CURRICULAR RESOURCES
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- Topic: Civil Rights
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Students examine primary source material to learn how the tools of democracy have been used to challenge racial discrimination in voting. Includes "The Most Powerful and Precious Right": A Voting Rights Photo Book and a research activity on current voting rights.
Lesson Plans & Activities
Subject: Civics and US Government, English Language Arts, US History
Grade: 5, 6, 7, 8
Time: 2-3 hours
Students examine a Jacob Lawrence painting to explore the experiences of participants in the civil rights struggle during the 1950s and 1960s.
Lesson Plans & Activities
Subject: The Arts, US History
Grade: 8, 9, 10, 11, 12
Time: 0-1 hour
Students consider the impact of poll taxes as a barrier to voting by examining four primary sources.
Lesson Plans & Activities
Subject: Civics and US Government, US History
Grade: 8, 9, 10, 11, 12
Time: 1-2 hours
Students learn about gender discrimination in space exploration by analyzing a letter to President Kennedy from a female aviator training to be an astronaut.
Lesson Plans & Activities
Subject: English Language Arts, US History
Grade: 5, 6, 7, 8
Time: 0-1 hour, 1-2 hours
Students discuss the issue of gender pay equity, examine the Equal Pay Act of 1963 for its strengths and weaknesses, and analyze the significance of the signatures, stamps, and markings on an official document.
Lesson Plans & Activities
Subject: Civics and US Government, US History
Grade: 9, 10, 11, 12
Time: 0-1 hour
Students conduct historical research on individual and collective efforts to achieve gender equality in the United States by reading and discussing a nonfiction picture book, analyzing an historical photograph, and researching and taking action on the current gender pay gap.
Lesson Plans & Activities
Subject: Civics and US Government, English Language Arts, US History
Grade: 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
Time: 0-1 hour, 1-2 hours
Students learn about the historical context of the inaugural address and then analyze the speech from three perspectives—a young civil rights activist, a Soviet diplomat, and a Cuban exile.
Lesson Plans & Activities
Subject: US History
Grade: 9, 10, 11, 12
Time: 0-1 hour
Students read, listen to, and summarize excerpts of President Kennedy's June 11, 1963 speech on civil rights. They reflect on its resonance today and create images of a better future.
Lesson Plans & Activities
Subject: Civics and US Government, English Language Arts, US History
Grade: 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
Time: 0-1 hour, 1-2 hours
Students learn about the speakers at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. They reenact the March and recite excerpts from the speeches delivered that day.
Lesson Plans & Activities
Subject: Civics and US Government, US History
Grade: 4, 5, 6
Time: 2-3 hours
Adapted from the longer lesson plan, "What if Laws are Unjust?", this activity asks students to consider young people’s rationales for participating in civil rights demonstrations in Birmingham, and the risks and rewards of their inclusion.
Lesson Plans & Activities
Subject: Civics and US Government, English Language Arts, US History
Grade: 7, 8, 9, 10
Time: 1-2 hours
In this role-play lesson, students consider some strategies proposed in 1963 for achieving the goal of equal voting rights for African Americans in Mississippi.
Lesson Plans & Activities
Subject: Civics and US Government, US History
Grade: 9, 10, 11, 12
Time: 1-2 hours
Students investigate historical letters to public officials, including several to President Kennedy, and then write their own letters of concern.
Lesson Plans & Activities
Subject: Civics and US Government, English Language Arts, US History
Grade: 3, 4, 5, 6
Time: 2-3 hours
Students consider what makes a non-violent protest march successful and by analyzing primary sources, they then evaluate the success of the 1963 March on Washington.
Lesson Plans & Activities
Subject: Civics and US Government, US History
Grade: 9, 10, 11, 12
Time: 1-2 hours
Adapted from the longer lesson plan "What if Laws are Unjust?", this activity asks students to analyze Dr. King’s discussion of when laws are unjust from his “Letter from Birmingham Jail.”
Lesson Plans & Activities
Subject: Civics and US Government, US History
Grade: 7, 8
Time: 0-1 hour
Students examine the persuasive techniques in President Kennedy's "June 11, 1963 Radio and Television Report to the American People on Civil Rights" and evaluate the effectiveness of the speech.
Lesson Plans & Activities
Subject: English Language Arts, US History
Grade: 9, 10, 11, 12
Time: 1-2 hours
Students consider what "ingredients" might go into the speech that will launch a President's term in office as they examine some of the most memorable inaugural addresses of the past.
Lesson Plans & Activities
Subject: Civics and US Government, English Language Arts, US History, World History
Grade: 6, 7, 8
Time: 1-2 hours
Students consider how a president can generate support for one of his legislative initiatives and help a bill become a law by investigating the steps President Kennedy took in attempting to turn his June 1963 civil rights proposal into meaningful legislation.
Lesson Plans & Activities
Subject: Civics and US Government, US History
Grade: 9, 10, 11, 12
Time: 1-2 hours
In this lesson, students examine the official program for the March on Washington to learn about the event itself and about some of the people who played a leading role in the civil rights struggle. They research different organizations and civil rights leaders and then create a montage to depict the diverse makeup of the movement in visual form.
Lesson Plans & Activities
Subject: Civics and US Government, English Language Arts, US History
Grade: 7, 8
Time: 2-3 hours