Read + Discuss 
Picture Book Lesson Plan 
Separate Is Never Equal: Sylvia Mendez & Her Family’s Fight for Desegregation ​by 
Duncan Tonatiuh 
 
 
 
GUIDED ANTI-BIAS/ANTI-RACIST READING | GRADES 3+ 
  
 
INTRODUCTION 
This lesson is a guided reading experience designed to accompany Duncan Tonatiuh’s picture 
book ​Sylvia Mendez & Her Family’s Fight for Desegregation​. Lesson content was written by 
Sofia Martinez-Mannen​ as part of her work in the Social Justice in K12 Education course at 
Portland State University and was designed to start or deepen anti-bias conversations in 
families and other learning communities. 
 
YOUTUBE READ ALOUD 
Separate Is Never Equal​ read by Principal Alma Renteria from Rivera Elementary School 
 
SUMMARY 
This book follows a young Mexican-American girl, Sylvia, as she starts her first day at a new 
school in Westminster, California with classmates that don’t look like her. The book describes 
the challenges that Sylvia and her family faced in being allowed to go to that school, instead of 
the Mexican school down the road. Sylvia’s parents refused to allow their children to go to the 
Mexican school because, although the school district said it was, the Mexican school was not of 
equal quality as the white school. Her parents filed a lawsuit against the Westminster school 
district so that all students, regardless of race, ethnicity, or language background, would be 
allowed to go to the same school and not be kept separate in unequal schools.  
 
This book is based on an actual case, Mendez v. Westminster (1947), in which the Mendez 
family, along with other Mexican and Latinx families in the area, fought for the rights of their 
children to attend the same school as the white students. At the time, schools were still 
segregated by race and Latinx students would be sent to “Mexican schools” because it was 
believed that they were inferior to white students and would negatively impact the learning of 
those white students if they were in the same building. The Mendez case, along with many 
others, was a landmark case in the fight for desegregation that happened before the more 
well-known Brown v. Board of Education case. This book is a great starting point in the 
discussion of segregation and fair treatment, as well as being a good starting point for those 
interested in learning about the legal side of these issues.  
 
OBJECTIVES 
This guided reading lesson is designed to be part of a larger life-long commitment to 
anti-racist teaching and learning for the student and the facilitator. Reading Is Resistance sees 
reading as an opportunity to seed deeper conversations and opportunities for action around 
racial equity in our communities. We hold the belief that being anti-racist is a process of 
learning (and unlearning) over time.   
 
The ​Teaching Tolerance Social Justice Standards​ (focused on Identity, Diversity, Justice, and 
Action) serve as guides for our work.  
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
TEACHING TOLERANCE STANDARDS REFERENCED IN THIS LESSON  
The Teaching Tolerance Standards and Domains referenced in this lesson are for Grades 3-51. 
This book, however, can be used with a wide range of ages. Domains featured in this lesson 
are as follows: 
 
Diversity Domain #9  Justice Domain #13  Justice Domain #15  Action Domain #20 

I feel connected to  I know that words,  I know about the  I will work with my 
other people and  behaviors, rules and  actions of people  friends and family to 
know how to talk,  laws that treat  and groups who have  make our school and 
work and play with  people unfairly based  worked throughout  community fair for 
others even when we  on their group  history to bring more  everyone, and we will 
are different or when  identities cause real  justice and fairness to  work hard and 
we disagree.  harm.  the world.  cooperate in order to 
    achieve our goals. 
 
 
   

1
​Teaching Tolerance Standards 
  
 
 
READ + DISCUSS QUESTIONS 
 
BEFORE READING 
❏ Do you know what segregation is? How would you define segregation? ​JUSTICE DOMAIN 
#13 
❏ What do you know about segregation and how it impacted, and continues to impact, 
people in the United States? Who does it impact and what does it look like? ​JUSTICE 
DOMAIN #13 

AFTER READING 
❏ Do you still think the same things about segregation? Did you learn something new 
about who it impacts and what it looks like? ​JUSTICE DOMAIN #13 
❏ How would you feel if you weren’t allowed to go to a school because of how you look 
or because of how people assumed you speak? J​ USTICE DOMAIN #13 
❏ Do you think it is fair to make judgements about people without getting to know them 
or asking them about themselves? D ​ IVERSITY DOMAIN #9 
❏ Would you feel a little scared to start at a new school where you didn’t know anyone 
and no one looked like you? What would you do if you were in Sylvia’s shoes? ​DIVERSITY 
DOMAIN #9 
❏ How can you help to make your school a more accepting and welcoming place to 
students who are treated unfairly? Who can you talk to in order to find solutions to 
problems you see? A ​ CTION DOMAIN #20 & JUSTICE DOMAIN #15 
 
ACTIVITIES & RESOURCES 
Resource for Identifying Landmark Desegregation Cases​ (website) 
❏ Some cases to start with: ​Alvarez v. Lemon Grove (1931), Cisneros v. Corpus Christi ISD 
(1970), Brown v. Board of Education (1951), Santamaria v. Dallas ISD (2006)​Research 
other desegregation cases and how they are the same and different from the Mendez v. 
Westminster case.  
❏ Create a timeline of important school desegregation cases to have a more visual 
depiction of that history, keeping in mind that segregation continues to happen even if 
there aren’t major cases about it. 
❏ Create a diagram to compare and contrast the various cases and their similarities and 
differences. 

   
  
 

Additional Resources 
 
READ NEXT 
 

 
   

Soldier for Equality: Jose de  ​ y Innosanto 

A Is for Activist b Be Bold! Be Brave! ​by Naibe 
la Luz Saenz and the Great  Nagara  Reynoso 
War b​ y Duncan Tonatiuh