Classroom Resource

Brown V. Board of Education: A Landmark in American Justice Education

Subject Area

Social Studies

Grade(s)

4, 6, 11

Overview

In this activity, students examine both the integrationist and the segregationist arguments of Brown v. Board of Education through role play and explore the Supreme Court's decision through primary source photograph analysis.  

Social Studies (2010) Grade(s): 4

SS10.4.14

Analyze the modern Civil Rights Movement to determine the social, political, and economic impact on Alabama.

Unpacked Content

UP:SS10.4.14

Vocabulary

  • analyze
  • interpret
  • discrimination
  • prejudice
  • protest (violent and non-violent)
  • boycott
  • sit-in
  • segregation
  • integration
  • Jim Crow
  • suffrage
  • rights
  • NAACP

Knowledge

Students know:
  • Many of the key leaders that were vital to the modern Civil Rights movement including Martin Luther King, Jr.; George C. Wallace; Rosa Parks; Fred Shuttlesworth; John Lewis; Malcolm X; Thurgood Marshall; Hugo Black; and Ralph David Abernathy.
  • How the Montgomery Bus Boycott and other forms of protest impacted Alabama's economy.
  • How the many forms of non-violent protests were used to help African Americans in Alabama gain equality including the Montgomery Bus Boycott, the Selma-to-Montgomery March, and children's marches.
  • African Americans in Alabama were often the victims of violence while trying to gain equality (Sixteenth Street Church bombing, Freedom Riders bus bombing).

Skills

Students are able to:
  • Recognize important persons of the modern Civil Rights Movement, including Martin Luther King, Jr.; George C. Wallace; Rosa Parks; Fred Shuttlesworth; John Lewis; Malcolm X; Thurgood Marshall; Hugo Black; and Ralph David Abernathy.
  • Describe events of the modern Civil Rights Movement, including the Montgomery Bus Boycott, the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church bombing in Birmingham, the Freedom Riders bus bombing, and the Selma-to-Montgomery March.
  • Interpret primary sources such as the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, Brown versus Board of Education Supreme Court case of 1954, and Letters from the Birmingham Jail.
  • Use vocabulary associated with the modern Civil Rights Movement, including discrimination, prejudice, segregation, integration, suffrage, and rights.

Understanding

Students understand that:
  • Many individuals and events had a social, political, and economic impact on the people of Alabama during the modern Civil Rights Movement. There were many benefits of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and Brown v. Board (1954).
  • The doctrine of separate but equal called for specific things.
  • These events also had a significant impact on the nation.
Social Studies (2010) Grade(s): 6

SS10.6.9

Critique major social and cultural changes in the United States since World War II.

Unpacked Content

UP:SS10.6.9

Vocabulary

  • Brown vs. Board of Education
  • Montgomery Bus Boycott
  • Freedom Rides
  • Selma-to-Montgomery Voting Rights March
  • Motown
  • AM/FM radio
  • protest songs
  • demonstrations
  • genre
  • political assassinations
  • latchkey children
  • Civil Rights Movement

Knowledge

Students know:
  • The key figures involved in the Civil Rights Movement.
  • The major social and cultural changes that occurred in the United States post WWII.

Skills

Students are able to:
  • Critique multiple points of view to explain the ideas and actions of individuals and ethnic groups to gain equality.
  • Cite evidence to support changes in social and cultural traditions using primary and secondary sources.
  • Evaluate the contribution of technology and mass methods of communication to influence people, places, ideas, and events.

Understanding

Students understand that:
  • There were important the social and cultural changes that occurred in the U.S. after WWII.
Social Studies (2010) Grade(s): 11 - United States History II

SS10.US2.14

Trace events of the modern Civil Rights Movement from post-World War II to 1970 that resulted in social and economic changes, including the Montgomery Bus Boycott, the desegregation of Little Rock Central High School, the March on Washington, Freedom Rides, the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church bombing, and the Selma-to-Montgomery March. (Alabama) [A.1.c., A.1.d., A.1.f., A.1.i., A.1.j., A.1.k.]

Unpacked Content

UP:SS10.US2.14

Vocabulary

  • desegregation
  • poll taxes
  • civil rights
  • economic impact

Knowledge

Students know:
  • Major events of the African-American Civil Rights Movement from the end of WWII through 1970.
  • The federal government's involvement in the modern Civil Rights Movement.
  • The contributions of individuals to the cause of civil rights for African-Americans.
  • Involvement and contributions of groups in the cause of civil rights for Africa Amiercans.
  • Differences among philosophies of the various organizations who were working for civil rights.
  • The lasting impact of the modern Civil Rights Movement.

Skills

Students are able to:
  • Integrate and evaluate multiple sources of information presented in diverse formats and media.
  • Evaluate an author's premises, claims, and evidence by corroborating or challenging them with other information related to historical events.
  • Read and comprehend historical texts independently and proficiently on various topics related to hitorical events.

Understanding

Students understand that:
  • There were differing approaches to achieving equal rights for African Americans in the United States, the government's involvement in the movement, and impact of these efforts to achieve civil rights.
Link to Resource
http://americanhistory.si.edu/brown/resources/five.html

CR Resource Type

Lesson/Unit Plan

Resource Provider

Smithsonian
Accessibility
License

License Type

Custom

Custom License Type (URL)

https://www.si.edu/termsofuse/

Approved Date

mgsaboyd
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