Wangari Maathai and Sojourner Truth - significant individuals across two continents

Calendar Circle. Then: 'Today's significant individuals are one from KENYA in AFRICA and one from AMERICA. Both spoke up - one with TREES, one with WORDS.'

• Locate Kenya on the world map
• Show MG-6 with 3 already added
• Build curiosity about the 2 new figures

M-1-F-CIV-14-C Map

24x36-inch flat world map with all continents labeled. Kenya outlined in green and circled in red. Sticky stars for Mumbi, Kenya (Wangari's birthplace) and Esopus, New York (Sojourner Truth's birthplace). Used to ground the lesson geographically.

WANGARI MAATHAI lived from 1940 to 2011 in KENYA, in EAST AFRICA. She saw that her country's forests were being CUT DOWN, and the land was hurting. She started the GREEN BELT MOVEMENT - women planting TREES across Kenya. By the time she died, they had planted MORE THAN 50 MILLION TREES. She won the NOBEL PEACE PRIZE - one of the biggest awards in the world. SOJOURNER TRUTH lived from about 1797 to 1883 - which is BEFORE our Living-Memory Timeline starts. (Some sources are 'beyond living memory' - we'll mark that.) She was born ENSLAVED in New York. She escaped to freedom in 1826. She became an ABOLITIONIST - a person who worked to END slavery - and a women's rights speaker. Her speech 'Ain't I A Woman?' is one of the most famous in American history.

• Notice - Wangari saw a problem and ACTED. One tree at a time.

  model Focus on early Kenya scenes and tree-planting

  prompt Read aloud Wangari's Trees of Peace (Winter 2008) selected spreads
• Notice - Sojourner Truth said her words OUT LOUD in a place where people did not want to hear them.

  model Focus on 'Ain't I A Woman?' kid-friendly summary

  prompt Read aloud Sojourner Truth's Step-Stomp Stride (Pinkney 2009) excerpt

• Who planted 50 million trees?
• Who said 'Ain't I A Woman?'
• On a world map, where is Kenya?

M-1-F-CIV-14-A Illustration

Reproduction of Jeanette Winter's cover for Wangari's Trees of Peace: A True Story from Africa (Harcourt 2008). Wangari at center surrounded by tree saplings, Kenya hills behind. Plus enlarged spread of the Green Belt Movement women planting trees. A3 size for read-aloud.

M-1-F-CIV-14-B Illustration

Reproduction of Brian Pinkney's cover for Andrea Davis Pinkney's Sojourner Truth's Step-Stomp Stride (Little Brown 2009). Sojourner Truth in her preacher's bonnet at a podium. Plus enlarged spread of the 'Ain't I A Woman?' speech scene. A3 size.

• Add WM and ST portraits + contribution cards to biography wall; ST gets the 'before living memory' arrow

  scaffold Teacher leads whole class
• Locate Kenya on the world map; place a tree-sticker there

  scaffold Pre-pinned target circle

• Name 1 significant individual from today.
• What was her contribution?
• Was she alive in living memory, or before?

• Biography wall now has 5 individuals
• Preview: tomorrow YOU pick your own to feature on a biography board

• Tonight, tell a caregiver about WANGARI MAATHAI's 50 million trees. Then ask: 'Who is a hero in YOUR family or community?' Bring the name tomorrow.