Photograph of four teenaged Freedom School students take part in class discussion sitting at a table in the basement room of probably St. Paul United Methodist Church. Alice Adams is on the right and George Ann Adams on the left between two male students. More students sit at a table in the background, at the foot of a flight of stairs.

Lesson Plan

Young, Gifted, and Black: Student Organizing and the Civil Rights Movement

Learn how students were the driving force behind much of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s through music, interviews, and more.

About this lesson

In this lesson, students will do a comparative analysis of how the philosophies, methods, and tactics used by youth organizations and organizers began to change after their time organizing voter registration in Mississippi. Students will listen to and analyze primary source audio recordings of youth organizers to gain their perspective on how their work in Mississippi changed their philosophies toward civil rights organizing.

Grade Level

  • Grade Level

    Ninth, Tenth, Eleventh, Twelfth

  • Subject

    Civics, Social Studies, US History

  • Duration

    180 minutes

  • Class Period Structure

    Three 60-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:

    • Compare the impact and influence of student organizers and organizations on the Civil Rights Movement pre- and post-voting rights advocacy in Mississippi.

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

    • Jim Crow Laws
    • The Civil Rights Movement

  • Georgia

    SSUSH21: Analyze U.S. international and domestic policies including their influences on technological advancements and social changes during the Kennedy and Johnson administrations.

    L9-10RHSS2 and L11-12RHSS2: Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary of how key events or ideas develop over the course of the text.

    L9-10RHSS6 and L11-12RHSS6: Compare the point of view of two or more authors for how they treat the same or similar topics, including which details they include and emphasize in their respective accounts.

    L9-10RHSS9 and L11-12RHSS9: Compare and contrast treatments of the same topic in several primary and secondary sources.

    L9-10WHST1 and L11-12WHST1: Write arguments focused on discipline-specific content.

    L9-10WHST7 and L11-12WHST7: Conduct short as well as more sustained research projects to answer a question (including a self-generated question) or solve a problem; narrow or broaden the inquiry when appropriate; synthesize multiple sources on the subject, demonstrating understanding of the subject under investigation.

Supporting Materials

Primary Source

Glossary

  • Direct Action –

    Action that seeks to achieve an end directly and by the most immediately effective means (such as a boycott or strike).

  • Freedom Ride –

    A ride made by civil rights workers through states of the southern U.S. to ascertain whether public facilities (such as bus terminals) are desegregated.

Related resources