Stanford University
Chronology: Civil Rights in the 20th Century
Test pupils' knowlege of history and the way civil rights movements unfolded using a series of images. With a primary source analysis activity, scholars practice their chronology and deductive reasoning skills. They use their knowledge...
Curated OER
Civil Rights Video Essay
Students research an event or a person from a decade in American history when the civil rights movement was an important focus. They create a multimedia project based on the research.
National Endowment for the Humanities
The Freedom Riders and the Popular Music of the Civil Rights Movement
The Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s marched to its own beat—literally. Using songs from the era, as well as other primary sources such as King's "I Have a Dream" speech, class members analyze lyrics to discover how music and protest...
Curated OER
African Americans in California’s Heartland – The Civil Rights Era
Events related to the Civil Rights Movement in Sacramento, California during the 1960s offer class members an opportunity to compare the nonviolent resistance approach favored by Dr. Martin Luther King and the NAACP with those of the...
Newseum
Civil Rights: Chronicling the Movement
Scholars investigate events in the civil rights era in their community and develop a multimedia presentation of their findings. They compare local events with national events discussed on a NewseumED timeline.
Alabama Department of Archives and History
Women of the Movement: Civil Rights Movement in Alabama
Many know of Rosa Parks involvement in the Civil Rights Movement, but who were other female leaders? The lesson focuses on female Civil Rights leaders and their achievements. Scholars complete research, participate in group discussions,...
US House of Representatives
Hispanic-American Members of Congress in the Civil Rights Era, 1945–1977
Debates around immigration in the news are not new, but they are a defining feature of the Hispanic American experience throughout the twentieth century. Looking through the lens of Hispanic Americans in Congress, class members explore...
Curated OER
Ordinary People, Ordinary Places: The Civil Rights Movement
Young scholars investigate the message of Martin Luther King Jr. and the U.S. Civil Rights Movement. They explore various websites, conduct Internet research, and develop a presentation that analyzes an event and place of the Civil...
Curated OER
Historical Locations of The Civil Rights Movement
A geographic perspective helps historians learn about significant eras such as the civil rights movement. Through research and source analysis, learners create a report depicting a significant location of this time. They synthesize their...
PBS
Making Change: Revolutionary Tactics of the Civil Rights Movement
The film American Revolutionary: The Evolution of Grace Lee Boggs introduces viewers to the differing philosophies of and strategies employed by 1960s civil rights leaders such as Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr. and the debate over...
US National Archives
Documented Rights Educational Lesson Plan
How have groups struggled to have their unalienable rights recognized in the United States? Acting as a research team for the Human Rights Council of the United Nations, your young historians will break into groups to research how people...
Curated OER
The Civil Rights Movement
Students analyze the tensions that existed in American society during the Civil Rights Era as well as the problems that children experienced. They evaluate editorial cartoons dealing with the American Civil Rights movement to view the...
Curated OER
Civil Rights Webquest
Students, working individually and in teams, research life in their community during the civil rights era. They take part in a role-playing discussion about civil rights issues based on their research, and create individual and group...
Curated OER
Keep Your Eye On the Prize
High schoolers learn about citizens who were actively involved in the civil rights movement, and the strategies they used to overcome the Jim Crow laws that were so prevalent in the 1960s. They investigate the voting amendments of the US...
Curated OER
Music of the Civil Rights Era, 1954-1968
Students experience the aesthetics of music and learn about freedom songs that motivated the Civil Rights activists. In this music history lesson, students learn how music can motivate and move listeners. Students then describe how...
Curated OER
Reconstruction to Civil Rights
Eighth graders complete a unit of lessons on the period of time from Reconstruction to the Civil Rights movement. They analyze and interpret political cartoons and editorials, conduct research on famous civil rights places, and complete...
Curated OER
The Journey to Civil Rights
Students explore Civil Rights. In this Civil Rights lesson, students read about Ruby Bridges and define the words segregation and supremacy. Students make a timeline of important events in Civil Rights and write a paragraph about why the...
Curated OER
People behind the Civil Rights Movement
Learners identify the people actively involved in the Civil Rights Movement. In this United States History lesson, students watch the video "Eyes on the Prize" then participate in a class discussion about the video. Learners also select...
Curated OER
Beyond the Playing Field -Jackie Robinson, Civil Rights Advocate
Students examine and discuss documents pertaining to issues of the civil rights movement.
Curated OER
Civil Rights through Photographs
Students examine why racial tensions continued after laws were put into place to try and create equal treatment. In this two part Civil Rights lesson, students explored the causes of the movement through photography and a PowerPoint...
Curated OER
Understanding the Music of the Civil Rights Movement
Students examine protest music and songs from the Civil Rights movement. In this music of the Civil Rights era activity, students listen to selected music before working in groups to determine who the music was directed at, what social...
Curated OER
Minorities in Mainstream American Society
So many people fought for Civil Rights in the United States. Read about the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and discuss what the act guarantees. Then pass out a slew of magazines and encourage them to observe how often minorities appear in...
Curated OER
Social and Cultural Issues in the Civil Rights Movement
Learners watch videos, listen to speeches and analyze the information that is presented about the civil rights movement. They examine visual art of the period.
Curated OER
Perspectives on Civil Rights
Middle schoolers examine speeches of the Civil Rights Era. In this American history lesson, students listen to speeches delivered by Martin Luther King, Jr. and John F. Kennedy. Middle schoolers respond to guiding questions as they...