Students create a classwide KW chart about the civil rights movement. Then they explore a pictorial history of racial discrimination and the civil rights movement in the United States. Next they analyze a 1900 booklet explaining voting rights to new African American voters and explain how Jim Crow laws suppressed those rights. Finally they read Dudley Randall’s poem “Black Poet, White Critic,” and explain the poem as a reflection of the civil rights movement.
Students read a brief introduction connecting early resistance to slavery with the later U.S. civil rights movement and review the lesson objectives. They examine an image and caption about Cinque and the Amistad revolt as an early example of resistance to enslavement. Using a collaborative chart, students post something they already know about the civil rights movement or a question they have about it.
Teacher MovesPreview the experience by summarizing how students will move from background history to primary sources and poetry about the civil rights movement, and, if desired, reference the optional introductory video in the Student Pack. Clarify that while many minority groups have fought for civil rights, the term “civil rights movement” most often refers to African American activism. Review the objectives, then monitor and discuss entries on the class KW chart to gauge prior knowledge and questions; if time permits, plan to revisit the chart later to address unanswered questions.
Students review key developments affecting African Americans after slavery by reading short explanations and examining images related to the Emancipation Proclamation, Juneteenth, and the Reconstruction Amendments. They answer a fill-in-the-blank question identifying a major group not granted voting rights by the Fifteenth Amendment. Students then move through a pictorial and textual overview of post-Reconstruction oppression, including Jim Crow laws, the Ku Klux Klan, sharecropping, chain gangs, segregation (including Plessy v. Ferguson), military segregation and later integration, sit-ins, and the Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education, along with the story of Ruby Bridges. They answer a multiple-choice question identifying an example of segregation and respond to a written prompt explaining why sharecropping and chain gangs were considered “slavery by a different name.”
Teacher MovesGuide students through the sequence of images and texts, pausing to clarify key terms (e.g., Reconstruction Amendments, Jim Crow, segregation, sharecropping, chain gangs) and to connect each example to broader patterns of discrimination and resistance. Review student responses to the fill-in-the-blank and multiple-choice questions to check understanding. For the written prompt on “slavery by a different name,” select and share an exemplary response with the class, using it to highlight how unpaid or coerced labor functioned similarly to slavery. Allow time for questions and discussion before moving on.
Students read an explanation of how, after Reconstruction, southern states used Jim Crow laws, poll taxes, literacy tests, grandfather clauses, intimidation, and Ku Klux Klan violence to suppress African American voting rights despite the Fifteenth Amendment. They watch Fannie Lou Hamer Risked Her Life for the Right to Vote to see how these barriers and threats affected real people. Students then open and skim the 1900 booklet What a Colored Man Should Do To Vote to survey how African Americans were being prepared to navigate voting restrictions in different states. Finally, they respond in writing to a prompt explaining how Jim Crow laws and the Ku Klux Klan suppressed African Americans’ voting rights, citing evidence from the lesson.
Teacher MovesDiscuss with students the various legal and extralegal tactics used to block African American voting, ensuring they understand terms like poll tax, literacy test, and grandfather clause. If appropriate, briefly address the shifting terminology for African Americans (e.g., Negro, Colored, Black, African American) using the Teacher Pack articles as background, and ask who was still excluded from voting based on the booklet’s title. After students write, share a strong response with the class and use it to reinforce how Jim Crow laws created technical barriers while the Ku Klux Klan used intimidation and violence to keep African Americans from the polls.
Students read Dudley Randall’s 1968 poem “Black Poet, White Critic,” then consider guiding questions about speaker, title, controversial versus universal topics, the significance of the last line, and the poem’s main message. They write a paragraph or more explaining how the poem reflects the civil rights movement, focusing on issues of voice, power, and whose experiences are considered acceptable subjects for art.
Teacher MovesLead a brief close reading of the poem, prompting students to connect the critic’s advice to broader efforts to silence or redirect Black voices during the civil rights era. Use the provided interpretive notes as a scaffold if needed, emphasizing the relationship between the Black poet and the White critic, the tension over “controversial” topics like freedom and murder, and the poem’s critique of who controls literary standards. Invite volunteers to share their interpretations and facilitate discussion that links the poem’s themes to the historical struggles for civil rights studied earlier in the lesson.
Students complete the exit quiz by answering all the questions.
Teacher MovesFacilitate the assessment and use student data to evaluate understanding, address misconceptions, and identify areas for growth.
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