St. Mary of the Assumption School

Facing History and Ourselves

Saint Mary’s fifth grade teacher, Miss Jackie McCoy was introduced to Facing History and Ourselves in her junior year at St. Thomas Moore High School. "It was my favorite class" she recalls "because it went beyond factual readings and memorization and challenged us to examine history first by looking at one's own identity and (then) the relationship to others". "It was a great age to do this," she said, "because we were about ourselves then and by studying Holocaust and the Armenian genocide, we were constantly challenged to put ourselves in another's shoes." Jackie recalls that "we spent a lot of time reading, trying to understand how this could happen."
 
Miss McCoy drew on her Facing History experiences when, as a first year teacher at St. Mary’s, she planned to introduce Christopher Paul Curtis' The Watson's Go to Birmingham, a humorous but powerful children's novel, set during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960's. So, working with Facing History program associate Jimmie Jones, the question of how identity creates unique places in society became the framework for designing a historical and literary approach to Curtis' novel.
 
This novel challenges students to employ the comprehension strategies of strong readers as they question, connect ideas, and draw inferences from the text. The book centers on the Watsons, an African American family living in Detroit and a road trip they took to visit relatives in Birmingham, Alabama. To provide understanding of popular culture of the time, Jimmie brought primary sources to class and 5th graders became acquainted with the Beachboys and Motown music, as well as the cuisine, fashion, and technology of the time. Jimmy also guided discussion about regional differences between the Midwest and South, and the political and social mores of the era.
 
“The Watsons” radiates with the rich family life, genuine warmth and lively humor of its main characters but its backdrop illuminates moral dilemmas and the role of peacemakers who shape our history. Making connections between events in the story and the actual historical landscape generates questions and discussions, McCoy says. She noted that “Children love to know about Gandhi and Dr. King because they want to know what empowers people.” Jackie added, “I want students to understand why it is important to be an upstander and to be grateful to the people who paved the way.”
 
---Maureen Jutras