This lesson will be looking at the legal strategy implemented by Mr. Marshall and the NAACP lawyers to overturn Plessy. The lesson will help develop reading skills and engagement with resistant, primary texts.
This lesson is about the NAACP’s legal approach to the Brown case. Students will be examining the logic behind the argument and engaging with resistant, primary source documents.
Essential questions
Why do people change their minds?
Outcomes and objectives
After the lesson students will…
Be able to better read and engage with resistant texts and to articulate the reasoning for overturning Plessy.Â
Preparing to teach
Familiarize yourself with the primary document ahead of time. Make sure you are aware of what the questions students will be answering are and ready to help them with the reading. Also make sure that your class has an understanding of what Plessy v. Ferguson made legal, particularly in schools.
Scaffolds and accommodations to support learners
Reading support
The point of this exercise is to struggle with the reading. The scaffolds are built into the question to help direct their reading.
Differentiation
None.
Adjusting for middle school grades
If you want this activity for middle schoolers, create summaries of each paragraph or section with reading level appropriate language.
Instructional activities sequence
Begin the lesson with a review of what Plessy v. Ferguson meant for American schools. Have students then think about the essential question and discuss with a partner why they would change their mind. Then pass out the NAACP filing for Brown v. Board of Education. Have students read through the filing and use the guiding questions to help them articulate their understanding and guide their reading.
After they have read and filled out the guided reading questions, students will be put into pairs and will create a radio news broadcast to summarize the filing to the public. This radio summary should be under one minute and should teach someone who hears it about the reasoning behind the NAACP’s lawsuit and argument.
Assessment
The assessment of understanding should be the radio presentation. Students in it should demonstrate that they know why the Brown case was filed and be able to articulate it to someone who is less informed. The guided reading questions can also be used as a knowledge checkpoint. The following are the instructions for the podcast students will be creating:
Time to create a radio broadcast. You and a partner will now write a radio broadcast script that reports on the Brown v. Board of Education case being filed. The broadcasters should explain why the case is being filed and the NAACP’s logic behind the suit. Then both partners will record the newscast, which will include both partners reading their respective roles from the script.
Materials needed and additional resources for enrichment
