Lesson Plan
Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media

Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Participants examine two documents related to Rosa Parks and the bus boycott, sources that challenge some of the commonly held preconceptions about Rosa Parks. They then respond to discussion questions to reinforce...
Unit Plan
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Cesar Chavez Day of Service and Learning

Cesar Chavez Curriculum Guide Day of Service and Learning

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Cesar Chavez, the United Farmworker's Movement, and the struggle for Chicano Civil Rights are the focus of a Day of Service and Learning curriculum guide that asks participants to investigate the conditions, events, and...
Lesson Plan
Anti-Defamation League

10 Ideas for Teaching Black History Month

For Teachers K - 12th Standards
Celebrate Black History Month with the help of 10 ideas that delve deep into the history, major events, contributions, famous African Americans, and sheds light on how scholars today can take a proactive stance on current civil rights...
Lesson Plan
1
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BrainPOP

Civil Rights Lesson Plan: Tracking History Through Timelines

For Teachers 3rd - 5th Standards
Use the accompanying assessment to determine your class's prior knowledge on Martin Luther King, Jr. before beginning a instructional activity on the famous civil rights movement leader. The resource has young historians thinking about...
Lesson Plan
ReadWriteThink

Martin Luther King, Jr. and Me: Identifying with a Hero

For Teachers K - 2nd
Here, young historians compare their early lives to that of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s. They listen to a read aloud of a story by Dr. King's sister, and then write in the provided reflective journal template. Lastly, they share their...
Lesson Plan
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National Park Service

Civil War to Civil Rights: From Pea Ridge to Central High

For Teachers 4th - 12th Standards
Explore how the Civil War impacted the Civil Rights Movement. Class members complete a series of projects for a unit that uses a layered curriculum approach to learning. 
Unit Plan
Pacific University Oregon

Civil Rights: US History

For Teachers 10th Standards
To gain an understanding of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, class members investigate the Jim Crow Laws, the Emancipation Proclamation, the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments of the US Constitution, and the 1898 Supreme Court case,...
Lesson Plan
PBS

From Selma to Montgomery: An Introduction to the 1965 Marches

For Students 6th - 12th
The 1965 Civil Rights marches from Selma to Montgomery and the resulting Voting Rights Act of 1965 are the focus of a social studies lesson. The resource uses film clips to inform viewers not only about the discrimination that gave rise...
Activity
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Teaching Tolerance

Civil Rights Activity Book

For Students 4th - 6th
An activity booklet includes a timeline of the movement, a song, and various informational reading passages on leaders, events, and the Civil Rights Memorial in Washington DC. Reading response questions and word puzzles are sure to...
Lesson Plan
1
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Museum of Tolerance

Making Lemonade: Responding to Oppression in Empowering Ways

For Teachers 11th Standards
An activity focused on tolerance encourages class members to consider how they might respond when they or someone else is the target of oppression and discrimination. After researching how some key figures responded to the...
Lesson Plan
Ontario

Informed Citizenship—Civil Rights

For Teachers 9th - 10th
To launch a study of civil rights, class members brainstorm rules and expectations of behaviors at home, in school, in the workplace, and in sports. They then look at civil rights cases and examine the rules embedded in these cases. 
Lesson Plan
1
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School Improvement in Maryland

Supreme Court Case Overview I

For Teachers 9th - 12th
As part of a study of the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution, class members examine four Supreme Court decisions—Gitlow v. New York, Mapp v. Ohio, Gideon v. Wainwright, and Griswold v. Connecticut—that incorporated the due...
Lesson Plan
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School Improvement in Maryland

Immigration Legislation

For Teachers 9th - 12th
What is the purpose of immigration legislation? How has this legislation evolved over the years? What are the factors that caused these changes? Class members research immigration legislation to determine whose rights the laws are...
Lesson Plan
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Defining US

Integration of Education and American Society

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
How did the struggle for Civil Rights during the 1950s transform American society and politics? Why are American schools integrated today? Class members explore these essential questions by examining a series of primary and secondary...
Worksheet
K5 Learning

Fight for Equality: Thurgood Marshall

For Students 2nd - 3rd Standards
Learners read an informational text passage on Thurgood Marshall and his contribution to African Americans' rights, and then answer questions based on what they read.
Lesson Plan
City University of New York

Jim Crow and Voting Rights

For Teachers 11th - 12th Standards
Class groups examine primary source documents to determine how the voting rights of African Americans were restricted after the failure of Reconstruction, and how African American participation in World War II lead to change.
Lesson Plan
City University of New York

African Americans and the Populist Movement

For Teachers 11th - 12th Standards
Why did the Populist Party fail to ally itself with African American farmers? To answer this essential question, class members investigate the Populist Era (188-1900) and read an article written by Tom Watson, a Populist leader.
Activity
Library of Congress

Women's Suffrage Movement Across America

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
An engaging resource provides many primary source materials to inform a study of the Women's Suffrage Movement. Suggestions include building a timeline of the fight, using the documents as the basis of a DBQ, and/or using a Venn...
Lesson Plan
Alabama Department of Archives and History

What Were They Thinking? Why Some Some Alabamians Opposed the 19th Amendment

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
To better understand the debate over the 19th Amendment, class members examine two primary source documents that reveal some of the social, economic, racial, and political realities of the time period.
Lesson Plan
Alabama Department of Archives and History

Birmingham, 1963: Spring Jubilation Part 2

For Teachers 11th - 12th Standards
The release of Martin Luther King, Jr. from the Birmingham jail, the Children's March, and the bombings of the Gaston Motel and the home of Reverend A.D. King's home. As part of a study of the civil rights movement, class members...
Lesson Plan
Anti-Defamation League

Martin Luther King, Jr. and Civil Rights

For Teachers 3rd - 12th Standards
How far have we come and how far do we still need to go to achieve equality and full civil rights in the United States? Include a packet of materials collected in your observance of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.
Lesson Plan
Alabama Department of Archives and History

Birmingham 1963: Spring Jubilation Part 1

For Teachers 11th - 12th Standards
As part of a study of the 1963 quest for civil rights in Birmingham, Alabama, class members view a PowerPoint that details the struggle and analyze Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "Letter from a Birmingham Jail."
Lesson Plan
Alabama Department of Archives and History

The Wrong Side of History: How One Group Justified Its Opposition on the Freedom Riders and Civil Rights for African Americans

For Teachers 11th - 12th Standards
Designed as a supplement to the study of the Freedom Riders, this resource uses primary sources to reveal the views of those who opposed the Freedom Riders. After careful study of the arguments presented by the members of the Montgomery...
Lesson Plan
Alabama Department of Archives and History

Beyond Birmingham, Summer 1963

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
The assassination of Medgar Evers. The integration of the University of Alabama. The March on Washington. The "I Have a Dream" speech. Created by the Alabama History Education Initiative, this resource examines how the events...