Design for Learning

Instructor: Miss. A. Hancock

Lesson Title: Injustice in Opportunities
Curriculum Area: Social Studies

Grade Level/Cooperating Teacher: 6th

Date: March 16, 2016
Estimated Time: 2 days

Standards Connection:
Identifying key persons and events of the modern Civil Rights Movement
Examples: Persons Martin Luther King Jr.; Rosa Parks; Fred Shuttlesworth;
John Lewis. Events Brown verses Board of Education, Montgomery Bus Boycott,
student protests, Freedom Rides, Selma-to-Montgomery Voting Rights March, political
assassinations (Alabama) [SS6.9].
Learning Objective(s):
When given an exit ticket, the students will correctly explain two specific examples of
injustice in opportunities and how they motivated people to demand equality.
Learning Objective(s) stated in kid-friendly language:
Today boys and girls, we are going to learn what injustice in opportunities are and be able
to explain specific examples of these injustices during the Civil Rights Movement.
Evaluation of Learning Objective(s):
The students will be evaluated by what they wrote on their exit slip. They will be
instructed to write a definition of injustice in opportunities in their own words. The
teacher will want to see how the students interpreted this, and what they got out of the
lesson. Then, they will need to explain 2 examples of injustice in opportunities: schools,
and the military, that Africans Americans faced during this time. The students will need to
write at least 2 sentences, one to explain how the example demonstrates injustice, and
another to describe how the example motivated people to demand equality. Students who
correctly do all of this will be placed in the green zone, those who skip one of the items
or only write one sentence for each explanation will be placed in the yellow zone. Those
students who skip more than one item or incorrectly write both explanations will be
placed in the red zone in need of remediation.
Engagement:
To engage the students in the lesson, the teacher will do a Zoom In with her students of a
picture from the Little Rock Nine. The picture will be zoomed in on different parts on the
PowerPoint for the students to see. She will ask the students questions throughout. Who
remembers what type of injustice we learned about yesterday? The teacher will be
looking for the students to remember that they talked about political injustice. What were
some of the main events we discussed? If you need something to help you, remember we
have a huge timeline you all are creating along the wall! The teacher will wait for the
students to mention events that they learned about in the last lesson such as the March on
Washington. Very good, so remember that our big idea is injustice, or being unfair. Our
first lesson looked at injustices before the Civil Rights Movement such as slavery, our last
lesson was all about political injustices like voting, and today we are going to learn
about injustices in opportunities. First, we are going to do something really cool! This is
called Zoom In! What do you think that means? You are right! We are going to zoom in or
look closer at something. What are some times when you have had to zoom in? The
teacher will look for students to make connections to different things such as zooming in
on a camera or with binoculars. Those are great connections! In this case we are going to
zoom in on a picture. The teacher will open up her PowerPoint to the first slide that

shows a zoomed in picture. So here is a picture zoomed in. We are all going to sit here
and think for a full minute before we talk about it, I want you to be thinking about what
this is a picture of, what is going on, how the person feels, what they see, touch, taste,
hear, and smell. Really think about it, Ill be doing the same thing. The teacher will wait a
full minute to let the students seriously think before she calls on anyone. Ok, now I want
everyone to share their thoughts with a partner, and then you will all share. Once the
students have plenty of time to share with their partner, the teacher will ask students to
share until they have been able to say all of their thoughts on the picture. You all have
some really great thoughts! It sounds like we think this girl might be going to school. You
all noticed the books in her arms, and that she is walking, maybe with some others. You
all think she is going to a normal school day and that it will be similar to what school is
like now. Those are all great! Now, I am going to zoom out of the picture a little so that
we see more. The teacher will click to the next slide that shows more of the picture. What
is the first thing you notice? The solider, yes! Does that change what you think about this
picture? What does it change? We are going to think, pair, share again. The teacher will
give the students time to think, then share with a partner, and then share with the class
what they think now. Boy your thoughts sure have changed with this part of the picture!
Now you all think that this girl is in trouble and that she is being taken away from school.
That is a very interesting thought. Lets see even more of the picture. The teacher will go
to the next slide. What do you think now? The teacher will let the students share freely.
Now it looks like there are more people involved arent there? Some of you think the
students are in trouble, and some of you think that they are being protected. Thats very
interesting. Why might they be being protected? How do you think these students feel?
What about the soldiers? Are you ready to see the whole picture? The teacher will change
slides to the full picture. Now what do you think? What do you notice about the students
in the picture? They all have something in common. The teacher will be looking for the
students to notice that all of the students are African American. Its a whole group of
people isnt it? Well, we are going to learn more about this event, but I will tell you that
these are African American students being escorted to and from school by the military to
ensure their safety. Why do you think this was necessary? How would you feel if you had
to be escorted to school each day for your safety? Now, we are going to learn about this
even and other injustices that occurred. The teacher will transition into teaching.
Learning Design:
I. Teaching:
The teacher will clearly state the objective for the lesson and introduce the big idea of
injustice in opportunities. She will help the students recognize examples and nonexamples of opportunities and then she will teach them about different injustices in
opportunities African Americans faced during this time. They will use their note taking
guide (attached) to guide their notes. Today boys and girls, we are going to expand our
knowledge of injustice by learning about injustice in opportunities faced during the Civil
Rights Movement. By the end of this lesson, you all will be able to explain examples of
injustice in opportunities during the Civil Rights Movement. What exactly are
opportunities you might ask, well, (the teacher will go to the slide about opportunities) an
opportunity is a good position or chance for advancement or success. This slide has
some examples and non-examples of opportunities. Which one of these do you think is a
picture of something that gives someone a chance for success? The teacher will give the
students some time to analyze the images on the screen before asking a student to come
up and circle an example on the SmartBoard. Now, can someone come up and circle an
example of an opportunity? Yes! A school is a great example of an opportunity! We are
all in school right now, and it is to give you all a chance for success. School is something
that everyone has the right to, but during the Civil Rights Movement, everyone was not
given the same opportunities in school. The military and going to the doctor are also

examples of opportunities all people should have. Both of these things give people a
chance for success by keeping them healthy and helping protect our country. Going to a
restaurant is not an example of an opportunity because it does not determine your
success. Being able to eat in a restaurant is important and should be equal as well,
however that is a social issue which we will learn more about in our next lesson, it is not
an injustice in opportunities. So back to schools and education. Education is an
opportunity everyone has. However, schools were segregated and they were not equal
during this time. They defended segregation in schools because of the 1896 court case,
Plessy v. Fergusson which ruled that everything could be separate but equal. But look
at these two pictures, do those classrooms look equal to you? Turn and talk to your
neighbor about some of the differences you see. The teacher will look to see that the
students notice that the African American school is a lot more crowded and does not have
anything extra in it while the white school has less students and has a lot more resources,
even a piano in the classroom. How do you think these differences affected the students?
Do you think they got the same education? No, definitely not! Where do you think you
would be and how would you feel if you went to one of the colored schools? The teacher
will give the students time to talk about how they would feel if they were in that place
and how their lives might be different. Well the court case, Brown v. Board of Education
in 1954 agreed and said that separate was not equal in schools. This meant that schools
needed to desegregate. However, just because this became a law, schools did not
desegregate immediately, it took a very long time. The NAACP who you have learned
about before, had a campaign to allow black students into Central High School in Little
Rock Arkansas. This was an all-white high school. How do you think this went? Do you
think it was easy or that people were happy about it? The teacher will give time for the
students to respond and think about what this might have been like. This is a picture of
Central High School, and (the teacher will change slides) these are the nine African
American students who were going to integrate the high school. Officials at this school
put about 80 students through vigorous interviews to see if they were good enough for
admission to the school. Only 9 of these students were chosen: Gloria, Terrance, Melba,
Jefferson, Carlotta, Themla, Minnijean, Elizabeth, and Ernest. The teacher will point to
the pictures of each of these students as she says their names to help the students connect
with the characters. What do you think about these students? Where they any different
than any of you other than their age? Youre right, they were just the same, all they
wanted to do was go to school and receive a good education so that they could be
successful in life. It was extremely had for these nine students to do something as easy as
go to school. The governor of Arkansas even brought in the Arkansas National Guard not
to help the students get to school, but to prevent the students from entering the school.
Can you believe that? And all of this was happening even though it was a law that
schools had to integrate. On September 4th, 1957 eight of the nine students all rode
together to the school on the first day, however Elizabeths family was not able to be
contacted beforehand, so she arrived on her own and this picture of her became famous
and was seen around the country. The teacher will change the slide. This was Elizabeths
walk into the school on the first day. Turn and talk to your neighbor about how you
would feel if you were Elizabeth. The teacher will give the students time to discuss. Now I
am going to call on three of you to share what your partner thought. The teacher will call
on three students and expect to hear that the students would feel scared and nervous to
have to walk through a mob like that just to get to school. Do you think you would be so
determined to keep going and not just turn around? I dont know if I would! But lets
think too, how do you think the members of the mob felt? Why did they respond in that
way? Think about this for 30 seconds before I call on anyone. The teacher will wait 30
seconds and then cold call students. The teacher will look for students to recognize that
the mob felt they were protecting the only life they knew and that it was scary for them to
have African Americans coming into their school, that maybe they didnt know better.
This is how they grew up and all they knew. Those are great thoughts! It is always

important for us to think about the other perspective, even if we know they were wrong.
Eventually the Arkansas National Guard was removed from the school, and the nine
students tried to go to school again on September 23rd with the help of the Little Rock
Police Department but a mob of over 1,000 angry white protesters wanted outside and
the students were unable to go to school. Finally on September 25th, President
Eisenhower sent men from the Army and 10,000 National Guardsmen to ensure the
students made it to school. However once they were inside the school, there was still
trouble. These nine students faced violence and harassment from the white students all
year. This was the beginning to a long road of integrating schools. Now, you will be able
to see this happen in a video. This video is very cool because it is interviewing one of the
nine students who experienced all of this! The teacher will play the video on the Little
Rock Nine that is embedded into the PowerPoint. Another opportunity that everyone is
given is to be a part of the military. The teacher will got to the next slide. Stand up if you
know someone who is in the military. It may be a parent, grandparent, friend, or
neighbor. Once the students stand up the teacher will allow each student to share who it is
they know in the military. The military is extremely important to our country! They
protect us, and it is a source of pride. The crazy thing is, both African Americans and
whites were required to be in the military, but they were not given the same opportunities
as a part of the military. Blacks were given jobs where they never saw the war front,
many of them were only allowed to work in the food services. Why might this upset them?
The teacher will change slides to the one about the Red Cross. In addition, the Red Cross
began to segregate blood according to the skin color of the donor in 1941 through WWII.
Raise your hand if you know someone who has donated blood. Good, theres a few of
you. I know my mom always donated blood and it made me want to donate blood so now
I donate blood as well. Blood donation is important because there are times when people
need blood, and blood from donors can be given to them, it can save their lives. So when
the blood was segregated, they would separate blood from white and black donors, and
the blood would only be given to someone in need with the same color skin as the donor.
What problems do you think might have happened if blood was segregated? And what
blood bank do you think had more donations? Turn and talk to a partner about this. Once
they share with their neighbor, the teacher will have the class discuss as a whole and will
be looking for the students to see that this meant some people were not able to receive the
blood they needed if there was not enough blood from donors of their skin color. She will
also want them to recognize that the white blood banks would have had more donations
than the black ones. Exactly! See, that is what this poster is saying as well. The teacher
will point to the image on the PowerPoint. Can someone read that loudly to the class? A
student will read Its all the same to him and to science too. Science has proven in
chemical, physical, and microscopic tests that white and Negro blood is identical. Then
the teacher will change the slide. People knew this was an issue, but it was not changed
until after WWII ended in 1945, which is sad because blood is in even higher demand
than normal during wars as soldiers are being hurt. In order to change the rules about
African Americans in the military, the Tuskegee Airmen first flew in April of 1941 and
became a famous African American fleet. Lets watch this video to hear more about them.
The teacher will play the video about the Tuskegee Airmen. The Tuskegee Airmen were
very important in the war and they paved the way to President Truman integrating the
armed forces in 1948. And now people of all races can fight for our country in the
military.
II. Opportunity for Practice:
To work with all that the students have learned in this lesson about injustice in
opportunities, particularly in regards to education, the students will each create a poem in
two voices. One will be in the perspective of one of the Little Rock Nine students and the
other will be in the perspective of the mob. The students will create these with partners. I
am really excited to see what you all come up with for this next activity! Everyone is

going to work with their 1:00 partner to create a poem in 2 voices. If you remember this
is something we did earlier in the year. This is when we look at 2 different perspectives
and write a poem from each of them. Today we are going to focus on the injustice in
education and we are going to write a poem in the perspective of one of the Little Rock
Nine, and then a poem in the perspective of a member of the mob. The first thing you
should do is create a list for each perspective of how they would have felt, what they saw,
touched, tasted, heard, and smelled. For example, (the teacher will create 2 sides on the
whiteboard and write an example for each perspective) on this side I have the mob and
on this side I have the Little Rock Nine. Under the mob I might write that this person was
angry and scared about how this would change the life they knew. And on the side of the
Little Rock Nine I might write that they felt the spit of an angry mob and that they could
feel hatred. Then, once you create a list using all of the senses for both sides, you and
your partner will write the poems. I have an example pulled up here for you to look at as
a reference it is about Batman and the Joker. The teacher will pull up an example
(attached) on the screen for the students to see. She will also read it. You can see how this
poem shows Batman and the Joker in different ways and their opposing perspectives.
Now, I need one partner from each group to come to be and get the organizers you need
to do this. Remember to work quietly with your partner and be as creative as you can.
There are important sides to both of these perspectives that is why I want us to do this
activity. The teacher will pass out the papers and then walk around and offer suggestions
as the class works. Once they finish the partners will share what they created. Now that
you all are finished, each group is going to share their poems. One partner will read the
mob perspective, and the other will read the Little Rock Nine perspective. The students
will share. You all did awesome. I loved hearing you all think that deeply about how these
people felt with their opposite perspectives.
III. Assessment
So the teacher can see what the students took away from the lesson, the students will
complete an exit slip in which they will define injustice in opportunities in their own
words and give 2 examples. Ok boys and girls! You all have been doing awesome with
this information, we are learning so much! The teacher will pass out the exit slip
(attached). Now, everyone is going to create their own definition of injustice in
opportunities and explain two examples of these injustices. As you can see on your exit
slip, the two injustices I want you to explain are schools and the military. I want you all
to use complete sentences, and your examples must have at least 2 sentences each. The
first sentence needs to explain the injustice in that example, and the second one should
explain how that injustice motivated people to demand equality. As you can see, I wrote
that your total response needs to be at least 5 sentences, it can always be more!
IV. Closure:
To close out this lesson and to bridge all of the lessons together, the students will add to
their timeline they began in the first lesson. Each table group will be given an event from
the day to create a representation of the event. The events will be: The Little Rock Nine,
Blood Segregation, Integration of the Army, and the Tuskegee Airmens first flight. The
students will also write a caption for their representation and write the date these events
started on an index card before hanging them all up in the chronological spot on the
timeline. Awesome job today boys and girls! Now we are going to continue to add to our
class timeline. It just keeps getting bigger and bigger! Today we discussed four injustices
in opportunities that African Americans faced during the Civil Rights Movement. These
events were: The Little Rock Nine, Blood Segregation, Integration of the Army, and the
Tuskegee Airmen. I am going to give each group another a sheet of poster board to
create your representations of your event. You will also get a paper for your caption for
the picture, and an index card for the date. Once you finish, we will add these to our
class timeline and you can look at how all of the events connect together in history. The

teacher will pass out the supplies and assign groups to the specific events. You may all
begin now.
Materials and Resources:
Lesson 3 PowerPoint
SmartBoard
Little Rock Nine Video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qk1tTCk2Kks
Tuskegee Airmen Video - http://www.smithsonianchannel.com/videos/thetuskegee-red-tail-angels/15951?auto=true
Note Taking Sheet (attached)
Poem in 2 Voices Example (attached)
Poem in 2 Voices Sheets (attached)
Exit Slip (attached)
Markers
sheets of poster board
Index Cards
Crayons
Clothespins
Differentiation Strategies (including plans for individual learners):
High End learners will be given a choice board to complete throughout the unit.
Low End learners will create a compare and contrast chart on the white schools and
colored schools.
Data Analysis:

Reflection:

Samford University
Design for Learning

Civil Rights Tic-Tac-Toe

Directions: Select 3 choices (vertically, horizontally, or
diagonally) to show what you are learning in a creative way.

Create a Map

Presidential
Poster

Breaking
News!

Virtual Field
Trip

Advertisement

Write a New
Law

Heroes

Write a Song

Digital
Cartoon

Schools for
Whites Only

Both

Schools for
Colored
Only

Comparing and Contrasting

Schools
Directions: Fill in the chart below to compare and contrast
what it was like for white children and African American
children to go to school when they were segregated for white
children only and for colored children only. Come up with at
least 3 sentences for each column.

Injustice in Opportunities
Notes
Name: __________________

Date: ________

Important Words and Their Meaning:

Event Notes:
s:
Plessy v.
Ferguson
Brown v.
Board of
Education
Little Rock
Nine

The
Military

Segregate
d Blood

Date:

Tuskegee
Airmen

Poem in 2 Voices
Names: __________________
________

Date:

Directions: With a partner, write a poem in 2 voices from

the perspective of a member of the Little Rock Nine and a
member of the angry mob.

Little Rock
Nine

Mob

Exit Ticket
Name: __________________

Date: ________

Directions: Create your own definition of injustice in opportunities and

explain 2 examples of these types of injustices during the Civil Rights
Movement. The 2 examples you must explain are injustice in schools
and the military. The examples must include at least 2 complete
sentences each. The first sentence will explain how the example
demonstrates injustice and the second one will describe how the
example motivated people to demand equality. Your full response must
be at least 5 sentences.

Exit Ticket
Name: __________________

Date: ________

Directions: Create your own definition of injustice in opportunities and

write 2 examples of these types of injustices during the Civil Rights
Movement. The examples must include at least 2 complete sentences
each. The first one can give the example and the second one must
explain how the example demonstrates injustice.