SS.912.A.7.5

Try this 12-question multiple choice quiz to see how much you know about the Civil Rights Movement.

Type: Assessment

In June 1961, Interfaith Freedom Riders challenged segregated interstate buses by traveling from Washington, D.C. to Tallahassee, Florida. After successfully completing the Freedom Ride they planned to fly home but first decided to test whether or not the group would be served in the segregated airport restaurant. After being denied service, 10 Freedom Riders, later known as the Tallahassee Ten, were arrested for unlawful assembly. This Primary Source Set supports the teaching of the Civil Rights Movement in a Florida context. 

Type: Image/Photograph

Students will analyze foundational documents and read about important people and events that helped African Americans achieve Civil Rights and Liberty.

Type: Lesson Plan

Students will research and discuss key leaders within the various rights movements, consider the forms of civic engagement that theses historical figures used to accomplish their goals, and complete a graphic organizer using their collected information. Then they will complete a written short response of their favored form of civic engagement from the lesson and tie it back to the historical figure/s they studied.

Type: Lesson Plan

Students will be placed into small groups to view, analyze, and discuss primary source photos. The photos incorporated will display Jim Crow Laws, segregation, and early forms of protest during the Civil Rights movement. Each photo will require students to provide a brief description and answer questions based off of the primary source images. After the lesson, students will complete a guided practice incorporating primary source text taken from Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech. This is lesson 2 of 3 in a mini-unit integrating civics and U.S. History.

Type: Lesson Plan

Students will go on a "road trip" to learn about events surrounding the Civil Rights Movement while becoming familiar with the geography of the United States. 

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson plan, students will analyze key female leaders of the Civil Rights Movement, the things that these women were able to accomplish, the organizations that they served as a part of or partnered with, and the ways that they helped to advance the Civil Rights Movement.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will travel to multiple "stations" to learn about significant events and people from the American Civil Rights Movement. 

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will explain the impact of political parties, interest groups, media and individuals on shaping public policy by researching a topic and creating a shareable with the class.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson plan, students analyze the impact of civic engagement as a means of preserving or reforming institutions. This analysis will take place through identifying means and methods to promote social change using historical examples of citizens achieving or preventing political and social change through civic engagement.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students analyze primary source documents in an effort to answer the central historical question: Was JFK a strong supporter of Civil Rights? First, the teacher streams a video clip from Discovery Education on JFK and civil rights. Students form a hypothesis and discuss whether JFK was "strong" on civil rights based on this. Students then read a 1963 JFK speech supporting the Civil Rights Act; as a class, they answer sourcing, close reading and context questions and revisit their hypothesis. Students then read John Lewis's controversial original draft of the speech he delivered at the March on Washington. They answer guiding questions which corroborate both documents and attempt to reach a conclusion. If there is time, the teacher may bookend the lesson with another clip which shows how LBJ signed the eventual law into action.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students analyze primary source documents in an effort to answer the central historical question: Why did the Montgomery Bus Boycott succeed? The teacher first introduces the boycott and Rosa Parks by streaming a film clip from historicalthinkingmatters.org. Students then break into 3 groups and look at a textbook account of the boycott and a timeline, making a "claim" as to why the boycott succeeded and sharing it with the whole class. The groups then corroborate with 2 more documents-a letter by Jo Ann Robinson and a memo by Bayard Rustin-and make another claim. Finally, 2 more documents-a letter by Virginia Durr and a speech by Martin Luther King, Jr.-are added to the mix, and students formulate and share a final claim. In a final class discussion, students reflect on how their claims did/did not change as they encountered more evidence.

Type: Lesson Plan

Learn how women took on leadership roles during the Civil Rights Movement by exploring the contributions of Fannie Lou Hamer, Ella Baker, and Dorothy Height with this interactive tutorial.

Type: Original Student Tutorial

Explore the "birth" and legacy of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) with this interactive tutorial.

Type: Original Student Tutorial

Travel around the state of Alabama to learn about three events during the Civil Rights era: the Montgomery Bus Boycott, the 16th Street Church bombing, and the March to Selma with this interactive tutorial.

Type: Original Student Tutorial

Explore different methods for promotion social and political change and examples of preservation from U.S. history with this interactive tutorial.

Type: Original Student Tutorial

In the summer of 1959, the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) organized the Miami Interracial Action Institute and taught attendees principles of non-violent direct action to combat inequality in the South. Two attendees, sisters Patricia and Priscilla Stephens, took these principles with them when they returned to Tallahassee for school and formed the Tallahassee chapter of CORE.

Using tactics they learned at the CORE workshop, the Stephens sisters held their first sit-in at the Woolworth’s lunch counter in Tallahassee on February 13, 1960, and a second sit-in at the same lunch counter a week later, leading to the arrest of the sisters and a group of other students. Rather than pay their fines, eight students opted for jail time, effectively launching the first jail-in of the civil rights movement. This primary source set supports the teaching of the Civil Rights Movement in a Florida context.

Type: Text Resource

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the Social Studies content area. It is most appropriate for 11th-12th grade students enrolled in a U.S. History class. This article both retells the struggles of the Freedom Riders who were beaten and arrested in 1961, and also interviews them on their experiences, more than 50 years later. It is accompanies by a photo gallery of before/after photos of the Freedom Riders.

Type: Text Resource

In this webisode brought to you by PBS, you will explore key events that took place in American history from 1963-1968, including the Vietnam War and the Civil Rights Movement. In this resource you can examine primary source documents and photographs, listen to segments of key speeches, examine a timeline and glossary, take a quiz, and explore additional resources connected to this era. Enjoy this journey into American history!

Type: Tutorial

In this tutorial, you will explore key events that took place in American history from 1955-1963, including the rise of the Civil Rights Movement and early events in the Cold War. Through this interactive tutorial, you can examine primary source documents and photographs, listen to key speeches, and interact with a wealth of information during this webisode brought to you by PBS. The webisode even includes a timeline, glossary, quiz, and additional resources that you can examine to further explore this era. Enjoy this journey into American history!

Type: Tutorial

In this tutorial video, you'll take a whirlwind journey through the 1960s, a decade in American history marked by social, political, and governmental change, as well as influential leaders such as JFK and Martin Luther King, Jr. You'll learn more about the Civil Rights Movement and the laws and court decisions that sought to bring equality to more groups of people in our nation. Enjoy this "crash course" in U.S. History!

Type: Tutorial

In this tutorial video, you'll take a whirlwind journey through key events of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s in America. During this time, society focused on achieving equal rights and more protections for all groups in America, especially African-Americans. Enjoy this "crash course" in U.S. History!

Type: Tutorial