Civil Rights Unit

5th grade Social Studies UnitBy Lauran Rose

Sample Pretest

• Tell me what you know about Martin Luther King, Jr.• Tell me what you know about Rosa Parks• What does segregation mean?• What is the Civil Rights Movement? When/where

did it take place?• What was a sit-in?• What does discrimination mean?• Students who score above 90% will be asked if they

would like to do extension work.

End of Unit Project

• All students will do an end of the unit project which will be presented at the beginning so they can start thinking about what they would like to do; the options are:

1. Put yourself in the time of the Civil Rights Movement (CRM), how do you think Jim Crow laws would have affected the life of you and your family?

2. Write a diary from the perspective of one of the CRM’s key individuals (Rosa Parks, MLK, Emmett Till)

3. Write a paper on a key city or event of the CRM. How did this event or city change the course of the CRM?

Extension Project

• TAG students will do an extension project which they will have time to research and complete when they have finished the class assignment (they will be excused from some lessons but occasionally they will join the rest of the class).

• Do two of the listed assignments or represent your project in a thoughtful and descriptive way. Options include, but are not limited to: Crossword puzzles, diorama, picture dictionary, mobile, interview, newspaper article, poem, map, skit, presentation using the computer, or finding an interactive and educational website for the class to explore.

Protesters

Lesson 1

• Students who are knowledgeable in this subject will be distributed throughout groups (rather than grouped together) for this activity

• Each group will unscramble letters to spell words that relate to the Civil Rights Movement (CRM); such as Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks, discrimination, segregation, Alabama, and Mississippi

• Wrap up: We will discuss what each of these words means and how they relate to the CRM

Lesson 2

• Examining newspapers and magazines from the CRM period.

• Students will be in the same groups as the previous lesson and will examine some of the pictures and articles from the CRM.

• Wrap up: We will answer, “what exactly was the Civil Rights Movement?” Students will be given a bus ticket and told to hold onto it for the next day.

Lunch counter sit-in

Nonviolent sit-ins

6 Principles of NonviolenceThese are what lead the CRM, most who protested were trained in these

things.1. Nonviolence is not passive, but requires courage2. Nonviolence seeks reconciliation, not defeat of an enemy3. Nonviolence is directed at eliminating evil, not the evil-doer4. A willingness to accept suffering for the cause, if necessary, but never

to inflict it5. A rejection of hatred, animosity, or violence. Must refuse to commit

violence.6. Faith that justice will prevail

These are very hard to understand, so we will go through them slowly and discuss what they mean to the students.

Lesson 3: Bus Boycott• Students will be given a white or black paper plate, we will make

masks and wear them for this activity. • The classroom will be set up as if it were a bus, the white plate

students will be told a secret (to not let black plate students sit by them or sit in the front of the bus).

• Wrap up: We will discuss how this relates to the CRM and what Rosa Parks did, also discuss segregation and look at some pictures of segregated areas.

• Assignment: How would you feel if you were a white person during segregation? How would you feel if you were African American? Start thinking about an aspect of the CRM that you might want to research. You will be sharing your findings with the class.

Freedom Rides

Freedom Rides

March on Washington

Lesson 4: Marches/Rallies of the CRM

• Watch some footage of marches/rallies and discuss the importance of them to the CRM

• Specifically we will look at; the march from Selma to Montgomery for voting rights, Freedom Rides for voting rights, and the March on Washington for all rights (we will look at the stats of these marches; how many people attended, what the outcome was)

• Assignment: answer this question: “What do you think was the most important march? Why?” And “What is something we could march about in our school? What could we protest about?”

• Work on extension project.

Lesson 5: Mock Protest

• Students will create posters to protest something we decided on in class

• We will march around the play yard while administrators and other teachers look on

• We will be practicing a silent, peaceful protest just like the individuals in the CRM

• Assignment: Now that we have practiced a protest, how do you think the African Americans in the CRM felt when they were abused for protesting silently and peacefully? Work on extension project (check in with Ms. Rose today)

Newspaper article

Lesson 6: Martin Luther King and the Media

• Examine pictures that were posted in magazines and newspapers across the country

• Discuss the usage of the media during the CRM

• Assignment: How was the media used during the CRM? How were white people portrayed? How were African Americans portrayed?

Lesson 7- Roles of the Civil Rights Movement

• We will discuss the roles of African American citizens, African American baptists, the governor of Mississippi and Alabama, and Protestors

• We will list issues and discuss each group’s role• Students will write an editorial for a newspaper

representing one of the groups. Write from another group’s perspective or work on extension project.

Lesson 8- Rights of Mankind

• Students will interpret social, legal, and political definitions of Civil Rights.

• Together, we will come up with a definition of the words “civil rights”

• Assignment: What do Civil Rights mean to you? Work on extension project.

Lesson 9- A Time for Justice

• Two weeks prior, a permission slip will have been sent home to watch the documentary “A Time for Justice”

• We will watch the movies and see what we have been studying, afterwards we will have a very deep conversation about how the students felt and which questions they may have.

• Students will participate with the whole class today. No extension project work.

Questions to Lead Discussion

What did you find most striking about the civil rights movement? What surprised or confused you? What were the goals of the civil rights movement? What were the strategies of the movement’s participants? In what ways did the civil rights movement succeed? What made those successes possible? What remains to be done to create a truly just and equitable society? What questions do you still have about the civil rights movement?

Lesson 10- Successes of the CRM

• Integrated buses in Montgomery, AL.• Civil Rights Act of 1964• The Voting Rights Act of 1965• Federal troops help desegregate schools• Assignment: Which of these successes do you

feel is most important? Check in with Ms. Rose today.

Lesson 11- The work that still remains

• Examine the rates of African American imprisonment, education, and pay compared to other ethnicities.

• Assignment: Does a gap still remain? How can we fix this? How can you make society more just? Work on extension activity.

End of Unit Project

• Projects will be due a week after the unit is complete, everyone will have a chance to share.

• Everyone will also have the chance to represent their projects (as TAG students are doing) but if they do not have time in class then they must find other time to do it. Such as recess or lunch or at home.

Resources

• Lessons from: http://www.tolerance.org/sites/default/files/kits/A_Time_for_Justice_Teachers_Guide.pdfhttp://ted.coe.wayne.edu/sse/units/civil.htm