Social Studies — Grade 5

A living timeline of civil rights

This fifth grade lesson plan is one piece of a civil rights unit. This particular lesson is an opportunity for students to demonstrate knowledge of a specific person or event that occurred during the civil rights movement. The students will share their research with others as they take on the role of a museum artifact.

Format: lesson plan (grade 5 Social Studies)

By Laurie Lietz.

Jackie Robinson taught us more than baseball

After determining student knowledge about Jackie Robinson, the teacher/counselor reads "Teammates" by Peter Golenbock to fifth graders. The teacher/counselor then divides students into four groups to work cooperatively on questions. Groups select leaders and recorders and each group leader presents answers to the whole class. The teacher/counselor ends the activity with a question that individual students will respond to in writing.

Format: lesson plan (grade K–5 English Language Arts, Guidance, and Social Studies)

By Jan Huggins.

The Greensboro Sit-ins

Students will explore the Greensboro Sit-ins. They will experience segregation through drama, research the people involved in the protest at Woolworth's, and then stage a re-enactment of the event.

Format: lesson plan (grade 5 Information Skills, Social Studies, and Theater Arts Education)

By Lucinda Gainey.

Freedom songs of the civil rights movement

Students will listen to freedom songs recorded during the civil rights movement, 1960–1965. Students will write about personal reactions to the music and lyrics. Through reading and pictures, students will briefly explore historical events where these songs were sung. Listening again, students will analyze and describe — musically — particular song(s).

Format: lesson plan (grade 5 Music Education and Social Studies)

By Merritt Raum Flexman.

Resources on the web

Let freedom ring: The life and legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr.

Students listen to a biography of Martin Luther King, Jr., view photographs of the March on Washington, and study King's use of imagery and allusion in his “I Have a Dream” speech. After studying King's use of imagery and allusion, they create... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 3–5 English Language Arts and Information Skills)

Provided by: EDSITEment

Historical fiction: Using literature to learn about the Civil War

In this lesson, the teacher reads aloud a section of Connie Porter's Meet Addy, a book from The American Girls Collection® that tells the story of a young girl who escapes from slavery during... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 3–5 English Language Arts and Social Studies)

Provided by: ReadWriteThink