About This Lesson
Essential Question/Big Idea:
- What is the history of voting rights in the US?
- How have voting rights been expanded through Constitutional amendments and federal legislation?
- How have voting rights been restricted by state and local legislation and by court decisions?
Understandings:
Students will understand that…
- Constitutional amendments have the potential to expand civil rights.
- Due to federalism, states can create their own laws about elections.
Students will know….
- African-Americans men had been enfranchised and disenfranchised during the Reconstruction Era.
- The Voting Rights Act of 1965 removed the roadblocks to voting that states erected after the Reconstruction Era.
Students will be able to….
- Put events in chronological order.
- Identify when historical events occurred within the context of other important events.
Content Objectives:
Students will demonstrate analysis of key events, ideals, documents, and organizations in the struggle for African-American civil rights including by finding connections in a living timeline activity.
Language Objectives:
- Students will speak to make connections between dates and events related to key events, ideals, documents, and organizations in the struggle for African-American civil rights by using Tier 2-3 social studies vocabulary terms.
- Students will write to reflect on key events, ideals, documents, and organizations in the struggle for African-American civil rights by writing in complete sentences.
