Paired Texts > Before Rosa Parks, There Was Claudette Colvin

by Margot Adler 2009

We've identified these texts as great options for text pairings based on similar themes, literary devices, topic, or writing style. Supplement your lesson with one or more of these options and challenge students to compare and contrast the texts. To assign a paired text, click on the text to go to its page and click the "Assign Text" button there.

Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott
Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott
USHistory.org

The informational text "Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott" explores one moment of resistance that inspired countless others and resulted in breakthrough changes in the United States.

Pair “Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott” with “Before Rosa Parks, There Was Claudette Colvin” to provide students with additional information about Rosa Parks and the bus boycott. Ask students to compare how the two texts depict Rosa Parks’ actions the day she refused to give up her seat. How do you think the Civil Rights Movement would have been different if Claudette Colvin had inspired the bus boycott, rather than Rosa Parks?

7th Grade Informational Text 920L
Malala Yousafzai's Address to the United Nations, July 2013
Malala Yousafzai's Address to the United Nations, July 2013
Malala Yousafzai

In her 2013 Speech to the United Nations, Malala Yousafzai states the importance of education and women's rights.

Pair “Malala Yousafzai’s Address to the United Nations, July 2013” with “Before Rosa Parks, There Was Claudette Colvin” to provide to students with another example of a girl who stood up for her beliefs. Ask students to discuss what motivated these two girls to act. Why do students think Malala Yousafzai was able to become a leader of a movement, while Claudette Colvin was overlooked by civil rights groups?

8th Grade Speech 860L
Rosa Parks: Beyond the Bus
Rosa Parks: Beyond the Bus
Barrett Smith

In the informational text "Rosa Parks: Beyond the Bus," Barrett Smith discusses some of Rosa Parks' lesser known, but equally important, accomplishments. 

Pair “Before Rosa Parks, There Was Claudette Colvin” with “Rosa Parks: Beyond the Bus” to provide students with additional information about Rosa Parks’ act of resistance. How does “Before Rosa Parks, There Was Claudette Colvin” affect students understanding of Parks’ refusal to give her seat on the bus? How do Claudette Colvin and Parks’ motivations for refusing to give up their seats compare?

7th Grade Biography 1060L
Women Who Spoke Up
Women Who Spoke Up
Andrew Matthews

In the informational text "Women who Spoke Up," Andrew Matthews discusses inspiring women who have contributed to change throughout history.

Pair “Before Rosa Parks, There Was Claudette Colvin” with “Women who Spoke Up” to provide students with information about Colvin, a woman who refused to give up her seat before Rosa Parks. Ask students to discuss how Colvin challenged racist laws. How did the Black women in “Women who Spoke Up” challenge racism through peaceful means? Why do students think that some activists are more well-known than others?

6th Grade Informational Text 890L
Women in the Civil Rights Movement
Women in the Civil Rights Movement
Barrett Smith

In the informational text "Women in the Civil Rights Movement," Barrett Smith discusses the role that women played in the Civil Rights Movement.

Pair “Women in the Civil Rights Movement” with “Before Rosa Parks, There Was Claudette Colvin” to provide additional information about lesser known women of the Civil Rights Movement. How were Black women often prevented from participating in the Civil Rights Movement? How do their experiences compare to Claudette Colvin’s experience? Ask students to discuss why it’s important to discuss the contributions of Black women and girls in the Civil Rights Movement.

8th Grade Informational Text 1250L
I look at the world
I look at the world
Langston Hughes

In "I look at the world," a speaker describes becoming aware of their oppression, as well as their role in making the world more just.

Pair “Before Rosa Park, There Was Claudette Colvin” with “I look at the world” and ask students to discuss how Claudette Colvin decided to make the world in her mind. How did Colvin feel when she was on the bus? What factors led to her story being forgotten and Rosa Parks becoming a well-known historical figure? Would Hughes describe those factors as more fences and walls?

8th Grade Poem
Claudette Colvin
Claudette Colvin
Britannica Kids

In "Claudette Colvin," Britannica Kids explains how Colvin, a Black teenager who refused to give up her seat on a segregated bus, affected the Civil Rights Movement.

Pair “Before Rosa Parks, There Was Claudette Colvin” with “Claudette Colvin” as a differentiation option for students. Both texts discuss Claudette Colvin’s life and actions, but “Before Rosa Parks, There Was Claudette Colvin” is a more rigorous text that uses quotes from Colvin about her experiences and goes into further detail about why Rosa Parks was chosen to be a leader of the movement instead of Claudette, while “Claudette Colvin” is a simplified biography.

3rd Grade Biography 920L