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Unit Arc	Instructional Time	Essential Question	Key Milestones
Spark Lessons 1–3	3 lessons 50 minutes each	How does storytelling become a tool for civic change?	Lesson 1: Intro to Essential Questions & Gallery Walk on Segregation Lesson 2: Preview March: Book One & Intro to John Lewis Lesson 3: Jigsaw Reading on Jim Crow Era Segregation
Investigation 1 Lessons 4–21	18 lessons 50 minutes each	How does the interplay of word and image convey the struggle for civil rights?	Lesson 19: Academic Discussion (Reflect-and-Respond Dialogue) Lesson 20: Investigation 1 Assessment Lesson 21: Flex Huddle
Investigation 2 Lessons 22–39	18 lessons 50 minutes each	What is Civic Memory, and what is its role in our democracy?	Lessons 22–23: Flex Research (Civic Memory Brief Topic & Source Research) Lesson 31: Academic Discussion Lesson 35: Academic Discussion (Fishbowl Conversation) Lesson 38: Investigation 2 Assessment Lesson 39: Flex Huddle

Unit Arc

Instructional Time

Essential Question

Key Milestones

Spark
Lessons 1–3

3 lessons
50 minutes each

How does storytelling become a tool for civic change?

Lesson 1: Intro to Essential Questions & Gallery Walk on Segregation
Lesson 2: Preview March: Book One & Intro to John Lewis
Lesson 3: Jigsaw Reading on Jim Crow Era Segregation

Investigation 1
Lessons 4–21

18 lessons
50 minutes each

How does the interplay of word and image convey the struggle for civil rights?

Lesson 19: Academic Discussion (Reflect-and-Respond Dialogue)
Lesson 20: Investigation 1 Assessment
Lesson 21: Flex Huddle

Investigation 2
Lessons 22–39

18 lessons
50 minutes each

What is Civic Memory, and what is its role in our democracy?

Lessons 22–23: Flex Research (Civic Memory Brief Topic & Source Research)
Lesson 31: Academic Discussion
Lesson 35: Academic Discussion (Fishbowl Conversation)
Lesson 38: Investigation 2 Assessment
Lesson 39: Flex Huddle

Unit Context

Knowledge Building Topic

The Civil Rights Movement and Civic Memory: How history, personal testimony, and non-violent protest can change an entire nation, creating opportunities to learn from the past to impact the future.

I'm Learning About

how segregation laws, court rulings, and grassroots organizing shaped daily life in the 1960s.
how activists used nonviolent protest, visuals, and narrative to reveal injustice.
how stories become part of civic memory and shape civic life today.

Knowledge Goals

Investigate the political, legal, and social systems that maintained segregation and shaped daily life in the Jim Crow era.
Analyze how March: Book One uses panels, dialogue, sequencing, and visual rhetoric to depict injustice and activism.
Evaluate how March: Book One and different media shape civic memory and influence how historical events are interpreted over time.
Corroborate events in March with primary sources to deepen understanding of the Civil Rights Movement.

Knowledge-Building Questions

What political, legal, and social systems maintained segregation during the Jim Crow era, and how did these systems shape people's daily lives?
How does John Lewis use the visual language of a graphic memoir to show what life and protest looked like before and during the Civil Rights Movement?
How do primary sources and different types of media enhance and deepen our understanding of the Civil Rights era?

Essential Questions

Investigation 1: How does storytelling become a tool for civic change?
Investigation 2: What is civic memory, and how does testimony help us remember and learn?

Unit Texts

Novel

March: Book One

John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, Nate Powell