Lesson Plan

Hidden Heroes: Uncovering Claudette Colvin’s Role in Changing History

Explore the activism of youth civil rights leader, Claudette Colvin, and how she contributed to the advancement of the Civil Rights Movement.

About this lesson

During this lesson, students will explore the courageous acts of resistance by Claudette Colvin, an often-overlooked figure in the Civil Rights Movement. They will examine how she challenged segregation laws in Birmingham, Alabama. The students will evaluate the impact of Colvin’s actions on the Civil Rights Movement, both in Birmingham and nationally. To achieve this, students will participate in various activities, including an interactive read-aloud, primary- and secondary-source analysis, and timeline construction.

Grade Level

  • Grade Level

    Fourth, Fifth

  • Subject

    Social Studies

  • Duration

    125 minutes

  • Class Period Structure

    Three 45-minute class periods

  • Activities, Background Essay, Biographies, Glossary, Primary Sources, Rubric, Secondary Sources, Timeline

  • At the end of this lesson students will be able to:

    • Explain who Claudette Colvin was and how her actions contributed to broader social change.
    • Analyze primary and secondary sources to identify key events in Claudette Colvin’s life and evaluate her impact in the Civil Rights Movement.

  • It will be helpful for students to be familiar with:

    • Jim Crow Laws
    • Rosa Parks’ Arrest
    • Montgomery Bus Boycott

  • Georgia

    SS4H6 Analyze the effects of Reconstruction on American life.

    • SS4H6.d Describe the effects of Jim Crow laws and practices.

    SSIPS6 Identify and use primary and secondary sources. (Mastery)

    SS5H6 Describe the importance of key people, events, and developments between 1950-1975.

    • SS5H6.a Analyze the effects of Jim Crow laws and practices.
    • SS5H6.b Explain the key events and people of the Civil Rights movement: Brown v. Board of Education (1954), Montgomery Bus Boycott, the March on Washington, Civil Rights Act, Voting Rights Act, and civil rights activities of Thurgood Marshall, Lyndon B. Johnson, Cesar Chavez, Rosa Parks, and Martin Luther King, Jr.

    SSIPS6 Identify and use primary and secondary sources. (Apply and Improve Mastered Skills)

    5.T DOMAIN: Texts (T) Students grow in their learning as they purposefully engage with texts.

    • 5.T.RA IV. BIG IDEA: Research & Analysis Students use, discuss, analyze, and curate texts as they engage in various conversations, activities, and projects about a range of grade-level texts and topics.
      • 5.T.T.2.c Compare and contrast first and secondhand accounts of the same event or topic using primary and/or secondary sources. (I)

Supporting Materials

Primary Source

Glossary

  • 14th Amendment –

    An amendment to the U.S. Constitution that was ratified in 1868 and extended citizenship to newly freed African Americans.

  • Attorney –

    Someone whose job is to give advice to people aboutthe law and speak for them in court; a lawyer.

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