Name: Ruby Bridges Activity Packet – Grades 1–5
SKU: 625caa3934b9985665602b65
Price: 39.99 USD
Availability: InStock

About this resource

What's inside this resource

This " Ruby Bridges Activity Packet and Worksheets " is no prep required - so the packet is a quick and fun way to teach about Ruby Bridges, school segregation and black history with many printable worksheets.

There are options with these activities for kids at all levels between Grades 1 and 5. Please note that not all activities in this packet will meet your class' particular levels, but there should be enough variation in the resources from your high flyers to those that are more challenged.

What's included

4 fact-sheet pages (early life, school segregation, first day, after school)
2 original reading passages with matching reading-response worksheets ('Ruby Bridges Goes to School', 'School Segregation')
1 paired-texts comparison worksheet
'Ruby Bridges Facts' short-answer worksheet
Vocabulary set: define-your-own-words, word tracing, ABC order, words-in-sentences, fill-in-the-blank cloze, and a letter-number code activity with its own answer key
Cut-and-paste timeline worksheet (1954-2001)
SEL/creative-response worksheets: How Did Ruby Bridges Feel?, If I Met Ruby Bridges, Draw and Write, Three Different Years of School, acrostic poem
'The Crayon Box That Talked' poem plus its own reading-response worksheet
Word search, coloring page, maze, and KWL chart

Resource types: Worksheets, Worksheets & Printables

In the classroom

Teaching tips & learning objectives

Learning objectives

Answer text-based comprehension questions about two informational/narrative passages on Ruby Bridges and school segregation.
Compare two related texts and cite quoted evidence for each.
Define and correctly use domain-specific vocabulary (segregation, integration, civil rights, marshal).
Sequence key events in Ruby Bridges' life on a timeline.
Reflect in writing on Ruby Bridges' courage and emotions during a historical event.

Teaching tips

Use the four fact-sheet pages as background-knowledge building before assigning either narrative passage, since the passages assume some context about segregation and integration.
The packet spans grades 1-5 with varied task difficulty, so pull individual pages (tracing and coloring for younger students, the paired-texts and code-breaking pages for older ones) rather than assigning the whole packet to one grade.
Pair 'The Crayon Box That Talked' with the Ruby Bridges passages to extend the discussion of inclusion using a text students can also directly enjoy at a lighter reading level.
Check students' decoded quote against the included answer key page before discussing what the quote means.

Skills covered

Reading comprehension of narrative and informational text.
Text-to-text comparison with quoted evidence.
Vocabulary acquisition — defining, tracing, alphabetizing, and using domain-specific civil rights terms.
Sequencing historical events on a timeline.
Written reflection and perspective-taking connected to a historical figure.
Code-breaking / letter-substitution decoding.

Good to know

Questions teachers ask about this resource

How does the packet differentiate for the full Grades 1-5 range it covers?

Task difficulty varies widely across the 34 pages — simple tracing and coloring activities sit alongside a paired-texts comparison, a cloze passage, and a letter-substitution code, so teachers can select individual pages that match a particular grade rather than assigning the whole packet at once.