Hook: To open up this lesson, the teacher should have 2 large pitchers filled with water. Use the same water fountains to fill up both pitchers. On the front of one pitcher place a label with an A on it and a label with a B on the front of the other pitcher. Distribute a post it note to each student as well as a small Dixie bathroom cup. Tell the students that they will be conducting a taste test to see which water tastes best. Tell them that the water in pitcher A comes from the front office water fountain and the water in pitcher B comes from the water fountain by the gym. (Hopefully you have water fountains close to those areas.) Pour water from one pitcher at a time into their cups. Tell them to make a note of how each sample of water tastes,  looks, and any other details that come to mind.

Present them with this scenario: The principal loves drinking water but will only drink water from the fountain which is in pitcher A. She refuses to use to drink water from the fountain by the gym.

 

Why do you think that is?

 

Allow the students to discuss and tell why they think the principal will only drink water based upon the location of the fountain. On the board make notes of the students’

responses. They should produce many different scenarios… Is the water special? Why don’t we get the special water? Is something wrong with the water by the gym?

Some will argue that the water tastes the same and some may argue that the water tastes different. If the students say they don’t taste any differences with the water, ask why do you think that is?

 

The idea behind this warm-up is to have the students come to a consensus of why the principal doesn’t drink from the water fountain by the gym.  This revelation will be pivotal at the end of the story when the students make a connection.

 

*In case that students don’t make the connection right away, it’s okay.  Eventually through the class discussion,  there will organically be an  A-HA moments where students are able to relate the opening activity to the lesson in the story.

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Lesson :

Before you read the story,  write the quote written below on the board for the students to see.  Ask them to make assumptions about the quote like what they think it is about, or who is the author talking about in the quote?

 

” When I finally got to town, I was scared to death. All kinds of things were running through my head. What if I get caught? What if I get hurt? What if they put me in jail forever? But I had to know what that white water tasted like.”

 

Allow the students time to process this quote- as it will organically lead to in-depth conversations. Why was the boy in the story so fixated on finding out what the “White Water” tasted like?

 

Ask the students have they ever heard of the idiom: “Never judge a book by its cover?” Allow them to elaborate with their table groups on what this means. Explain to them that as they hear this story they should consider how this quote contributes to the story.

 

Instead of reading the book, I would like you to try a different strategy.  Explain to the students that instead of listening to the story right off the bat,  they will be reading the pictures or taking a picture walk to create meaning of the story prior to hearing it.  Explain that as you turn each page, they should pay careful and close attention to the colors on the pages, characters, and what is being said non- verbally-through the pictures. By only looking at the pictures, it forces the student to hone in on the details that are meaningful, as well as draw inferences as to what may be happening in the story.

 

*You may have students that are accurate in their assumptions of the story and you may have some students that are way off.  As you begin to read the text the students will make better meaning of the story, based upon the picture walk.

 

Read the book from beginning to end, still showing the students the pictures. Be ready to hear gasps, and sighs as some will say their assumptions were accurate.

 

After reading: Ask the students: What the significance of the water represents? Ask them to share their thoughts about the idea of two separate water fountains, and how did the book correlate with the activity in the beginning?  Were they able to make any connections?  How has their perspective changed about the kind of water the principal only drinks?  What might be a good solution to get the principal to understand that all the water in the building is ok to drink?

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CLOSING:

 Closing Activity: Place students into groups of four. They will complete a Synectic.

A Synectics is a problem-solving methodology that stimulates thought processes in which the subject may be unaware. This method was developed by George M. Prince (April 5, 1918 – June 9, 2009) and William J.J. Gordon, originating in the Arthur D. Little Invention Design Unit in the 1950s.  Students are made to compare two unlike objects, while still identifying commonalities among them.

 

 *Students will need a large piece of paper folded into thirds. Chart paper works best.

You should complete the first example as a class together. Then, allow the students to work on the second question with their table groups or with a partner.

 

**Synectic example to be completed whole group:

1. How is freedom like cool water?

2. How is segregation like a water fountain?

3. After folding the paper into thirds. On the top-left side of the page write the word: FREEDOM.

4. On the top-right side of the page write: COOL WATER

5. In the middle on the top part of the page write: SAME. This part of the page is where students will find commonalities between these two very different concepts.

6.Explain to students that as a class, you will be working together to complete the first Synectic activity.

7.Begin by having the students tell you all that they know about the word FREEDOM-write it on the side of the paper titled, freedom.  Students might say: freedom means being free, or that freedom is a birthright, or freedom means the right to play with whomever they choose.

8.Students should then tell you all that they know about COOL WATER- write down the information on the side that says cool water.   They may say, it’s refreshing, can be warm, can be icy,  you can purchase  it in the store..

9.Then in the middle column students must write what these two words have in common.

*This activity is a great way for students to work on critical thinking skills.

 

 

Closing Activity: Personification/ Perspective Writing- Present this scenario to the students: If the two water fountains (the white and colored ones) could talk to each other, what would they say to each other about what is going on in  the story? What would they say to the people using them? What conversations would they have with each other? What things might they hear?  Think back to the story and consider looking at things from the perspective of the water fountain.

 

Follow up reading: Freedom on the Menu  by Carole Boston Weatherford

White Socks Only

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