Lesson Designers: K. Wise Whitehead and Yvonne Waller         
Grade Level: 6th - 8th grade

Unit: The Civil Rights Movement 1954-1972
Lesson Duration: One 60 minute class period

Students should have a working knowledge of the Civil Rights Movement (for further information, see Lesson One: The Impact of the Civil Rights Movement). In addition, students should know how to: analyze primary and secondary sources, synthesize material, and read and analyze historical documents.

Lesson Essentials:

Primary source "packets" comprised of

1. NVLP clips or transcripts

2. Images

3. Speeches & Documents

Additional Materials
4. Historiography
5. Words and Phrases
6. Worksheets

7. Teacher Transparency

Classroom Materials:

1. Chart paper
2. Students' in-class journals
3. Activity Bins (colored paper, markers, scissors, glue, tape, etc.)

Student Tools:

1. Timeline (opens in new page)
2. Student Site (opens in new page)

Technical Requirements:

To teach this lesson, you will need:

1. A computer with Internet connection
2. Windows Media Player (free download)
3. A PDF reader (for example, Adobe Acrobat, free download)
4. Speakers attached to the computer

Suggested Vocabulary:

•  Activist: A person who believes in forceful action (as a mass demonstration) for political purpose.

•  Civil Rights Movement: The Civil Rights Movement was a struggle by Black Americans in the mid-1950s to early 1970s to achieve civil rights equal to those of whites, including equal opportunity in employment, housing, and education, as well as the right to vote, the right to equal access to public facilities, and the right to be free of racial discrimination.