By
[Text Publisher]
Recommended For
Upper Elementary School - Middle School
Words
60
Lexile
0L
Published
2026-05-01
PLACEHOLDER—pending perms
[Text]
WHEN IMAGES ARE PLACED, THESE ARE THE REQUIRED COPYRIGHT CREDITS:
Gordon Parks
Untitled, Shady Grove, Alabama, 1956
Courtesy of and copyright The Gordon Parks Foundation
Gordon Parks
At Segregated Drinking Fountain, Mobile, Alabama, 1956
Courtesy of and copyright The Gordon Parks Foundation
Gordon Parks
Department Store, Mobile, Alabama, 1956
Courtesy of and copyright The Gordon Parks Foundation
Display the two Essential Questions for the unit.
How does storytelling become a tool for civic change?
What is civic memory, and what responsibilities come with remembering?
Say these Directions: “Look at the words civic, segregation, and discrimination. Think about what each word means and how it connects to the ideas and events you are studying in this unit. As you discuss these words with your classmates, consider how they help explain the experiences and issues explored in the texts.”
Civic: related to a community and how people participate in public life, including rights, responsibilities, and how decisions are made (laws, voting, government, and community action)
Say: Connection: Participating in a sit-in would be considered a civic act—using the responsibility as a member of a community to challenge a law.
Segregation: the practice of separating people into different groups and keeping them apart in schools, neighborhoods, public places, or services—often by law or policy
This was a deliberate system. It wasn’t just “staying apart”; it was a legal structure designed to deny access.
Say: Connection: The roped-off lunch counter in our Launch image is a physical manifestation of segregation.
Discrimination: treating someone unfairly because of who they are (such as their race, gender, religion, disability, or background), including denying equal opportunities or rights
Say: Connection: Discrimination is the tool used to enforce segregation.
Say these Directions: Turn and talk in small groups to discuss the questions provided. These questions will help you better understand the Essential Questions for this unit. As you discuss, ask questions that connect to the ideas being shared and respond to others’ questions using relevant evidence and ideas. Listen carefully to your classmates, acknowledge new information that others share, and express your own ideas when appropriate. Use the context provided with each question to help guide your discussion if you need additional support.
Ask: “What is an example of civic change? Think about the systems we discussed at the beginning of the lesson (laws, protests, testimony).”
A city changes a rule after community members speak at meetings, write letters, and organize peacefully for a safer crosswalk near a school. The change shows how public participation can lead to new policies that affect everyone.
Ask: “What do you think civic memory means?”
Context if needed: If civic is the community and memory is what we keep, how do these work together?
Civic memory is what a community chooses to remember and pass down about important events—through stories, memorials, museums, holidays, and public lessons. It shapes how people understand their shared past and what they believe matters today.
Ask: “Why might it be important for people to remember times when segregation and discrimination were lawful?”
Context if needed: Relate this to our responsibility to the future.
Remembering helps people recognize how unfair systems can be created and defended by laws, not just by individual choices. It can also help communities notice warning signs, protect rights, and make more responsible decisions about what should change and what should never be repeated.
As students participate in discussion, circulate and listen for evidence that students can accurately interpret the Essential Questions. Encourage students to use the new vocabulary in their responses as well.
Say these Directions: “You are now civic investigators. Your goal is to look for the “chain” discussed in Part A: how everyday discrimination led to collective action, and how those actions ultimately reshaped civic memory. As you read and analyze the sources, look for evidence that shows how one event or action led to another and how these moments helped influence the way people remember and understand the events of the Civil Rights Movement.”
Using the following sources, you will move through the gallery in small groups, using the Notice, Wonder, Connect graphic organizer.
Segregation Story, 1956: Use this resource to see the “daily limits” and physical reality of segregation.
SNCC Brochure: Use this resource to see how frustration with discrimination and injustice was organized into a movement.
Congressman John R. Lewis: Use this resource to see how one person’s testimony moved from the streets to the halls of government.
Responses to these questions:
“What does each source show you?”
Each source shows a different part of how segregation was experienced and challenged. The photo essay shows what segregation looked like in real places and how unequal rules shaped daily life. The SNCC Brochure shows how one organizing group, called the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, turned discrimination and inequality into action by inviting people to join a movement that had already made a lot of impact. The John Lewis profile shows how one person’s experiences and choices connected to larger efforts for change, including leadership, organizing, and work within civic institutions.
“Who was John Lewis, and what were his accomplishments?”
John Lewis was a civil rights leader who helped organize nonviolent protests for voting rights as a young activist. He took on national leadership responsibilities in the movement and worked with other organizers to push for change through marches, public action, and testimony. Later, he became a longtime U.S. lawmaker, carrying that commitment to justice into government service.
“Why is John Lewis’s story worthy of deeper investigation?”
His story connects everyday experiences under segregation to the choices people made to challenge unfair laws and systems. The sources show that change did not happen by accident—it required organized groups, public pressure, and individuals willing to take risks. Studying Lewis helps people see how personal experiences, collective action, and civic institutions can interact to reshape what a society accepts and what it changes.
Connecting sources:
“I notice the roped-off counter in the photo.
“I wonder if that is the kind of place the SNCC Brochure is asking people to protest.”
“I connect this to John Lewis because he took the risk to sit at those counters to change the law.”
Ask students to review their Notice, Wonder, Connect graphic organizers. Explain that before we begin reading March: Book One, we must synthesize how our “investigation” of the gallery helped us define the unit’s Essential Questions.
Students respond to the following prompt to demonstrate their understanding of the unit’s foundation:
Say these Directions: “Choose one visual detail or caption from the gallery walk. Explain how that specific piece of evidence helps you answer one of our Essential Questions: How does storytelling become a tool for civic change? OR What is civic memory, and what responsibilities come with remembering?”
The SNCC Brochure shows how storytelling pushes civic change by turning personal frustration and collective injustice into a shared “call to action.” Similarly, the John Lewis profile connects to civic memory because it shows how one person’s private experience can become a “public testimony” that shapes laws and what a nation chooses to remember. Together, these sources remind us that remembering history accurately is a civic responsibility that helps us guide our decisions today.
Instruct students to take notes in their Homework Journal on the following prompt:
Prompt:
Based on the evidence you gathered today regarding segregation and John Lewis’s life, what do you predict will be the most significant “civic change” described in March: Book One, and what makes you think so?
