New Shoes by Susan

Lynn Meyer

Kendall Conley, Madison Kennedy, & Hannah Schumsky

Summary

New Shoes follows the story of an African American girl

named Ella Mae, who comes up with a plan to do chores
and her payment would include old, used shoes. Then Ella
Mae and her cousin Charlotte spent the time fixing the
shoes up, making them look brand new and opening up a
shoe store that is open for all to try on and wear, no matter
your race, color, or background.
Social Justice Topic: Racial Inequality
“This book offers a story that sets two young victims of discrimination on a path of
resistance through entrepreneurship.”

The story begins when Ella Mae and her mother set off to a shoe store to purchase
new shoes. We quickly see Ella Mae and her mother be skipped in line by a white
father and daughter. We next see that same white girl get the opportunity to try on
shoes, until she finds one she likes. Once they are done, Ella Mae is not permitted to
put her feet in any of the shoes and instead her foot is traced on paper to find her
size. Ella Mae then comes home to share her disappointment with her cousin,
Charlotte. This is when Ella Mae and her cousin plan to reclaim their dignity by
opening their own community used shoe shop.

We see these two girls stand up against the Jim Crow discimmination by overcoming
these obstacles and showing resistance and transformation, through their actions.

The authors note gives more background about Jim Crow discrimmination, Civil
Rights, and Voting Rights acts.
Social Justice standards
Justice 12 JU.K-2.12 - I know when people are treated
unfairly

Justice 14 JU.K-2.14 - I know that life is easier for some

people and harder for others and the reasons for that are not
always fair.

Justice 15 JU.K-2.15 - I know about people who helped stop

unfairness and worked to make life better for many people.
ELA Standards
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.2.5

Describe the overall structure of a story, including describing how the

beginning introduces the story and the ending concludes the action.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.2.7

Use information gained from the illustrations and words in a print or

digital text to demonstrate understanding of its characters, setting, or
plot.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.2.1

Ask and answer such questions as who, what, where, when, why, and how
to demonstrate understanding of key details in a text.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.2.3

Describe the connection between a series of historical events, scientific

ideas or concepts, or steps in technical procedures in a text.
Online-Lesson Plan
Read Aloud:
- We will first begin by reading the book aloud
- Periodically throughout the story, we will pause and ask
questions, in order to get students to critically think.
Questions include:
- What do you know about racism and racial inequality?
- Why do you think people of color were treated this way?
- Why do you think Ella Mae is asking for outgrown shoes as a
form of payment?
- Why is it important to include everyone in society?
Lesson Plan Continued

If disruptions occur throughout the lesson, we will gently remind students to

keep their attention on the story and reminding students appropriate zoom
behavior, such as muting oneself and giving the teacher your full attention.

Following read-aloud, the class will engage in a discussion, discussing aspects of

the story such as:

- Who the main characters are?

- What happened in the story?
- Predict where we think this story occurred?
- Why do we think people employ racist actions?
- How does the events that took place in the story compare to those that
occurred throughout history
Continuation of Lesson

After the discussion has concluded, students will fill out a graphic
organizer where they will write:
- One thing that occurred at the beginning, middle, and end of the
story
- Descriptions of the characters and the plot
- A picture of something that stood out to them, as they heard the
story
For those who cannot be online, we will provide a scanned copy of the
story, a list of the discussion questions that a parent or guardian can pose
to their child, as well as a paper copy of the graphic organizer to be sent
home.
How does our activity align with our
book?
Our lesson/activity aligns with our book because:
- We are making sure to ask questions during the reading
of the book to give some context and background to
some of the topics in the story.
- Then after the story we will discuss further and answer
any questions the students may have.
- Following the discussion we will have the students fill out
a graphic organizer about the story, beginning, middle,
and end, characters, as well as draw a picture of
something the caught their attention while reading.
Assessment
Assessment(s):
Informal assessment occurring during our class discussion, evaluating the students
responses by making sure their responses are on top, show their thinking, as well as
hearing from most students in order to show they understood the story and are
digging deeper than the text. While students are discussing, others need to be muted
and giving the speaker their full attention
Aligning standards:
- CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.2.1: Askand answer such questions as who, what, where, when, why, and how to
demonstrate understanding of key details in a text.
- CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.2.3: Describe the connection between a series of historical events, scientific ideas or
concepts, or steps in technical procedures in a text.

Written Assessment in the form of a graphic organizer. The information that is

written on the worksheet shows us that students understand the structure of the
story, as well as gained information from words/pictures, in order to draw
conclusions about the plot.
Aligning standards:
- CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.2.5: Describe the overall structure of a story, including describing how the beginning
introduces the story and the ending concludes the action.
- CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.2.7: Use information gained from the illustrations and words in a print or digital text to
demonstrate understanding of its characters, setting, or plot.
Empowerment
This book is about a girl that wants to create her own store where
everyone is welcome no matter what race they are.

Racism is a very serious topic and it needs to be addressed as such:

- We will be making sure that our students know what it is as well as

asking them questions to see if they can explain what is happening
and showing them how it is wrong.
- The main character of the story wants everyone to feel welcome in
the store she opens and that is why she is doing that, she is taking
action on something she feels strongly about and we will explain to
the student how important it is to not only see the issue but to also
take action to be apart of the change.
Resources

Meyer, S. L. (2015). My New Shoes. New York City, New York:

Holiday House.