Grades 7 and up

This lesson can be taught in about 5–15 days.

Lesson Introduction:
The focus for students in this age group is on researching the effects of immigration on American history and culture.

The focus for grades 6-8 researching the Civil Right Movement as a defining era in American history with a focus on the individuals who helped define that movement. Students will focus Rosa Parks and her role in the Civil Rights Movement and compare her story with Melba Pattillo's experiences in desegregation. As an extension activity, students can research the situation in Alabama in the 1960s.

Days 1-2: Rosa Parks Introduce Civil Rights: Ask students to share their knowledge of the civil rights movement. Write responses on the chalkboard. Discuss with students some of the realities that preceded the civil rights movement of the 50s and 60s, such as segregation in public life and school. Then have students respond to the following question:

• Are people ever justified in breaking the law? Explain.

Have students write about or discuss the question. Explain that they will read the story of a woman named Rosa Parks who found herself at the beginning of a protest movement that would forever change the laws of the United States of America. Hand out the Organizer Patterns: Cause — Effect (PDF) and assign the story of Rosa Parks. Explain to students that they should fill out the organizer, focusing on the causes for the launch of the Civil Rights Movement and their effects both on individuals like Rosa Parks and on United States history.

Days 3-4: Rosa Parks: How I Fought for Civil Rights
Invite students to read through "Sitting Down" to "Supreme Court Ruling" of Rosa's biography. Direct student groups to have a discussion about her experience in the movement to change the segregation laws. Have students create a chronological list of key events in Rosa's fight for equal rights. Encourage students to familiarize themselves with other key figures in the story, such as Martin Luther King, Jr. Lead them to the Articles Archive, Background Knowledge and Related Booklist for further information on important figures in this story. Then Instruct student groups to collaborate on writing a short play about Rosa Parks, other important figures in her story, and one event that surrounded the bus boycott.

Days 5-6: Melba Pattillo — Introduce Integration Ask students to share what they know about integration. Write responses on the chalkboard. Discuss with students some of the realities that preceded integration, such as segregation in public life and school. Then have students respond to the following question:

• Why would someone risk his or her life in order to seek integration?

Have groups of students discuss the question and write down their responses. Then meet for a whole-class discussion about groups' responses. Elicit several of the best responses and write them on the chalkboard. Explain that they will study the story of a young girl named Melba Pattillo, who found herself at the center of the fight to integrate American schools. Tell students that they will revisit this question when they finish studying Melba's story.

Days 7–8: Integrating Central High: The Melba Pattillo Story
Hand students the Organizer Patterns: Cause — Effect (PDF) explaining that they should look for reasons why Melba Pattillo and others felt it was important to desegregate schools. Invite students to read through "Big Decisions" to "Endings and Beginnings" of the biography either on computers individually or in small groups depending on the availability of computers. You can also print out the biography and hand out reading packets.

Direct student groups to have a discussion about Melba's experience in the attempt to integrate Central High. Instruct them to list the causes for integration and the effects they had on Melba Pattillo. Students should also write a list of questions about the events in the story. Encourage students to visit the links on each page. You may wish for them to share information on the links on particular subjects in groups or with the whole class. Share questions and responses in a whole-class discussion.

Day 9: Class Discusson
Regroup for a class discussion to compare Rosa Park's experience with that of Melba Pattillo. Have students pull out their Cause — Effect organizers to find similarities and difference between their experiences. Write those differences on the board along with any questions students may have from the stories and the stories.

Days 9–15: Research Starters: Alabama and Civil Rights in the 1960s
Explain to students that they will be writing a research report Alabama and Civil Rights in the 1960s. Have students pick one of the questions they have written on the board from the class discussion as a starting point for their research paper.

Hand out the Organizer Patterns: Organizational Outline (PDF) for students to fill out as they research their activity. Direct students to start with the Research Starter: Alabama and Civil Rights in the 1960s and the interactive time line as well as the Background Knowledge as well as encourage library research to write their paper.

For information and tips on writing a research paper, see the Writing Workshop: Research Paper to record their findings and answer their research questions.

When the research reports are complete, students can present their work through an oral presentation to the rest of the class.

Visit the research paper assessment rubric for use with this activity.

Extend the Lesson with these activities:

Nominate a Trailblazer (2–3 Days)
Once students have become familiar with the Trailblazers from the time line, invite them to choose one figure they think is the most important in terms of breaking the color barrier. Inform students that they will be joining with classes nationwide to develop an Honor Roll of African Americans who were pioneers in fields that were previously open only to whites. Invite students to write about their nominee. The nomination should include the individual's name, his or her contribution as a pioneer, and why the student believes that this person deserves to be included in the Honor Roll. You may wish to direct students to the Honor Roll Nomination Worksheet to help them with formulating their writings. When your students have edited their work, they can submit their nomination at the Nominate a Trailblazer page.

Instruct students to follow the directions about how to fill in, preview, and submit the nomination form. Encourage students to proofread, edit, and polish their writing before submission. Inform students that all nominations will be reviewed before being published, and that their nomination will appear in the Honor Roll in a few days. Students can read already-posted Honor Roll nominations from schools around the country.

History of Jazz (1–2 Days)
Encourage individuals or small groups of students to take turns reading through the history of jazz and listening to the sound files. Have small groups of students do further research on one area of the history (The blues, New Orleans jazz, Louis Armstrong, improvisation, swing, Duke Ellington, bebop, Dizzy Gillespie, Latin and Afro-Cuban jazz). Then have students compare and contrast the areas and the impact that black Americans have made on the music.

Cross Curricular Extensions

History/Technology (Grades 6–8)
Have students create a time line of events in American history that relate to the struggle for civil rights. The time line can be hand drawn or created with computer software. Encourage students to include both well-known events and lesser-known incidents that are of interest and relevance. Ask students to project into the future 5, 15, 25, 50, and 100 years from now and add hypothetical events that they expect will further extend or curtail civil rights.

Discussion starters:

After reading Melba and Rosa's stories, here are some questions to think about:

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