Historical Educational Web Page

Subject Area: Social Studies: U.S. History

Grade Level: 8^th Grade

Unit Title: Exploring Reform Movements

Lesson Title: The Civil Rights Movement

NYS Learning Standards: Social Studies

http://www.emsc.nysed.gov/ciai/socst/socstand/home.html

• Standard 1 – History of the United States and New York: use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their understanding of major ideas, eras, themes, developments, and turning points in the history of the United States and New York.
• Standard 5 – Civics, Citizenship, and Government: use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their understanding of the necessity for establishing governments; the governmental system of the U.S. and other nations; the U.S. Constitution; the basic civic values of American constitutional democracy; and the roles, rights, and responsibilities of citizenship, including avenues of participation.

Goals:

• For the students to learn more about the beginnings, the key events, and legacies of the Civil Rights Movement
• For the students to find the connection of the Civil Rights Movement and the rights that we have today
• For the students to be able to grasp the importance of equality and peace
• For the students to be able to use digital tools for research and presentation
• For the students to be able to work in groups where they will share duties and ideas

Objectives:

• The students will choose one key event during the Civil Rights movement era.  
• They will form in a group of three people where they will research and collect information about their chosen key event.
• The students will create an MS PowerPoint slideshow using the researched information and present it to the class as group.

Time for completion: 1 week to make the PowerPoint presentation, 8-15 minutes for each group to present in front of the class for two class sessions.

Materials/Resources Needed: MS PowerPoint, Internet

Suggested Internet Resources:

• For photo images: http://www.loc.gov/rr/print/list/084_civil.html

Anticipatory Set:

Ask the students:

• What is the Civil Rights Movement? What does movement mean?
• What was the history behind the formation of the Civil Rights Movement?
• Do you know any key events?
• Do you know any of the Civil Rights Movement leaders?

The lesson plan is all about learning the Civil Rights Movement. The class will be divided into six groups and there will be three people in each group. Each group will choose one key event during the Civil Rights Movement era. Their choices will be written on the board to make sure that their chosen key events will not be duplicated. Each group will research their key event via the Internet. The students will make a slideshow about the chosen key event and will present it in front of the class as a group.

Purpose: The students will be more aware of how the Civil Rights Movement all began, how it struggled, how it progressed, and how it conquered. The students will learn it importance in history until the present day. By doing this project, the students will get an in depth understanding of their chosen key event as well as the other groups’ key events. This project will ultimately make them aware of how these key events have made major differences in their lives back then and our lives now.

Input: In order to complete the project, it is important for the students to know how to use the computer, MS PowerPoint, and know how to access the Internet. They will be brought to the computer lab where they will be shown how to do the project properly and correctly. They will also be taught how to safely and correctly use the Internet. The students will need to sign an AUP form.

Model: During the computer lab session, the students will be given the instructions for the computer project. They will be taught how to use the computer correctly, learn how to use MS PowerPoint, and teach them how to incorporate the Internet with the project. A sample of a PowerPoint presentation will be shown on the projector and will be explained to them in detail.

Instructions for The Project:

After setting the students up in their groups with their chosen key events, the students will choose a leader for their group. The leader will just be the person to make sure that everybody will stay in contact and that they are doing their assigned duties. The students will divide the duties however way they like. They will research about their key event via the Internet, gather the information, and use the information to make a PowerPoint presentation. (A tutorial about using the computer, PowerPoint, and the Internet will be held in the computer lab session prior to the time they will be doing their research.) The students will be assigned dates on when they will present their slideshows.

Specific PowerPoint Project Instructions:

1. The first task is to give their slideshow presentation a title that best suits it. They will put this on the first slide. They can add an image if they wish.
2. The following task is to make a brief introduction about what the slideshow is going to be about.
3. Next, on the following slides, they need to mention the history of how and why their specific key event came about. Then, they have to put the information they researched about their key event with the related and appropriate images. (They will be suggested to put only a few descriptions about their main points. They need to only use the slides as a visual and not read entirely from it.) They can use anywhere from 3-6 slides for this task. They can use anywhere from 5-10 images for this part.
4. On the last slide, they will make a slide or two that would explain the legacies of their key events.

NOTE: For their PowerPoint slides, students can choose any font as long as they are legible enough for their audience to read. They are suggested to use as many different colors and effects that they can possibly use. They can use bulleted lists if necessary. No hyperlinks needed.

1. The last task is for each group to present their PowerPoint slideshow in front of the class on their assigned dates. They can assign one person to go in front or to do it as a group and divide the data between them. They will be given 8-15 minutes to present their slideshows. No index cards/cue cards are allowed. They will be encouraged to answer any questions from the students by the end of the slideshow.

Guided Practice: Practice of using the computer, MS PowerPoint, and the Internet will be done during the class in the computer lab.

Check for Understanding/Closure: After the presentations are done (which will be done in two class sessions), we will have a discussion about what they remembered from the other presentations that they saw. The students can share their thoughts about what they learned.

Ask the students these questions:

• Before this project, were you familiar with the key events that were shown in the presentations?
• What did you learn from the presentations?
• What is the most memorable key event for you?
• Who is the most memorable Civil Rights Leader for you?
• Do you think these key events have anything to do with us today?

Independent Practice: Encourage the students to learn more about the Civil Rights Movement as well as the other movements that it has influenced, such as the Feminism movement. Let them know that the library has many books and videos where they can learn more about the Civil Rights Movement. Encourage them to go to museums where they can learn and see real Civil Rights movement artifacts.

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