Students study the Civil Rights Movement through the eyes of the children who experienced its hardships, victories and defeats firsthand by reading and analyzing multiple accounts of the same event.
In this unit students study the Civil Rights Movement through the eyes of the youth and children who experienced the struggles, hardships, victories, defeats, and possibilities firsthand. Students will be challenged to analyze the key characteristics shared by children who participated in the Civil Rights Movement, particularly their courage, commitment, bravery, and unending commitment to fighting for the cause. Over the course of the unit students will realize that through community organizing and a strong desire for justice, regular people, especially youth, were able to come together to use a variety of nonviolent tactics to fight for change, even when faced with resistance, oppression, and violence on a daily basis. The stories and experiences in the unit will highlight that the Civil Rights Movement was driven by the heroism of regular people and that anyone can participate in the fight against injustice. It is our hope that this unit, in conjunction with other units from the sequence, will empower students to notice and challenge the injustices, relying on their knowledge of history and the lessons they’ve learned from those who have fought before them.
In this unit students refine their skills as critical consumers of texts by analyzing the point of view from which a text is written and noticing how the point of view influences what and how information is presented to a reader. Students will read multiple accounts of the same topic or event and be challenged to notice the similarities and differences in the points of view they represent and how the author uses evidence and reasons to support a particular point of view. Photographs are an important part of the texts in the unit. Students will be pushed to analyze photographs as a source of information to support an author’s point. Students will also continue to practice determining one or more main ideas of a text and explaining how they are supported by key details, summarizing a text, and explaining the relationship between one or more events or individuals in a historical text. Over the course of the unit students will also be required to access information from multiple sources in order to integrate information and draw conclusions about an event or topic.
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Book: Witnesses to Freedom: Young People Who Fought for Civil Rights by Belinda Rochelle (Puffin Books, 1993) — 1040L
Book: Freedom’s Children: Young Civil Rights Activists Tell Their Own Stories by Ellen S. Levine (Puffin Books, 2000) — 760L
Book: Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice by Phillip Hoose (Square Fish, Reprint edition (2010)) — 1000L
Book: Turning 15 on the Road to Freedom: My Story of the 1965 Selma Voting Rights March by Lynda Blackmon Lowery (Speak, Reprint edition (2016)) — 780L
Book: Selma, Lord, Selma: Girlhood Memories of the Civil Rights Days by Frank Sikora (University Alabama Press, 1st Edition edition (1997)) — 830L
Article: “Jim Crow and the Great Migration” by Jonathan Holloway, The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, adapted by Newsela staff (Newsela)
Article: “Explaining the Red Summer of 1919” by Zinn Education Project, adapted by Newsela staff (Newsela)
Article: “American slavery: Separating fact from myth” by Daina Ramey Berry (The Conversation)
Article: “Reconstruction in the South” by Encyclopaedia Britannica, adapted by Newsela staff (Newsela)
Article: “Civil War: A Defining Moment in U.S. History” by Gary W. Gallagher, The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, adapted by Newsela staff (Newsela)
Resource: Recommended Texts for Independent Reading (Grade 5 Unit 3)
See Text Selection Rationale
These assessments accompany this unit to help gauge student understanding of key unit content and skills. Additional progress monitoring suggestions are included throughout the unit.
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We believe it is especially important for teachers to develop background knowledge about both the content of the civil rights movement as well as the best practices for teaching about the civil rights movement in order to ensure students leave this unit with the right understandings. Below we provide our suggestions to help you prepare to effectively teach this unit.
“Jim Crow and...”
“Explaining the Red...”
“American Slavery”
“Reconstruction in the South”
“Civil War”
RI.5.2
RI.5.3
Summarize and present key ideas from a historical article.
Freedom's Children pp. 3 – 8
RI.5.3
Describe the racism and oppression black people in the South faced on a daily basis.
Freedom's Children pp. 9 – 16
RI.5.3
RI.5.6
Describe the racism and oppression black people in the South faced on a daily basis.
Writing
Freedom's Children
RI.5.6
W.5.2.b
Defend if the children in this section share a similar or different point of view and understanding of the oppression of the time period.
Witnesses to Freedom — Chapter 1
RI.5.2
RI.5.3
Summarize how and why Barbara Johns protested against segregation in her community.
Witnesses to Freedom — Chapter 2
RI.5.2
RI.5.3
Analyze the role that the nation’s courts played in the fight for civil rights.
Freedom's Children pp. 32 – 39
RI.5.3
RI.5.6
Debate if the children in the section would agree or disagree with the statement that “their courage made a difference not only in each of their individual lives, but for all the others who have followed,”.
Witnesses to Freedom — Chapter 3
RI.5.8
Explain how the author uses evidence and reasons to support the point that school desegregation required young Negroes with courage to face the challenges and dangers of mob resistance.
Freedom's Children pp. 41 – 49
RI.5.8
Explain how Ernest uses reasons and evidence to support the idea that you can do a lot more than you think you can.
2 days
Writing
All unit texts
RI.5.9
W.5.2
W.5.2.a
W.5.2.b
W.5.2.e
SL.5.1
Synthesize and analyze details from multiple texts in order to deepen understanding of a topic.
Witnesses to Freedom — Chapter 4
RI.5.2
RI.5.3
Summarize the key events of the Montgomery Bus Boycott by determining a main idea and supporting details in order to summarize a text.
Claudette Colvin — Chapter 1
RI.5.2
Identify the central idea the author conveys in this chapter and what the central idea reveals about the author’s perspective on segregation and social injustice.
Claudette Colvin — Chapter 4
RI.5.6
Compare and contrast Claudette’s account of what happened on March 2, 1955, with what is documented in the police report, as well as, explain why the author decides to include both versions.
Claudette Colvin — Chapter 6
RI.5.6
RI.5.8
Explain what the quote reveals about the author’s point of view of Claudette and how the author supports his point of view.
Claudette Colvin — Chapter 7
RI.5.6
RI.5.8
Explain why Claudette and Rosa Parks were perceived differently by the community and if Claudette could have been the face of the movement.
Claudette Colvin — Chapter 8
RI.5.6
RI.5.8
Explain the tactics and strategies the black community used to make the bus boycott a success and if all members of the community shared the same perspective.
Claudette Colvin — Chapter 9
RI.5.2
RI.5.3
RI.5.8
Defend if Claudette’s actions did or did not prove that she was able to make a larger impact and that she could have been the “right” individual.
Claudette Colvin — chapter 10
RI.5.3
RI.5.8
Explain what happened in Montgomery after the court decision was made and how different groups responded.
Debate
Claudette Colvin
RI.5.2
SL.5.1
SL.5.2
SL.5.3
Debate if Claudette or Rosa should be remembered as the hero of the Montgomery Bus Boycott and how the perspective from which history is told has influenced our point of view.
2 days
Writing
Claudette Colvin
RI.5.9
W.5.2
W.5.2.a
W.5.2.b
W.5.2.e
Synthesize and analyze details from multiple texts in order to deepen understanding of a topic.
Witnesses to Freedom — Chapters 5 and 6
RI.5.2
Determine the main ideas the author is trying to convey about the Civil Rights Movement in chapters 5 and 6 and describe how the author uses key details to support the main idea.
Witnesses to Freedom — Chapter 7
RI.5.2
Determine the main ideas the author is trying to convey about the Civil Rights Movement in chapter 7 and describe how the author uses key details to support the main idea.
Witnesses to Freedom — Chapter 8
RI.5.2
Determine the main ideas the author is trying to convey about the civil rights movement in chapter 8 and describe how the author uses key details to support the main idea.
Witnesses to Freedom — Chapter 9
RI.5.2
Summarize the key events of the Road to Freedom by determining a main idea and supporting details in order to summarize a text.
Selma, Lord, Selma pp. 87 – 98
RI.5.6
RI.5.8
Analyze why Sheyann ends with the statement “They had beaten us like we were slaves.”
Turning 15 pp. 50 – 65
RI.5.2
RI.5.6
Identify the central idea the author conveys and what the central idea reveals about the author’s perspective on segregation and social injustice.
Selma, Lord, Selma pp. 122 – 1128
RI.5.2
Describe the real triumph of the march from Selma to Montgomery.
Turning 15 pp. 68 – 87
RI.5.2
RI.5.6
Identify the central idea the author conveys and what the central idea reveals about the author’s perspective on segregation and social injustice.
Turning 15 — pgs 97-106 and 131-132
RI.5.2
RI.5.6
Explain why the author put the word “you” in italics and how it supports the author’s point of view and purpose for telling her story.
2 days
Writing
Selma, Lord, Selma
Turning 15
Witnesses to Freedom
RI.5.6
W.5.2.a
W.5.2.b
W.5.2.e
L.5.2.d
Analyze multiple accounts of the same event by noting important similarities and differences among the points of view they represent.
Discussion
Selma, Lord, Selma
RI.5.9
W.5.2
SL.5.1
SL.5.3
Synthesize and analyze details from multiple texts in order to deepen understanding of a topic.
Assessment
5 days
Informative Writing
RI.5.9
W.5.2
W.5.2.a
W.5.2.b
W.5.2.e
W.5.6
W.5.7
W.5.8
Conduct a short research project that uses several sources to build knowledge of different aspects of a topic.
Project
RI.5.9
SL.5.1
SL.5.4
SL.5.5
Synthesize information from the entire unit in order to create and execute a plan to fight injustice in your community.
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