Curated OER
Making Democracy Work for Everyone, 1877-1904
Students investigate the culture of the post Reconstruction South. They participate in a jigsaw research activity, conduct Internet research on an assigned topic, and write a report to present to the class.
PBS
The March on Washington and Its Impact
High schoolers read Martin Luther King, Jr's speech that he gave in Washington. They identify the social conditions that led to the civil rights movement. They discuss the significance of the March on Washington.
Facing History and Ourselves
Emmett Till: Confronting the Murder
The 1955 murder of Emmett Till is often regarded as the catalyst for the Civil Rights Movement of the 20th century. Learn more about the brutal crime—and, as many believe, the miscarriage of justice—that began a national conversation...
PBS
Standing Up Against Injustice
“Sometimes things are lawful yet are actually wrong.” Researchers examine primary and secondary source materials as they study five legal cases involving civil rights attorney William Kunstler in which he attempted to use the legal...
PBS
Baseball: The Tenth Inning
Bring the historical relevance of baseball into the classroom, as pupils discover the lessons learned from the breaking of baseball's color barrier by Jackie Robinson. Learners view video and analyze Robinson’s character, as well as his...
Curated OER
Social Activism In The United States
Students explore justice issues. In this social activism lesson, students watch "Social Activism in the United States," and then locate newspaper articles from the 1960's and 1970's about events during the era.
Curated OER
How Music Motivates
Students form conclusions regarding the motivational effects of music on the mind during the Civil Rights era. In this Civil Rights movement lesson, students describe how music motivates, describe the motivational role in freedom songs...
Smithsonian Institution
Resistance to School Desegregation: The Boston Busing Crisis
Despite how it sounds, Boston's busing crisis wasn't a transportation problem. Academics address the problems faced by African Americans following school desegregation and the struggle to receive equal educational opportunities. Scholars...
National Woman's History Museum
Dolores Huerta: The Life and Work of a 20th Century Activist
Extra! Extra! High schoolers read about Dolores Huerta, the social activist who helped organize the United Farm Workers. Researchers read primary and secondary sources about Huerta's work and craft a headline, supported by three pieces...
Curated OER
Bill of Rights
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...
University of Arkansas
Promises Denied
"Promises Denied," the second instructional activity in a unit that asks learners to consider the responsibilities individuals have to uphold human rights, looks at documents that illustrate the difficulty the US has had trying to live...
University of California
Anti-Communism at Home
Have you ever been accused of something without cause? The sixth installment of an eight-part series asks scholars to create a museum exhibit on the anti-communist activities in the United States at the start of the Cold War. To make...
PBS
Amid Rising Economic Inequality, Does America Need a Third Reconstruction?
Young political scientists investigate the Poor People's Campaign protest held in Washington, D.C., on June 18, 2022. They research how the event was reported in various news outlets and consider their stance on whether...
Curated OER
Martin Luther King Jr.
After listening to a story about Martin Luther King Jr., first graders answer questions about the text. They discuss the importance of the illustrations, identify the beginning, middle, and end of the story, and complete a writing...
Curated OER
The Human Rights Education Handbook: The UDHR in our Community
Students draw article cards, dividing the UDHR among participants. They read each article and explain its meaning. Students discuss the extent people in their community enjoy this right.
Curated OER
Human Rights Education Handbook: Perpetrator, Victim, Bystander, Healer
Students describe a time when they played different roles regarding human rights. They are divided into small groups and assigned roles of "Perpetrator," "Victim," "Bystander," and "Healer." Individual students give an example of a time...
Curated OER
Human Rights Education Handbook: Telling Our Stories
Learners describe a time they stood up for themselves. The stories are interpreted in human rights terms. They match these terms with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Curated OER
Human Rights Education Handbook: Image Theater
Students create a human machine to represent a concept related to human rights such as opression, liberation, justice. They make one machine per group, adding one person with a repeating sound and motion at a time.
Curated OER
Dissidents Delicately Democratize
Students read and discuss the article, 'Chinese Dissidents Issue a Sharp Challenge to the Government' on pro-democratic manifestos that were recently written in China, write a journal entry on what human rights means to them.
Curated OER
Right on Time!
Students read portions of biographies about human rights activists before participating in a jigsaw activity in which they report out on what they read. They made a timeline of one of the human rights activist's lives. They write a...
Curated OER
Post Civil War Reconstruction
Students analyze the process of Reconstruction after the Civil War. In this U.S. History lesson, students discuss specific details about Reconstruction with the class, then complete a worksheet with multiple activities reinforcing...
Curated OER
Civil War Music
Students discover how both the North and South used music extensively during the Civil War to rally troops, as recreation, to march by, and many other reasons. They realize that both sides would borrow each other's tunes or lyrics and it...
Curated OER
African-American Civil War Soldiers Lesson Plan
Students interpret historical evidence presented in primary resources. In this Civil War lesson, students examine the service of African Americans in the Civil War and consider their plight to secure the rights and...
Curated OER
"I Have a Dream" Shown in Pictures
Students demonstrate their understanding of Dr. King's dreams by drawing a picture representing one of them. In this Dr. King activity activity, students read the speech "I Have a Dream" and discuss the vocabulary. Students select one of...