Civil Disobedience Research Project - Henry David Thoreau - Social Movements

The Civil Disobedience Research project focuses on real people who have engaged in acts of rebellion, protest, and civil disobedience in order to enact change. This project aligns perfectly with Civil Disobedience by Thoreau and American Literature literary themes!

This high school research project can be used as a short-term research activity containing thematic connections to Thoreau's "Civil Disobedience," Huckleberry Finn, Antigone, or with any of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s speeches and writings.

Students will begin this project with a pre-search activity comparing the song Revolution by the Beatles to Thoreau’s "Civil Disobedience." After defining civil disobedience based on their song analysis and text to text comparison, students will begin researching real life examples of civil disobedience and social protest.

An accessible project page has been created for this resource with over 50 bookmarked websites featuring people and acts of civil disobedience!

Students will be hooked and engaged using this resource which features thumbnail images of the people they will be researching.

After selecting a subject they find interesting, students will conduct research and take notes on the person's background, learn about what facilitated the person's decision to take action, how they rebelled, and what was the impact.

For their projects, students will write an argumentative essay supporting whether their person was justified in his or her act of civil disobedience. Did the end justify the means?

Do you find teaching research challenging? This resource has you covered! Materials are structured, well-detailed, and editable to meet your needs!

Supplementary materials included in this purchase can facilitate your students ability to research effectively. This includes creating research questions and prompts, using effective keyword searching, and taking relevant notes. The digital Note-Taking Chart prevents students from copying/pasting information from one site!

Source citation materials are also included. You can reuse the research materials any time you assign research to your class!

The Stand Up! Civil Disobedience Research project includes:

★ PDF with Google Drive Share links, Teacher Notes, and Pacing Guide

★ Revolution by the Beatles Song Lyrics and Video Link

★ Activity Comparing Thoreau’s Civil Disobedience to Lennon’s Lyrics in Revolution

★ Access to 52 Digital Resources providing textual evidence of both historical and modern day Civil Disobedience

★ Civil Disobedience Topic Chart

★ Citation Guide, Examples, and Source Citation Student Handouts

★ Effective Keyword Searching Activity with Examples

★ Notetaking Tips Handout

★ Digital and Print Notetaking Charts with Example and MLA Source Citation Sheets

★ Research-Based Argumentaive Writing Topic Sheet with Requirements

★ Teacher's Grading Rubric

See what other teachers like you are saying about this resource!

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"I cannot overstate how much I loved this activity for my 11th-grade American Lit class. This ticked so many boxes...connection to Transcendentalism, research paper, engaging process, easy to modify for my own class, hours of time saved. I will be using this again, for sure, and I highly recommend it." Heatharlyne W.

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“This was very engaging for the students. They liked learning about people who made a difference.”

Alitia M.

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"Great stuff here, take it as a whole unit or piece meal it into your own. The research project was the best part!"

Nolan S.

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"Extremely engaging lesson to introduce the concept of civil disobedience." Erin M.

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