The History Of A Moment: The Civil Rights Era

Using a timeline layout, students will research one of the landmark moments of the Civil Rights Movement. Rather than having students create a timeline that focuses on the entire movement, students are encouraged to focus on one major event inside of the movement. This activity could be used as a summative review of the unit, or an assignment that helps students learn and teach one another about their findings. Teachers can assign events to students or give them the option of choosing their own event. In order to help students decide which event to select, it could be helpful to categorize each event by the impact or result that it had (ex. Educational opportunities, voting rights, employment rights, etc.).

Students may choose to illustrate the following events (among others):

• March on Washington
• Montgomery Bus Boycott
• Murder of Emmitt Till
• Rosa Parks refuses to give up seat
• Little Rock Nine
• Civil Rights Act (1957/1964)
• Bloody Sunday
• Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.
• Assassination of JFK
• Fair Housing Act
• Brown vs Board of Education

Student Instructions

Create a timeline detailing the major events leading up to and during the Civil Rights Movement.

1. Click "Start Assignment".
2. Add cells to your timeline as needed.
3. List out each of the events in sequential order.
4. In the description boxes, describe the events.
5. Create an image in each cell that depicts the events, using appropriate scenes, characters, and items.
6. Save the storyboard and submit it to the assignment.