Curated OER
Land, Liberty and the Struggle for the American Dream
Students investigate equality by reading a historical fiction book in class. In this civil rights lesson, students read the story Roll of Thunder, Hear my Cry with their classmates and define the Jim Crow Laws that kept blacks...
Stanford University
Beyond Vietnam
On April 4, 1967 Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his speech "Beyond Vietnam." The controversy that followed is the focus of a three-activity unit that asks class members to consider the political and social implications of King's...
Wisconsin Historical Society
Civil Disobedience
When is civil disobedience acceptable? Class members read examples of Jim Crow laws, an excerpt from Dr. Martin Luther King's "Letter from a Birmingham Jail," and a newspaper article and then consider the factors that make a law just or...
Curated OER
Continuing Gandhi's Legacy of Cross-Cultural Understanding: Central Asia and the Middle East
Students investigate the lifestyle of Gandhi by creating a Venn Diagram. In this biographical lesson, students compare the philosophies of Martin Luther King Jr. and Gandhi while discussing their teaching methods. Students utilize the...
Curated OER
King Campaigns in Birmingham
Eleventh graders discuss the contributions of Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. In this civil rights movement lesson plan, 11th graders read Rev. King's "Letter from Birmingham Jail", answer questions about the letter, share their...
Curated OER
I Have a Metaphor
Learners locate the literary devices used in Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech. For this figurative language lesson plan, young scholars first distinguish between similes, metaphors, analogies, personification, etc....
Curated OER
The Poor People's Campaign
Learners research and analyze the campaign that was conceived by Dr. Martin Luther King, The Poor People's Campaign. The concepts of poverty and cultural diversity along with the Civil Rights Movement is also covered in detail within...
Curated OER
Freedom Summer
Learners brainstorm and discuss what the concept of "fairness" is and how to identify examples of "fairness." They pull from historical fiction and the Civil Rights Movement to explain how individual are affected by, cope with, and...
Academy of American Poets
Teach This Poem: "Imagine" by Kamilah Aisha Moon
A lesson about Kamilah Aisha Moon's poem "Imagine" asks young scholars to imagine, "What would happen if...?" If Dr. Martin Luther King's dream became a reality. If Renisha McBride was a white girl and crashed her car in a black...
Albert Shanker Institute
Dream Under Development
As part of their study of the 1963 March on Washington, class members do a side-by-side comparison of the original text of Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream Speech" with a transcript of the speech he delivered. The take away from the...
Curated OER
American Minority Groups
Explore the contributions individuals have made in the lives of American minority groups. Twelfth graders write a five-page expository piece providing a social history, examples of discrimination, and patterns of assimilation for an...
Curated OER
New D.C. Memorial to Honor Dr. King
Students read and discuss a news article about a memorial being built in honor of Dr. King in Washington D.C. They develop a list of facts about Dr. King, complete a fill-in-the blank activity, answer article comprehension questions,...
Museum of Tolerance
The Pursuit of Democracy and Diversity: The Trial of Pro-Social Injustice in Historical Documents and Accounts
Class members investigate The Indian Removal Act of 1830, U.S. Theft of Mexican Territory Timeline, and President Abraham Lincoln’s letter to Horace Greeley, 1862, and then conduct a mock trial of each of these documents to determine...
Curated OER
Human Rights And Civil Rights
While he may not be as well known as civil rights activists such as Mahatma Gandhi, Dr. Martin Luther King, or Malcolm X, Ralph Bunche's contributions certainly made him a leader in the struggle for civil rights in the United States and...
Curated OER
Write Your Own "I Have a Dream" Speech
Students listen to King's famous "I Have a Dream" speech. They use a fill-in-the-blanks worksheet to express their dreams for the world in a format similar to King's speech.
Literacy Design Collaborative
The Art of Persuasion: How Rhetorical Devices Influence Audiences
Scholars analyze a variety of text to identify the development of claims and persuasive techniques writers use. In each text, pupils determine the argument and the persuasive techniques and complete a task introduction worksheet. The...
PBS
Keep Your Head Up | Black America Since MLK: And Still I Rise
Change may be slow in coming, but things do change. Oprah Winfrey and Black Entertainment Television CEO, Robert L. Johnson, discuss the opportunities available to them due to the efforts of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and other civil...
K20 LEARN
It's All About Balance! Parallel Structure
I came, I saw, I conquered! Parallel structure, employed by writers even before Julius Caesar, is the focus of a lesson that teaches young writers the power of this rhetorical device. Class members analyze speeches by Dr. Martin Luther...
PBS
The Goals of the March on Washington
Who else had a dream other than Martin Luther King, Jr.? Pupils explore civil rights leaders in a fourth lesson out of a series of five about people who paved the way to freedom for African Americans. The inquiry-based unit has your...
Curated OER
Rhetorical Devices in a Primary Source
Analyze Martin Luther King Jr.'s famous and powerful "I Have a Dream" speech as a primary source document. After reading up on rhetorical devices and working in small groups to define terms, class members identify and explain the use of...
Alabama Department of Archives and History
How Would You Feel? The Bravery of Civil Disobedience
As part of their study of the US Civil Rights Movement and the Montgomery bus boycott, class members read Dr. Martin Luther King's "Integrated Bus Suggestions." They then craft a short story about the first week of Montgomery bus...
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.
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...
Curated OER
Martin Luther King Jr. Layered
Students identify African American and their contributions to American Society. They describe what African Americans did and explain how it positively changed our way of life. In essence, this lesson plan increases children's self-esteem...