The Civil Rights Movement: What's Going On? Is it Ongoing?
Instructors:
Michelle Colquitt, Media Specialist and Mr. Calloway, United States History Teacher (or in the alternative any US History Teacher).
Grade Level:
10th Grade United States History (College Preparatory). UDL Principles could be utilized to gear this lesson toward either Special Education Students or to Advanced Placement United States History classes.
Required Resources:
3 90 minute class periods (Instructional time can either be increased or decreased based on the level of discussion)
Driving Instructional Question:
Upon learning about the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, do you believe that all of Dr. Martin Luther King’s Dreams have been accomplished? Please provide specific examples to support either your belief that the Dream has been accomplished or that it has not been accomplished.
Instructional Outline:
1. Students will be introduced to the Civil Rights Movement by viewing a recording of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech.
Michelle Colquitt, Media Specialist and Mr. Calloway, United States History Teacher (or in the alternative any US History Teacher).
Grade Level:
10th Grade United States History (College Preparatory). UDL Principles could be utilized to gear this lesson toward either Special Education Students or to Advanced Placement United States History classes.
Required Resources:
- School Issued Chromebook connected to School Wi-Fi
- Student Twitter Account
- YouTube video of Dr. Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech
- Storm Board created by Mrs. Colquitt
- ThingLink curated Civil Rights Primary Sources document created by Mrs. Colquitt
- Google Drive folder created by Mr. Calloway with access to all students and to Mrs. Colquitt
3 90 minute class periods (Instructional time can either be increased or decreased based on the level of discussion)
Driving Instructional Question:
Upon learning about the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, do you believe that all of Dr. Martin Luther King’s Dreams have been accomplished? Please provide specific examples to support either your belief that the Dream has been accomplished or that it has not been accomplished.
Instructional Outline:
1. Students will be introduced to the Civil Rights Movement by viewing a recording of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech.
Students will be encouraged to tweet their opinions of the speech (to include favorite lines of the speech) using the hashtag #CaColq for easy finding. Students will be asked to tweet a minimum of five tweets over the course of this fifteen minute plus video. Students will also be able to view a transcription of the speech if they have difficulties understanding (or keeping up with) Dr. King's speech.
2. Once the classroom has viewed the video. Media Specialist Mrs. Colquitt and Mr. Calloway will lead a discussion about present day events. To include the following questions:
3. Students will be assigned into pre-selected groups by Mr. Calloway and Mrs. Colquitt. Students will be presented with Mrs. Colquitt’s ThingLink Georgia primary source document listing. Students will be given a randomly generated listing of three documents to view and summarize.
2. Once the classroom has viewed the video. Media Specialist Mrs. Colquitt and Mr. Calloway will lead a discussion about present day events. To include the following questions:
- What do you think was going on around the time of Dr. King's speech?
- What do you think could possibly have been Dr. King's rationale for delivering a speech such as this in the venue he delivered it from?
- Do you think that we are still struggling with Civil Rights issues (specifically fairness and equality) in 2015 (almost 2016)?
3. Students will be assigned into pre-selected groups by Mr. Calloway and Mrs. Colquitt. Students will be presented with Mrs. Colquitt’s ThingLink Georgia primary source document listing. Students will be given a randomly generated listing of three documents to view and summarize.
4. Prior to dismissal for the day students will be instructed to view the document and create summary notes about the primary sources so that they will be prepared for the next day’s discussion. Students will be given roughly 20 minutes at the beginning of the next class to discuss the primary source documents they were assigned.
5. Prior to classroom discussion one member from each of the teams will have been invited to join Mrs. Colquitt’s Storm Board. Each team will be asked to post 3 unique reviews of their documents in a fast-paced amount of time. After the Storm Board session, Mr. Calloway and Mrs. Colquitt will facilitate an open ended class discussion about the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s in Georgia. Possible topics in this discussion could include (but are not limited to): the integration of the University of Georgia, voter fraud, editorial cartoons, Herman Talmadge, the Ku Klux Klan, and many other topics.
5. Prior to classroom discussion one member from each of the teams will have been invited to join Mrs. Colquitt’s Storm Board. Each team will be asked to post 3 unique reviews of their documents in a fast-paced amount of time. After the Storm Board session, Mr. Calloway and Mrs. Colquitt will facilitate an open ended class discussion about the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s in Georgia. Possible topics in this discussion could include (but are not limited to): the integration of the University of Georgia, voter fraud, editorial cartoons, Herman Talmadge, the Ku Klux Klan, and many other topics.
6. During the classroom discussion each group will post in a rapid-fire manner to the Storm Board. Students will summarize at least one primary source document every three minutes. Mrs. Colquitt and Mr. Calloway will encourage student rapid-fire discussion through the use of either a stopwatch or an egg timer.
7. After the robust and rapid-fire discussion, students will be led in a classroom discussion debrief session. Students will be provided with the reflection essay discussion prompt (to be completed outside of class) based on the May 11, 2015 issue of Time Magazine (which students are able to read for free via GALILEO and time.com. Students will read the cover story article and will reflect upon their beliefs and understanding of the modern day Civil Rights struggle.
8. Upon completion of their reflection essay, students will upload this document to the shared classroom Google Drive folder. Students will then read and reflect on at least 2 of their fellow students' essays.
9. Mr. Calloway and Mrs. Colquitt will assess each essay based on a rubric and will return grades to students promptly.
7. After the robust and rapid-fire discussion, students will be led in a classroom discussion debrief session. Students will be provided with the reflection essay discussion prompt (to be completed outside of class) based on the May 11, 2015 issue of Time Magazine (which students are able to read for free via GALILEO and time.com. Students will read the cover story article and will reflect upon their beliefs and understanding of the modern day Civil Rights struggle.
8. Upon completion of their reflection essay, students will upload this document to the shared classroom Google Drive folder. Students will then read and reflect on at least 2 of their fellow students' essays.
9. Mr. Calloway and Mrs. Colquitt will assess each essay based on a rubric and will return grades to students promptly.
Image from Time Magazine's May 11, 2015 issue. Image credit to Devin Allen.