This lesson expands on prior learning about Brown v. Board to introduce the ideas and logistics surrounding desegregation.
This lesson invites students to investigate the processes and procedures of desegregation as outlined by the NAACP following Brown v. Board. This lesson pays specific attention to students' language-based analysis skills.
Essential questions
How did the NAACP define and analyze desegregation?
How does desegregation become achieved?
What issues and circumstances complicated desegregation in 1950s America?
Outcomes and objectives
After the lesson students will…
Explain major issues and ideas related to desegregation.
Analyze the arguments and perspectives of the NAACP regarding the processes of desegregation.
Evaluate the concerns of the NAACP regarding desegregation.
Preparing to teach
Students should have an understanding of the events and ideas around segregation (including Plessy v. Ferguson) and a preliminary knowledge of the ideas around Brown v. Board.
Teachers should
Print copies of the questions and answers for each student.
Print copies of the graphic organizer for each student.
Scaffolds and accommodations to support learners
Reading support
The questions included in this reading require a certain level of reading comprehension. The reading and breakdown of the Five Questions may need to be further scaffolded for students of different reading levels (such as through increased teacher support, adapting the graphic organizer, or manipulating grouping configurations).
Differentiation
Considering the needs of different learners, teachers may adapt the questions, grouping elements, or sharing methods of this lesson to best support student learning.
Adjusting for middle school grades
The most likely adjustment needed for middle school grades will involve reading levels and reading comprehension, considering the high level of the “Five Questions.” The suggestions offered above can be helpful in supporting students as they read.
Instructional activities sequence
Review any necessary information/history with students to prepare them for the content of the lesson.
Divide the students into five groups. Assign each group a question from the “Five Questions” from the NAACP.
Pass out a graphic organizer to each student and allow them to work on the graphic organizer as a group.
Instruct students to flip over their papers and talk about the question at the top of their page within their groups.
Bring the class back together as a whole. Allow each group to share out to the class about their question, the answers in their graphic organizers, and their ideas about desegregation (specifically rows 1 and 2 in their graphic organizers).
Question students about what issues they think the NAACP is majorly concerned about (row 3 in their graphic organizers). Record their answers on a central whiteboard (or similar), and encourage students to also take notes on their sheets. As students share, ask them to explain how they know that issue matters to the NAACP (including attention to vocabulary and prose patterns within the questions). What evidence lets them know that the issue they mention is important to the NAACP?
Teachers may find it helpful to demonstrate this document analysis skill first before inviting students to share.
Allow students to return to their groups to discuss the final question on their sheets.
Assessment
Teachers may collect students' graphic organizer sheets to review thinking and learning from the lessons. As additional assessment, teachers may invite students to write an individual reflection or argumentation about which question seems the most important regarding desegregation.
Materials needed and additional resources for enrichment