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Lesson Plan
Carolina K-12

Plessy v. Ferguson & the Roots of Segregation

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
How far in the past do the roots of Jim Crow and segregation extend? Young historians closely consider this question using detailed PowerPoint slides as a basis for discussion rather than lecture, culminating in an activity where class...
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Unit Plan
Core Knowledge Foundation

The Civil War

For Teachers 5th Standards
A unit covers many aspects of the Civil War. Over six weeks, fifth graders delve deep into the history of slavery, the Civil War—before, during, and after—Abraham Lincoln, women's contributions, the Emancipation Proclamation, and...
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Lesson Plan
1
1
Center for Civic Education

The Power of Nonviolence: Rosa Parks: A Quest for Equal Protection Under the Law

For Teachers 5th - 8th Standards
Teach young historians about the historical legacy of Rosa Parks with a multi-faceted lesson plan. Pupils follow stations and use journals to explore prominent events, analyze primary resource documents, and engage in interesting...
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Unit Plan
1
1
Facing History and Ourselves

Civil Rights Historical Investigations

For Students 9th - 12th Standards
The murder of Emmett Till, the Selma to Montgomery march, and the desegregation of Boston schools are the focus of three units that ask class members to investigate why these events were so key in the struggle for civil rights. Groups...
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Lesson Plan
3
3
Alabama Department of Archives and History

"Scottsboro Boys": A Trial Which Defined an Age

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Here's a must-have resource. Whether your focus is racism, the Great Depression, the "Scottsboro Boys" trial, or part of a reading of To Kill A Mockingbird, the information contained in the seven-page packet will save hours of research...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Keep Your Eye On the Prize

For Teachers 9th - 12th
High schoolers learn about citizens who were actively involved in the civil rights movement, and the strategies they used to overcome the Jim Crow laws that were so prevalent in the 1960s. They investigate the voting amendments of the US...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Qualifying to Vote Under Jim Crow

For Teachers 8th - 10th
Literacy tests, poll taxes, grandfather laws? Scholars study the systematic ways African-Americans were kept from voting even after it was made a law. They analyze a series of primary source documents, complete a worksheet, and engaged...
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Lesson Plan
1
1
US House of Representatives

Hispanic-American Members of Congress in the Civil Rights Era, 1945–1977

For Teachers 7th - 12th Standards
Debates around immigration in the news are not new, but they are a defining feature of the Hispanic American experience throughout the twentieth century. Looking through the lens of Hispanic Americans in Congress, class members explore...
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Lesson Plan
1
1
US House of Representatives

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Groups select a photograph from one of the four eras of African Americans in Congress and develop a five-minute presentation that provides background information about the image as well as its historical significance. The class compares...
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Lesson Plan
1
1
US House of Representatives

Keeping the Faith: African Americans Return to Congress, 1929–1970

For Teachers 7th - 12th
The third lesson in a unit that traces the history of African Americans serving in the US Congress examines the period from 1929 through 1970. After reading a contextual essay that details the few African Americans elected to Congress...
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Lesson Plan
1
1
US House of Representatives

“‘The Negroes’ Temporary Farewell,” Jim Crow and the Exclusion of African Americans from Congress, 1887–1929

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Despite some advances made during the Reconstruction Era following the Civil War, the period from 1887 through 1929, African Americans serving in Congress suffered severe setbacks due to Jim Crow Laws and voter suppression. Class members...
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Lesson Plan
Anti-Defamation League

What are Reparations and Should We Enact Them?

For Teachers 11th - 12th Standards
Young social scientists investigate recent legislative proposals for reparations for African Americans. They examine the rationale behind the proposals by viewing videos and reading related articles. To close the instructional activity,...
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eBook
Core Knowledge Foundation

The Civil War

For Students 3rd - 8th Standards
A student reader shares information about the history of slavery, the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln, women's contributions to the war, the Emancipation Proclamation, and reconstruction.
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Unit Plan
C3 Teachers

Reparations: Why Are Reparations Controversial?

For Teachers 8th
To understand why the topic of reparations is controversial, young scholars gather background information by reading articles, watching videos, and examining cases where reparations were made. Learners consider the lasting repercussions...
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Lesson Plan
American Institute of Physics

The Physicist's War: Dr. Herman Branson and the Scientific Training of African Americans during World War II

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
The mobilization of soldiers for World War II resulted in a worker shortage in the defense industries, especially in the fields of physics and other sciences. The Engineering, Science, and Management War Training program (ESMWT) was...
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Lesson Plan
1
1
Learning for Justice

Mary Church Terrell

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Excerpts from an 1898 speech by civil rights activist Mary Church Terrell offers young scholars an opportunity to investigate how Black American women fought for civil rights long before Rosa Parks and the civil rights movement of the...
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Lesson Plan
Anti-Defamation League

Women's Suffrage, Racism, and Intersectionality

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
The Nineteenth Amendment granted women the right to vote—as long as they were white. High schoolers read articles and essays about racism in the suffrage movement and consider how intersectionality played a role in the movement. Scholars...
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Interactive
DocsTeach

Fannie Lou Hamer and Voting Rights

For Teachers 5th - 8th Standards
To understand the challenges Black voters faced in Mississippi, middle schoolers first gather background information about Fannie Lou Hamer and then read her testimony given during the 1964 Democratic Nation Convention. After a...
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Lesson Plan
American Institute of Physics

Physicist Activist: Dr. Elmer Imes and the Civil Rights Case of Juliette Derricotte

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Elmer Imes was not only a brilliant physicist but also a civil rights activist. After an introductory lecture, groups read two articles about a traffic accident that killed one Fisk University student and injured several others. The...
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Lesson Plan
American Institute of Physics

Historical Detective: Edward Alexander Bouchet and the Washington-Du Bois Debate over African-American Education

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Young scientists meet Edward Alexander Bouchet who, in 1876, was the first African American to receive a PhD in Physics. This two-part lesson first looks at the debate between Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Du Bois about the type of...
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Lesson Plan
PBS

Jackie Robinson's Complicated — and Important — Legacy

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Americans tend to lock their heroes in history, holding these icons to a particular event or time. Jackie Robinson is such a hero, remembered by most for becoming the first African American to play in the Major Leagues. Young historians...
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Lesson Plan
K20 LEARN

The Bank Of Justice: Civil Rights In The US

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
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...
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Lesson Plan
K20 LEARN

Oklahoma and Segregation

For Teachers 9th - 11th Standards
It was not just the states of the Deep South that practiced segregation. Young historians investigate the history of segregation and desegregation in Oklahoma. They begin by reading, annotating, and analyzing an article about the impacts...
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Lesson Plan
PBS

Compare State Voting Laws Today with Laws of the Jim Crow Era

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Georgia's law S.B. 202 is at the center of a lesson plan that asks young scholars to examine what critics say are Georgia's attempts to limit voting access to Black voters. Groups then investigate the voting laws in their own state, as...