Maryland Department of Education
Our Children Can Soar
Amazing efforts of African American leaders are celebrated in a lesson plan on civil participation. The engaging resource focuses on primary and secondary sources to analyze the impact of African American leaders such as Ella Fitzgerald....
University of Arkansas
Individuals Making a Difference
The focus of this, the third in a five-activity unit study of human rights, is on individuals who made a difference. Billy Bowlegs, Dr. Sun Yat Sen, Fannie Lou Hamer, Michi Weglyn, and Yuri Koshiyama are some of the people class members...
Curated OER
Contributions that Martin Luther King Jr. Made to Society
Second graders discover the positive effects Martin Luther King, Jr. had on society. In this U.S. history instructional activity, 2nd graders investigate racial tensions from sixty to seventy years ago and view a video about MLK, Jr....
Curated OER
What is Suffrage? Understanding the Right to Vote
Students discover one of the restrictions forced on women of the early 1900s. In this civil rights lesson, students investigate suffrage and why women were not allowed to vote in the early twentieth century. Students create a mock...
Curated OER
Human Rights and Discrimination
Fifth graders create a KWL chart on discrimination and human rights. While reading different stories, they take notes on each character in the books. To end the lesson, they discuss the forms of discrimination today and how African...
Curated OER
The March Continues
Learners explore the Civil Rights Memorial. For this character development and U.S. History lesson, students employ reading comprehension strategies while reading a news article about the Civil Rights Memorial. Learners work in groups to...
Curated OER
The Jim Crow Era
Students examine how African-Americans were affected by the Great Depression. In this African-American history lesson, students conduct independent research on the social conditions of the time period using the suggested resources....
Curated OER
A Changing of the Guard: Traditionalists, Feminists, and the New Face of Women in Congress
Students explore the role of women as Congressional leaders. In this women's rights lesson, students identify and investigate the impact of women representatives and senators in the U.S. Legislative Branch. Comprehension questions, data,...
Curated OER
Participating in Democracy
Students analyze film clips in class. In this democracy lesson plan, students identify the differences between civil liberties, democracy and freedom. Students view a video regarding Japanese internment and answer study questions as well...
Curated OER
Martin Luther King, Jr. vs. Malcolm X
Eleventh graders compare and contrast the visions of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X. In this African-American history lesson, 11th graders read speeches by each of the men and summarize the arguments made by each of them about...
Curated OER
Social Life in the 1950's and Domestic Politics and Policy
Eleventh graders examine the cultural mood and politics of the 1950's in the United States. They read a section of their text and take notes, view a clip of the movie "Pleasantville" and discuss societal roles in the 1950's, and listen...
Curated OER
JUSTICE
Learners analyze the role that Alabama played in three major events of American History and how those roles contributed to Alabama being dubbed the "Cradle of the Confederacy" and the "Birthplace of the Modern Civil Rights Movement."
John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum
Analyzing the Inaugural Address
Get high school historians to step outside their own shoes by responding to JFK's inaugural address from the perspective of a civil rights activist, a soviet diplomat, or a Cuban exile. After a class discussion about the address, the...
Curated OER
The Battleground: Separate and Unequal Education
Students examine the purpose and goals of education in African American society. They analyze photos, answer discussion questions, and participate in a class discussion.
Curated OER
The Civil Rights Movement in Kentucky
Eleventh graders examine how current race relations in their town compare to those of the 1960's.
Curated OER
Mapping Martin Luther King Jr.
Students examine geographic locations that were important in Martin Luther King Jr.'s life. They research Martin Luther King Jr., and create U.S. maps that show the locations important to him.
Curated OER
Thurgood Marshall Makes a Difference
Students find information about the life and legal career of Thurgood Marshall, including the NAACP and its causes. They comprehend the issues and context of the Brown v. Board of Education case that Marshall argued before the U.S....
Albert Shanker Institute
Dream Under Development
As part of their study of the 1963 March on Washington, class members do a side-by-side comparison of the original text of Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream Speech" with a transcript of the speech he delivered. The take away from the...
Anti-Defamation League
Harriet Tubman on the $20 Bill: The Power of Symbols
How important are symbols and symbolic gestures in society? Middle schoolers have an opportunity to analyze the importance of symbols on American currency with a lesson plan that investigates the controversies surrounding redesigning the...
Stanford University
Letter from Birmingham Jail: The Power of Nonviolent Direct Action
What strategies are most effective in changing an unjust law? Class members examine the tactics used in the Birmingham Campaign of 1963 (Project C) to achieve social justice and social transformation. After examining documents that...
Alabama Department of Archives and History
Two Different African-American Visions: W.E.B. Du Bois and Booker T. Washington
The strategies civil rights activists Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Du Bois proposed for blacks to achieve racial progress is the focus of an activity in which class groups identify the strategies as well as the benefits and drawbacks...
Curated OER
Black Panther Party Lesson Plan
Why did the Black Panther Party feel colonized, and what methods did they employ to achieve empowerment? Your class members will engage in an online PowerPoint presentation, analysis of several documents, and discussion in order to...
Curated OER
Change: Just a Matter of Time
Students analyze the Declaration of Independence and primary sources to explain civil rights. Then, students write a Declaration of Change to express the grievances of African Americans, and their desire to participate fully in the...
Curated OER
Brother Outsider
Students view the film "Brother Outsider" and read an article by Bayard Rustin as springboards to discuss the concept of civil rights in the United States. They follow a discussion guide.