Curated OER
Socratic Seminar on Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Letter From Birmingham Jail
Key in the struggle to gain the rights of democratic citizenship was the April 1963 arrest of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. for civil disobedience. To deepen their knowledge and understanding of events during the civil rights movement,...
Wisconsin Historical Society
Civil Disobedience
When is civil disobedience acceptable? Class members read examples of Jim Crow laws, an excerpt from Dr. Martin Luther King's "Letter from a Birmingham Jail," and a newspaper article and then consider the factors that make a law just or...
Stockton University Wordpress
Civil Disobedience: Is it ever ok to break the law?
As part of a study of civil disobedience, class members read excerpts from the writings of activists who were willing to break the law to protest unjust laws.
Alabama Department of Archives and History
How Would You Feel? The Bravery of Civil Disobedience
As part of their study of the US Civil Rights Movement and the Montgomery bus boycott, class members read Dr. Martin Luther King's "Integrated Bus Suggestions." They then craft a short story about the first week of Montgomery bus...
Curated OER
Civil Disobedience Action Plan
Pupils investigate incidences of civil disobedience. In this civil disobedience lesson, students watch a video and read a newspaper article on civil disobedience. Then, in groups, they search a current newspaper for examples of civil...
Curated OER
What is the Role of Civil Disobedience Today?
Students examine the meaning and use of civil disobedience. They decide whether civil disobedience is a viable form of protest in contemporary times after studying the acts of Rosa Parks.
Learning to Live
Attributes of a Civil Society
What makes a society civil? High school freshmen search for examples of justice, kindness, peace, and tolerance in news media and brainstorm how they can promote these attributes in their schools, communities, and world. The well-rounded...
Curated OER
Understanding the Theoretical Basis for Civil Disobedience
Young scholars 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...
K20 LEARN
The Bank Of Justice: Civil Rights In The US
To launch a study of racial segregation and integration, young historians first watch a news video about a prom in Georgia that was first integrated in 2013. They then compare the goals in Lincoln's Gettysburg Address to King's "I Have a...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Martin Luther King, Jr. and Nonviolent Resistance
Was nonviolent resistance the best means of securing civil rights for black Americans in the 1960s? In this highly engaging and informative lesson, your young historians will closely analyze several key documents from the civil rights...
Curated OER
Gandhi’s 12 Vows: Training Warriors of Non-violence
Learners examine Gandhi’s ‘Walk n Talk’ strategy. In this lesson on civil disobedience, students evaluate Gandhi’s non-violent method of satyagraha as an effective mode of revolution.
Curated OER
The Underground Railroad as an Act of Civil Disobedience
Pupils write an essay from rough draft to final copy about the Underground Railroad. Civil disobedience is researched from a variety of sources. There is a prewriting exercise that is included in the lesson. The whole writing process is...
Curated OER
What Do We Owe To Thoreau?
Students use this design as an electronic reading and writing guide to Henry David Thoreau's famous essay, "On Civil Disobedience." They use activities to familiarize students with the political issues of Thoreau's time. Comprehension...
Curated OER
20th Century Civil Disobedience
Students write from varying perspectives in the American South about the civil rights movements in the 1950s. For this civics lesson, students view video clips and take notes. Students discuss the film and listen to a lecture on...
Curated OER
Decision Making: Who Was Right?
Help your class explore the question "Is it ever right to disobey a law?" With a strong base of knowledge about the Civil War, anti-slavery movement, and Underground Railroad, your class explores civil disobedience in Marshall, Michigan...
University of North Carolina
Sitting Down To Stand Up For Democracy
Boycotts and bus rides, sit-ins and speeches. The focus of this amazing resource is on those people who were willing to put themselves at risk to take a stand for their belief in equal rights for all. A must-have for your curriculum...
K20 LEARN
Plessy v. Ferguson: An Individual's Response to Oppression
After generating research questions rated to segregation, groups are given a primary source document (Jim Crow Laws, Black Codes, Plessy v. Ferguson, etc.) and craft a presentation that details the key elements of their assigned...
Curated OER
Breaking the Unjust Law
Students consider the concept of civil disobedience. In this lesson on changing unjust laws, students use primary sources to understand how Gandhi and King changed the law. Students will then list laws that they feel are unjust and plan...
Curated OER
The Civil Rights Movement
Students explore the events of the Civil Rights Movement. In this research skills lesson plan, students research the important figures, events, and ideas of the American Civil Rights Movement as they visit suggested websites that feature...
Facing History and Ourselves
The Audacity of a Vote: Susan B. Anthony’s Arrest
Susan B. Anthony's speech "Is It a Crime for Women to Vote?" takes center stage in a instructional activity that asks class members to consider how they might respond to what they consider an unjust law. Groups work through the speech...
Curated OER
H.D. Thoreau's Philosophy of Government
Students read an essay by H.D. Thoreau as analysis of his philosophy on government. In this Thoreau analysis lesson, students work in groups to paraphrase two of Thoreau's criteria for his beliefs about government. Students write a...
Stanford University
Lesson Plan: The Children's Crusade and the Role of Youth in the African American Freedom Struggle
Young people played significant roles in the Civil Rights movement. Class members examine the contributions of Barbara Johns, Claudette Colvin, Mary Louise Smith, and the children of Birmingham,...
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 instructional activity, students listen to selected music before working in groups to determine who the music was directed at,...
Curated OER
Abolitionists in U.S. History
Students read and discuss excerpts from the writings of Henry David Thoreau, Frederick Douglass and Sarah Parker Redmond. They compare and contrast the views of the three abolitionists concentrating on the experiences and reasons for...