Lesson Plan Dawes to Burke to McGirt: Tribal Sovereignty, 1887–2020 Geography 9, 10, 11, 12 Click to download this three-lesson unit.
Lesson Plan Martin Luther King Jr.: His Legacy as Seen Through the Mississippi Summer Freedom Project Government and Civics 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+ Background Martin Luther King Jr. Day, January 21, is celebrated by Americans each year to remember and recognize the life and work of the man. Martin Luther King Jr., however, represents far more than the contributions of a single...
Lesson Plan Challenging Segregation in Public Education Government and Civics 9, 10, 11, 12 Background The Fourteenth Amendment was ratified in 1868, during the congressional Reconstruction era. The amendment’s most significant provision —"No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or...
Lesson Plan Securing the Right to Vote: The Selma-to-Montgomery Story Government and Civics 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+ Essential Question What conditions created the need for a protest march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, in 1965, and what did that march achieve? Background Throughout American history, African Americans have struggled to gain...
Lesson Plan Nonviolent Direct Action at Southern Lunch Counters 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+ Background On February 1, 1960, four black students from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical College in Greensboro, North Carolina, walked into a Woolworth’s store and quietly sat down at the lunch counter. This seemingly...
Lesson Plan Montgomery to the Supreme Court 9, 10, 11, 12 Overview Students will examine primary source documents and photographs to explain how local events lead to cases being presented before the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court upholds laws that protect the rights of all people and...
Lesson Plan Baseball and Race in the United States 9, 10, 11, 12 Background On April 15, 1947, 27,000 fans packed Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, New York, to watch the Dodgers' new first baseman take to the field. They came to watch a baseball game, and they came to see a talented 28-year-old rookie,...
Lesson Plan The Promise of Democracy Government and Civics 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+ Source JFK’s Radio and Television Report to the American People on Civil Rights, June 11, 1963 , John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum (full text and audio available) Background Information This document will be used to...
Lesson Plan First Day of Integration at Central High School, Little Rock, Arkansas Government and Civics 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+ Sources Students Entering School Building , National Park Service Book: Daisy Bates, The Long Shadow of Little Rock (1962), or online at Civil Rights Teaching Background Information On the first day of integration at Central High...
Lesson Plan Evaluating Lyndon B. Johnson’s Character and Efforts during the Civil Rights Era Government and Civics 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+ Background Information In 1969 Thomas Baker conducted an interview with Roy Wilkins, executive directory of the NAACP, based on Wilkins’s experiences with Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson. This abridged version of the...
Lesson Plan Jerry Falwell and the Moral Majority Religion and Philosophy 9, 10, 11, 12 Essential Questions What impact did "the Moral Majority" have on American culture and politics in the 1980s? What are the differences between primary and secondary sources? Materials Excerpt from Listen America by Jerry Falwell (1980)...
Lesson Plan Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" Speech Government and Civics 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 Unit Overview This unit is part of the Gilder Lehrman Institute’s Teaching Literacy through History resources, designed to align to the Common Core State Standards. These units were developed to enable students to understand,...
Lesson Plan The Big Bang! The Birth of Rock and Roll Art, Science, Technology, Engineering and Math 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 Overview In the early 1950s, a new form of music exploded onto the scene, exciting a growing teenage audience while startling many others who preferred the music of Bing Crosby and Patti Page. Popularized by disc jockey Alan Freed in...