Lesson Title

English

Its Tea Time

Common Core State Standards
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CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.11-12.1 Initiate and participate effectively in a

range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led)
with diverse partners on grades 11-12 topics, texts, and issues, building on
others' ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively.

Behavioral Objectives
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Students will be able to understand the time periods we will be looking at.
Students will be able to understand differences in cultures

Grade 11
Lesson 1

Materials Needed

Pen
Pencil
Paper
Spanish to English dictionary

Other Resources Homework

Character lists for each student

Teacher notes on explaining the
tea party
Homework assignment 1

Activities

1.
2.

Homework

3.
4.

(4) Attendance and announcements

(10) Brief students on the tea party activity, give them each their character
to get to know
(30) Linguistic tea party time. Students will mingle and act out their
character, further explanation will be given.
(6) Debrief on the class activity, assigning a writing reflection paper on the
experience of the character.

Homework assignment 1

Adaptations
For students who are ELL, I will provide extra help to them in explaining their
character, as well as a Spanish to English dictionary.

Formal Assessment
For todays class students will be assessed on their participation as well as
class involvement in the activity. Homework 1 will be turned in next class
for a grade as well.

[Title]

English

Its Tea Time

Grade 11
Lesson 1: Homework 1

Looking back at todays activity, the tea party, how did you feel after taking on a characters personality?
Explain how your character would feel in social situations, and how that was different than other characters
you had met. Reflect back on the experience as a whole, what made some characters more powerful than
others? Take some time to write a reflection on this, write as much as you need to, to get your point across.
Remember to have fun, and good luck!

[Title]

English

Its Tea Time

Grade 11
Lesson 1

For this activity you will each receive a character, read over the paper I give you and get to know your
character well. We will then be acting out each character, and interacting with each other as your character.
Some of you may have the same character, so try to avoid talking to yourself. Get to know each character,
and fill out the worksheet given to you. Write down what you think is important facts about each character,
and tell your own facts. This is a time to get to know the characters we will be addressing within this unit.
Have fun, and happy acting!

Celie- I the narrator of dis story. I am fourteen years old. I have always been a good girl. I very poor they
give me no money. They yell at me all the time, I git the food ready but they say it be cold. Dont nobody
come see us. God is always here though. I take to Good a lot, God tell nobody what I tell him. I have some
hard times, they sometimes hit me. They don listen to what I say, I don mean anything to them. Someday
tho, Someday I will.
Melba Parrillo Beals: This book is my autobiography. I wrote it because I was involved in a major historic
event in United States History. I was one of the little Rock Nine- one of the nine African American Students
chosen to integrate Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, in the 1950s. Let me tell you, I had some
hard times. People kicked me me, spit on me, tried to kill me, but I survived. I wrote this book to tell you
my story and to ease my pain.
Grandma India: You are going to love me. I am a tough love kind of Grandma. You might find me sitting
in a rocking chair, but instead of knitting and crocheting, Ill have my rifle on my lab. My grandbaby Melba
is integrating that high school to make things better for African Americans, but as Frederick Douglas said,
Freedom does not come without a struggle. No one is going to make this easy. So Ive got my gun ready in
case anyone plans on troubling us. I am highly religious, but I am highly practical as well. Dont mess with
my grandbaby.
Link: Its true that I am white, and its true that my friends wrote up cards saying things like, Two, four, six,
eight, we dont want to integrate. I am a witness to all of the terror that Central High students caused the
Little Rock Nine. Its true that they chased Melba and urinated in Ernest Greens gym locker, but Im not like
them. I see beyond skin color. I saved Melbas life.
Danny: I am the one who told Melba that warriors dont cry. She was on the battlefield in that high school.
She was a solider in the war against segregation, and I helped her. President Eisenhower sent in the 101st
Airborne to stop the violence against the black students who attempted to integrate Central High School. I
had Melbas back.

[Title]

Daisy Bates: I work with the local National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).
I own and write for a local black newspaper. I am a longtime activist who understands the sacrifices we need
to make to better the conditions of blacks in the United States. I took these nine children under my wing
because I knew how hard they were going to have to struggle in order to make change.
Junior: I will tell you my story- anything you want to know. I am from the rez. I have something not many
around here have anymore, I have hope. Hope that things will get better, hope to get out and hope to survive
long enough to make both those things happen. I get picked on a lot here at the rez, I get blamed for stuff I
didnt do. If it lets them be happy I guess so be it. At first I thought I was Indian, through and through.
Now I dont know. I like to think I am part time now, I belong to many tribes. Im still trying to figure out
what that means, but I have hope.
Mr. P: I have been here on the rez for what seems like forever now. Im white. I wish I made different
choices, but I didnt. Here on the rez I am the minority; they dont really like me here. I teach at the school,
I teach the same material day after day, year after year. It gets old. It is old. I made bad choices back in the
day, but I wish I hadnt. I treated them like they treat me now, and it wasnt good then and its certainly not
good now. I hope that kid makes it out, if anyone should it should be Junior.
Penelope: People call me a dreamer, I just want to leave Reardan, everyone here has small ideas, and small
dreams. I want to see the world, and all of its wonders. Thats probably why I like Junior so much, hes
different than everyone here. He has hope, and he got away. We get a lot great, we like to draw together. My
father doesnt like different people, especially people like Junior. I do though, its just the same as us.
Arnold Spirit: I am Juniors father, Senior Arnold. Ive been on this rez forever, never leave. Theres no
need to, unless I want to sing. I like to sing, play the guitar piano and saxophone. Sometimes I disappear for
a while, I drink. Sometimes too much, actually all the time too much. Guess thats what the rez does to you
after a lifetime here. I secretly hope Junior makes it out of here- I would never tell him that though, dont
want him leaving the rez. He wont never come back.

Characters from Warriors Dont Cry were taken from Teaching for Joy and Justice, by Linda Christensen (2009).

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