Address in Time: 1960 Nashville, Tennessee

Length: One 60-minute class period

To commemorate Nashville's role in the historic Civil Rights Movement, the Metro Arts Commission approved the selection of artist Walter Hood to create new public art.  His design for Witness Walls utilizes iconic photos of the Civil Rights movement in Nashville to honor the events and the people who created the blueprint for nonviolent protest.  The installation will be located on the west side of the historic Metro Nashville Courthouse, steps away from the historic April 19, 1960 student-led protest.

In this U.S. History lesson, students will:

  • Students will participate in an inquiry-based discussion and complete a graphic organizer of "Walking with the Wind" to demonstrate understanding.
  • Students will participate in an inquiry-based discussion and complete a graphic organizer for the "CORE Student Report" to demonstrate understanding.
  • Students will analyze a photograph and complete the "Reading Photographs" guide & participate in a listening excercise for the song "We Shall Overcome".
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Standards & Objectives

Learning objectives: 

Content Standard:

  • US.92 Describe sigificant eents in the struggle to secure civil rights for African Americans (Sit-ins, marches, demonstrations, Nashville Sit-ins)

Clear Learning Targets:

  • I can analyze different genres for information
  • I can integrate multiple sources of information presented in diverse media or formats
  • I can pull info from various sources presented in diverse media and formats
Essential and guiding questions: 

Assessing Questions:

  • What does "Walking with the Wind" tell us about the preparatio of the protestors?
  • How did John Lewis' views regarding breaking the law differ in 1960 from what his parenets had taught him as a child? (cite specific textual evidence"
  • What does the photographs of the NAshville Sit Ins reveals about the demonstrations and the participants?
  • How does the lyrics of "We Shall Overcome" relate to the desegregation of Nashville's lunch counters?

Advancing Questions:

  • Is it essential for all demonstrators to follow "rules" like the ones John Lewid created in "Walking with the Wind"? Why?
  • Based upon Paul Laprad's account of the NAshville Sit Ins, how challenging do you feel it woulf have been for you to adhere to the rules of non-violent protest if you were a participany in the Nashville Sit Ins?
  • What other examples can yo uthink of in history where a goup of people have come together and expressed their struggles through song?
  • Moving forward in time from 1960to 2015, what progress or events do yo uview as VCivil Rights victories? What do you consider to still be issues>
  • How will your generation overcome?

Lesson Variations

Blooms taxonomy level: 
Analyzing
Differentiation suggestions: 

Scaffolding Opportunities (to address learning challenges):

  • Model inquiry-based discussion using primary source documents prior to this lesson to get the students accustomed to the practice and set the stage with some prior knowledge of the historical context
  • Graphc organizers will allow students to interact with the text individually, but with support through prompting
  • Grouping students intentionally will allow for student-to-student feedback as support for learning

Opportunites to Differentiate Learning (explain how you address particular student needs by differentiting process content or product):

  • The texts will include auditory and visual formats
  • Collaborative learning opportunites (private think time, whole-group and small group) inquiry based discussion
  • The texts include nonliguistic representation
     

Helpful Hints

Materials and Resources: 

Originator: 
Ayers Institute for Learning & Innovation