Separate Is Never Equal

Separate is Never Equal: Sylvia Mendez and her Family’s Fight for Desegregation

Separate is Never Equal

By: Duncan Tonatiuh

Copyright: 2014

Published by: Abrams, Harry N., Inc.

2015 Pura Belpre Illustrator Honor Book; 2015 Robert F. Sibert Honor Book

Genre: Non-Fiction

3^rd-4^th Grade Read Aloud

My rating:

Grade Level Equivalent: 5.1

Lexile Measure: AD870L

Sylvia Mendez and her parents helps to end school segregations, almost 10 years before Brown vs. Board of Education.  As a Mexican American, Sylvia was denied enrollment into a “Whites only” school.  Her parents took action and organized a lawsuit with the Hispanic community with the federal district court.  Their persistence to this matter eventually brought an end to the segregated education in California. 

Suggested Delivery:

Read Aloud

Words to Describe book:

Inspiring

Informative

Determined

Passion

Persistence

Useful Electronic Resources:

Readers' Theatre Script

A Readers’ Theatre script that students can practice and present to the class to get a better idea about the book by reenacting some of the characters in the book.  This script allows for 8 people to play a part. 

Teaching Activities

This is a great teaching resource to use and for ideas when teaching and reading this book.  There are many different discussion questions that students can use before and after reading the book.  The questions are engaging and help students use their literal and inferential comprehension skills.  There are also extension activities that students can participate in that allow the students to engage more deeply with the text.  Great resource and ideas!

Video

This is a short video that students can watch that goes over the Brown v. Board of Education with regards to the Mexican Americans in Orange County.  This video shows the real case and shows the characters that were in the lawsuit case.  This video is a real-life representation and showing of the events that occurred in Separate is Never Equal. 

Teaching Opportunities:

Key Vocabulary:

Segregation- Action or state of setting someone apart from other things

Desegregation- To eliminate segregation; to free any law or practice regarding the separation and isolation of members of a particular race

Spacious- Having ample space

Citizen- Legally recognized subject or national of a state or commonwealth

Petition- Formal written request, appealing to authority with a particular cause in mind

Injustice- Lack of fairness

Reading Strategy Suggestions to increase literal and/ or inferential comprehension:

Pre-Reading Strategy

Visual Imagery- Students use their prior knowledge and background experiences to visualize and connect the author’s writing with a personal picture. 

Students can draw a time when they felt secluded from a group to relate to Sylvia and her family in the book. 

During-Reading Strategy

Timeline

As a class, we will create a timeline of the major events that occurred in the book as they occur to keep track of the sequence and series of events.  By the end of the book, there will be a completed timeline of the major events.

Post-Reading Strategy

Piktochart/ Infographic

Students will create a Piktochart/ Infographic to represent the series in events in the text, their favorite part, the characters in the book, or another aspect of the book of their choosing. 

Writing Activity

Persuasive Letter

Have students reflect on the actions the Mendez family took in ensuring school segregation. Ask students: What did Sylvia’s father do when he found out that she and her brothers could not attend the Westminster school? Why did he decide this was an important rule for him to fight? Are there any school/community rules or decisions which you think are unfair? Help students brainstorm a list of things they think are unequal or unfair and with them, prioritize the most important ones. Then have them write a persuasive letter to the principal, superintendent (in the case of a school issue) or their town’s mayor or someone who is relevant to the issue. In the letter, they should include what their position is, why they think it is unfair (with evidence, quotes or stories) and what they would like to change.