Activities: Language & Arts

Activities - Language Arts    "Justice for my People: The Dr. Hector P. Garcia Story"

Language Arts Extension Activities

1. VIDEO Watch segment of video relating Mrs. Garcia's reaction to her move to Texas. Instruct students to write a letter to her home in which they explain on her behalf what she had found. (Students will need to research more about the South Texas environment in the 1940's and 50's.) Then have the students assume that they have moved to a place where they are unfamiliar with the language and customs; they might be at or near the "bottom" of the social pecking order. Through discussion, students might decide on a specific location or one assigned by the teacher. Using appropriate letter format, students write letters to relatives back in their homelands. Students might want to talk to the school's ESL teacher(s) for more insight into this activity, or the teacher might want to arrange for the ESL teacher to address specific classes.
2. VIDEO Find the photograph of the group of women at the end of the first segment, then "freeze" that frame. Have the students brainstorm descriptors of that group, using such questions as, "What does it appear they are doing, what are their ages, why are they there?" To allow the students greater creativity, allow them to choose one of the characters and create her biography. Then instruct the students to imagine this same type of group gathered together today. What type of differences, similarities, dress, physical makeup would exist? Elaborate about that group, perhaps reconstructing a biography sketch. Instruct the students to project fifty years into the future. What would this type of meeting be like? How would it be held? For what purpose? Who would be there? Describe their appearance. This activity can be used as a basis of discussions. Students can explain what they envision the future, including their own children and grandchildren, to be.
   
   Remember to review rules for brainstorming!
3. THE FOLLOWING CAN BE DONE SEQUENTIALLY OR SEPARATELY: Have students discuss ideas about the reasons for segregation. Since this is a discussion, remind students that there are no right or wrong answers. Have a student write notes from the discussion. Students can write a paragraph in which they summarize the important points of the discussion. Have students then prepare to debate the question, "Segregation - right or wrong?" Have students "draw" for sides --- no "swapping." Students need to gather facts related to this issue in which they support their side.
   
   TEACHERS, YOU CAN FIND HOW TO CONDUCT A DEBATE IN ALMOST ANY ENCYCLOPEDIA.
   
   Remember that a debate is a discussion of facts, not emotions, so caution students that they must have facts and research on this matter.
4. Have students write position papers in which they either defend or refute the practice of segregation.
5. Have students write a personal narrative in which they describe how the changes affected by the Civil Rights Act have touched them personally. Ask them to observe their classroom and school environments - who are their friends, who lives in their neighborhoods, what specific racial "lines" are drawn. Do they think that their lives would be the same without the Civil Rights Act? Elaborate their answers.
6. Employing ideas garnered from above, have students create a rough draft of a short story in which segregation is a key factor. Have students include dialogue in the story. After writing rough drafts, have students peer edit each other's works for correct grammar, usage, and continuity.
7. Have students read the stories aloud, then vote (or you choose) one to three that the class (divided into the same number of groups) can rewrite as a script. These can be performed as reader's theatre or as a play, possibly in conjunction with a specific ethnic group's holiday or celebration.