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Youth Participation in Nonviolence

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students explore the use of nonviolent resistance. For this social justice lesson, students listen to their instructor present a lecture on Mohandas Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. as well as the Apartheid Movement in South Africa.
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Muhammad Ali and his Vietnam War Resistance: Defining Nonviolent Action through Gandhi and King

For Teachers 10th - Higher Ed
Students research Muhammad Ali's act of civil disobedience. In this civil disobedience lesson, students research Ali's defiance of the Vietnam War draft and compare his reasoning to Martin Luther King's thoughts on the war. Students...
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Interpersonal Nonviolence: Using MLK to Teach Conflict Resolution

For Teachers 10th - Higher Ed
Students develop conflict mediation and resolution skills by applying the nonviolence philosophy of Dr. Martin Luther King. In this conflict resolution instructional activity, students watch a video about Dr. King and review quotes from...
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Understanding the Theoretical Basis for Civil Disobedience

For Teachers 12th - Higher Ed
Students analyze Henry David Thoreau's 'On the Duty of Civil Disobedience' and Dr. Martin Luther King's "Letter from Birmingham Jail." In this civil disobedience lesson, students read Thoreau's essay and answer 6 questions for the...
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Nonviolent Protest Around the World

For Teachers 12th
Twelfth graders complete research that exposes them to examples of nonviolent protest throughout the modern world. In this nonviolent protest research lesson, 12th graders discover information about signification nonviolent movements...
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Dr. King and His Advice for Dreams Deferred

For Teachers 11th - Higher Ed
Students analyze Dr. King's public addresses and Langston Hughes' poetry as a study of the Civil Rights' nonviolent approach to making an impact. In this protesting instructional activity, students read poetry of Hughes and...
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The Power of Our Stories

For Teachers K - 2nd
Students compare violence to nonviolence. in this peace lesson, students tell stories from their own life that show the difference between violence and nonviolence. They listen to examples of Gandhi and Martin Luther King. 
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The Way You Dream: Gandhi and King's Visions of Nonviolence

For Teachers 10th - Higher Ed
Students read Gandhi and Dr. King's messages about nonviolence and discuss their visions about loving one's enemies. In this nonviolence activity, students read Gandhi's "Ahimsa, or the Way of Nonviolence" and Dr. Martin Luther King's...
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Tracing the Idea of Civil Disobedience through Thoreau, Gandhi, and King

For Teachers 10th - Higher Ed
Students analyze civil disobedience through history studying Thoreau, Gandhi, and Dr. King. In this civil disobedience lesson, students read and analyze excerpts from Thoreau, Gandhi, and Martin Luther King. Students demonstrate their...
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Breaking Color Barriers

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students compare brown eggs and white eggs. In this color lesson, students see two different color eggs and predict what they will look like on the inside. They see that both eggs are the same and compare this to people of different...
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A Look at Race in America Using Statistics

For Teachers 11th
Eleventh graders explore the issue of racism in America.  In this American History lesson, 11th graders analyze charts and graphs on blacks and whites in America.  
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Reporting News About Rosa Parks

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Students investigate racism by completing a writing assignment.  In this civil rights lesson, students research facts about Rosa Parks in order to write a newspaper article about her.  Students utilize the Internet for research...
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A Speech for the Sneetches

For Teachers 10th - Higher Ed
Students write a speech using Dr. King as an example and the characters from a Dr. Seuss book. In this speech lesson, students read the 'I Have a Dream' speech and use it as a guide to help them write a speech based on the book Sneetches...
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How Would the World be Different?

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students examine the impact of Martin Luther King, Jr. In this civil rights lesson, students imagine the outcome of the Civil Rights Movement had King never been born. Students compose essays that feature King's roles in the movement.
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"I Have a Dream" Shown in Pictures

For Teachers 7th - 9th
Students demonstrate their understanding of Dr. King's dreams by drawing a picture representing one of them. In this Dr. King activity lesson plan, students read the speech "I Have a Dream" and discuss the vocabulary. Students select one...
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Unsung Heroes of the Civil Rights Movement

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Pupils analyze historic rulings that played roles in the Civil Rights Movement. In this civil right lesson plan, students research Internet and print sources regarding Plessy v. Ferguson, Sipuel v. Board of Regents of the University of...
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Reading Freedom on the Menu

For Teachers K - 4th
Students apply specific reading strategies to answer questions about the selection Freedom on the Menu. In this reading comprehension lesson, students read a selection called Freedom on the Menu and use specific reading strategies to...
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In the 1960s, Why Were Boston’s Schools Racially Segregated?

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students explore the implications of segregation. In this Civil Rights lesson plan, students investigate what equal education is as they discover the state of Boston schools in 1960. Students define civil rights and discrimination as...
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Who’s Got Rights? An Introduction to Human Rights and Human Rights Defenders

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Learners explore human rights issues. For this social justice lesson, students examine human rights as they read segments of the "Universal Declaration of Human Rights," discuss photographs with human rights implications, and play a...
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Education as a Civil Right

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Students explore the implications of segregation. In this Civil Rights lesson, students investigate what equal education is as they discover the state of Boston schools in 1960. Students define civil rights and discrimination as they...
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Equality

For Teachers 3rd - 4th
Students examine equality. In this equality activity, students experience unfairness and inequality through teacher showing favoritism in words and actions. Students read Martin's Big Words and discuss fairness and equality.
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Dr. King and the Movement

For Teachers 7th - 9th
Students complete activities about Dr. Martin Luther King's Civil Rights movements. In this Civil Rights lesson, students read a quote from Dr. King and discuss several questions about the topic and may use them as writing prompts.
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To March or Not to March?

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Students read historical artifacts about the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom and analyze the choices made during the time. In this March on Washington lesson, students read Martin's Big Words and the 'Step Back in Time' sheets....
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Protest Signs

For Teachers K - 4th
Students make their own chalk art or poster that represents a protest sign. In this protest sign lesson plan, students look at signs from the Civil Rights movement and then make their own.