Teaching the American Civil Rights Movement by Brooke Machado, May 2020 The Civil Rights Movement transformed life in the United States, enveloping some of the most defining years in American history. I have continuously embedded some form of instruction on Civil Rights in my adult education classes since my first job teaching ESOL at night school in Dorchester. I created the “America’s Civil Rights Movement” instructional unit, with some sample lesson plans, from a compilation of what has worked best for my students over the past 20 years. The material can be taught in its entirety or in parts coupled with other history- or civics-based lessons. Why teach America’s Civil Rights Movement? America’s Civil Rights Movement is a worthy subject to teach for numerous reasons. Students have a natural interest in the topic so are drawn to it. Most, regardless of where they are from, have basic knowledge of some of the era’s most important players and key events, and they are often hungry to know more. This semester, I kicked off by asking students what they want to learn. One student shared that while she knows who Dr. King is, and his famous speech, she wanted to gain a deeper knowledge of why he gave the speech, and what was happening in the country before and after it. In my experience, this type of close questioning and discovery of new knowledge often drives students throughout the unit. Additionally, students have the opportunity to discover what is lesser known, sadly in part because it is lesser taught. My students say, year after year, that during their time in school, they were not taught important Civil Rights topics. I once read a statistic that only some 2% of high school students are familiar with Brown v. Board of Education, for example. Many of the texts encountered in Civil Rights teaching expose students to the lesser known change-makers and events that have changed the country. The students respond My students have proclaimed liking this topic more than others we cover about history all year (that’s fine by me, no offense taken!). Observably, students are energized throughout the learning, often sharing the knowledge they acquire with their loved ones and beyond. When I have asked, “What do you want to remember about the American Civil Rights Movement?” here are some of my students' responses:
Recommendations for use with STAR If you teach a STAR class (for adult learners who read at GLE 4.0–8.9), you can incorporate the Civil Rights Movement as the topic through which to teach and practice the essential components of reading—alphabetics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension.
Other modifications Teachers can modify the unit plan or lesson plans to accommodate the needs of their students or to better work among other existing constraints. Activities like the brainstorm, timeline, and conversation mingle work well as stand-alone activities or can be added to an existing Civil Rights unit that instructors teach. The poster project could be modified to incorporate technology by creating a short slide presentation, or by designing as a one-pager that gets published in a class book. For teaching in the pandemic era, I am exploring ways the activities and materials could be adapted to teach remotely or in a hybrid model so that students can continue to grow by connecting previous knowledge with new knowledge and concepts they learn.
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