, a leader and had made it possible for hats and sunglasses to go to the same school. Do you really think that I wore a hat and that is what made me wonderfully special? If it was not my hat that made me unique then what was it? What does the hat represent? What about the sunglasses?