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Segregation and the Civil Rights Movement
Elizabeth Gaddy
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Students will identify the term segregation and list specific accomplishments of important Civil Rights leaders, such as Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, John F. Kennedy, the "Freedom Riders" and Malcolm X. The students should be able to list specific events that took place in Troup County during the Civil Rights Movement and discuss how those events helped to shape their lives.
"School Integration Questions-Answers". LaGrange Daily News, February 17, 1970.
'"Riders' Stop in LaGrange", LaGrange Daily News,
Computer Lab
Wordfind Attachment #1
Blank Paper
Document P. 74 taken from A Time of Change Troup County in the 1960's and 1970's Attachment #2
(This document is used with the consent of the LaGrange Daily News)
Document P. 93 taken from A Time of Change Troup County in the 1960's and 1970's Attachment #3
(This document is used with the consent of the LaGrange Daily News)
Graphic Organizer Attachment #4 This will be used in the computer lab to record information from particular web sites.
60 minutes
1S3
Essential Question:
What was the impact of the Civil Rights movement on local communities within the United States?
Content Specific Question:
How has segregation and the Civil Rights movement affected your family?
Segregation Wordfind (Attachment #1)
The students will be introduced to a list of vocabulary words from the board. (These are the same words that are on the wordfind that the students will be asked to complete. These words will be very helpful when students complete their activity later.) The teacher will briefly give a definition of each word, or ask for a volunteer to give the correct definition of the term. Students will complete the Segregation Word Find. (approximately 5-10 minutes) Attachment #1
(These words should be written on the board before the students come into the classroom.)
Vocabulary words:
segregation equal integration rally
colored Alabama courts freedom
Montgomery speeches religion riders
King protests churches
Selma bus
Write the following names (listed below) on the board before the students enter the classroom.
John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, "Freedom Riders", and Malcolm X.
Directions: After students have read the names written on the board, the teacher will ask students to raise their hands if they recognize a name of a particular person or group.
Before any discussion takes place, distribute sheets of blank paper. Students should be instructed to fold the paper into four quadrants. (Fold the paper in half, and then fold the half sheet of paper in half. When it is opened, it should form 4 quadrants.) After folding the paper, write one of the names in each one of the four quadrants and then list one fact about that person or group. If the student is unable to identify a specific person or group, they can leave the section blank.
When the students have completed their information, they may turn to the student next to them and see if their partner has something different that can be added to their graphic organizer. (The students should be partners with the student sitting closest to them). This activity should take approximately 10 minutes.
Distribute handouts in linked files:
Freedom Riders News Article
School Integration Questions-Answers
Divide students into groups of two. Using the websites listed below, each group will list at least five important facts about each of the following Civil Rights leaders: Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, John F. Kennedy, Malcolm X and the "Freedom Riders". The teacher should then instruct students to pay special attention to the documents that discuss segregation and the Civil Rights Movement in Troup County. (These documents are attachments 2 and 3 which were copied with the permission of the LaGrange Daily News.) These documents give students an idea of segregation in Troup County and how people were affected specifically in their area. (You will probably want to take a few minutes and introduce these documents. One article answers readers' questions about renaming certain schools and the closing of other schools, while the other article discusses the preparations that were made when the "Freedom Riders" stopped in LaGrange on their way to Birmingham and ate at the counter of the bus station.)
Students will record their information on a graphic organizer worksheet which should also be handed out to the students in the computer lab. (Graphic Organizer in Linked Files) Students should be able to discuss specific events that occured in Troup County. Students should be allowed about 30 minutes to complete the graphic organizer. When the students have completed the activity, they should share their facts and discuss them with another group. The students may want to share stories that have been told by some of their family members. At the end of class, the teacher can either take up their papers or let the students keep the assignment. The research could be used as a review to begin the next lesson or kept in their folders for an expanded lesson if the students really enjoyed the activity!
http://www.grandtimes.com/rosa.html
http://www.infoplease.com/spotbhmheroes1.html
http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1964/king-bio.html
http://www.brothermalcolm.net/
http://www.watson.org/~lisa/blackhistory/civilrights-55-65/freeride.html
www.historylearningsite.co.uk/john_kennedy_and_civil_rights.htm
http://library.thinkquest.org/J0112391/jfk.htm
To complete the lesson, the teacher will use the Summarizing Strategy 3-2-1. This activity will be used as the "student's ticket out the door".
Instructions: Students will complete this activity on the back of their word find. The teacher will ask students to list the following:
Name 3 important Civil Rights leaders of the 1960's and 1970's.
Identify 2 changes that these leaders helped to bring about for African Americans.
List 1 way that your family was affected by segregation.
As students leave the classroom, they can drop their papers into the bucket beside the door. (It is identified by a label that reads, Ticket Out the Door.
This lesson could be used for two to three days depending on the amount of information that you require the student to obtain.
This activity could also be used as a starting point for a research paper on one or more of these civil rights leaders and done in conjunction with a Language Arts teacher to help meet other GPS standards.
Posting pictures of prominent Civil Rights Leaders around the room would be an added activity. You could give each group slips of paper or index cards with the accomplishments of different Civil Rights leaders and have specific students or group members match the picture with his or her accomplishment. Some wonderful pictures are located at the following web site: http://afroamhistory.aboutcom/od/jimcrow1/ig/Racial-Segregation-Signs/index.htm
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School Integration Questions Answers_Gaddy 1S3
Riders Stop In LaGrange
New Word Search_Gaddy 1S3
New Word Search Answer Document_Gaddy 1S3
Graphic Organizer_Gaddy 1S3