LEARN NC

K–12 teaching and learning · from the UNC School of Education

Everyday People Fight for Everyday Rights

In this lesson, students will learn that the Civil Rights Movement, while led by many great individuals, was primarily a movement of everyday people. They will then put that knowledge of the past into practice and participate in their own Civil Rights March. The culminating activity is a multimedia presentation that, depending on which course, can be aimed at non-citizens outlining what civil rights are and how all Americans gained those rights through the actions of these everyday people.

By Jason Perkins

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Learning outcomes

Students will learn:

  1. how society can specifically act to influence change in government.
  2. that the Civil Rights Movement demonstrates:
    • federal government supremacy.
    • change in American politics.
  3. fundamental events of the Civil Rights Movement.

Teacher planning

Time required for lesson

4.5 consecutive class periods on block schedule

Materials/resources

Student Resources:

  • book: Moody, Anne. Coming of Age in Mississippi. New York: Dial Press, 1968.
  • poster board, markers, pencils, rulers, internet connected computers, presentation software or hardware, a CDR or other method of saving final presentation

Teacher Resources:

Technology resources

  • internet connected computers
  • presentation software or hardware
  • DVD player or VCR (depending of format chosen with your kit)
  • TV or projector & speakers

Pre-activities

A broad understanding of the Civil Rights Movement is very beneficial, but not absolutely necessary. An outstanding resource is the teaching kit, The Shadow of Hate, also available free to teachers from the Southern Poverty Law Center.

As the teacher, you will need to read Coming of Age yourself and select a few passages. Also, break the class up into four working groups, with students of all reading levels and academic abilities in each group.

Activities

Day Zero

After a test over the previous goal, with 30-45 minutes remaining in class, read the excerpts you have chosen from the book aloud to the class. Generate discussion on those passages. Form the class into their reading groups, hand the books out, and explain how the book is in four parts (childhood, high school, college, and the movement). Each of the four groups will read one part and collectively create a brief presentation of the section on Day 3. I give them the balance of the class period to begin reading. And remind them to make discussion notes as they read! Note: I have tried to provide reading guides and found that they distract more than they help. Most students will find this VERY easy and interesting/enjoyable to read.

Day One

Immediately put students into reading groups and have them share information from the previous night’s reading. Circulate through the room to discover who is and isn’t reading and to help groups that are struggling to initiate discussion. Again, knowledge of the book is helpful to prod them along. After 10 to 15 minutes of discussion, remind them that they need to be ready to compile a summary of their section of the book in 2 days and split them back up to begin the next activity.

Handout the questions for viewing the video. I use both of the samples shown in this PDF document from the Southern Law Poverty Center. Hand them out 50/50 so that students do not have the same questions as the person next to them.

After the video is over, allow time for discussion and continued question answering. This video is very thought-provoking and will bring MUCH discussion to your classroom. While I grade the questions to provide incentive to attend class and focus on the movie, the goal is to discuss these events from the video: Jim Crow laws, De jure and De facto segregation, Emmett Till, Rosa Parks, the Montgomery Bus Boycott, Central High School in Little Rock, the Freedom Riders, the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing, the Freedom Summer of 1964, and Bloody Sunday. I like to end focused on the fact that these were all ordinary everyday individuals who did what they felt was right, not something they felt was heroic.

Day Two

I have era music playing (including Bob Dylan’s “The Murder of Emmett Till,” “We Will Overcome,” Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On,” and U2’s “Sunday Bloody Sunday”) as students enter the room. I start them out by discussing how music reflects culture and tie back into the visuals of the video from the day before. Continue to lead them to focus on the act of the march—how the march itself was the epitome of civil disobedience yet was protected by the Constitution itself. Discuss some of the Civil Rights slogans and chants.

As a class, plan your own march. The theme ideally should still be Civil Rights but can address another issue if the class feels strongly about a particular topic. Ask students to develop their own slogans and chants. Have students spend 30 to 45 minutes preparing posters with their slogans and to choose one or two of their chants. Take the students into the hall and let them march and disturb the other classes a bit (of course, with the permission of the Principal). See how others will start acting negatively toward the marchers. After just a few minutes, bring them back to the classroom and immediately replay the scenes from Bloody Sunday that are on the “A Time For Justice” video. Ask them to contrast what they just experienced with what the people on the video might have experienced. Have every student assume the role of a marcher on Bloody Sunday and write a journal entry of what they saw or experienced first-hand. Grade the posters themselves and the journal entry.

If there is remaining time, pull the reading groups together and have them discuss what they will put into their presentation.

Day Three

Reading groups assemble and have 30 minutes to assemble presentations. These may be role-play skits of passages, timelines, PowerPoint presentations, storyboard posters, or any combination of these. Let the students be creative and you will be amazed at the depth of the presentations. Allow five to ten minutes per group for presentations. Highlight some of the rights that Anne Moody fought for along with some that she saw violated.

Day Four (IN COMPUTER LAB)

Students prepare multimedia presentations which synthesize what they have learned about the civil rights of U.S. citizens and how they came into existence. Each student should focus on 3 or 4 rights that made the strongest impression on him or her, then if time allows, the student may expand that number. I allow and encourage the use of technology in these presentations, but I also allow the low-tech booklet for students who choose to do so. Emphasis should be placed on the content of what the student learned rather than images and special effects.

Assessment

During the course of this lesson, grade the video handout (or post-video discussion participation), the posters created for the march, the journal writing, the Anne Moody presentations, and the civil rights presentations. I grade creative products based on rubrics built at RubiStar. The answers to the video handout can be found at the Southern Poverty Law Center. I count the final presentation from Day 4 as a test grade and the others as classroom grades.

Supplemental information

Extension activities abound within the America’s Civil Rights Movement kit and on the Teaching Tolerance website, which is a web project of the Southern Poverty Law Center. Additionally, I have students read the entire Moody book and either review it or write journals as they read.

Related websites

Anne Moody: The Mississippi Writers and Musicians Project of Starkville High School Anne Moody Page.

Modifications

I have found that very little modifications are needed here. With a very low reader I had last year, I allowed him to read a specific passage that I felt he would easily understand and that was his contribution to the group, with me assisting his notes and guiding his comprehension. Other than the reading issue, there is no reason even E.C. program students cannot succeed with this plan.

Comments

Depending on which course the lesson is used in, the focus of the culminating activity can be modified. Additionally, as time permits, much more depth can be added by examining Bloody Sunday in detail. I would issue a notice of caution to students before embarking on a detailed exploration of Bloody Sunday, as images and accounts are very graphic.