Changing America –
Civil Rights Movement
In the box below write down anything you know or want to know about the Civil
Rights Movement (people, places, things, ideas, and questions).
1
First Thoughts
Answer the following questions while watching the video:
1. What are your thoughts on the video? (Academic – 3 sentences,
Honors – 5 sentences)
2. How does it make you feel? (Academic – 3 sentences, Honors – 5
sentences)
2
Freedom’s Song: Brown v Board
Instructions

Write 10 facts about the Supreme Court case Brown v Board.
1. Fact:
2. Fact:
3. Fact:
4. Fact:
5. Fact:
6. Fact:
7. Fact:
8. Fact:
9. Fact:
10. Fact:

Answer these questions:
1. When was the case?
2. Who were the two sides in the case?
3. What was the case about?
4. What did the court decide?
3
Civil Rights Movement Song
Sam Cooke, lyrics to “This Little Light of Mine”
Amen
This little light of mine
I'm going to let it shine
This little light of mine
I'm going to let it shine
This little light of mine,
I'm going to let it shine,
Let it shine
Let it shine to show my love
Everywhere I go I'm gonna let it shine
Everywhere I go I'm gonna let it shine
Everywhere I go I'm gonna let it shine
I let it shine to show my love
Even in my home I'm gonna let it shine
I let it shine to show my love
When I see my neighbor coming I'm gonna let it shine
Amen
1. What does he mean when he is “gonna let it SHINE?”
__________________________________________________________________
2. Why would this song be important to African Americans during the civil rights
movement?
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
3. What issues could this song be related to today?
__________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
4
Imagine you are back in the 1960’s. While back in the 1960’s you decide to
write a letter OR a song to your friend about the need for equality for all! In
this letter or song you can write about your experiences at sit-ins, protests,
marches, or as a freedom rider.
LETTER – (Minimum: Honors – 5 sentences, Academic – 3 sentences)
Dear ___________________,
______________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Sincerely,
OR
SONG – (Minimum: lyrics must include words segregation, Brown v. Board of Education, Plessy v.
Ferguson, and be about your experience at either a sit-in, protest, march or as a freedom rider in the
1960’s)
Song Title: _______________________________
Lyrics: ____________________________________
________________________________________
________________________________________
________________________________________
_______________________________________
_______________________________________
_______________________________________
5
“I Have a Dream”; Address at the March on Washington (1963)
Selected passages of Martin Luther King, Jr’s speech delivered on the steps at the Lincoln
Memorial in Washington D.C. on August 28, 1963.
Source: Martin Luther King, Jr.: The Peaceful Warrior, Pocket Books, NY 1968
Put the writing from the left into your own
Selected Passage:
Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for
words:
freedom by drinking from the cup of
____________________________________
bitterness and hatred. We must forever
____________________________________
conduct our struggle on the high plane of
____________________________________
dignity and discipline. We must not allow
____________________________________
our creative protest to degenerate into
____________________________________
physical violence. Again and again, we
must rise to the majestic heights of
meeting physical force with soul force.
Put the writing from the left into your own
words:
____________________________________
____________________________________
____________________________________
____________________________________
____________________________________
Selected Passage:
Let us not wallow in the valley of despair,
I say to you today, my friends.
And so even though we face the
difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still
have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted
in the American dream.
I have a dream that one day this nation
will rise up and live out the true meaning
of its creed: "We hold these truths to be
self-evident, that all men are created
equal."
Put the writing from the left into your own
words:
____________________________________
____________________________________
____________________________________
Selected Passage:
I have a dream that my four little children
will one day live in a nation where they
will not be judged by the color of their
skin but by the content of their character.
I have a dream today!
Put the writing from the left into your own
words:
____________________________________
____________________________________
____________________________________
____________________________________
____________________________________
Selected Passage:
I have a dream that one day, down in
Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its
governor having his lips dripping with the
words of "interposition" and "nullification"
-- one day right there in Alabama little
black boys and black girls will be able to
join hands with little white boys and white
girls as sisters and brothers.
I have a dream today!
Write your own “I Have a Dream” speech about something you want to change in your
community or at school in at least 5 sentences (at least 7 sentences for Honors).
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
6
BIOPOEM
Line One – First Name
Line Two – Three adjectives that describe the person (e.g. - calm, passionate, powerful)
Line Three – Important act or reason they are important.
Line Four – Three feelings the person experienced during the important act.
Line Five – Two things the act accomplished/achieved.
Line Six – Where this accomplishment took place
Line Seven – Last Name
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Using the guidelines above create a bio poem for Rosa Parks.
Line One – ___________
Line Two – ________________________________________________________________
Line Three – _________________________________________________________________
Line Four – _________________________________________________________________
Line Five – __________________________________________________________________
Line Six – _____________________________________________
Line Seven – __________
7
SOL USII.9a
Key Domestic Issues
The Civil Rights Movement
Effects of
Segregation
Separate _________
facilities and resources
Is about…
Supreme Court
Decisions and
Legislation Passed
Plessy v. Ferguson –
“separate but equal”
Civil Rights
Leaders
Martin Luther King, Jr. Passive resistance against
segregated facilities
Gave “I have a dream . . .”
speech during March on
Washington
Separate public facilities
Examples: restrooms,
drinking fountains,
restaurants
Civil Rights Act of 1964
Social isolation of races
Voting Rights Act of 1965
Civil Rights
Movement –
Organized Protests
Rosa Parks’ actions lead to
Montgomery Bus Boycott
So what? What is important to understand about this?
8
Sit-Ins
Changing America – Changing Role of
Women
Women Workplace Disadvantages
1. _________________________
____________________________
____________________________
Picture:
2. ________________________
____________________________
____________________________
Picture:
Improved Conditions for Women
1. _________________________
___________________________
___________________________
Picture:
2. __________________________
____________________________
____________________________
Picture:
Equal Rights Amendment
 Definition: ____________________________________________
_________________________________________________
 Did the Equal Rights Amendment become law???? ___________
 List some of your favorite female hero’s.
o ________________
o ________________
o ________________
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