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The Watsons Go To Birmingham--1963

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The Watsons Go To Birmingham—1963:

In A Nutshell

The year is 1963, and self-important Byron Watson is the bane of his younger brother Kenny's existence. Constantly in trouble for one thing or another, from straightening his hair into a "conk" to lighting fires to freezing his lips to the mirror of the new family car, Byron finally pushes his family too far. Before this "official juvenile delinquent" can cut school or steal change one more time, Momma and Dad finally make good on their threat to send him to the deep south to spend the summer with his tiny, strict grandmother...
Christopher Paul Curtis's hilarious and deeply moving novel, winner of the Newbery Honor and the Coretta Scott King Honor, blends the fictional account of an African American family with the factual events of the violent summer of 1963...

Pssst…Check Out These Resources!

Civil Rights Timeline from WGTB

May 1963: During civil rights protests in Birmingham, Ala., Commissioner of Public Safety Eugene "Bull" Connor uses fire hoses and police dogs on black demonstrators. These images of brutality, which are televised and published widely, are instrumental in gaining sympathy for the civil rights movement around the world.

June 12, 1963: (Jackson, Miss.) Mississippi's NAACP field secretary, 37-year-old Medgar Evers, is murdered outside his home. Byron De La Beckwith is tried twice in 1964, both trials resulting in hung juries. Thirty years later he is convicted for murdering Evers.

Aug. 28, 1963: (Washington, D.C.) About 200,000 people join the March on Washington. Congregating at the Lincoln Memorial, participants listen as Martin Luther King delivers his famous "I Have a Dream" speech.

Sept. 15, 1963: (Birmingham, Ala.) Four young girls (Denise McNair, Cynthia Wesley, Carole Robertson, and Addie Mae Collins) attending Sunday school are killed when a bomb explodes at the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church, a popular location for civil rights meetings. Riots erupt in Birmingham, leading to the deaths of two more black youths.

Click On The Links For More Info: Figure out why each of these people or events is important in Civil Rights history

Eugene "Bull" Connor: Biography

Medgar Evers: Biography

March on Washington: Pictures from LIFE Magazine

"I Have a Dream" speech: Speech Text

Birmingham Church Bombing: Bombing Pictures

Assignment: Write a two paragraph reaction to the pictures you just viewed.

FIRST PARAGRAPH: Describe what you saw in the pictures, read in the biographies, and read from the speech.

SECOND PARAGRAPH: Describe how you felt after seeing the pictures, reading the information, and reading the speech. Have things changed from the 1950-60's?

Question-O-Rama!

Each week you will need to copy down the questions and answer them in a complete sentence.

Chapters 1-3:

1. How is Rufus Kenny’s “personal saver”?

2. In what ways are Kenny and Byron Different?

3. What does Rufus mean when he says Kenny is “different”?

4. How is Kenny and Rufus’s friendship different from Byron and Buphead’s?

5. What do you think momma says to Rufus to help him forgive Kenny?

Chapters 4-6:

1. Why do you think Byron makes Larry Dunn be part of The Great Carp Escape?

2. Why does Momma think she needs to burn Byron?

3. Why do you think Byron doesn’t run away when Momma goes to get the matches?

4. How do Kenny and Byron’s reactions to being on welfare differ? Why do you think this is?

5. What does Byron’s reaction about the mourning dove show about him?

Chapters 7-8:

1.Why are Momma and Dad so upset by Byron’s behavior?

2. Are Momma and Dad’s reactions to Byron’s latest adventure what you expect? Why or why not?

3. What makes Momma and Dad think Birmingham will be a good place for Byron?

4. Why does Kenny tease Byron so much about his hair?

5. Why do you think Joey protects Byron so fiercely?

Chapters 9-10:

1. Why do you think Joetta doesn’t like her present from Mrs. Davidson?

2. Why does Momma plan the trip so carefully?

3. What do the Watsons find so scary about the dark woods?

4. What makes Byron change his plan to make his family feel bad?

5. What do you think makes the ride down the mountain the best part of the trip for Kenny?

Chapters 11-13:

1. Why is momma so interested in Mr. Robert?

2. Why is Byron’s behavior in Alabama so different from his behavior in Michigan?

3. What insight does Mr. Robert’s story about Toddy give us into Kenny and Byron’s story?

4. How does the real Grandma Sands compare to the one Kenny imagined?

5. How do you think the events at Collier’s Landing will affect Kenny and Byron?

Chapters 14-15:

1. Why do you think Kenny doesn’t investigate the thunderous noise?

2. What makes Joey leave the church?

3. Why do you think Kenny takes the shoe from the church?

4. Why does Kenny slip behind the couch?

5. Why does Byron make Kenny come out and talk to him?

WGTB: Book Interview

Look At The Front Cover / Back Cover:

· What does the title imply about the story?

· What else do you notice about the cover?

· Read the back cover blurb. What stands out to you? Why?

Look At The Images:

· What images do you see?

· What do they tell you about the story? Author?

About the Author:

· What is the Author’s name?

· Have you ever read Bud, not Buddy?

· Did you like the book?

· What facts about CPC will influence the book? Explain.

Flip To A Random Page:

· What did you read? What is happening?