Ohio Content Standards:
Grade 10, History 14; Grade 11, People in Societies 1; Grade 10, Government 1; Grade 10, Citizenship Rights and Responsibilities 4
Duration of Lesson:
One to two classes
- Students will be able to understand and analyze the tensions that existed in American society during the Civil Rights Era.
- Students will be able to understand the problems that children experienced during the Civil Rights Era.
Students use editorial cartons dealing with the American Civil Rights movement in order to determine some of the major aspects of this social movement. They will discuss a pair of cartoons in groups and present their findings to the class.
- Packet of editorial cartoons 1-7
- cartoon analysis worksheet.pdf
Using cartoon number seven, lead a discussion dealing with the American social and political scenes of the 1960's. Have students interpret cartoon seven and discuss how the Vietnam War and the Civil Rights Movement related to or affected each other.
- Complete pre-assessment activity.
- Break students into groups of 3-5.
- Distribute to students copies of cartoons 1-7.
- Assign each group a pair of cartoons that share a common theme or idea associated with the civil rights movement. 1 and 2 - education, 4 and 5 - extremism, 3 and 6 civil rights legislation.
- Groups will discuss and evaluate the cartoons' imagery. If necessary use the following questions to guide the students during group work: What characters do you see in these cartoons? What symbols are used and what do they represent Describe the action taking place in the cartoons. Explain the intended message of the artist and his/her ability to effectively portray this message.
- Each group should also attempt to determine what the common theme is among their cartoons.
- Groups will present their analysis to the class.
Use the following questions to determine if students learned the desired content for this lesson:
- What are the long standing effects of the American Civil Rights movement?
- How are you affected by this social movement today?
- Is the civil rights movement dead, or is it an ongoing struggle?
After students have determined and discussed their cartoons common theme with the class and teacher they can research important figures in the Civil Rights movement. Once they have found an individual with particular importance to their issue, students should write a brief essay on this individual and how he/she affected the issue at hand.
Somebody Had Better Apply the Breaks!
…It Was Against the Rule
Daredevil Lyndon Johnson
Getting Ready for School…1969
A Letter from the Front