Lesson Plan 5: The 1963 March on Washington
Name: Sarianna Blansett Age/Grade Level: 2nd/3rd
Subject Area: Social Studies/Literacy Unit: Making the Better Choice:
Living without Violence
Time Allotted: 1 hour
Preparation: Bring videos/DVDs and CRM text set.
Rationale: The historic March on Washington is so important to the Civil Rights Movement that I want to devote a lesson to it. It was the culminating event of years of struggle and organizing, and brought together the music, politics, and values of the Movement.
Essential Question: How can we bring about Justice?
Lesson Specific Questions: Why is Nonviolence powerful? How was music important to the Civil Rights Movement? How can prejudice be manifested in the media?
Unit Goal: Students will understand how nonviolent protest brought about significant social change in different parts of the world in this last century.
Learning Objectives:
Students will know what the March on Washington is and how it was significant.
Students will be able to write about an important aspect of the March.
Student will hear excerpts of Martin Luther King’s historic speech from this day and respond to it in writing.
Students will understand that media isn’t always unbiased.
State Standards:
Writing: EL.03.WR.08 Write appropriately for purpose and audience.
Listening: Listen critically and respond appropriately across the subject areas
EL.03.SL.08 Connect and relate prior experiences, insights, and ideas to those of a speaker(e.g., through mapping, graphic organization).
EL.03.SL.09 Answer questions completely and with appropriate elaboration.
History: U.S. History: Understand and interpret events, issues, and developments within and across eras of U.S. History.
Key Concepts: Freedom. Social Justice. Bias in the Media. Power in Numbers. Music as a voice of Social Change. Dr. King’s “Dream.”
Key Questions: Why was the March on Washington so important? Why were there popular musicians and other celebrities there? Do you think Martin Luther King’s dream has been achieved?
Materials and Resources Needed:
One or more of the Civil Rights Movement video/DVDs that contain clips of the March
Art supplies for the students doing an art research project
Civil Rights Movement Text Set
Pen and Paper
Project Journals
TV with VCR or a projector and laptop to play a DVD
ELMO
My “Quest” – enough copies for the class.
Procedures:
Anticipatory Set: (20 minutes)
I will give a brief oral introduction to the March on Washington. Then I will play the video/DVD clips from that day. I will play clips of music performances from the day, and I will especially direct their attention to the clip of Dr. King’s speech.
I want to hear the students’ reactions to these clips. I expect a rich discussion about the mix of races there, the popular musicians’ involvement, and especially Dr. King’s speech. I will tell them to think hard about whether they think his dream has been achieved yet in our society. I will bring up the concept of how this event could have been covered in the media, depending on the bias of the reporter or newspaper editor.
Activity: (35 minutes)
I will take the basic activity from my Quest about the March on Washington, but have the students pair off to write a pretend newspaper article about the event so the whole class can participate. They can decide if they want to apply a specific bias to their article.
Closure: (5 minutes)
I will invite them to take out their project journals and write to the following prompts:
1) What struck you the most about the March on Washington? Would you have wanted to be there?
2) Do you think Dr. King’s dream of equality has come true?
Assessment: I will read their “newspaper reports” and their journal entries to see what they got from the day’s lesson and discussion.