Curated OER
The Power of Protest
Students recognize the power of protest. In this civil rights lesson, students consider the success of Rosa Parks and her protest that sparked the movement. Students study the Montgomery Bus Boycott in depth and reflect on Parks's...
Curated OER
Land, Liberty and the Struggle for the American Dream
Students investigate equality by reading a historical fiction book in class. In this civil rights lesson, students read the story Roll of Thunder, Hear my Cry with their classmates and define the Jim Crow Laws that kept blacks...
Curated OER
The Rise and Fall of the Jim Crow Era
Students explore African American history by researching the Jim Crow laws. In this Civil Rights lesson, students define the Jim Crow laws, the reasons they were put into place, and how they were ultimately defeated. Students write a...
Curated OER
The Children's March
Students watch the film, The Children's March. In this civil rights lesson, students view a video on the Civil Rights Movement in Montgomery Alabama. Students then complete a worksheet that will prompt a classroom discussion about the...
Curated OER
Civil Rights Methodology Martin Luther King, Jr. – Stokely Carmichael
Students compare and contrast the visions of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Stokely Carmichael. In this African-American history lesson, students read speeches by each of the men and summarize the arguments made by each of them about...
Curated OER
Black Kentuckians and the Civil War
Students demonstrate how the American Civil War affected black Kentuckians socially and politically. They identify and discuss the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which forced the end of slavery in Kentucky months after the...
Alabama Department of Archives and History
Dueling Telegrams: 1963 Verbal Power Play Between Wallace and JFK
Information, inferences, and innuendos. Text and subtext. Class members examine telegrams exchanged between President John F. Kennedy and Alabama Governor George Wallace, studying both what is stated and what is implied by the diction...
Carolina K-12
African Americans in the United States Congress During Reconstruction
The Civil Rights Act of 1866, which granted citizenship to all males in the U.S., resulted in the first African Americans to be elected to Congress. Class members research 11 of these men, the challenges they faced, and craft...
Digital Public Library of America
Ida B. Wells and Anti-Lynching Activism
A packet of 13 primary sources provides young historians with insight into the anti-lynching activism of civil rights Ida B. Wells. Included are images of Wells, her letters, a political cartoon, newspaper lynching announcements, and a...
Curated OER
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.: Childhood Stories of Truth and Nonviolence
Fifth graders explore the childhood of Martin Luther King, Jr. In this nonviolent resistance lesson, 5th graders listen to their instructor present a lecture regarding the details of King's early life and how that life contributed to his...
Learning for Justice
The Color of Law: Creating Racially Segregated Communities
It is pointed, powerful, and painful! The first of three lessons about laws and practices that support inequality looks at how government policies created and reinforced segregated communities. Young social scientists read excerpts from...
PBS
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s ‘I Have a Dream’ Speech as Visual Text
Young historians watch a video of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivering his "I Have a Dream" speech and answer questions that test their knowledge of the event. After discussing the fact sheet, they reread the speech, select a phrase or...
Judicial Branch of California
Separate But Equal - Is It Black or White?
The story of Ruby Bridges and the case of Brown vs. The Board of Education are fantastic tools for discussing the concept of separate but equal. Kids tackle some big questions about what is fair, what is civil, and what rights or laws...
Curated OER
Mary Eliza Church Terrell -- Civil Rights Leader
Students examine writings of Mary Eliza Church Terrell. They role play themselves as an African American woman in the 19th century. They describe her actions and how they benefited minorities.
Curated OER
The Called Themselves the K.K.K.; The Birth of an American Terrorist Group
How did Ku Klux Klan develop and flourish in the US? How did the government respond to acts of terrorism conducted by the KKK following the Civil War? How does the government respond to acts of terrorism today? This resource launches a...
Curated OER
Integration and the "Barrier Breakers": Black Baseball 1945-1960
Students explore integration of Major League Baseball, identify important individual baseball players who played key roles in integration, and analyze historical information through charts, graphs, and statistics.
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
Understanding King's Use of Metaphors in the
One of the most famous and well-crafted speeches of all time, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech, consists of rich metaphors and rhetorical language. Using a provided graphic organizer, students analyze five quotes...
Curated OER
The Power of Protest
Students explain how Rosa Parks refused to give up her bus seat to a white man. They discuss how her actions were heroic and how they affected the civil rights movement. They reflect on the lesson in journal entries.
Mississippi Whole School Initiative
Dream Big...With Your Eyes Wide Open
For many people, Barack Obama's presidency was the next step in Martin Luther King, Jr's dream of America's future. Explore the dreams of Americans past and present, as well as the young Americans in your class, with a set of activities...
Annenberg Foundation
Poetry of Liberation
How do writers use words to protest injustice, challenge the status quo, and shape their own identities? Individuals watch and discuss a video, read author biographies, write poetry and journals, develop a slideshow, and complete a...
Curated OER
The Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee
Students are introduced to the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), one of the "big 5" civil rights organizations (the other four were: the Urban League, NAACP, SCLC, and CORE). The SNCC is credited with having led the...
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 instructional activity, 11th graders read speeches by each of the men and summarize the arguments made by each...
Curated OER
Youth Participation in Nonviolence
Students explore the use of nonviolent resistance. In 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.