CURRICULAR RESOURCES
Innovative lesson plans, activities, resources, and online exhibits feature archival materials to fit your classroom needs.
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This twenty page photo book tells the story of voting rights in the United States through primary sources housed in the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum archives and in other collections. Includes questions and links to additional resources.
Resource Guides / Packets
Subject: Civics and US Government, US History
Grade: 5, 6, 7, 8
Time: 0-1 hour, 1-2 hours
This program introduces students to the importance of voting and the struggle for voting rights, past and present. Students examine primary source material -- documents, photographs, and video -- to learn about racial discrimination in voting during the Kennedy years and strategies that public officials, activists, and everyday citizens used to address it. The program also explores voting rights today and actions students can take to protect this “most powerful and precious right” for everyone.
Guided Programs
Subject: Civics and US Government, US History
Grade: 6, 7, 8
Time: 0-1 hour
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 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 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 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
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 can learn about the suffrage movement and its symbolism in MA, and then color a bluebird sign.
Hands-On History Activities
Subject: Civics and US Government, US History
Grade: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Time: 0-1 hour
Students can design, make, and decorate a poster to support their chosen cause.
Hands-On History Activities
Subject: Civics and US Government, US History
Grade: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
Time: 0-1 hour
Students can make their own suffrage sash inspired by those worn by suffragists in the 20th century.
Hands-On History Activities
Subject: Civics and US Government, US History
Grade: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Time: 0-1 hour
Students can make their own suffrage sunflower and discover more about the popular symbols and colors used by suffragists in the campaign to secure the right to vote for women.
Hands-On History Activities
Subject: Civics and US Government, US History
Grade: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Time: 0-1 hour
This 20-page booklet tells the story of voting rights during the Kennedy administration and beyond through photographs and documents. Includes guiding questions and a bibliography.
Lesson Plans & Activities
Subject: Civics and US Government, English Language Arts, US History
Grade: 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12
Time: 0-1 hour
In this activity, students will read a transcript and listen to an excerpted audio recording of a secretly taped phone conversation excerpt between President Kennedy, Attorney General Robert Kennedy, and Mississippi Governor Ross Barnett. The students’ goal is to identify information the audio recording can provide beyond what they have learned from reading the transcript of the phone conversation.
Lesson Plans & Activities
Subject: Civics and US Government, US History
Grade: 8, 9, 10, 11, 12
Time: 0-1 hour