Introduce Grade 2 students to Rosa Parks, one of North America's most influential civil rights leaders.
This easy-to-read passage helps young learners understand fairness, courage, and standing up for what is right. Perfect for social studies, reading comprehension, and Black History Month, this printable worksheet teaches students about an inspiring historical figure.
Rosa Parks — Reading Comprehension Practice
0 / 6
Read the biography, then try the questions. Every answer is in the text above them, so if you are not sure, go back and look rather than guessing. Some of these words are hard — that is what the explanations are for.
Rosa Parks
Civil Rights Activist, ‘Mother of the Freedom Movement’
Born: February 4, 1913 — Tuskegee, Alabama
Rosa Parks is remembered as the ‘Mother of the Freedom Movement’ for her brave act of refusing to give up her seat on a bus — a simple but powerful stand that helped spark the American civil rights movement.
Rosa was born in Alabama and grew up experiencing the harsh realities of racial segregation in the South. Black Americans were forced to use separate schools, restaurants, bathrooms, and sections of public transportation.
On December 1, 1955, Rosa was riding a city bus in Montgomery, Alabama. When the bus filled up, the driver ordered her to give her seat to a white passenger. Rosa quietly refused. She was arrested and fined.
Her arrest sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott, led by a young Martin Luther King Jr. For over a year, thousands of Black Americans refused to ride the buses. It ended when the Supreme Court declared bus segregation unconstitutional.
Rosa Parks continued to be an activist her entire life. She worked in Congress, founded a youth organization, and received the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Gold Medal.
Question 1
What did the bus driver order Rosa Parks to do?
Give up her seat. The passage says she quietly refused — it was not a shout, and that is part of why it is remembered as a simple but powerful stand.
Question 2
What happened to Rosa Parks after she refused?
Arrested and fined. And that arrest is what sparked the boycott — a small act with very large consequences.
Question 3
Who led the Montgomery Bus Boycott?
A young Martin Luther King Jr. Parks’s arrest started it; King led it. Both facts are in the passage.
Question 4
How did the Montgomery Bus Boycott end?
A Supreme Court ruling.Unconstitutional means it went against the country’s own rulebook, so it had to stop everywhere — not just on one bus.
Question 5 — select all that apply
Select every thing the passage says Rosa Parks did after 1955, then press Check.
Worked in Congress, founded a youth organization, and received the Presidential Medal of Freedom — plus the Congressional Gold Medal. She was an activist her whole life, not for one afternoon on a bus.
Question 6 — put them in order
Click these in the order the passage tells them.
Childhood, then the bus, then the boycott, then the medals. The passage saves the honours for last, which is also the order they happened.
Think about it — from the worksheet
What did Rosa Parks do on December 1, 1955, and why was it such an important moment?
What was the Montgomery Bus Boycott, and what was its final result?
Why is Rosa Parks called the ‘Mother of the Freedom Movement’? Do you agree with that title?