Curated OER
Understanding JFK's Presidency through his Speeches
Students reflect and discuss the major events that happened in the United States in the 1950's and 1960's. In this U.S. History lesson, students read and analyze the famous speeches during this time frame, then complete a worksheet that...
Albert Shanker Institute
The March on Washington Logistics Then and Now
I have a dream ... that all pupils will be able to organize a march of their own after learning about how Bayard Rustin organized the 1963 March on Washington for civil rights. Young reformers work collaboratively examining informational...
Curated OER
Social Activism in the United States
Seventh graders explore the goals of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s. In this US History lesson, 7th graders read a newspaper article that reported a significant event during this era. Students write a summary of this...
Curated OER
New Voices for African Americans
Eleventh graders study Malcolm X and black power. In this African American lesson, 11th graders write a journal entry about black power and create a timeline of the events during the civil right movement.
Curated OER
Nonviolence the Road to Freedom
Eleventh graders discuss the use of nonviolence. In this civil rights movement lesson, 11th graders write a journal entry on the differences between Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr., discuss nonviolence and create a poster...
National Woman's History Museum
Songs of Protest: Seneca Falls to Vietnam
Long before the songs of the 1960's Peace Movement, long before the songs of the Civil Rights Movement, and even before the songs of the Abolition Movement, were the songs of the Suffrage Movement. To understand the power of protest...
Literacy Design Collaborative
Exploring Character Development in The Watsons Go to Birmingham - 1963
How did the Civil Rights Movement affect young people in the United States? Scholars read Christopher Paul Curtis' novel, The Watsons go to Birmingham - 1963. Next, they write compare and contrast essays showing how the main characters...
Defining US
Integration of Education and American Society
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...
Curated OER
Desegregation of Schools
Young scholars explore ways African American students were discriminated against in the 1960's. In this United States History lesson, young scholars read three famous poems on the Civil Rights Movement then write their own poem.
Curated OER
Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott
Students dramatize incident that started the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s: Rosa Parks's refusal to give up her seat on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama.
Albert Shanker Institute
Who Was Bayard Rustin?
Who was Bayard Rustin? Pupils analyze a series of primary source documents to learn about this important figure in the civil rights movement. The lesson contains a short film to watch along with guiding questions and other resources...
Teaching Tolerance
Using Photographs to Teach Social Justice | Confronting Unjust Practices
A powerful photograph of the Freedom Riders of 1961 launches an examination of the de jure and de facto injustices that the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s addressed. Young historians first watch a video and read the Supreme...
Curated OER
History in Literature - The House of Dies Drear
Hook your learners with a great project. They research the underground railroad and civil rights movement through literature, view the video The Underground Railroad: Escape from Slavery, and read the book House of Dies Drear in their...
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...
Museum of Tolerance
Making Lemonade: Responding to Oppression in Empowering Ways
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 anti-Semitism...
Curated OER
JFK, LBJ, and the Fight for Equal Opportunity in the 1960s
High schoolers examine the presidencies and John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson. In this American history lesson, students specifically analyze the civil rights support of the 2 presidents and their support of civil rights legislation....
PBS
March on Washington: A Time for Change
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...
Curated OER
Martin Luther King and Malcom X on Violence and Integration
Dr. Martin Luther King and Malcolm X were contemporaries. Both were gifted orators, both were preachers, both were leaders during the Civil Rights era, both were assassinated. But the two had very different views on violence and...
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 instructional activity 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...
Anti-Defamation League
Shirley Chisholm: Unbought, Unbossed and Unforgotten
A 13-page packet introduces high schoolers to a lady of amazing firsts. Shirley Chisholm was the first Black woman elected to Congress, the first Black woman to run for President of the United States, and a leader of the Women's Rights...
Learning for Justice
Mary Church Terrell
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...
Curated OER
"I Have a Dream"
Young scholars examine the role Martin Luther King Jr. played in America's history and what life was like in the 1960's. They watch and discuss an online video about the childhood of Martin Luther King, Jr. and the holiday enacted in...
PBS
Racial Equality: How Far Have We Come and How Far Do We Have To Go?
Is everyone treated fairly in America? The culminating fifth lesson from a series of five has pupils explore racial inequalities from the 1960s and decide whether or not society has changed over time. The lesson comes with a speech from...
Curated OER
Black Separatism or the Beloved Community? Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr.
Students interpret historical evidence presented in primary and secondary resources. In this African American history lesson, students compare and contrast the tactics employed by Malcolm X and Martin Luther King,...