Lesson Plan 4: Growing Up in a Segregated Society, 1880s-1930s

Objectives

Students will:
1.    Consider both secondary and primary sources to understand the system of Jim Crow segregation.
2.    Use a variety of primary sources including photos and especially oral histories to investigate how African Americans manage to raise families in this harsh system.

Grade Level

4, 6 or 7, and 11

Duration

Estimated time is two, 1-hour lessons, but feel free to adapt this lesson to your needs.

Standards

Grade 4: Virginia Studies

VS.1 The student will develop skills for historical and geographical analysis and responsible citizenship, including the ability to: (a) identify and interpret artifacts and primary and secondary source documents to understand events in history; (d) draw conclusions and make generalizations; (e) make connections between past and present; (g) interpret ideas and events from different historical perspectives; (h) evaluate and discuss issues orally and in writing.

VS.8 The student will demonstrate knowledge of the reconstruction of Virginia following the Civil War by: (a) identifying the effects of Reconstruction on life in Virginia; (b) identifying the effects of segregation and "Jim Crow" on life in Virginia.

Grade 6 or 7: United States History II – 1865 to the Present

USII.1 The student will demonstrate skills for historical and geographical analysis and responsible citizenship, including the ability to: (a) analyze and interpret primary and secondary source documents to increase understanding of events and life in United States history from 1865 to the present; (b) make connections between past and present; (d) interpret ideas and events from different historical perspectives.

USII.4 The student will demonstrate knowledge of how life changed after the Civil War by: (c) describing racial segregation, the rise of "Jim Crow," and other constraints faced by African Americans in the post-Reconstruction South.

Grade 11: Virginia and United States History

VUS.1 The student will demonstrate skills for historical and geographical analysis and responsible citizenship, including the ability to: (a) identify, analyze, and interpret primary and secondary source documents, records, and data, including artifacts, diaries, letters, photographs, journals, newspapers, historical accounts, and art to increase understanding of events and life in the United States; (c) formulate historical questions and defend findings based on inquiry and interpretation; (h) interpret the significance of excerpts from famous speeches and other documents.

VUS.8 The student will demonstrate knowledge of how the nation grew and changed from the end of Reconstruction through the early twentieth century by: (c) analyzing prejudice and discrimination during this time period, with emphasis on "Jim Crow," and the response of Booker T. Washington and W. E. B. DuBois.