Black History Month

What are the demands of the Black Lives Matter movement, and what progress has it made in bringing social change? Students explore these questions with readings and discussion.  

History has a way of smoothing out the complexities of real-life events. This brief TeachableInstant lesson explores some forgotten or misrepresented facts about the movement for civil rights.  

Students consider what it means to be an ally and to stand up for justice by examining a famous photo of a protest  at the 1968 Olympics and then learning about and discussing the story behind the photo.  

In this brief Teachable Instant activity, students learn about how organizing by Black students and their allies at the University of Missouri led to the resignation of the university's president and helped spark a wave of organizing on campuses nationwide.   

Through reading, discussion, and small group activities, students learn about three relatively unknown women in the civil rights movement: Diane Nash, Virginia Durr, and Claudette Colvin.    

This brief activity focuses on the African American girl who refused to give up her seat on the bus, months before Rosa Parks touched off the 1955 Montgomery Bus Boycott. Please also see the segment about Colvin in this Teachable Moment lesson.  

This brief activity kicks off Black History Month by examining King's letter from a Birmingham jail in light of current events.   

The movie Selma depicts the struggle for voting rights for African Americans that led to the 1965 Voting Rights Act. In this lesson, students examine a primary source document to help them understand why so few southern blacks could vote in 1965. Students explore why voting rights were so important...

This summer marks the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act. In this lesson, students explore the interplay of this legislation with the Civil Rights Movement, and consider what role everyday people play in making change.

This lesson consists of two student readings followed by discussion questions. The first reading reviews the history of the Freedom Summer project, which took place 50 years ago. The second reading discusses some of the challenges to voting rights that we face today.