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Title-
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Background-
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| Civil Rights, Communist, Segregation, Vendetta, Filibuster, Civil Liberties. |
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Expected Outcome Of This Lesson Plan-
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1.Understands the struggle for racial and gender equality and for the extension of civil liberties.
2.Understand how participation in civic and politcal life can help citizens attain individual and public goals.
3.Understand how constitutions may limit government's power in order to protect individual rights and promote the common good. |
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Teacher Objectives-
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1.Growth of reasoning
2.Problem solving
3.Independent thinking |
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Resources-
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Link-Civil Rights Act of 1964
Civil Rights Timeline
Suggested readings- The Civil Rights Movement: A Photograhpic History, 1958-68
The Last Crusasde: Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Poor People's Campaign |
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Teaching Methods-
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1. Lesson Introduction-
Begin by asking students to listen to the following:
Two students are talking quietly, but seriously, to each other. A third student, standing at the next locker, overhears the conversation, which happens to be about an act they have committed in violation of school rules. The third student shares the conversation with two other students, one of whom reports the incident to the principal’s office. The principal searches the lockers of the first two students, locates some incriminating evidence, and suspends the students in accordance with school policy.
2.Have your students consider and discuss whether:
•the first two students have a right to privacy;
•the third student has a right to freedom of speech;
•the other students are morally or legally obligated to report the incident; and
•the locker search may be conducted without a warrant.
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2. Lesson Progression-
1.Now initiate a more general discussion of civil rights and liberties. Explain to students that civil rights are the rights to personal liberty guaranteed to all U.S. citizens by the 13th and 14th Amendments and by acts of Congress. Civil rights ensure equal opportunity to citizens regardless of race, religion, or sex.Civil libertiesrefer to the freedoms one has from arbitrary governmental interference and are guaranteed in the United States by the Bill of Rights to the Constitution. Civil liberties include freedom of speech and press and freedom to practice religion. Ask students to consider the following:
•What rights are guaranteed and protected under the Constitution?
•What are some other laws that preserve and protect the civil liberties of individuals? (You may want to look at theCivil Rights Act of 1964.)
•Is there a constitutional right to privacy? (See what theAmerican Civil Liberties Union says about privacy.)
2.Continue to develop the context of the civil rights movment of the 1960s using your textbook or other references; Civil Rights Timeline or the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
The year is 1963. The U.S. president has been assassinated, and the vice president, once the Senate majority leader, assumes the presidency. He is determined to carry out one of the missions of the slain president, which is to expand civil rights for all people. However, he is also very concerned about his own legacy, so he tapes as many conversations as possible in order to develop a full and complete record of his presidency. He does not inform others that they are being taped.
A minister is busy trying to continue the mission of his lifetime, which is to expand and ensure the civil rights of all people, particularly those who are black. This man is both a spiritual and political leader. However, during the course of his efforts, he behaves in some morally questionable ways unrelated to his mission.
The director of a powerful police force is charged with the responsibility of ensuring that no federal laws are broken and that democracy is not undermined. This director often keeps individuals under surveillance, although they are not aware of this. He learns about the morally questionable behaviors of the minister and attempts to discredit him to the president and to the minister’s wife and family, hoping, in fact, to undermine the minister’s power.
The president is counting on the minister to assist him in producing and passing the most important legislation of the decade and possibly the century—a civil rights bill that would outlaw racial discrimination. The civil rights legislation is eventually passed. The president and the director continue to tape others without their knowledge. The minister’s family is anonymously informed of his behavior. The minister is assassinated. The secret audiotapes the president has made are released 20 years later. |
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3. Guided Practice-
1.Have each student look at the Civil Rights Timeline and choose an event and person to focus on.
2.Research that specific event and person to find each person's responsibilities, roles, actions and significance within that event. |
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4. Student Practice-
1.Each student will take the information they researched and write a 2 page paper showing me what they learned about the person/event and the responsibilities, roles, actions, and/ or significance.
2.Students will present a short 3-5 minute speech. This speech should try and convince me that the person/event was the most important in the outcome of the Civil Rights Movement.
3.Students must then tell me how this relates to modern day. |
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5. Learner Accommodations-
1.Since younger students may have difficulty with some of the nuances of this lesson, focus their lesson on the events highlighted in the Civil Rights Timeline, particularly those from 1963 to 1969. Then explore the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and use it as the springboard for an investigation of the roles played by Lyndon Johnson and Martin Luther King Jr. in enacting this legislation. Have the students work in pairs to conduct research and then create a fictional dialogue between the two men about the role each played in developing and passing this historic act.
2. This will be used only if necessary, if I feel all students are capable of the assignmnet, then we'll focus on the ask at hand. |
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6. Assessment-
Discussion Questions-these questions won't be graded but will tell me what areas I need to improve and implement more instruction.
1. What is the difference between civil liberties and civil rights?
2. When and to what extent is it acceptable for the government to place the needs of the nation over the rights of the individual? For example, during World War II, people were asked to forgo the use of certain consumer products, such as nylon, so that they would be available for defense. Would your answer change for different countries and governments—for example, a dictatorship in a remote and sparsely populated country?
3. Under what circumstances, if any, would taping conversations without the knowledge and approval of the participants be acceptable or necessary?
4. Both Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon taped White House activities extensively. Do you think future presidents should do this? Should participants be informed? What would be the difference between the audiotaping and videotaping of events? How have computers changed the landscape for recording and maintaining information?
5. What is the role of the Federal Bureau of Investigation? Is this agency permitted to violate an individual’s civil rights in order to protect federal and national interests? How might this be decided?
6. What civil rights and civil liberties remain unprotected or in jeopardy today?
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7. Lesson Closure-
| 1. This lesson can be used for all types of students especially at-risk students. This lesson incorporates growth of reasoning, problem solving, and independent thinking in a number of ways. |
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Measuring Student Progress-
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1. Evaluate students on their ability to particpate in classroom discussion.
2. Ability to research, understand, and explain what they researched.
3. Using that knowledge, be able to understand, explain, and discuss how their research and the unit as a whole has influenced them, and or given them a better understanding on the rights we have as people. |
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