Mrs. Figueroa’s and Mrs. Mattay’s 7^th grade Humanities classes participated in a two-part activity about post-Civil War life in the United States as a conclusion to their Reconstruction unit. During the first part, students analyzed a series of statements, such as:

• Teachers can drink soft drinks and eat during class but students cannot eat or drink, except during lunch hours.
• Students are encouraged to participate in curriculum development and the creation of disciplinary practices.
• Students are free to set their own schedules for the school year, with or without assistance from administration and/or parents.
• Students are not allowed to use the restroom, except during scheduled breaks.

After the teacher read the statement, students moved along a life-size spectrum ranging from “No Rights” to “The Same Rights as Adults”. At the conclusion of the first activity, students discussed the rights they wished they had compared to what rights they should have in a school setting.

During the second activity, students moved along the spectrum as the teacher read Reconstruction-Era key terms. This time, the spectrum ranged from “No Citizenship/No Rights” to “More Citizenship/More Rights”. Sample terms include Jim Crow Laws, Slave Codes, Poll Taxes and Literacy Tests, Freedmen’s Bureau, Johnson’s Plan for Reconstruction, and Lincoln’s Assassination. Students had a great discussion in which they paralleled the two activities and reviewed the key events, people, and legislation of the Reconstruction Era.