A Writing Root for Stonewall

Outcomes:

Adverts, short news reports, protest banners, writing in role

Main Outcome:

Visitor's guide to the Stonewall Inn National Historic Landmark

Length:

15 session, 3 weeks

Overview and Outcomes:

This is a three-week Writing Root using the book Stonewall, written by Rob Sanders and illustrated by Jamey Christoph. The sequence of learning begins by introducing children to the concepts of human rights, revolution and uprising. They will explore why the Stonewall Inn was a special place in New York City. Children will look specifically at the history of the Stonewall Inn and how this became a safe, inclusive space for the LGBTQ+ community. Children will create adverts to promote the Stonewall Inn. They will go on to record the events of the Stonewall Uprising and employ a range of journalistic techniques such as: recording quotations, using the passive voice and factual adverbials. Children will create protest banners using question tags and write in role as the building itself to reflect on the changes it has seen through history. The Writing Root will culminate with children writing a visitor’s guide for the Stonewall Inn in light of it being made a National Historic Landmark in 2000. We would recommend using the text, The Stonewall Riots, Coming Out in the Streets by Gayle E. Pitman to supplement learning. 
Further reading for children could also include Stories for Boys Who Dare to be Different by Ben Brooks or Goodnight Stories for Rebel Girls by Elena Favilli.

Synopsis of Text:

From Rob Sanders, author of the acclaimed Pride: The Story of Harvey Milk and the Rainbow Flag, comes this powerful and timeless true story that will allow young readers to discover the rich and dynamic history of the Stonewall Inn and its role in the gay civil rights movement--a movement that continues to this very day. In the early-morning hours of June 28, 1969, the Stonewall Inn was raided by police in New York City. Though the inn had been raided before, that night would be different. It would be the night when empowered members of the LGBTQ+ community - in and around the Stonewall Inn - began to protest and demand their equal rights as citizens of the United States. Movingly narrated by the Stonewall Inn itself, and featuring stirring and dynamic illustrations, Stonewall: A Building. An Uprising. A Revolution is an essential and empowering civil rights story that every child deserves to hear.

Text Rationale:

The story of the Stonewall uprising is brought to life in this book by LGBTQ+ rights campaigner Rob Sanders and teaches children about an important moment in LGBTQ+ history.  Presented as a picture book, visual depictions of the story by Jamey Christoph will allow children to understand the magnitude of events that took place and the power of protest to bring about change. The book will open up discussions around gay rights and raise children’s awareness of the people who stood for justice and the continued fight for progress.  

Links and Themes:

Gay rights, LGBTQI+, activism, protest, uprising, human rights, civil rights, freedom, protest, justice

Date written: December 2022