Introduction to the Civil Rights Movement

Introduction

The American Civil Rights Movement 

The American Civil Rights Movement was a social and political movement that took place between 1954 and 1968. The period defined as the movement marks a concerted effort to eliminate segregation and racial discrimination against African Americans.

African American Civil Rights leaders sought to gain full integration and participation in American society, calling for the desegregation of public spaces, the right to full citizenship, and all other equal protections as full American citizens under the law. 

During this WebQuest, you will gain knowledge about various events that took place during the American Civil Rights movement. 

Task

Task: After reviewing all of the information in the WebQuest, you will compose one RAFT diary entry, imagining that you are witnessing one of the various important events that are reviewed during the WebQuest. 

You will need to decide the following elements for your diary entry:

R-Role: From whose perspective will you write your diary entry? Will you be Malcolm X? A Freedom Rider?

A-Audience: For the purposes of this WebQuest, you can assume that your audience members will be your classmates.

F-Format: The format of your writing will be a diary/journal entry.

T-Topic: You will select one particular event within the Civil Rights movement to write about.

Grading Rubric: Use the grading rubric below to find out how your diary entries will be graded. 

Category

Excellent (5 points)

Satisfactory (3 points)

Not Demonstrated/Unsatisfactory (1 point)

Role: How well did you sound like the person whose voice you were writing in?

-Careful, sophisticated word choice and phrasing

-Character comes to life

 

-Inconsistent portrayal

-Some demonstration of word choice

 

-No hint of portrayal

Topic: How well did you prove that you know the event that you are portraying?

-Demonstrates broad knowledge of event

-Includes key facts and information

-Demonstrates some knowledge of event

-Lacking/missing some key facts

-No facts included or

-Historical inaccuracies

Writing Technique, Creativity and Presentation

-Uses proper punctuation, spelling, and grammar

-Displays originality and thoughtfulness

-Neat, easy to read, and may include graphics

-Some mistakes

-Some attempts at originality

-Neat, somewhat difficult to read

-Displays a lack of attention to writing conventions

-Predictable, little to no creativity

-Messy or difficult to read
Process

Directions: As you view each of the materials present in the links below, make sure to jot down notes about each major event in the American Civil Rights Era. When you are finished, you will choose one particular event upon which to focus for your diary entry.

Introduction: Please view the following links before you get started to get a broad overview of the Civil Rights movement.

Civil Rights Timeline: http://www.pbs.org/wnet/aaworld/timeline/civil_01.html

Intro to Civil Rights video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=URxwe6LPvkM 

Greensboro Sit-Ins: How did this early civil rights action help to ignite young people throughout the South to fight for justice? 

http://americanhistory.si.edu/brown/history/6-legacy/freedom-struggle-2…

http://content.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1957689,00.html (Photos)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5aAhGGY6Dec (Video)

Brown vs. Board of Education/School Desegregation (Little Rock Nine and Ruby Bridges): Why was this court case an important one for the civil rights movement? What challenges were faced by younger African Americans who attempted to integrate white schools?

http://www3.nd.edu/~rbarger/www7/brown.html

http://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/civilrights/ak1.htm

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/aaworld/history/spotlight.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5CgTYGI2mi8 (Video)

Montgomery Bus Boycott: What did this particular boycott accomplish?

http://www.history.com/topics/black-history/montgomery-bus-boycott

http://www.montgomeryboycott.com/portfolio1_categories/photos/ (Photos)

http://students.spsu.edu/asemenov/timeline.html (Timeline)

Freedom Rides: What were the purposes of these particular Civil Rights actions? 

http://www.core-online.org/History/freedom%20rides.htm

http://thegrio.com/2011/05/04/slideshow-remembering-the-freedom-riders/… (Photos)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DcvsWXrS2PI (Video)

Selma-to-Montgomery March (Bloody Sunday): How do you think this particular historic march changed the course of the Civil Rights movement? Why were images/video footage from this event instrumental in changing the tone of the public's reaction to the movement?

http://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/civilrights/al4.htm

http://www.biography.com/people/sheyann-webb-21415605/videos/sheyann-we… (Videos)

http://www.aaregistry.org/historic_events/view/incident-edmund-pettus-b…

Emmett Till's murder: How did this particular event ignite the civil rights movement? Why do you think Emmett Till's mother insisted upon an open casket? Warning: Some of these images are disturbing.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/till/timeline/index.html (Timeline)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8QXNyCvDP4 (Video)

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/till/peopleevents/index.html

Evaluation

Grading Rubric: Use the grading rubric below to find out how your diary entries will be graded. 

Category

Excellent (5 points)

Satisfactory (3 points)

Not Demonstrated/Unsatisfactory (1 point)

Role: How well did you sound like the person whose voice you were writing in?

-Careful, sophisticated word choice and phrasing

-Character comes to life

 

-Inconsistent portrayal

-Some demonstration of word choice

 

-No hint of portrayal

Topic: How well did you prove that you know the event that you are portraying?

-Demonstrates broad knowledge of event

-Includes key facts and information

-Demonstrates some knowledge of event

-Lacking/missing some key facts

-No facts included or

-Historical inaccuracies

Writing Technique, Creativity and Presentation

-Uses proper punctuation, spelling, and grammar

-Displays originality and thoughtfulness

-Neat, easy to read, and may include graphics

-Some mistakes

-Some attempts at originality

-Neat, somewhat difficult to read

-Displays a lack of attention to writing conventions

-Predictable, little to no creativity

-Messy or difficult to read

 

Conclusion

Conclusion: 

As we reflect on this tumultuous time in our nation's time period, think back on all of the incredibly brave men, women, and children who dedicated their lives to gaining some aspect of entry into American society. After working through this WebQuest, it is my hope that you will gain a better appreciation of the progress that has been made and thas has undoubtedly impacted every aspect of your own lives as African American youth. 

Stay tuned. We will now begin reading through some of the literature that emerged out of the Civil Rights movement. 

Credits