Civil Rights Movements unit contains 9 learning experiences.
Learning Experiences (Lessons) in Civil Rights Movements Each learning experience takes about 45 minutes to teach in the device-enabled classroom.
Civil Rights Movements: Vocabulary
Students engage with key vocabulary related to the civil rights movements of twentieth-century United States. The experience can be used as an introduction or a review at the end of the unit.
Historical Development of the Civil Rights Movement
Students create a classwide KW chart about the civil rights movement. Then they explore a pictorial history of racial discrimination and the civil rights movement in the United States. Next they analyze a 1900 booklet explaining voting rights to new African American voters and explain how Jim Crow laws suppressed those rights. Finally they read Dudley Randall’s poem “Black Poet, White Critic,” and explain the poem as a reflection of the civil rights movement.
The Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s
Students view a photograph of Little Rock Central High School and predict its role in the civil rights movement. Then they examine three events that helped shape the civil rights movement in the 1950s. Next they examine Martin Luther King Jr. and his role in the civil rights movement. They then compare the Black Power Movement to King’s approach of non-violence. Finally they research a key individual or organization of the civil rights movement and write a report.
Lyndon Johnson's Great Society
Students create a flowchart to review the process by which a bill becomes a law. Then they learn about the Civil Rights Acts of 1957 and 1964, as well as key legislation of LBJ’s Great Society program. Next they learn about the opposition of the southern Democrats and evaluate the role of filibuster in Congress. Finally they write an executive summary of an affirmative action plan for an imaginary company.
Supreme Court Decisions of the Civil Rights Era
Students explain the phrase “landmark decision” in relation to Supreme Court opinions. Then they examine the effects of Supreme Court decisions that ended segregation in public places. Next they analyze landmark decisions relating to ethnic segregation and parents’ rights to freedom of religion in relation to schooling. Finally they look at categories of Constitutional amendments and explain why the abolishment of the poll tax required an amendment.
The Women’s Movement
Students brainstorm the identities of twelve women listed on the cover of a Ms. Magazine anniversary issue. Then they learn about the second wave of feminist activity in the 1960s and 70s and examine how Title IX protects high school students. Then they examine a series of graphs about women’s earning power and write a narrative about the economic issues facing twenty-first century women. Finally they read the text of the proposed Equal Rights Amendment, summarize arguments for and against, and create a poster in favor or opposed to ratification of the ERA.
Civil Rights for Other Minorities
Students discuss the question: Should the right of freedom of speech apply even to groups that express hate speech or curbing the rights of others? Then they examine the Chicano Movement, including the grape boycott and Chavez’s approach to non-violent activism. Next they analyze the twenty points in the American Indian Movement’s The Trail of Broken Treaties. Finally they examine the advantages and disadvantages of the way in which individuals and organizations can participate in the democratic process.
The Impact of the Civil Rights Movement
This experience is designed in a PBL framework. Students begin by brainstorming a classwide list of ways that people can be involved in their communities. Then they explore the websites of various civil rights organizations to identify an existing issue for further research. Next they research their selected civil rights issue, gathering information and considering causes and effects. Then they brainstorm possible solutions and weigh the advantages and disadvantages of their three best ideas. They propose a solution and implement it. Finally they evaluate their solution.