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American Centuries > Lessons > History Lessons By Teachers > Equal Rights are a “Dream” Within Reach!

Equal Rights are a “Dream” Within Reach!

Details

Author
Patricia Illingsworth
Topic/Subject Area
Civil Rights, Protest, Dissent
Historical Era
Counterculture, Civil Rights, and Cold War, 1946–1989, New Millennium, 1990–Present
Grade Level
Elementary (K–5)
Creation Date
2010
Last Revision Date
2024

Related items

About This Lesson

Summary and Objective

By learning about the Civil Rights movement and by making a persuasive poster, students will understand that there was a time when some Americans, based on the color of their skin, were denied the rights guaranteed to most Americans. Students will learn about the role of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in the Civil Rights movement and the concept of persuasion and peaceful protest.

Materials & Resources

Collection Items
Oral Histories
Websites

Teaching Plan

  1. As a pre-activity, students should first complete a short web-quest on Martin Luther King Jr. A basic worksheet can be constructed from the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Holiday Information website utilizing the site’s subtopics to learn background information on MLK. This task will allow the students to learn about the timeline of the Civil Rights Movement and the role of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in his work for equal rights for all Americans. On the site, students can read the quote from the “I Have a Dream” speech and reflect on it. They could also be directed to the “The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.” page where they could find out where he was born, where he went to college, and how became involved in the Civil Rights movement. On “The Martin Luther King Jr. Day Holiday” page students could learn about how the national holiday became a reality after MLK’s death.
  2. After reviewing and discussing the information from the web-quest, the teacher will discuss terms such as discrimination, peaceful protest, boycott, and the phrase “equal treatment under the law.”
  3. The teacher will write the Civil Rights Act signed by President Johnson in 1964 on the board: “No person in the United States shall, on the grounds of race, color, or national origin, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination.”
  4. Students will break into groups of 4 and each group will examine the newspaper article on King’s Dream Speech in 1963. The students will also listen to Robert Romer’s oral history from 1963 which includes his reflections and photos from the March on Washington D.C. for Jobs and Freedom. Students will be guided through the newspaper article by choosing meaningful quotes and discussing key vocabulary. When listening to the oral history of Romer, students can answer questions such as: What is optimism? Why did Romer want to attend the March? Why was MLK’s speech important for Civil Rights?
  5. After discussing important vocabulary, website information and photos, the primary source, and listening to the oral history, each group will design a persuasive poster which promotes the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
  6. The poster must contain important vocabulary and persuade others to support the Civil Rights Act. An added option might be to advertise participation in a peaceful protest as part of the poster. They could denounce discrimination and the inequalities they have learned about on their posters too.
  7. Students could present their posters to the class and reenact a mock voting and signing in of the Civil Rights Act.