Use these questions or activities to help gauge students’ familiarity with and spark their interest in the context of the work, giving them an entry point into the text itself.

Short Answer

1. Where did segregation come from? To what does the term “separate but equal” refer? What were the Jim Crow Laws? What happened in Plessy v. Ferguson? What is Brown v. Board of Education?

Teaching Suggestion: The protagonist of The Lions of Little Rock, Marlee, lives in Little Rock, Arkansas amid tensions that arise due to integration. It may be beneficial to broach and discuss these general questions on segregation before examining the concept of integration in schools. Then, students might begin investigating to learn what happened in the cases Plessy v. Ferguson and Brown v. Board of Education. Looking at the timeline and briefly discussing the outcome of Brown v. Board of Education in the Supreme Court ruling that integrated school districts might be beneficial as well.

• This article describes segregation.
• This article provides a timeline of Jim Crow Laws and important events in court that prevented them from being implemented. 

2. Who were the Little Rock Nine? What laws did the state of Arkansas implement to prevent the integration of schools in 1958? What is The Lost Year? Why did many begin attending other schools in Little Rock in 1958? What role did various groups play in the desegregation of schools?