We Shall Overcome: A Song That Changed the World

We Shall Overcome:

A Song That Changed the World

Written by Stuart Stotts

Illustrated by Terrance Cummings

Title: We Shall Overcome: A Song That Changed the World

Stuart Stotts

Author: Stuart Stotts is a Kennedy Center Teaching Artist. He is also an author, songwriter, storyteller, and a keynote speaker. Stuart speaks frequently at early childhood conferences and promotes music and arts education. He currently lives in DeForest, Wisconsin with his wife Heather and their four children. http://www.stuart.stotts.com/default.html

Illustrator: Terrance Cummings is an illustrator and designer. He graduated from the Parsons School of Design where he later became a teacher and has since contributed to many books for readers of all ages. He has won many awards including The American Illustration Award and The Bookbinders Guild Award. In the book We Shall Overcome: A Song That Changed the World Terrance only uses a palate of black, white, and red. Terrance currently lives in New Jersey with his wife and two sons. http://www.terrancecummings.com/index.htm

Genre: Nonfiction

Grade Level: Upper elementary

Synopsis: We Shall Overcome: A Song That Change the World is a book that demonstrates the power of music during the Civil Rights Movement. The song We Shall Overcome played a large role in the Civil Rights Movement and gave many African Americans the strength to pus forward. Stuart Stotts uses this book to talk about important parts of the Civil Rights Movement and he also uses it as a way to break down the song and really explore why it is so powerful. By combining nonfiction and music, Stuart Stotts makes learning about the Civil Right Movement child friendly and accessible.

Theme: The three major themes that can be connected to this story are the Civil Rights Movement, African American History, and music.

Pre-reading Activity: The teacher will play the We Shall Overcome cd that is located on the front cover of the book while doing a picture walk.

We Shall Overcome sheet music

Post-reading Activity: After the story is read, have the students listen to the song one more time. Then have the student write a ten sentence journal entry about how the song made them feel before hearing the story and a five sentence journal entry about how the song made them feel after hearing the story.

Assessment: The students will be assessed on their writing activities. They will be assessed on how well the listened and retained the information from the story and song. They will also be assessed on the quality of their journal entries.

Personal Reflection: We Shall Overcome: A Song That Changed the World is a nonfiction book I would use during a unit on the Civil Rights Movement. The tragedies of the Civil Rights Movement can be a lot for some students to digest. By using empowering music to help teach the Civil Rights Movement might make some of the content easier for students to take in. The book contains photos and original illustrations together to hold the students attention. It is written in chapter format in a way that some stories could be left out if so desired. Lyrics from the song are included throughout the entire book and there is also sheet music for the song located towards the back of the book.