New York State Education Department
US History and Government Examination: June 2013
How successful has American foreign policy been in the past? Pupils consider the question as part of a state examination in American history. Other prompts include a document analysis and essay of important civil rights cases decided by...
New York State Education Department
US History and Government Examination: January 2012
What led to the United States Civil War? Interested historians consider a variety of political, social, and economic factors using primary sources and an essay prompt in an authentic high-stakes test. Primary sources include political...
New York State Education Department
US History and Government Examination: January 2011
The presidencies of John F. Kennedy, Richard Nixon, and Ronald Reagan were defined by the Cold War. Using primary source documents and scaffolded analysis questions, pupils explore the effect the Cold War had on these presidencies. A...
Digital Public Library of America
The Watsons Go To Birmingham—1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis
A primary source set of photographs, videos, newspaper articles, and FBI reports provides insight into race relations during the 1960s, the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church bombing, and the murder of Emmitt Till. Designed to be used to...
Anti-Defamation League
Building Alliances
Bystander or up-stander? The final lesson in the "Looking Back Reaching Forward" unit asks participants to consider how they can become involved in encouraging change in their school and community.
Anti-Defamation League
With All Deliberate Speed
Has the integration of U.S. schools proceeded "with all deliberate speed?" Has progress been made? Those are the questions young historians must consider as they examine the barriers to and opportunities revealed in a study of timelines...
Anti-Defamation League
Rosa Parks: Sources of Information
Young scholars show what they know about Rosa Parks and the incident on one of the buses in Montgomery, Alabama. Groups discuss and identify where they receive most of their information. They examine the importance of having a complete...
Teaching Tolerance
Using Photographs to Teach Social Justice | Exposing Racism
Photographs capture a moment in time. And some of the best pictures demand that viewers not only ask questions about why the photo packs such an emotional wallop, but also about what happened before and after it was taken. A photograph...
Center for History Education
Contextualizing a Historical Photograph: Busing and the Anti-busing Movement in Boston
The anti-busing movement in Boston is the focus of a lesson that asks young historians to examine primary source documents to identify the causes and consequences of busing pupils from one area of the city to another in the attempt to...
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...
American Institute of Physics
African American Physicists in the 1960s
Physicists Herman Branson and Tannie Stovall provide young scholars with two very different perceptions of the status of African American physicists in the 1960s. After reading and comparing the bios of these two men, class members read...
C3 Teachers
Civil Rights: What Made Nonviolent Protest Effective during the Civil Rights Movement?
Sit-ins and boycotts, marches and speeches, songs and demonstrations were hallmarks of nonviolent protest of the civil rights movement. Young scholars research primary and secondary source documents to determine what made nonviolent...
Curated OER
Racial Inequality: Remnants of a Troubled Time
Eighth graders study the ratification of the 14th Amendment and the Plessy v. Ferguson decision. In this US History lesson, 8th graders read excerpts from the Brown v. Board of education decision. Students investigate one of three...
Curated OER
Race, Language and Separation
Sixth graders discuss the idea of separation in today's society. In groups, they examine the laws used in the past with a focus on "separate, but equal". They review the Brown v. Board of Education case and determine if it caused or...
Curated OER
Including the Disabled Student
Students read and discuss the history of special education in public schools related to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Students work in groups to design ways to modify classroom activities based on the needs of a...
PBS
Jackie Robinson: Athlete and Activist
Can hitting a home run be an act of courage? Scholars analyze the impact Jackie Robinson had on the Civil Rights movement in America. They use primary sources and video clips to create 21st-Century baseball cards of Robinson's many...
Education World
Now Let Me Fly -- A Black History Reader's Theater Script
Young scholars study African American history, Jim Crow laws, and seperate but equal statutes by performing a Reader's Theater script. They perform Marcia Cebulska's, Now Let Me Fly, which may be requested online.
Curated OER
Separate But Equal? A Lesson on the Briggs v. Elliott Case in Claredon County, SC
Third graders discussschool integration. In this racial inequality instructional activity, 3rd graders read Remember: The Journey to School Integrationand discuss the school facilities and how people must have felt. Students watch a...
Curated OER
Latinos and the Fourteenth Amendment: A Primary Document Activity
Students explore Latinos and the Fourteenth Amendment. In this government and law lesson, students analyze the ruling in Hernandez v. Texas. Students predict how the United States would be different if the court had made an alternated...
Curated OER
Paul Conrad's Perspective on Civil Rights
Students review a political cartoon and discuss desegregation. In this cartoon analysis activity, 11th graders discuss the impact of a political cartoon and its relation to a Supreme Court case. Students read additional information...
Curated OER
From Jim Crow to Linda Brown: A Retrospective of the African-American Experience from 1897 to 1953.
Students research the American Memory collection to explore the African-American experience from 1897 to 1953.
Curated OER
The Right to Education for California's Minorities and Immigrants
Students examine the elements of various court cases and how state and federal laws affect them. They participate in a series of mock trials to gain a better understanding of the issues involved.
Curated OER
Does Free Speech Exist in School?
Learners examine their own First Amendment rights as students. They read and discuss a news article, discuss the Supreme Court case Frederick v. Morse, take an online quiz and conduct Internet research, and create a brochure outlining...
Curated OER
What Effect Does A Communities Attitudes/Values/And Beliefs Effect Student Behavior And Influence Curriculum
High schoolers examine how race relations effect the kinds and amount of educational resources individual schools receive within a school district.