Title: Compare and Contrast Civil Rights Movement to Today
Type of teaching unit: Lesson Plan
Grade Level: 6th grade
Time Frame: 4 lesson periods of social studies (50 minute intervals)
Subject Matter: Civil Rights Movement
Teacher Information
Name: Julee A. Baysinger
School: William Holliday School
AAM affiliation: Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville
Email Address: jbaysinger@stclair.k12.il.us
Lesson plan description and rationale:
The students will become aware of the beliefs and situations of our country during the Civil Rights Movement. The students will utilize the Library of Congress website to see primary sources documenting the Civil Rights. After understanding the mindset of our country, the students will compare and contrast then and now.
State standards:
16.A.2b Compare different stories about a historical figure or event and analyze differences in the portrayals and perspectives they present.
Objectives:
The students will utilize various websites to inform of the realities of the Civil Rights Movement. The students will then interview their parents, grandparents, guardians, and/or relatives to have other primary sources for the times. After collecting this information, the students will use Kidspiration, social studies outline of “This was then, this is now,” and Publisher, to create a newsletter, comparing then and now, ending with changes they believe still need to take place and what they need to do to make a positive difference.
Resources:
America from the Great Depression to World War II [Date visited 4/12/04] http://lcweb.loc.gov/rr/print/list/085_disc.html
African America Odyssey [Date visited 4/12/04]
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/aaohtml/exhibit/aointro.html
History Channel [Date visited 4/12/04]
http://www.historychannel.com/speeches/archive/speech_167.html
National Park Service [Date visited 4/12/04]
http://www.cr.nps.gov/nr/travel/civilrights/
Infoplease [Date visited 4/12/04]
http://www.infoplease.com/spot/civilrightstimeline1.html
National Civil Rights Museum [Date visited 4/12/04]
Methods:
1. The students will listen to Martin Luther King, Jr.’s, “I Have a Dream” speech. http://www.historychannel.com/speeches/archive/speech_167.html
2. They will also have a photocopy as well to read.
3. I will then ask questions: Why did Martin Luther King, Jr. give this speech? What were his desires after people heard his speech? Who was his audience? Why did he give the speech at this time?
4. I will tell the students that we will be comparing and contrasting the Civil Rights time frame to today. The students will work in pairs to complete this assignment.
This assignment will be broken into parts: first the students will look at pictures from the Library of Congress websites to showcase pictures during the Civil Rights movement. Then the students will use the alternate sites to have various sources.
5. The second part will consist of the students interviewing parents, grandparents, and/or any family member that can give them details of the Civil Rights Movement.
6. The third will be paired up to use all the above information to create a graphic organizer in Kidspiration importing pictures of then and now. This is an organizer already set up. The students will import pictures from the web to show the comparison of then and now. The students will use pictures of the Civil Rights Era from American Memory. The pictures to showcase today will come from the web or taken by our classroom digital camera.
7. The students will then write a newsletter article using Publisher to showcase their gained knowledge from this lesson, importing at least two pictures from the American Memory websites. They will end the newsletter with what still needs to be changed and what they can do to make a positive difference in our world.
Evaluation:
1. The students will be evaluated on their graphic organizer, showing clearly the differences of the times.
2. The students will be graded on the content of the newsletter, showing the differences, what has changed, what still needs to be improved, and what they want/need to do to make a difference.
Keywords:
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Civil Rights Movement