Lesson Plan Overview

Lesson Title: Civil Rights and Active Citizenship

Lesson Activity Author:Jessica M. Smith

School:Paisley IB Magnet School

Intended Grade Level:8th Grade

Main Content Area:Social Studies

Type of Activity:Evaluation/ Exploration/ Creating Timeline

Instructional Goal:

  1. Students will be able to demonstrate knowledge of the impact of social and political developments in North Carolina since the 1950s to present.
  2. Students will determine activities that they participate in today and how they compare to what students did in the past.
  3. Students will work in small groups and develop an idea on the past and present political and social issues that affect North Carolina.
  4. Students will become familiar with civil rights protests in Winston-Salem, North Carolina and surrounding communities.
  5. Students will consider their own perspective on protests and change.

Alignment to the NCSCS:

COMPUTER/TECHNOLOGY SKILLS: GRADE 8

Competency Goal 2: The learner will demonstrate knowledge and skills in the use of computer and other technologies.

Competency Goal 3: The learner will use a variety of technologies to access, analyze, interpret, synthesize, apply, and communicate information.

SOCIAL STUDIES: GRADE 8

Goal 8: The learner will evaluate the impact of demographic, economic, technological, social, and political developments in North Carolina since the 1970's.

Objective 8.03

Describe the impact of state and national issues on the political climate of North Carolina.

Goal 9: The learner will explore examples of and opportunities for active citizenship, past and present, at the local and state levels.

Objective 9.03

Describe opportunities for and benefits of civic participation.

Materials/Resources Needed:

  • Internet access
  • Computer
  • Projector
  • Chart paper (Overhead projector or simply type it in a Word document)
  • Printer
  • Sign up for computer lab for Day 2

Pictures of a Protest in Winston-Salem, NC

Activity steps and timeline:

Two days of lessons (1 hour each)

Day 1

  1. Approx 15 minutes--Begin the lesson with a warm-up. For the Warm-up the students should have directions written on the board stating:

Working alone with one sheet of paper, define civil rights. Please write in complete sentences and feel free to give your opinion and examples, if you know any.

Once students have their first five minutes of class to think and write about civil rights. Tell the students a formal definition of civil rights (here is one that you can use: Civil rights are the rights to personal liberty guaranteed to all U.S. citizens by the 13th and 14th Amendments and by acts of Congress. Civil rights ensure equal opportunity to citizens regardless of race, religion, or sex.

  1. Approx 10 minutes--Pair students in groups of 3 (depending on your class size, 4 would be fine to a group).

Instruct the students to use the same paper from their warm-up and name all the people or leaders that they have heard of working for civil rights. This should be something done within 5 minutes.

After the 5 minutes are up, allow the students to name the people/leaders aloud by raising their hands.

The teacher should already have the chart paper ready to form a list visible for all students to see. (This can also be written on the overhead projector in a word document onto the computer.)

  1. Approx 15 minutes--

Show 4 minute video clip of photos from civil rights movement. (**Note for teacher: This video clip has music, please turn up the volume)

This will give the students a broad overview of the highs and lows of this time period on a national scale. After the clip is over, ask the students did they recognize any of the people in the video clip. Only take answers from those students with their hands raised. Immediately following ask the students to check for prior knowledge. Have any demonstrations/ protest taken place in this area (Greensboro, Winston- Salem, or anywhere in North Carolina)? Give students a chance to think about the question. Close the discussion after one or two responses. (If there are none, tell the students that you will tell them about protest that took place in North Carolina.

  1. Approx 10 minutes--Lecture

Tell the students that America was once segregated by race. There were many people who believed that separating races was the right thing to do. There were many other people who believed this to be unfair and that something had to be done. Explain to the students that people, not only blacks, but white and blacks together during the 1950s and 1960s struggled to bring justice and freedom to all in America.

Break from your lecture: Show photos from Digital Forsyth:

These are 17 photos from a freedom march in Winston-Salem, NC. The march took place on and near Claremont Ave.

You will not have to explain each picture but you can read each caption to the students in case the font is too small for them to see.

Have the students take notice what the street signs looked like during this time period. How are the signs different from ours today?

  1. Approx 10 minutes--Develop a reflection/closure:

Tell the students to write a short paragraph explaining the differences between society of the 1960s and 1970s and today’s society? Tell students to reflect on the pictures and video clip that they saw during class. What issues or beliefs do you as a student want to stand up for in your generation/society? Tell them to mention at least one thing shown in the lesson.

Day 2

  1. Approx 40 minutes--students should be in the computer lab today after instructions are given. (If you have enough computers or laptops in your room, then it will be fine to stay in the classroom.)

Explain to the students that they are now in charge of making a timeline that signifies important events that took place during the Civil Rights movement between 1955 and 1970 in North Carolina and our national’s capital, Washington, DC.

Each student will need ten important facts, along with 5 pictures. Requirements to these facts:

  • If it involves a person, you must know who the person is. (Meaning do not write someone’s name in your time line and not know who they are)
  • List the location to each event. (where did this particular event take place)
  • The specific year the event took place.

The timelines can be made on the computer or on paper. It needs to be neat if written. If you are using your own paper, please take it to the lab with you.

(**Teacher Note: I have found it helpful, to show the instructions via the projector or written somewhere large enough for the students to read while you read it aloud.)

Use some of these websites to find your events:

  1. Approx 10 minutes: Present Timelines

Give students who want to show their timelines the opportunity to present. (If your class never likes to present, chose 5 students, and when they finish tell the class they received 3 extra credit points for being brave enough to present. This may motivate.)

  1. Approx 10 minutes: Develop a reflection/closure

Collect each student’s timeline. All students will have to print. Some will need to print their timeline/ pictures and some just need to print their pictures. Please make sure they do that at the beginning of the wrap-up. Make sure the computer lab is left in a neat and orderly fashion. Remind students to put their names on their work.

Assessments:

You, the teacher, are the best judge of your students’ learning levels and abilities. However from Day 1 lesson read each student’s response from the wrap-up for the lesson. With an introductory lesson like this one, would read them and grade them according to how well the students form their own opinions from what was shown today. The student should have been able to make a least one reference to what they saw.

Day 2 Assessment: The timelines.

Rubric:

4: Detailed pictures, all locations, and people listed are described in detail. (100-90)

3: Detailed pictures, most locations, and people are listed and described. (90-80)

2: Pictures, most locations, and people are listed but not described. (80-70)

1: Incomplete (69- below)

Additional comments and appendices:

Modifications:

For Day 2: If you have lower level students please lessen the number of events for their timeline. This will make the students feel less pressured.

For the higherlevel students, you may not give them the websites to find the information because you may want to see how well they can do on their own. (Do not let them use Wikipedia, please.)