Browse lesson plans

Black American leaders as responsible citizens: Their roles, their contributions, their diversity

The focus of this lesson will be to help third grade students to clearly identify the need for having leaders arise from the citizenry of a given community. Students will review factual information to guide them in distinguishing the positive and negative qualities of leaders. Techniques will include guided reading of factual historical text during a Jigsaw, student note taking, student development of open-ended questions, and student engagement in a Socratic seminar.

Format: lesson plan (grade 3 and 5 Social Studies)

By Debbie Rollins.

Brown versus Board of Education: Rhetoric and realities

In this lesson, students will listen to three oral histories that shed light on political and personal reactions toward the 1954 Supreme Court ruling Brown versus Board of Education. Includes a teacher's guide as well as the oral history audio excerpts and transcripts.

Format: lesson plan (multiple pages)

Civil rights protests and dilemmas

In this lesson students explore well-known civil rights protests then listen to two oral histories of individuals who protested in their own way to promote equality for African Americans. Students specifically will consider personal risks involved in protest.

Format: lesson plan (multiple pages)

Civil rights wax museum project

In this lesson plan, students will choose African Americans prominent in the Civil Rights Movement and research aspects of their lives. They will create timelines of their subjects' lives and a speech about their subjects, emphasizing why they are remembered today.

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

By Sabrina Lewandowski.

Experiences of the Civil Rights Movement: A roundtable project

This activity allows students to participate in a roundtable discussion by taking on the persona of someone who lived and experienced the Civil Rights Movement. By participating in a role playing simulation, students are more able to achieve higher-level thinking skills and, as a result, hopefully be able to think more critically about the Civil Rights Era.

Format: lesson plan (grade 11–12 English Language Arts and Social Studies)

By Kathleen Caldwell.

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.

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.

Resources on the web

Our Shared History: African American Heritage

A portal to the National Parks Service websites that are related to African American heritage. Find lesson plans about Vieuxx Carre (a Creole neighborhood in New Orleans); get a new perspective on the Underground Railroad; view an exhibition of Frederick Douglass... (Learn more)

Format: website/lesson plan

Provided by: National Park Service