2. Students will now discuss with the class (or in groups) things they learned about MLK Jr. from the video that they have never heard before. (2 minutes)
3. Now students will watch a clip of Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream Speech.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3P_s3ChZlRY (Remembering Martin Luther King Jr.'s Famed 'I Have a Dream' Speech) (5 minutes)
4. Students will turn and talk with their neighbor about their favorite line from his speech. (2 minutes)
5. The teacher will then show a teacher made video acting out a breaking news scene about how African Americans have achieved success in the Civil Rights Movement.
Teacher’s Sample Script: (Information comes from S.C. 5th Grade Social Studies Support Document) “Breaking News! Breaking News! It is (name) reporting live from (Place). The progression of the civil rights movement in the United States began with abolition and emancipation, continued throughout the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and continues today. You all have learned constitutional amendments that abolished slavery as well as the various struggles faced by African Americans in the years between the Civil War and World War II. Many Jim Crow policies came into being following the Plessy v. Ferguson Supreme Court case of 1896 which established the doctrine of “separate-but-equal.” Although the “separate” portion of the doctrine was followed, evidence of the “equal” side rarely materialized. From that time, many Americans pressed for continued improvement in the area of civil rights with limited success, including Booker T. Washington, W.E.B. Dubois, Ida B. Wells Barnett, and Marcus Garvey. It took a lot of hard work and people working together. Because of their efforts and many years of fighting and protests, African Americans now have….” After this sentence, the video needs to go blank or show a static screen. Teacher then needs to look confused and say, “Well, I guess it is time for you to learn what has just happened for African Americans, so you can finish the BREAKING NEWS report. (5 minutes)
6. Students will now get information cards (taken from the SC 5th Grade Social Studies Support Document) with important facts about the Civil Rights Act and Voting Rights Act. Information cards will be made in advance or have a slide in a slideshow given to students in their Google Classroom or printed out and given as hard copies. (5 minutes)
Civil Rights Act Card- In 1964 Congress passed the Civil Rights Act, which prohibited discrimination in public places and provided for the integration of schools and other public facilities. The Civil Rights Act also made employment discrimination illegal.
Voting Act Card- Passage of the Voting Act of 1965 was a pivotal moment in the Civil Rights Movement. President Johnson signed the Voting Act of 1965 into law on August 6, 1965. This law placed a nationwide prohibition against the denial of the right to vote based on the literacy tests. The Act contained special enforcement policies that focused on those areas of the country where Congress believed the potential for discrimination to be the greatest.
7. After students read the information, they will go to https://info.flipgrid.com/ and create their own breaking news report to finish the teacher’s video. (Teacher needs to set up the flipgrid first, so all the students have to do is enter the teacher’s code.) Students need to report on both the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Act of 1965. Students need to put the content in their own words and react to this news as if they were somebody living during this time and how this affects the lives of all African Americans. (5 minutes)
Students can then watch the other students’ flipgrid videos. (5 minutes) After watching the other videos, students will write their own “I Have a Dream” poem as someone living during the Civil Rights Movement or as their dream presently. (10 minutes)
Format- I Have a Dream. That I can… That my family… That my friends… Oh, I have a Dream. That all my children… That grownups… That people will start… Oh, I have a dream. That people will find… That people will learn… That there will be… Oh, I Have a dream today!
8. After students have written their poems, those who want to read their speech can share with the class as if they are giving a speech like Martin Luther King Jr. (5 minutes)
