Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Brown v. Board: Where are We Now?

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students explore  the concept of resegregation. In this civil rights lesson, students research the impact of the Brown v. Board of Education ruling in their community. Students define and research...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Teaching Empathy : The Story of Ruby Bridges

For Teachers 1st - 4th
Students explore "The Story of Ruby Bridges," by Robert Coles to uncover examples of courage in the lives of others and in themselves. This search into the story is meant to help students form connections with others and to foster the...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Cultural Impact of Jim Crow Laws and the Civil Rights Movement

For Teachers 3rd - 4th
Students examine the Jim Crow laws and how they impacted the lives of both African Americans and white Americans. They discuss the Civil Rights Movement and how their lives may have been different had it not occurred. Groups...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Brown v. Board

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Pupils investigate Brown versus Board of Education. They read and discuss a handout, discuss vocabulary terms, and in small groups create a brochure, bookmark, puzzle, and a short skit.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

World War II: "The Other" Americans

For Teachers 11th
Eleventh graders examine the roles of women and minorities during Word War II.  In this American History lesson, 11th graders watch the video "Saving Private Ryan".  Students read a book on the topic and answer comprehension...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Virginian Contributors

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Students examine the contributions of native Virginians to the United States. For each person, they read excerpts of a book about their contributions and organize the information in a chart. In groups, they become an expert on one of...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Living Constitution

For Teachers 10th
Tenth graders explore the Constitution as a "living document." After reading three specific cases, learners consider characteristics that make up a living document. In groups, they conduct guided research on each case. Pupils write a...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

John's Dilemma

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Learners read and discuss the story "John's Dilemma". As a class, they answer discussion questions related to peer pressure and responsibility. They compare a quote by Anne Frank to the situation John is going through in the story to...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Re-Examining Brown

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students identify, research, and report on the people, legal cases and conditions that led to the landmark case, Brown v. Board of Education. They role-play various people from the era preceding 1954.
Lesson Plan
Yale University

Yale New Haven Teachers Institute: Supreme Court Rules on School Desegregation

For Teachers 9th - 10th
This thoughtful unit explores the history of school desegregation legislation, including a discussion of the impact of the Plessy v. Ferguson and Brown v. Board of Education decisions. A six-week plan of lessons, along with other sample...
Activity
Constitutional Rights Foundation

Constitutional Rights Foundation: Mendez v. Westminster: Paving the Way to School Desegregation

For Students 9th - 10th
Article and activity on early school desegregation case brought by the Mexican-American community of California. Students explore background information and evaluate the impact Mendez v. Westminster had on school desegregation, and then...
Primary
PBS

Pbs Learning Media: Primary Source: Beyond Busing: School Desegregation in Boston

For Students 9th - 10th
This collection uses primary sources to explore school desegregation in Boston.
Website
PBS

Pbs: American Experience: Eyes on the Prize: School Desegregation, 1957 1962

For Students 9th - 10th
As part of a much larger site from PBS' American Experience's series, Eyes on the Prize, look through this multifaceted site that traces the resistance to implementing school desegregation ordered by the Supreme Court and shows the...
Interactive
Other

Hsi: First Days of School Desegregation

For Students 9th - 10th
An interactive site for students to learn about school desegregation. Photographs, oral histories and questions help guide the students to their conclusions.
Primary
PBS

Pbs Learning Media: Desegregation Mandate: Jefferson County, Al

For Students 9th - 10th
A 1967 federal court order resulted in this document, which mandated school desegregation in Birmingham.
Lesson Plan
PBS

Pbs: Jazz Music and the Crisis Over School Desegregation

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Working in cooperative groups, your young scholars will learn how jazz musicians expressed the Civil Rights era in their music. This lesson focuses on the Civil Rights movement in Little Rock, Arkansas. Also, they will learn to about the...
PPT
Google Cultural Institute

Google Cultural Institute: Desegregation at Little Rock Central High School

For Students 9th - 10th
When state and local authorities fail to uphold the Federal Court orders for integration at Central High School, President Dwight D. Eisenhower sent in federal troops to enforce those orders. Using an array of photos and primary source...
Website
University of Michigan

University of Michigan Library: Digital Archive: Brown v. Board of Education

For Students 9th - 10th
A digital collection of materials outlining the famous Brown v. Board of Education case and the events that followed it. Covers Supreme Court cases and school desegregation issues and events.
Lesson Plan
PBS

Pbs Learning Media: Hyde County School Boycott

For Students 9th - 10th
Narrative tells the story of a yearlong boycott to protest the closing of historically black schools in Hyde County, North Carolina.
Website
Digital History

Digital History: The Supreme Court Orders Desegregation [Pdf]

For Students 9th - 10th
This site is from a unit called 'African-Americans in the Land of Equality.' It looks at the 1954 decision by the Supreme Court in the Brown v. Board of Education case that ended school segregation.
Website
University of Virginia

Miller Center at Uva: u.s. Presidents: Dwight Eisenhower: Domestic Affairs

For Students 9th - 10th
President Eisenhower tried to follow a middle road in proposing and supporting domestic affairs during his presidency. Read about the policies he put forward. Read also about his dealing with Senator Joseph McCarthy, and his spotty...
Primary
PBS

Pbs Learning Media: Briggs v. Elliott, Harry and Eliza Briggs

For Students 9th - 10th
In this transcript of an interview for Eyes on the Prize, Harry and Eliza Briggs describe their experience in the first school desegregation case, Briggs v. Elliott.
Website
University of Groningen

American History: Outlines: Desegregation

For Students 9th - 10th
Overview of efforts to overthrow Plessy v Ferguson and desegregate public schools and other places during the Civil Rights Movement.
Lesson Plan
Huntington Library

Huntington Library: Lampooning Injustice: Paul Conrad and Civil Rights

For Teachers 11th
In this lesson, 11th graders look at the work of Paul Conrad, a political cartoonist, who often explored issues around civil rights, including Brown v. Board of Education and school desegregation. Includes background information for the...