Introduction: Student Engagement
Introduction
This section highlights ways that teachers and young people can work together to learn about and document Civil Rights Movement history — and apply it to their lives today.
The March on John Philip Sousa: A Social Action Project
Teaching Reflection by Elizabeth A. Davis
Students fight to save a historic D.C. school building that was part of the Brown v. Board of Education court case.
Radical Equations: The Algebra Project Drawing on the Past: The Roots of Our Movement
Reading by Charles E. Cobb and Bob Moses
The Algebra Project draws on the organizing tradition of the Civil Rights Movement to help young people find their voice and achieve math literacy.
Seven Things We Learned from the D.C. Area Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action
Reading by Allison Acosta, Faye Colon, and Deborah Menkart
Over the last several years, we have seen the power of the Black Lives Matter Movement to raise awareness and discourse nationally about race and racism in the United States. Now we’ve seen the power these conversations can have in the classroom.
A Lasting Impression: Student Travel Study
Teaching Reflection by Colleen Bell and Susan Oppenheim
In 1963, 33 young African American girls were arrested during a civil rights protest in Americus, Georgia. The “Stolen Girls” were transported to and held in an abandoned Civil War-era prison for almost two months. This teaching reflection dramatizes what a group of middle schoolers and their teachers experienced when they traveled South to meet Carol Barner Seay and Sandra Mansfield, two of the Stolen Girls.
“Free Our Books” Say 4th Graders After Studying Representation and Book Bans
Teaching Story by Allison Acosta
As part of the Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action at Inspired Teaching Demonstration PCS, 4th graders studied the importance of representation in books and the book bans that have been escalating throughout the country since 2021.
High School Students Lead Interactive Youth Justice Summit
Teaching Story by Erika Landberg and Vanessa Williams
The annual Youth Justice Summit at Capital City PCS in Washington, D.C. included six sessions of youth-led workshops on a variety of social justice topics including book banning, the impacts of gentrification, gun violence, disability and policing, and climate justice.
#LastWords
Lesson by Kimberly Spotts
Through poetry and images, students learn how words can be used as a way to reflect and inform others of issues of society and reflect on police brutality.
Marching for Civil Rights Today: A Collaborative Mural
Lesson by Patty Bode and Stephanie Schmidt
This mural making activity raises students' awareness of current civil rights issues and injustices helps them see the relevance and deeper understanding of the Civil Rights Movement.
My Students Convinced Me to Let Go of Old School Teaching
Teaching Reflection by Susan Nail
A teacher reflects on incorporating primary documents and group work into her teaching.
Sisters in Arms
Reading by David Hill
Two teachers, Nadine and Patsy Cordova, came under fire for teaching truthfully in New Mexico about Mexican-American history.
Judge Carlton Reeves Offers a Lesson in History
Reading by Carlton Reeves
In February 2015, U.S. District Judge Carlton W. Reeves read a powerful statement to three young white men before sentencing them for the death of a 48-year-old Black man named James Craig Anderson in Jackson, Mississippi in 2011. He addressed the history of lynching, his vision for Mississippi, and questions of justice.
Cross Burning Threatens Black Sorority at Georgia Tech in 1985
Reading by Janine Gomez
A teacher shares memories of a cross burned on her sorority house lawn in college.
High School Students Produce Award-Winning Film on Ella Baker
Teaching Reflection by Teaching for Change
Two St. Paul, Minnesota high school students — Siena Leone-Getten and Paying Lor — decided to learn more about this influential woman who remains so hidden in history.
McComb Students Take Civil Rights Movement History Tour
Teaching Reflection by Teaching for Change
Mississippi students go on a Civil Rights Movement tour.
Marion Barry Shares Memories with High School Students
Interview by Telling Their Stories Oral History Archives Project This interview was conducted on March 24, 2011 by students from McComb High School and the Urban School of San Francisco as part of the Telling Their Stories Oral History Archives Project.