The Starplace

 

(Grove, V. (1999). The starplace . New York: Putnam's Sons.)

Summary: Frannie accepted her town as it was until Celeste, an African-American, moves with her family to the white part of town and Celeste attends the all white school. Frannie resists being friends with Frannie but a shared hideout and membership in a special choirs brings them together and reveals to Frannie the ugly past, in some cases not too past, of her hometown.

Reading Level: Ages 10-14, Lexile 1000L

Key words/phrases:

    1. Ku Klux Klan

    2. Racism

    3. Early 1960s Oklahoma

    4. Desegregation

    5. Interracial middle-school friendship

Suggested Delivery: Whole class read aloud

Electronic Resources:

    1. PBS Kid’s Go! School Desegregation provides information on the Little Rock Nine as well as the history of the desegregation movement.
    2.  History of the Ku Klux Klan for Kids provides background information on the Ku Klux Klan.

Teaching Suggestions:

Key Vocabulary: Mimosa tree, Opera, Riffles, Manacles, Vamoose, Rickety, Segregation.

Reading Strategies to increase comprehension:

         Before: To have students better understand this book, historical background knowledge should be built on school segregation and the laws and controversy surrounding it, as well as the environment and political climate of the 1950s and 1960s in the United States. This can be accomplished by wither reading several shorter picture books, such as The Story of Ruby Bridges by Robert Coles, and having students watch clips of actual historical events in this time period, such as students desegregating the schools, political leaders and their opinions on desegregation, and the peaceful protests . Some examples are:

1.      “Berkeley Public School Desegregation: Gabrielle” This video Highlights the role Carol Sibley had as a member of the Board of Education in desegragating the Berkely Public Schools, as told by Gabby Morris who was the PTA president during this time. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-aw194sEeCQ

2.      “Desegregating Baltimore City Schools” This is A longer video which gives the perpectives of vaiorus people who experienced the desegrefation of the Baltimore Schools. It gives backgorund on  Baltimore beofre degregation and history of the process of degsegration.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzfg0RGJnV8

3.      “School Desegregation” This video begins with Martin Luther King Jr, but tehn branches out to focus on the role students had in ending desegration and the reaction of the public to the desegregation.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UHWtwW8Qh0&feature=related

4.      “1960-Civil Rights Movement” This video essay focuses on the desgration of schools and includes similar material as the above video but alos incldues a more broader perepstive on the civil rights movement in general  which would build general backgorund helpful to seeing the enviroment in desgeration was ocuring. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGihycVy0B4&feature=fvsr

         During:  Have students record on a sheet (their “moral compass”) whether they would do what Frannie did. Have the student record the important decisions Frannie made and then write whether they would make the same decision as Frannie did. A column for character motivation can be used to explain what motivated Frannie in each situation. Before students are given the assignment, outline examples of such events to ensure that the students have a complete understanding of the assignment.

What Frannie Choose to Do (Action)	Why did Frannie do what she did? (Motivation)	What would I do? (Action)	Why? (Motivation)

         After: Have students fill out a Book Frame outlining the main ideas and the essential details and summarizing the stories big idea (http://www.adlit.org/pdfs/strategy-library/frameroutine.pdf )

Vicki Grove

Writing activity demonstrating inferential comprehension: Create a Voki (http://voki.com/) as either Frannie or Celeste summarizing the story, or as themselves describing the event in the story sticks with the students the most? How do they connect this event with experiences they have had? Or does this event not connect with your experiences?