Active History: Games for Kids

The Civil Rights Movement


 
 
 
 

Were sportspeople, musicians or politicians more important in the struggle for civil rights?

1. Powerpoint Starter - What's going on in this image?
Students are presented with a partly obscured image. Can they tell what's going on? When it was taken? What's the mood of the people present? They are then shown the rest of the picture. A powerful way of stressing that although slavery had long been abolished by the 1930s, racial prejudice and violence was all too prevalent.
2.

Overview of civil rights campaigners
Students are given groups of politicians, musicians and sportsmen. Their job is to use Google Images to locate a picture of each person and paste them into the document. As they do so they start thinking about which character they would like to research in more depth if given the opportunity.

3. Individual Research Project: "Fakebook" Profile of a civil rights campaigner
Students are allocated or choose one of the musicians, sportsmen or politicians to research in more depth. They will present their work in the form of a "Fakebook" profile using the application based at www.classtools.net.
 

Sportsmen Focus

4. PowerPoint Starter - What's going on in this image?
Students are presented with a famous image of two black sportsmen raising one hand in the air, wearing black gloves. What do the students think this means? Why are they wearing their gloves on different hands? A good way of setting up the focus on sportspeople.
5. Feedback on Sportspeople
The students in the class who researched sportspeople as their "Fakebook" project now feedback to the class with their findings by identifying the one most important event in their lives which illustrates their importance to the civil rights struggle. Everyone in the class uses this to start developing a thematic timeline document.
 

Politicians Focus

6. PowerPoint Starter - What's going on in this image?
Students are presented with a famous image of two black politicians shaking hands. Why was this such a newsworthy event? A good way of setting up the focus on politicians.
7. Feedback on Politicians
Students complete this worksheet following from the image, and then students in the class who researched politicians as their "Fakebook" project now feedback to the class with their findings by identifying the one most important event in their lives which illustrates their importance to the civil rights struggle. Everyone in the class uses this to continue developing their thematic timeline document.
8. In-depth Research: A Virtual Interview with Martin Luther King Jr.
Using this worksheet to help them, students conduct a "Head to Head" Interview with Martin Luther King Jr. to spot mistakes in an account of his life, then produce a newspaper report based on the extra questions they choose to ask him. There is also a completed teacher version available.
 

Musicians Focus

9. PowerPoint Starter on 1968 - What's going on in this image?
Students are presented with two famous images. What is going on in each one? This introduces to 1968 as a "Year of Tragedy" for the Civil Rights struggle and also makes use of this video file.
10. Feedback on Musicians
Students complete this worksheet following from the image, and then students in the class who researched musicians as their "Fakebook" project now feedback to the class with their findings by identifying the one most important event in their lives which illustrates their importance to the civil rights struggle. Everyone in the class uses this to continue developing their thematic timeline document.
11.

Design a Civil Rights Music Compilation CD
60 song titles are shared between the class.
a. Locate the lyrics of the song titles you are given (e.g. using elyrics.net) and read them.
b. Decide which one song you like best overall from its lyrics.
c. Copy an extract from these lyrics into a shared Google Presentation like this one.
d. Embed a video of the song from YouTube and listen to it.
e. Place an “interesting fact” about the song and/or its writer into the “Did you know…?” box.
f. Vote on the most interesting songs as the basis of a "Best of..." CD.

Here's a sample presentation from Year 9 at the International School of Toulouse:

 


 

 

History weblinks for The Civil Rights Movement

1. Sessions for Schools: The case for the Trade - YouTube  An 18th century slave trader (played by actor Andrew Ashmore) puts the case against the growing abolition movement to end the transatlantic slave trade. It i...
2. The Alan Lomax Sound Archive Online: Features 17,000 Recordings   
3. 35 Cool Business Cards To Inspire You | Design Inspiration  In which business your are in you probably know how important having a business card to contact with your customers and get feedback from them.In a way,business
4. Soundtrack for a Revolution - Be the Change   
5. Organize Your Thinking to Critically Analyze Text  Nice ideas using slave trade/civil rights as a focus
6. "Flight to Freedom" Interactive game about slavery in the Americas   
7. Furious letter from former slave to his 'owner' during American Civil War   
8. Caribbean views: personal selections by Mike Phillips   
9. The Abolition of Slavery Project  A great teaching resource
10. Celebrating Black History: 50 Cultural Giants   
11. Rufus Buck's Anti-Black History Month History Lesson   
12. What's in a surname? - National Geographic Magazine   
13. Timelines - Who was the greatest musical talent of the 19th century? Perhaps a blind, autistic slave   
14. Melrose Interactive Slavery Environment   
15. Defence Dynamics - Lesson Plans - Abolition of slavery (1)  Role of the Royal Navy in the Abolition of Slavery
16. Children and Youth in History | Children in the Slave Trade   
17. Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Database   
18. What does this map tell you about Western attitudes to Africa in 1849?! #historyteacher (via activehistory.co.uk / classtools.net)   
19. Civil Rights: Pivotal Events Photo Gallery (via activehistory.co.uk / classtools.net)   
20. Virtual Field Trips relating to the Slave Trade   
21. House Divided Exhibit Gallery: Henry "Box" Brown   
22. Virtual Field Trips: Henry "Box" Brown   
23. Dailymotion - Leadbelly News Report - a Music video   
24. Discovery Channe: Understanding Slavery   
25. PBS: Africans in America   
26. History News Network  Slavery Debate
27. Campaign for Abolition   
28. The struggle to end slavery. A timeline. Durham University Library   
29. Small Island Read 2007: Abolition   
30. Freedom - A KS3 History resource about Britain and the Transatlantic Slave Trade   
31. Slavery Image Search   
32. equimap2.jpg (JPEG Image, 1200x840 pixels)   
33. nfpSynergy - Press Coverage  Granville Sharp, with his meticulous legal zeal and interest in wider political freedoms; Thomas Clarkson, with his skill in writing and systematic research; and William Wilberforce, with his parliamentary skills and political connections.
34. Understanding Slavery   
35. Triangular trade - A Teaching Resource for KS3   
36. The National Archives | Exhibitions & Learning online | Black presence   
37.  

 

 

 
 
 
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