Elementary Schools Lesson Plan Ideas for Grades K-6
Possible Videos to Introduce the Material:
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Reading of The Story of Ruby Bridges (7:50) - K-3
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYM-72AftEo
o Children’s book by Robert Coles.
Discovery Channel excerpt (5:49)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2XHob_nVbw - 3rd grade and up
o 1950s Civil Rights movement, the role of “ordinary people” and children.
Overview. Background of Linda Brown, the 7 year old who was the named
plaintiff in the suit. Continued prejudice example of the Little Rock 9 (1957). A
personal account of the students.
Black v. White schools (3:20) - 5th grade and up
http://www.pbs.org/beyondbrown/foreducators/ed6_8_blackwhite.html
o A side by side comparison of schools before and after the Brown decision.
Includes present day example of disparities between schools.
PBS video (4:53) - 5th grade and up
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTGHLdr-iak
o Judicial focus: segregation, case arguments, the Court opinion. Includes a
personal account: examples of things Brown declared unconstitutional.
Possible Activities: Many of the activities listed below can be manipulated based on the levels
of the students.
1. Vocabulary Exercise
Words to talk about, possibly put up on board/giant post-its and do a word association exercise.
Write the word on a large piece of paper and have students attach post-its with words or images
associated with the word listed.
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Acceptance
Community
Compassion
Discrimination
Diversity
Equality
Hate
Justice
Power
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Respect
Segregation
Tolerance
Violence
Court (if needed for video
comprehension)
Decision
Plaintiff (if needed)
Defendant (if needed)
Students could be asked to draw what they think of when they hear one of these words and then
present to the class or share with a neighbor and compare and contrast everyone’s images.
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2. Write about What It Means to Treat People Fairly and As Equals
Exercise 1: Think about the experience of the students
Write two sentences:
Sentence 1: about treating people equally
Sentence 2: about what happens when people are not treated equally.
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Use words on the vocabulary posters
The goal of the activity is to have students practice writing skills.
Provide starter sentences to younger students/ students who need
additional assistance with their writing.
 Treating people equally means…
 In order to treat people equally, we must…
 The Declaration of Independence says that "all men are
created equal". What does this mean?
 When people are treated unequally…/they feel/I feel/they
cannot/they have to….
Exercise 2: Draw an image that shows people being treated equally/what it means to them
3. Ruby Bridges Slide Show - Slide shows for K-2, and 3 and up
http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/ruby-bridges/ruby-bridges-for-kids.htm#slideshow
The slide show presents pictures of Ruby Bridges and the civil rights movement help tell the
story of school integration.
Teaching Guide available at http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/ruby-bridges-andcivil-rights-movement-slide-show-teaching-guide-kindergarten-grade-2
1. What do you notice about the water fountain photo from 1960? Why was it like this?
2. What do these pictures tell us about how African Americans were treated in the 1950s
and 1960s?
3. How would you describe what Ruby Bridges experienced at the William Frantz
Elementary School in New Orleans? Was it fair?
4. Who was Mrs. Henry? How did she treat Ruby?
5. What about how Ruby went into and left school is different from how you go to
school?
6. Why did the protestors stand outside the school Ruby attended?
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4. Little Rock 9 Slide Show
http://teacher.scholastic.com/scholasticnews/indepth/rock9/
Discuss the images and what students learned from the images and captions.
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What did you see?
Who had to go to school with the students? Why?
What surprised you?
How would you feel if you were one of the students in the Little Rock 9?
5. Imagining What it was Like for Little Rock Students/Ruby Bridges
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Imagine you are different to every other student, and trying to get to school, but people
are yelling at you, trying to prevent you from entering the building.
Imagine you are the only student kept inside for recess because you are different.
Questions to ask:
o What would you do?
o How would you feel?
o What would you hear?
o How would you walk?
6. Write a Letter to a Little Rock Student/Ruby Bridges
What would you like to say to someone who is preventing another person from participating
because they are different?
If you could talk to a member of the Little Rock Nine/Ruby Bridges, the students who
desegregated the schools, what would you say?
7. Crossing the Line
Place a line of masking tape on the floor or mark an imaginary line for the students. Students
step across a line/into the circle if the statement read aloud applies to them. Wait a few seconds.
Ask students who stepped forward return to the original position and read the next statement.
Some examples of statements include (not in any order, feel free to add):
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I have been bullied
I believe I have been discriminated against because of my race
I have been blamed for something that I did not do
I have stood up for someone else's rights
I have friends who do not look like me
I have tried to learn about people who are different from me
There is someone in my family who is a different race than me
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It is good to start with questions that are general and may apply to the majority of students such
as:
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I ate breakfast this morning
I took the bus to school today
I like to listen to music
8. Around the World – based on the facts in the video
Sit students in a circle, one student will stand behind another student. These two students will
attempt to answer a question based on the lesson. The first to answer correctly will move on to
the next student seated in the circle and the instructor will ask another question. If the student
who is standing is incorrect, they will sit in the place of the seated student who responded first.
Repeat. The goal is for a student to make it around the world.
9. Discussion Questions/Prompts for Writing/Art
Why is it unfair to make people go to a different school because they look different?
Why is it good to have people who look different and speak differently go to the same school?
Have you ever heard people say bad things about other people who look different or speak
differently? What did you say to them?
What can I do, what can my school do? Standing together, sticking up for your rights/friends.
How is being discriminated against the same as being bullied?
In both, you are being treated unkindly because of who you are.
10. Visual Diagram of Family/Home
Each student draws the members of their family looks like. While doing so, there could be some
discussion of what family means, how there are different kinds of families, but they are all very
important to those who belong to them. Reinforces concept of Community and Respect of other
people’s family.
11. Venn Diagram Exercise of Comparing and Contrasting one Student to Another
Two overlapping circles on a page for each student; on one side they write their name and write
or draw things about themselves, like what color their eyes are, if they have a pet,
brothers/sisters, what their favorite color/story/place to play is, etc. Once this is complete, they
can then pair up with another student and write down different things in the other circle, and
things in common in the overlapping section of the circles (the middle).
This could focus on writing or pictures, depending on the students.
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12. Exclusion/Inclusion Role Play
The purpose of this activity is for students to gain an understanding of how easy it is to exclude
people and learn ways to be inclusive.
Separate the class into small groups. Give each group a situation from the list below or have
them create their own. Have them act out the parts. The emphasis should be how to include
others as a solution. After each performance, there should be a class discussion about the
emotions associated with the scenario and how students should react if they see these situations
in real life. Students can also act out ways to be inclusive.
Questions to Help Students Prepare
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Why is this happening?
If you were the person this was happening to, how would you feel?
What’s wrong with this behavior?
Is there something that can be done to change this?
Role Play Situations
1. Two students are not allowing another student in their class to sit next to them in the
cafeteria.
2. A girl is refusing to allow her little brother to play a board game with her.
3. When a girl comes over to use a swing, the three students on the swings jump off and run
away from her.
4. When a student gets on the bus in the morning, that student must stand while the bus
driver waits because no one will let the student sit with them.
5. During reading time on the classroom carpet, one girl sits in a corner by herself because
her classmates refuse to sit near her.
6. In the gym, four boys push another boy off the basketball court, telling him he can’t play
with them.
7. During group time, one student has no partner to work with, and the student she asks to
work with her says, “No way!”
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Students may need the support of the teacher to practice the situation before performing it for
their classmates. If this is the case, it might be helpful to give each pair of students a situation
and ask them to work on it while the teacher circulates and helps each group prepare before
bringing the class together to watch the performances.
Afterward, ask the class to discuss what happened and come up with inclusive solutions.
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13. Write a Poem
Have students write haikus or other types of poems about the Brown decision
14. Create a Collage
Have students create a collage about what diversity means to them. Have students incorporate
themes from the lesson.
15. Before/After
Have students write about changes in their school/community that promote diversity and
inclusion.
16. Problem Solvers
Have children write about issues they see in their school/community and ways to solve them.
17. True/False
Mark/designate one side of the room “True” and the other “False.” Have students stand in the
center of the room. Read a statement about the material covered. Have the students move to the
appropriate side of the room to respond. Students who answer incorrectly have to return to their
seats.
CLOSING:
What did you learn today?
What questions do you have about today’s lesson?
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Other Resources
Linda Brown, You are Not Alone: The Brown v. Board of Education
Decision (available through St Paul Public Library)
When the Supreme Court decision to desegregate public schools was handed down in 1954, the
course of American history was forever changed. Here are personal reflections, stories, and poems
from ten of today's most accomplished writers for children, all young people themselves at the time
of the Brown v. Board of Education decision. Included are Michael Cart, Jean Craighead George,
Eloise Greenfield, Lois Lowry, Katherine Paterson, Ishmael Reed, Jerry Spinelli, Quincy Troupe,
Joyce Carol Thomas, and Leona Nicholas Welch. With a compelling introduction by editor Joyce
Carol Thomas and stunning pastel artwork by Curtis E. James, this collection celebrates the hardearned promise of equality in education.
The Story of Ruby Bridges by Robert Coles
Available at Hennepin and Ramsey County Public Libraries
Reading also available on You Tube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYM-72AftEo
Ruby Bridges goes to School: My True Story by Ruby Bridges
Available at Hennepin and Ramsey County Public Libraries
Complete lesson plans on Ruby Bridges are available at
http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/collection/ruby-bridges-simple-act-courage-lesson-plansand-teaching-resources
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Books Available in St. Paul Public Library:
o It’s Okay to Be Different by Todd Parr
Message: It's okay to be a different color. It's okay to dance by yourself. It's okay to wear
glasses. It's okay to have a pet worm.... It's okay to be different!
o Same, Same, But Different
Message: Elliot lives in America, and Kailash lives in India. They are pen pals. By
exchanging letters and pictures, they learn that they both love to climb trees, have pets, and
go to school. Their worlds might look different, but they are actually similar. Same, same,
but different!
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o The Sneetches by Dr. Seuss
Message: This book doesn’t focus on race, but rather uses ‘creator’/fantasy characters to teach
children that we all should be treated equally. This book has more than one story ( The ZAX,
Too Many Daves and What Was I Scared of) in it-with the similar messages. It could be a great
book for younger students to listen to. I really liked this one!
Also there was a video of ‘the Sneetches’
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPhOZzsi_6Q
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMolzESn4oI
The Zax
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZmZzGxGpSs
“Too Many Daves”: From listening to it, I think it is a story about why our differences are a good
thing-good for the world! That’s what I got from it, but I am not sure lol.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vllkzjbZEA
What was I Scared of?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pdNTtbmCMr8
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Coloring Pages –
http://media-cacheak0.pinimg.com/236x/5a/c4/4d/5ac44d931aa0bd68c0810b1c5109b860.jpg
https://www.teachervision.com/tv/printables/charlesbridge/charlesbridge_DJLM_Station.pdf
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