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Lesson Plan
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Albert Shanker Institute

Making the Case for Equality: A Comparison

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Martin Luther King Jr's " I Have a Dream" speech and Atticus Finch's closing argument during the trial of Tom Robinson both address the societal need to overcome racism. After examining the rhetorical devices and figurative language used...
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Unit Plan
Special Olympics

SO…What’s the Challenge?

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Whose responsibility is it to protect equal rights? Class members engage in a series of activities that create awareness of the prejudice and intolerance persons with disabilities face. They then create a message addressed to their...
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Lesson Plan
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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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Lesson Plan
National Woman's History Museum

The Power of Words and Activism: Susan B. Anthony

For Teachers 7th - 11th Standards
Where have all the activists gone? Class members compare 21st-century activism with the suffrage movement and the work of Susan B. Anthony. They begin by examining Anthony's biography and speeches to find evidence that her words and...
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Lesson Plan
PBS

Out of the Shadows | Black America Since MLK: And Still I Rise

For Teachers 9th - Higher Ed Standards
Two powerful video clips launch a study of race relations in the United States after the Selma, Alabama riots, the passage of the Votings Rights Act, and the riots in Watts, California. 
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Lesson Plan
NPR

Progressive Era Lesson Plan

For Students 8th - 12th Standards
The women working for equal rights in the early 20th century weren't a part of one large group; rather, they were members of dozens of small groups focused on social reform. Explore the ways groups in the Progressive Era like National...
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Lesson Plan
National Woman's History Museum

Seneca Falls Convention

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
The 1848 Seneca Falls Convention was a historic milestone in the quest for women's rights. After researching one of the participants of the Seneca Falls Convention, young historians craft and share a short presentation about their subject.
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Lesson Plan
James Madison Memorial Fellowship Foundation

Those "Other Rights:" The Constitution and Slavery

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Did the United States Constitution uphold the institution of slavery, or did it help to destroy it? Young historians study Article 4, Section 2, Clause 3 of the Constitution and evaluate the rights of slaveowners as they compared to or...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Bill of Rights

For Teachers 8th - 10th
US history classes explore constitutional rights as they relate to court cases involving teens. Your class must already be familiar with the Bill of Rights before beginning this series of exercises. In preparation for a debate-style...
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Lesson Plan
K20 LEARN

Plessy v. Ferguson: An Individual's Response to Oppression

For Teachers 11th
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...
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Lesson Plan
National Woman's History Museum

Seneca Falls and Suffrage: Teaching Women's History with Comics

For Teachers 5th - 8th Standards
As part of the study of women's history, young scholars examine Chester Comix's strips about the Seneca Falls Convention and four 19th century leaders in the struggle for equal rights. After researching other elements of the Suffrage...
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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."
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Lesson Plan
Carolina K-12

African Americans in the United States Congress During Reconstruction

For Students 5th
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...
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Lesson Plan
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Center for History and New Media

A Look at Virginians During Reconstruction, 1865-1877

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
The transition between rebellion to reunification was not smooth after the Civil War. Young historians compare primary and secondary source documents in a study of the Reconstruction era in Virginia, noting the rights that were not...
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Lesson Plan
National Woman's History Museum

From the Declaration of Independence to the Declaration of Sentiments

For Students 9th - Higher Ed Standards
As part of a study of women's rights in early America, class members compare the Declaration of Independence to the Declaration of Sentiments presented at the Seneca Falls Convention. As an exit ticket, individuals explain whether or not...
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Lesson Plan
National Woman's History Museum

Inventive Women - Part 2

For Teachers 9th - Higher Ed Standards
The Declaration of Independence was published in 1776. The Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions, modeled after the Declaration of Independence, was drafted and read by Elizabeth Cady Stanton at the Seneca Falls Convention in 1848....
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Lesson Plan
PBS

March on Washington: A Time for Change

For Students 6th - 12th Standards
Young historians conclude their study of the events that lead up to and the planning for the March on Washington. After examining videos and primary source documents, they consider the civil rights objectives that still need to be...
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Lesson Plan
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Scholastic

Ruby Bridges: A Simple Act of Courage, Grades K-2

For Teachers K - 2nd Standards
A civil rights movement lesson plan designed specifically with the Common Core State Standards in mind, young learners are introduced to the story of Ruby Bridges as the first African American child to attend an all-white elementary...
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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 that...
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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...
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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

Separate Is Not Equal

For Teachers 5th - 12th
Based on discussion, analysis of primary source documents, and with the help of a graphic organizer, young historians discover the steps that were taken to eliminate segregation in public schools in the United States. This lesson from...
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Lesson Plan
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US House of Representatives

“The Fifteenth Amendment in Flesh and Blood,” The Symbolic Generation of Black Americans in Congress, 1870–1887

For Teachers 7th - 12th
The reading of a contextual essay launches a study of Black Americans who served in Congress from 1870 through 1887. Young historians identify the African Americans who served during this period, investigate the ways they won national...
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Lesson Plan
National Woman's History Museum

Humor and Activism

For Teachers 8th - 12th
As part of their study of the women's suffrage movement, groups analyze political cartoons and drawings. They create a caption for an image from the time, add an exhibit label that provides a context for their drawing, and post as part...