6th Grade- Civil Rights Unit
Title of the day’s lesson:
“Voting Rights”
Theme:
Introduce students to what it was like for African Americans to vote in the 1960s.
Materials/resources needed:
• Overhead of the article from the Winona Daily Republican from October 25, 1895
• Literacy test
• Picture 1
• Picture 2
• Selma-Montgomery lecture notes
• Question worksheet
Goals for today’s lesson:
• The students will understand the changes that occurred after WWII with minorities and the impact a president has.
• The students will be able to locate and identify places on a map where important historic events took place in the United States.
Objectives for today’s lesson:
• The students will get a better understanding of the black voting rights.
• The students will also get introduced to the marches that occurred during the Civil Rights.
• The students will see where the important march took place on a map.
• The students will be introduced to President Johnson and what he did for the African Americans and voting.
Procedure
a. introductory experiences
When the students enter the classroom, announce to them that they have 8 minutes to complete the 22-question test. (8 minutes)
***Do not say anything else to the students.
b. developmental experiences
1. When the students finish the test, have them put it aside and put picture 1 (police) up on the projection screen. Have them each write the answers to the questions under the picture on a piece of notebook paper. (3 minutes)
2. Take volunteers to discuss their answers. (4 minutes)
3. Go over some history about the black voting rights. (10 minutes)
4. Explain that in order for African Americans to vote in Alabama, before they were allowed, they needed to take the Alabama Literacy Test, the test they had taken in the beginning of class. (1 minute)
5. Ask the students their thoughts on this, and how they would feel if they needed their knowledge tested every time they wanted their input counted on something. (1 minute)
6. Explain the march from Selma to Montgomery. (12 minutes)
7. Show picture 2 (map) on the screen and have them answer the questions below picture on the same paper as before. Discuss their answers. (6 minutes)
8. To connect it back to Winona, show the students an article from the Daily Winona Republican from October 25, 1895 on the projection screen. Point out to them that out of the 9 “colored” people in Winona that were registered voters, 4 of them voted in the 1st Warden and 5 of them in the 4th Warden. (4 minutes)
9. Explain the different Wardens. (3 minutes)
c. culminating experiences
10. As a class, read the statement from President Lyndon Johnson’s speech when he finally declared voting rights to all, no matter the color of skin on the projection screen.
“The Constitution says that no person shall be kept from voting because of his race or his color. We have all sworn an oath before God to support and to defend that Constitution. We must now act in obedience to that oath. Wednesday, I will send to Congress a law designed to eliminate illegal barriers to the right to vote. But even if we pass this bill, the battle will not be over. What happened in Selma is part of a far larger movement, which reached into every section and State of America. It is the effort of American Negroes to secure for themselves the full blessings of American life. And we shall overcome.” (2 minutes)
11. Have the students hand in their responses to the questions they answered on their way out of the room.
Assessments used during lesson:
Will read and grade the responses each student wrote to the questions from the pictures on the projection screen.
Literacy Test
You have 8 minutes to complete the exam. You cannot miss more than two answers.
If a person is indicted for a crime, name two rights which he has?
A U.S. Senator elected in November takes office the following year on what date?
A person appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court is appointed for a term of (how long)?
When the Constitution was approved by the original colonies, how many states had to ratify it in order for it to be in effect?
Does enumeration affect the income tax levied on citizens in various states?
Persons opposed to swearing in an oath may say, instead "solemnly (fill in the blank)?
What words are required by law to be on all coins and paper currency?
A U.S. Senator is elected for how many years?
Appropriation of money for the armed services can be only for a period of how many years?
Who passes laws dealing with privacy?
The number of representatives which a state is entitled to have in the House of Representatives is based on what?
If no person receives a majority of electoral votes, the vice president is chosen by the Senate. True or False?
Name two things which the states are forbidden to do by the U.S. Constitution?
If a person flees from justice into another state, who has the authority to ask for his return?
If the two houses of Congress cannot agree on adjournment, who sets the time?
After the presidential electors have voted, to whom do they send the count of their votes?
How many votes must a person receive in order to become President if the election is decided by the House of Representatives?
Name the two levels of government which can levy taxes?
Of the original 13 states, which had the largest representation in the first Congress?
If it were proposed to join Alabama and Mississippi to form one state, which groups would have to vote approval in order for this to be done?
Name two purposes of the U.S. Constitution?
The Constitution limits the size of the District of Columbia to (what)?
Worksheet #1
Name___________________________________________Date______________
Voting Rights
1. What seems to be happening in this picture?
2. What time era does it look like it could be in?
3. Where did the march start?
4. Where did the march end?
5. It is 50 miles from Selma to Montgomery. If they walked 3 miles per hour, how long would it have taken them to reach the capital?


