Shveta Dogra

Curriculum Unit: Civil Rights Movement

Grades 5-8

Cover Letter
As a student and an educator, I have experienced and witnessed much unjust circumstances that surround the
educational experiences of dispossessed individuals and groups of people. As an educator, it is my hope to achieve the
goal of equity as I am committed to the philosophy of education being transformative. According to Freire, "One of
the tasks of the progressive educator, through a serious, correct political analysis is to unveil opportunities for hope,
no matter what the obstacles may be. After all, without hope there is little we can do. For hope is an ontological
need...The attempt to do without hope in the struggle to improve the world, as if that struggle could be reduced to
calculated acts alone, or a purely scientific approach, is a frivolous illusion. (Freire, 1998a)
There is much history that is misunderstood and not shared. The history that is often taught or explored
legitimizes the power of the dominant culture. It is my hope as an educator to enlighten students about what it truly
means to be treated fairly with equal opportunities so that all humans have the ability to advance in society. As
teachers, it is our responsibility to provide students with chances to grow as individuals and to broaden their thinking
that will lead to wiser and fulfilling conversations and actions. The learning done inside the classroom is just the
beginning of the transformation I hope to instill in my students as they encounter the battle of injustice in their lives
daily or witness it in their community, country, or globally.
As critical pedagogy in classroom discourse embodies the practice of engaging students in the social
construction of knowledge, which is grounded on the foundation of power relations, Id like to explore a unit on the
Civil Rights Movement. As this movement may have taken place for some in the 1960s, but the fight and struggle for
equality, fairness and justice for African Americans truly began when many were cheated and taken from their homes
in Africa and brought to the Americas for slavery. Id also like to heavily explore the role of desegregation of schools
during the Civil Rights Movement and the implications of achievements made. As students can relate to experiences
of their own age, this will also lift the level of engagement and interest as students engage and co-create a curriculum
that was founded upon a critical theory lens. Specifically, students will explore trends, patterns and statistics on the
segregation present in our state of New Yorks education system and will be asked and pushed to consider
dis(connections) with the learnings they are taking part in through the unit.
A big takeaway I hope that this unit will allow students to have is, understanding that the Civil Rights
Movement did not consist of isolated events nor was it an isolated period. The constant struggle and fight for equality
began centuries ago and has left a major impact on todays world. Throughout the units there are specific teachings
and activities that will allow students to see these connections. For instance, students will compare protests and
violence from the 1960s period to today. As students learn about the violence of the past, it will color their
understanding of current violence. There are many crimes that have taken place within these past two years that were
racially targeted. Four specific events gained national attention (Trayvon Martin, Sikh Temple Shooting, Michael
Brown, and Eric Garner). There is a clear connection between the Civil Rights Movement and times today, such as
the great resemblance in law enforcement tactics such as the use of dogs in protest settings (Ferguson MS and the
Civil Rights Movement).

Students will learn about a fourteen year old boy named Emmitt Till who is often highlighted in nonfiction texts about the Civil Rights Movement as the catalyst behind the national fight in the sixties for
equality. He was a young boy was murdered by an act that is often only associated the time of slavery, lynching,
but it did not end when slavery did. The famous protest song by Abel Meeropol, Strange Fruit and Hip-hop
artist, Kanye Wests song Blood on the Leaves, will also be analyzed, lifting the level of engagement and to
deconstruct the power of words, further.
As this unit was developed on the core principles of critical pedagogy, students will be shown the power
and ability of people their age. The role the youth played during the movement is extraordinary and is a concept
students will learn more about. It also will serve as an entry and interest point. Students will learn about the sitins that began with four college students of North Carolina Agricultural and Technical College led to national
involvement as individuals all over the country began to take part (Weatherford and Lagarrigue, 2005).
They will also see the huge current segregation issue that is found in New York City Public Schools (week
8-10). Another opportunity during this unit that will allow students to see that this fight started even before the
1960s is through the story of Sylvia Mendez (Separate is Never Equal). Students will come to learn that many
groups, not just blacks, faced discrimination.
School integration is an example of an event that is often taught in an isolated manner and is probably a
common isolated event highlighted by educators. In 1954 with the Brown v. Board of Education decision,
schools all over the country were beginning to integrate. In Little Rock, Arkansas, Central High School was one
of the first schools to proceed with the rulings of the case, which separate is not equal. Students will learn that
seventy-five students were originally registered to attend Central, but, after a school board review, only nine
students were allowed to enroll. This large difference of original enrollment and actual attendance shocked me
and it shed light on the power struggles between the state and national government as the governor of Arkansas,
Orvaul Faubus, did not support the integration act, but President Eisenhower did as he sent federal troops over to
Central High to protect the students (Rochelle, 1993 and Morrison, 2004). I want this content exposure to push
students to question and wonder about the large difference. Also, why were those specific students?
Through this unit, students will explore where the students of Little Rocks first integration are today and
how that school experience affected them. They will first learn about Little Rock Nine and then watch a clip from
a reunion that was held by Oprah in 1996 where those nine black students reconnected for the first time with the
group of white students who had constantly terrorized them. Students will come away with an understanding of
how powerful words can be and compare it to written words on a harsh poster. Well debate a nurture versus
nature theory in regards to whether or not children during this period (and even now) watched their families,
communities and the nation behave and engage in actions and conversations filled with discrimination, or support,
and in turn affected their actions and words. For example, David Sontag shared some of the following: I didnt
know. I wasnt prepared for the moment. It wasnt done out of hate, it was done out of ignorance (Oprah Winfrey
Network, 1996).
Students will learn even more about the political sphere of the Civil Rights Movement. They will watch a
video clip of a little black boy sharing his excitement about the Prince Edward School County re-opening in
Virginia after five years of being closed. They will learn that school districts and states took such drastic measures
to prevent integration from happening. This experience will leave them wondering about how could it be so easy
to close down schools and prevent children from getting an education? (UV Civil Rights Library, 1963).
As a final culminating project, students are asked to apply their knowledge of the roots of inequalities in
regards to race, especially in schools to convince the New York Board of Regents of re-evaluating and reassessing
the huge inequality and inequity of the New York Public School system. Students will be asked to create a
multimodal presentation, which will also allow them to use their skills of argument and opinion writing and
speaking skills. As a believer of critical pedagogy, this opportunity allows students to have the space and medium
to become activists and aware of the ability they have even at a young age. By being informed, students are
already one step closer to making change happen.

Enduring Understandings
1. Exploration of the roots of inequality of colored people.
2. The civil rights movement won many of its early victories in the area of school
desegregation.
3. The civil rights movement changed over time, with certain groups becoming more
militant and sometimes violent.
4. While the civil rights movement made great strides, true racial equality has yet to be
achieved.
5. Identify important youth figures and political and social leaders in the civil rights
movement.

Essential Questions
1. What gains did the movement make in desegregating schools and public places in the
1960s?
2. What were some of the goals the civil rights movement strived for?
3. What were some of the roles youth played during the movement? What actions did they
take?
4. What overall impact did the civil rights movement have?
5. How does the Civil Rights Movement impact racial justice?
6. What are the (dis)connections found between the Civil Rights Movement from the 1960s
and current events?

Performance Task
Your task is to give an opening statement pushing the desegregation of public schools in New
York. You have been asked to be the honorary speaker at the New York Board Regents meeting
that is discussing re-zoning schools. As you know, The Regents are responsible for the general
supervision of all educational activities within the State, presiding over The University and the
New York State Education Department. The Regents are organized into standing committees,
subcommittees and work groups whose members and chairs are appointed by the Chancellor. In
this meeting, the Board of Regents, students, and people of city and state will be present. You
need to convince the Board of Regents that they must re-evaluate the current segregation issue in
New York Public Schools. The challenge involves dealing with the opposing views and
arguments others may have.
You will create a multimodal to deliver your opening statement. Your product must meet the
following standards:
Use of varying mediums to deliver your speech (oral, audio, visual, etc. such as posters,
pamphlets, videos, poetry, etc.)
References to the roots of inequalities we have explored and discussed along with
recognizing and remembering political leaders we have been introduced to in class who
are so critical to the strides made in the 1950-1960s for school desegregation and along
with current examples of these issues.
References to laws, policies, and cases that support your statement
Use of counter-arguments with rebuttal
References of equity, access, and equality

Multimodal Project: Speech Presentation & Delivery

Culminating Task & Rubric
Your task is to give an opening statement pushing the desegregation of public schools in New York. You have been
asked to be the honorary speaker at the New York Board Regents meeting that is discussing re-zoning schools. As you
know, The Regents are responsible for the general supervision of all educational activities within the State, presiding over
The University and the New York State Education Department. The Regents are organized into standing committees,
subcommittees and work groups whose members and chairs are appointed by the Chancellor. In this meeting, the Board
of Regents, students, and people of city and state will be present. You need to convince the Board of Regents that they
must re-evaluate the current segregation issue in New York Public Schools. The challenge involves dealing with the
opposing views and arguments others may have.
You will create a multimodal to deliver your opening statement. Your product must meet the following standards:

Use of varying mediums to deliver your speech (oral, audio, visual, etc. such as posters, pamphlets, videos,
poetry, etc.)
References to the roots of inequalities we have explored and discussed along with recognizing and remembering
political leaders we have been introduced to in class who are so critical to the strides made in the 1950-1960s for
school desegregation and along with current examples of these issues.
References to laws, policies, and cases that support your statement
Use of counter-arguments with rebuttal
References of equity, access, and equality

Teacher Name: Ms. Dogra

Student Name: ________________________________________

CATEGORY

Presentation

Well-rehearsed with smooth

delivery that holds audience
attention.

Rehearsed with fairly smooth

delivery that holds audience
attention most of the time.

Delivery not smooth, but able

to maintain interest of the
audience most of the time.

Delivery not smooth and

audience attention often lost.

Sources

Source information collected for

all graphics, facts and quotes. All
documented in desired format.

Source information collected

for all graphics, facts and
quotes. Most documented in
desired format.

Source information collected

for graphics, facts and quotes,
but not documented in desired
format.

Very little or no source

information was collected.

Visual Appeal

Makes excellent use of font, color, Makes good use of font, color, Makes use of font, color,
graphics, effects, etc. to enhance graphics, effects, etc. to
graphics, effects, etc. but
the presentation.
enhance to presentation.
occasionally these detract from
the presentation content.

Use of font, color, graphics,

effects etc. but these often
distract from the presentation
content.

Requirements

All requirements are met and

exceeded.

More than one requirement

was not completely met.

All requirements are met.

One requirement was not

completely met.

Content

Covers topic in-depth with details Includes essential knowledge Includes essential information Content is minimal OR there
and examples. Subject knowledge about the topic. Subject
about the topic but there are 1- are several factual errors.
is excellent.
knowledge appears to be good. 2 factual errors.

Organization

Content is well organized using

Uses headings or bulleted lists
headings or bulleted lists to group to organize, but the overall
related material.
organization of topics appears
flawed.

Content is logically organized

for the most part.

Oral Presentation

Interesting, well-rehearsed with

smooth delivery that holds
audience attention.

Relatively interesting,
rehearsed with a fairly smooth
delivery that usually holds
audience attention.

Delivery not smooth, but able Delivery not smooth and

to hold audience attention most audience attention lost.
of the time.

Originality

Product shows a large amount of

original thought. Ideas are
creative and inventive.

Product shows some original

thought. Work shows new
ideas and insights.

Uses others ideas (giving

them credit), but there is little
evidence of original ideas.

Comments:

There was no clear or logical

organizational structure, just
lots of facts.

Uses others ideas, but does not

give them credit.

Description & Rationale for Organization

All of the events, hardships, stories, and triumphs that are part of this unit have left me with
this lingering question of what about the events that happened daily back then and now that dont
make national headlines or textbooks? Finding those stories and experiences became my goal and
conviction. I aimed to look for resources that would allow students to learn history outside of the
dominant narrative. As I searched, I thought heavily about the effects this can have on my students
learning and their understanding of history and life.
It was important to launch the unit with a pre-assessment of what students understood already
in terms of keywords that associated with the Civil Rights Movement. This pre-assessment would
allow me as an educator to really determine the next steps and how much of what word needs to be
clearly understood through explicit instruction. After the pre-assessment, the unit continues with
some foundational background work about the roots of inequalities through work around violence and
slavery. At this time, the class read aloud is the historical fiction chapter book, Chains which also
give students a better understanding. The unit then continues with students learning about various
protest forms and it will include the chance for them to make dis(connections) with times today,
linking the history they are actively apart of. During Week 5-7, students will learn that there were
many triumphs and setbacks during the movement and many of the success stories were due to people
their age. The protests serve as a great segway to show students they are not too young to be
informed, care and to take action. Schooling will be a main focus during this time as it was an area
that was widely successful but also to reach the enduring understanding that social change begins with
you.
A wide range of primary sources will be used during the unit to lift the level of
understanding. First-hand accounts share a lot of information and these authentic experiences and
voices will allow students really to critically analyze and understand the movement on a deeper
level. The historical fiction chapter book at this time will be Lions of Little Rock. Following this,
students will now have the opportunity to research and investigate youth reformers more
closely. They will spend two weeks reading and writing about a youth leader. This will also be an
opportunity to integrate literacy into the social studies unit and will support students in their
culminating final project, too. The reading unit will be focused on reading and using nonfiction texts
(and sources) and the writing unit of study will be research papers. Students will learn the craft
behind writing information-based papers. After the time spent doing independent work, students will
be brought back together to now explore more of the implications of these inequalities found in
todays world, their world. Students will learn about the current issues, specifically around privilege,
access, and education will be explored. This will support them even further in their culminating
project of delivering a multimodal speech.
Though this unit will teach new things about the movement and have reconstructed the history
I, myself learned as a student, there is still much to learn and understand. Its an ongoing
study. However, this unit will be an opportunity to use critical pedagogy as a forum of promoting and
encouraging social change while pushing back on the dominant narrative.