US History Protest from Suffrage to Civil Rights Print & Digital

Challenge your students to think beyond themselves in this point-of-view focused thematic unit examining 4 very different 1900s American protest movements.

This unit covers

• Founders' views on First Amendment rights
• Landmark Supreme Court on free speech
• Recent protest movements
• Silent Sentinels and suffragists of the early 1900s
• Japanese American internment during WWII
• Sit-In demonstrators of the Civil Rights Movement
• Alcatraz Occupation and the American Indian Movement of the 1970s

This unit strengthens core skills like

• Analyzing photo and written primary sources and evaluating the effectiveness of protest strategies
• Empathizing with different points of view and deciding own views
• Writing an evidence-supported argumentative essay
• Conducting research and writing a letter of protest or support to a company for its business practices

This unit has two versions: paper PDF and digital for Google Slides.

Check out the Preview for a detailed look at this compelling unit, or download the FREE Unit Overview.

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Greatness is exercising one’s rights while not violating the rights of others.

America was birthed from the ultimate protest- an outright rebellion- and we couldn’t be prouder. Many of our greatest national heroes were unceasing protesters. Yet, today, we seem to grumble at those in the streets for their disruption. Why is that so?

Introduce your students to various American groups- women, ethnic minorities, and young adults- who used their core values, their unwavering passion, and their clever strategies to make this nation more perfect through their first amendment rights and challenge your students to answer for themselves, “How patriotic is protest?”

Then, empower your students to research a company to vote with their dollars by deciding to continue spending money with them or not, culminating ina powerful yet formal business letter in a Boycott / Buycott Letter Project.

This unit can be done well in anywhere from 4-6 weeks!

Included in this complete unit:

Overview

• Teacher Unit Overview with general notes, links, standards, and a pacing guide
• Daily Lesson Plans with step-by-step details, planning, and lesson takeaway notes
• Detailed Answer Keys for each activity
• PowerPoint file of images and student directions (can be easily converted to Google Slides)
• Student Unit Review and Skills handouts with self-checking questions and "I Can..." statements
• Student Unit Notes sheet for building deep and nuanced mastery of concepts throughout the unit using powerful graphic organizers
• Student Skill Handouts that include Annotating a Source, Analyzing Image Sources, Analyzing News Media Sources, Deciding a Precise Position, Creating a Thesis Statement, Including Evidence, Creating a Works Cited, Annotating a Citation, Annotating a Works Cited

Student Activities

• Modern Day examine and assess the strategies used by several recent protests
• Quote Speed Dating start the conversation of ideas about protest, free speech, and patriotism
• Founding Thoughts analyze the Founding Fathers’ and the Supreme Court’s positions on free speech
• Silent Sentinels learn the story of this persistent and largely unknown group who brought the 19th Amendment to fruition
• Japanese American Internment flip protest and patriotism on their heads with this unusual example of resistance
• Sit-In Movement examine at the origins of the now often-used strategy
• Alcatraz Occupation explore this incredible and often overlooked story of tribal sovereignty

2 Summative Assessments

• End-of-Unit Essay support your students with detailed instructions, outline template, sentence stems, step-by-step PPT slides, and rubrics, that encapsulate their complete understanding by answering the not-so-simple question, “How patriotic is protest?”

• Boycott / “Buycott” Letter Project, guide students in researching a company they purchase from to decide if they want their dollars supporting it, then crafting a persuasive yet formal business letter declaring their boycott or "boycott" of the company

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Note to Homeschoolers

Though the included teacher lesson plans are written to fully support a traditional classroom teacher, this unit is also a great fit for your teenage homeschooler:

• the inquiry, thematic structure of this unit is driven more by critical thinking, reading, and writing skills and a central high-interest question than any one set of state-specific, grade-specific content standards
• a wide age and ability range can easily access the rich variety of sources utilized in this unit, making it perfect for a multi-grade group
• your student’s voice is central to each activity, through talking out their learning, maximizing the one-on-one
• activities can be completed independently and aren’t solely reliant on group or whole-class work
• all utilized sources are included; nothing needs to be purchased to supplement
• this unit is independent of a textbook, though one could be used for greater background knowledge
• any activity can easily be left out to customize for your student’s skill level or personal interest

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Just want part of this unit?

• Silent Sentinels DBQ Mini-Unit: round out your Progressive Era unit with this in-depth inquiry
• Sit-In Movement DBQ Mini-Unit: round out your Civil Rights Movement unit with this in-depth inquiry
• Free Speech Protest Sign Project: strengthen any protest unit from Abolition to Vietnam War
• Boycott / “Buycott” Business Letter Project: pair with any activism topic

Want more U.S. History PBL Units?

• Six Degrees of Separation: kick off a study of our country’s political and physical geography with a “Flat Stanley” style project
• 1600-1800s American Values: explore the founders of America, from the Puritans to the Nez Perce, and their core values in order to develop one’s own goal and motivational plan of action for the school year
• 1900s American Immigration: explore the American story of diversity and hard work through the words and statistics of immigrants, Ellis Island to Angel Island, to create and preserve an oral history of their own
• 1900s American Heroes: explore what it means to be a hero from Madam CJ Walker to John Glenn in order to nominate one’s own hero for recognition

Want to go entirely PBL?

U.S. History PBL Course Bundle: get all U.S. History PBL resources in one download and save big!

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This listing is for one license for regular, non-commercial classroom use by a single teacher only. Commercial use like online teaching (ex. Outschool) or sharing with other teachers (ex. shared drive, in a Facebook group, in a professional development training) is strictly prohibited.

By purchasing a license to this resource, you have access to all future updates at no cost, available under “My Purchases." Multiple and transferable licenses are available for purchase. PDF files are uneditable, other files have editing abilities, unless otherwise stated. All files are protected under federal copyright laws.

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