Lesson Plan # 1 Secondary History / Social Studies 

Course  Lesson Topic / Unit Name   Instructor  Date(s) 

American History II  The Beginning of Social Movements/ ​The Rise  Zoey Hanson   
of 1950 and 1960 Social Movements 
Lesson Essential Question (LEQ) or  Why did social movements, such as, Civil Rights and the Feminist Movement, emerge out of the 1950s? 
Learning Objective (LLO) 
NC Essential Standard(s)  ● AH2.H.7: Understand the impact of war on American politics, economics, society and culture. 
● AH2.H.1.3: Use Historical Analysis and Interpretation to: 
1. Identify issues and problems of the past. 
2. Consider multiple perspectives of various peoples of the past. 
3. Analyze cause-and-effect relationships and multiple causation. 
4. Evaluate competing historical narratives and debates among historians. 
5. Evaluate the influence of the past on contemporary issues. 

Activity  Details (Setting, steps, prompts)  Purpose-Rationale  Time 

Pre-Lesson  Bell Ringer: Pull up the 1951 Ivory Soap ad, and  This bell ringer will not only get students  10 Minutes 
How do you prepare students for content & skills  the 1953/54 Douglas Crockwell beer ads on the  thinking about the time period, but will also 
acquisition, or use students’ prior knowledge? How  board. (Images inserted at the end of the lesson).   get them thinking about the LEQ. Students, 
do you open this new lesson?  through these images will begin to 
Have students write a brief 2-3 sentence 
response of their interpretations of the images  comprehend the role of women and racial 
and turn the response in to the instructor.  minorities in the 1950s and analyze why social 
movements may have been needed moving 
Open up the images to wider discussion by 
into the 1960s. The bell ringer also operates as 
posing questions to students such as… 
a way for students to develop their visual 
"What ideas do these images represent?"   literacy skills and think critically about 
"What kind of people are shown in these ads?"  historical images.  
"What do these ads tell us about race relations 
of the 1950s?" 
"What do these ads tell us about gender norms 
of the 1950s?" 
Acquisition   The instructor will give a brief lecture on  This teacher focused acquisition is to provide a  20 Minutes 
How will students acquire new content or skills? Is  America of the 1950s. Primary topics include,  brief background of the upcoming social 
acquisition teacher or student-centered?   post war consumerism, the rise of the suburbs  movements of the 1960s. This background will 
[Explain lesson goals by emphasizing LEQ/LLO]  and Levittowns, and the issue of racial  benefit students in answering the LEQ and, in 
segregation. The primary focus however, should  turn, the UEQ. This also directly addresses the 
be on the limit of minority groups in the 1950s.  NCES in that the lecture explains the impact 
WWII had on the economy and culture.  

ASU Dept. of History​· ​ History Education Program​·​ 2019-2020 

 
 This means explaining gender roles and racial 
relations of the time period.  
Key terms that should be mentioned: 
consumerism, the GI Bill, Levittowns, Baby 
Boom, Brown v Board, Emmet Till. 
Extending & Refining I​ ​(group)  Students will be shown clips from "Into the  The Redbook clip has strong tones of gender  30 Minutes 
How will students practice new content and skills  suburbs," (3:00-5:00, 7:40-9:40, 15:20-19:10) an  norms which allows for analysis of women in 
by working with classmates? How does this activity  advertisement developed by Redbook that  the 1950s. The clip also shows zero racial 
promote historical thinking skills and using  illustrates American consumerism and describes  minorities which can open up for discussion 
primary/secondary sources? 
the American Dream of the time perfectly.  where these minorities fit into the society 
Students will be split into groups of about 4 (one  depicted. This also will help students better 
group of 3 or 5 depending on number of  understand what the "American Dream" 
students). Each group will be asked to discuss  meant in the 1950s, helping them build a basis 
for about 5 minutes how and why gender roles  to answer the UEQ. 
changed from WWII to the 1950s. They should  This discussion of minorities' roles in the 
be able to identify what role the woman was  1950s allows for more focused learning. This 
expected to play. They should revisit the  activity requires students to evaluate policy 
questions used in the bell ringer.  and culture change over time. This discussion 
Another 5 minutes will be used to discuss the  requires students to evaluate why women's 
changes that occured with ​Brown v Board ​and  role changed over time and can be addressed 
why people may have reacted the way they did  later when discussing the Feminist movement 
both in favor or against integration. (Be sure to  of the 1960s and the role women played in 
address any presentism).  other movements such as the anti-war 
movement. The discussion of African 
The instructor will rotate throughout the 
American changes over time is integral in 
classroom to ensure students are on task, 
understanding why a Civil Rights movement 
understand the concept, and will answer any 
developed out of the 1950s. The themes of 
questions.  
the discussion can be recalled during the Civil 
This will then be brought to a larger discussion  Rights lesson. This discussion of minority roles 
in which each group should share their thoughts.   also sets students up for evaluating the 
sources from Parks and Wallace 
Adjustments  If students continue to struggle with the material  These questions would be discussed in a  10 Minutes, (if 
What adjustments will you make if students  the class will continue the larger discussion that  seminar style allowing students to develop  not used can 
struggle or progress too quickly (before advancing  will address the following questions, with the  their own critical questions that will develop  be added to 
further)?  teacher asking these questions, correcting any  their understanding of the concepts. A  extending and 
misinformation, and answering student's  discussion will also allow students who have  refining II 
questions.   additional clarifying questions to ask those.   activity) 
- Gender roles are clearly prevalent in  IF students understand the concept there is no 
the sources we have looked at thus far.  need to beat a dead horse. If they understand 
ASU Dept. of History​· ​ History Education Program​·​ 2019-2020 
 
 How do you think these gender roles  the concept of gender and the suburbs in the 
came to exist after World War II?  1950s, it will allow more time to analyze racial 
What did the American Dream mean  minorities and dissect the reasons for the Civil 
for women of the 1950s? Why do you  Rights movement.  
think there was a shift in what women 
"wanted"? 
- So far we have seen little 
representation of African Americans in 
what American society should be. Why 
is this? In what ways were racial and 
etnic minorities excluded from the 
American Dream? What do you think 
the American Dream meant for these 
groups? 
 
If students move too quickly, extending and 
refining I can be shortened to quick small group 
discussion, as long as that discussion is 
substantial enough to comprehend the topic.  
 
(Other adjustments can be made based on 
students' specific needs) 
Extending & Refining II (individual)   Students will be given two handouts, each  This will develop students' abilities to think like  15 Minutes 
How do students (and teacher) know if they are  included below.  historians by having them analyze two 
mastering the content and/or skills for this lesson? 
The first handout is Rosa Parks on life in  opposing views on the same subject, region, 
[Formal, informal assessments to measure learning]  and time period. This will also show that 
Montgomery, Alabama in 1956. The second is 
the infamous inaugural speech by Alabama  students have mastered the material for the 
governor George Wallace in 1963. Students will  day because of the requirement to pull key 
be asked to read each and highlight or underline  ideas from these readings.  
what they understand to be key points in each.   The questions associated with the reading will 
Students will be given a handout with the  allow students to elaborate on key concepts. 
following questions…. 
1. Why did George Wallace oppose 
segregation? 
2. What were Rosa Parks' concerns with 
segregation? How did she experience 
these things first hand? 

ASU Dept. of History​· ​ History Education Program​·​ 2019-2020 

 
 3. In your opinion, how would each 
author define the "American Dream"? 
Closure  Students will be given a notecard. Each student  This allows students to reflect on what they  5 Minutes 
How do students put it all together for today’s  will write 3 things they learned, 2 things they  have learned for the day. It also allows the 
lesson? The closure activity helps tie ​this​ lesson to  want to learn about the groups discussed, and 1  instructor to understand what concepts 
the overall unit. Re-emphasize LEQ/LLO,  question they still have about the days' lesson.  students may not have grasped through their 
UEQ/ULO, and “big picture” understanding 
This will be students' tickets out the door.   questions and what students most want to 
know about the upcoming lessons on social 
movements.  
  Formative - Informal  Summative - Formal 
Assessments   The primary formative assessment in this lesson is the   
discussions in extending and refining I. What students 
say and the questions they answer allow both 
instructor and student to know if they are 
comprehending main themes. 
The extending and refining II activity allows students to 
culminate what they have learned from the day and use 
reasoning to develop their own conclusions based on 
primary sources.   
Materials & Supplies  ● Notecard  ● Handouts  ● Computer and projector 
Sources & Notes  Sources (Chicago Manual of Style)  Notes to self 
Where did you research content for today’s  ● Edelstein, Sally. “A Blueprint For The Middle Class.”  ● All sources needed included below.  
lesson? Where did you find helpful information, 
Envisioning The American Dream, September 24,   
primary & secondary sources, and lesson plan 
ideas?   2012. 
https://envisioningtheamericandream.com/2012/09/24
/a-blueprint-for-the-middle-class/. 
● “In the Suburbs : On Film, Inc.” Internet Archive. 
Redbook Magazine, 1957. 
https://archive.org/embed/IntheSub1957. 
● “Ivory Snow - Overposed.” Phil Are Go!, July 29, 
2010. 
https://phil-are-go.blogspot.com/2010/07/ivory-snow-
overposed.html#links. 
● Parks, Rosa. "Writings, Notes, and Statements, 1956 
to 1998; Drafts of early writings; Accounts of her 
arrest and the subsequent boycott, as well as general 
reflections on race relations in the South." Rosa 

ASU Dept. of History​· ​ History Education Program​·​ 2019-2020 

 
 Parks Papers. Manuscript Division, Library of 
Congress. https://www.loc.gov/item/mss859430226/. 
● Wallace, George. “Inaugural Address of Governor 
George Wallace, Which Was Delivered at the 
Capitol in Montgomery, Alabama.” Alabama Textual 
Materials Collection, 1963. 
http://digital.archives.alabama.gov/cdm/ref/collection/v
oices/id/2952. 
 
 
 
Edits: The primary change I needed to make for this lesson was in the Lesson Essential Question. I knew what I was trying to say but
according to feedback it was unclear or confusing. I attempted to change the LEQ to express the same ideas but in a way that made more
sense. The other changes I made were small and only required moving some activities or sources around. I originally had the Redbook ad
as part of the adjustments to be used if students struggled with the material. When I received feedback, I was told that my first refining
activity needed something added to it and that maybe this video would fit best there instead. I followed this advice, and moved the Redbook
ad to Extending and Refining I. In the ads place in the adjustments, I added a discussion that is largely teacher-led. I included guiding
questions to address the subjects that are most important to the LEQ. Lastly, I moved what I had as my formal assessment to the informal
assessment section because on every single lesson plan I was told that I needed to focus on summative and formative, not formal or
informal. Because of this, I frequently would put formal formative assessments in the summative section and would be told in feedback that
the assessment needed to be moved to the formative section.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Into the Suburbs: Redbook- Link 
https://archive.org/embed/IntheSub1957 

ASU Dept. of History​· ​ History Education Program​·​ 2019-2020 

 
 ASU Dept. of History​· ​ History Education Program​·​ 2019-2020 
 
  
 
 
 
   

ASU Dept. of History​· ​ History Education Program​·​ 2019-2020 

 
 Governor George Wallace of Alabama Inaugural Speech (1963)

"...Today I have stood, where once Jefferson Davis stood, and took an oath to my people. It is very appropriate then that from this Cradle of
the Confederacy, this very Heart of the Great Anglo-Saxon Southland, that today we sound the drum for freedom as have our generations of
forebears before us done, time and time again through history. Let us rise to the call of freedom- loving blood that is in us and send our
answer to the tyranny that clanks its chains upon the South. In the name of the greatest people that have ever trod this earth, I draw the line
in the dust and toss the gauntlet before the feet of tyranny . . . and I say . . . segregation today . . . segregation tomorrow . . . segregation
forever.
The Washington, D.C. school riot report is disgusting and revealing. We will not sacrifice our children to any such type school system--and
you can write that down. The federal troops in Mississippi could be better used guarding the safety of the citizens of Washington, D.C.,
where it is even unsafe to walk or go to a ballgame--and that is the nation's capital. I was safer in a B-29 bomber over Japan during the war
in an air raid, than the people of Washington are walking to the White House neighborhood. A closer example is Atlanta. The city officials
fawn for political reasons over school integration and THEN build barricades to stop residential integration--what hypocrisy!
Let us send this message back to Washington by our representatives who are with us today-- that from this day we are standing up, and the
heel of tyranny does not fit the neck of an upright man . . . that we intend to take the offensive and carry our fight for freedom across the
nation, wielding the balance of power we know we possess in the Southland . . . . that WE, not the insipid bloc of voters of some sections . .
will determine in the next election who shall sit in the White House of these United States . . . That from this day, from this hour . . . from
this minute . . . we give the word of a race of honor that we will tolerate their boot in our face no longer . . . . and let those certain judges put
that in their opium pipes of power and smoke it for what it is worth.
Hear me, Southerners! You sons and daughters who have moved north and west throughout this nation . . . . we call on you from your native
soil to join with us in national support and vote . . and we know . . . wherever you are . . away from the hearths of the Southland . . . that you
will respond, for though you may live in the farthest reaches of this vast country . . . . your heart has never left Dixieland.

ASU Dept. of History​· ​ History Education Program​·​ 2019-2020 

 
And you native sons and daughters of old New England's rock-ribbed patriotism . . . and you sturdy natives of the great Midwest . . and you
descendants of the far West flaming spirit of pioneer freedom . . we invite you to come and be with us . . for you are of the Southern spirit . .
and the Southern philosophy . . . you are Southerners too and brothers with us in our fight.
What I have said about segregation goes double this day . . . and what I have said to or about some federal judges goes TRIPLE this day…
...This nation was never meant to be a unit of one . . . but a united of the many . . . . that is the exact reason our freedom loving forefathers
established the states, so as to divide the rights and powers among the states, ensuring that no central power could gain master government
control.
In united effort we were meant to live under this government . . . whether Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, Church of Christ, or whatever
one's denomination or religious belief . . . each respecting the others right to a separate denomination . . . each, by working to develop his
own, enriching the total of all our lives through united effort. And so it was meant in our political lives . . . whether Republican, Democrat,
Prohibition, or whatever political party . . . each striving from his separate political station . . . respecting the rights of others to be separate
and work from within their political framework . . . and each separate political station making its contribution to our lives . . . .
And so it was meant in our racial lives . . . Each race, within its own framework has the freedom to teach . . to instruct . . to develop . . to ask
for and receive deserved help from others of separate racial stations. This is the great freedom of our American founding fathers . . . but if
we amalgamate into the one unit as advocated by the communist philosophers . . then the enrichment of our lives . . . the freedom for our
development . . . is gone forever. We become, therefore, a mongrel unit of one under a single all powerful government . . . and we stand for
everything . . . and for nothing.
The true brotherhood of America, of respecting the separateness of others . . and uniting in effort . . has been so twisted and distorted from
its original concept that there is a small wonder that communism is winning the world.
We invite the negro citizens of Alabama to work with us from his separate racial station . . as we will work with him . . to develop, to grow
in individual freedom and enrichment. We want jobs and a good future for BOTH races . . the tubercular and the infirm. This is the basic
heritage of my religion, of which I make full practice . . . . for we are all the handiwork of God.

ASU Dept. of History​· ​ History Education Program​·​ 2019-2020 

 
But we warn those, of any group, who would follow the false doctrine of communistic amalgamation that we will not surrender our system
of government . . . our freedom of race and religion . . . that freedom was won at a hard price and if it requires a hard price to retain it . . we
are able . . and quite willing to pay it…..
….My pledge to you . . . to "Stand up for Alabama," is a stronger pledge today than it was the first day I made that pledge. I shall "Stand up
for Alabama," as Governor of our State . . . you stand with me . . . and we, together, can give courageous leadership to millions of people
throughout this nation who look to the South for their hope in this fight to win and preserve our freedoms and liberties.
So help me God.
And my prayer is that the Father who reigns above us will bless all the people of this great sovereign State and nation, both white and black.
I thank you.

ASU Dept. of History​· ​ History Education Program​·​ 2019-2020 

 
 Rosa Parks on life in Montgomery, Alabama (1956-1958)

City Bus lines. Front section reserved for white passengers … seating space for 10 persons left vacant whether or not they board the bus
enroute to town. The bus driver often passes colored passengers, with these empty seats, when he thinks enough are standing in the aisles.
This means a larger number will be waiting for the next bus. The next bus driver may also not stop for colored passengers. Sometimes
colored passengers have to pay their fare at the front of the bus and then go to the rear door for entrance, which is already overcrowded. It is
not uncommon for a bus driver to order a colored woman to vacate a seat for a white man to be seated in the same space. Such practices and
many other unjust things are regular routine.
On reaching my job, which is at Montg’s largest Dept. Store, Montgy Fair, there are the drinking fountains throughout the store, plainly
marked. Whites Only – on one and Colored on the other. The Women employee restroom is for white. The ladies lounge for public is known
to be for white only without the sign. The white and Colored women employees and colored women shoppers use the same lounge. The
Colored women employees eat their lunch in a little room next to the restroom. The doors between the toilet and the dining area can not be
closed tightly enough to stay shut.
There is a luncheonette counter where some colored help is employed as cooks, dishwashers, etc., but Colored people are not served at the
counter. They may buy the food and take it away and eat it.
Colored people are employed at this store as maids, porters, elevator operators, truck drivers except that I work in the tailor shop doing
men’s clothing alterations as a helper of the tailor who is colored. One colored man is the window dresser. I don’t know what else he does.
There is a large number of Negroes shopping in this store most of the time. This thing called segregation here is a complete and solid pattern
as a way of life. We are conditioned to it and make the best of a bad situation.
At the Public Library, located near the downtown shopping section, a Colored person will not be permitted to come in and read a book or be
given one to take out. The requested book will be sent to the colored branch library on the east side of town, if it is not already available

ASU Dept. of History​· ​ History Education Program​·​ 2019-2020 

 
there. Last year some NAACP Youth Council Members who are students went to this downtown library for reference books to use in
school. They were told the books were there but they would be sent to the branch library to be issued to them there, even though the young
people lived on the west side of town.
So you see my dear, it seems endless. I could go on and on and there would still be some more to tell.
The schools are all segregated and of course unequal. The churches are also segregated. White people sometimes visit the colored churches
but I don’t know if any colored people go to white churches except as nurses to look after small children. I don’t know of any going as
guests.
I don’t know how helpful this is to you, but I hope it may enlighten you a little about the way of life in the South.
You may write again and let me know of something in particular that you want to do research work on. Employment, housing, voting,
education and social aspects are all fertile fields for research based on racial discrimination.
I am sure you read of the lynch-murder of young Emmett Till of Chicago. This case could be multiplied many times in the South, not only
Miss., but Ala., Georgia, Fla.
In my lifetime, I have known Negroes who were killed by whites without any arrests or investigations and with little or no publicity. It is the
custom to keep such things covered up in order not to disturb what is called [letter left incomplete.]
…
I had been pushed around all my life and felt at this moment [her refusal to surrender her seat on a Montgomery City Bus] that I couldn’t
take it anymore. When I asked the policeman why we had to be pushed around? He said he didn’t know. “The law is the law. You are under
arrest.” I didn’t resist.
…
I want to feel the nearness of something secure. It is such a lonely feeling that I am cut off from life. I am nothing, I belong nowhere and to
no one.

ASU Dept. of History​· ​ History Education Program​·​ 2019-2020 

 
There is just so much hurt, disappointment and oppression one can take. The bubble of life grows larger. The line between reason and
madness grows thinner. The reopening of old wounds are unthinkably painful. Time begins the healing process of wounds cut deeply by
oppression. We soothe ourselves with the salve of attempted indifference, accepting the false pattern set up by the horrible restrictions of
Jim Crow laws.
Let us look at Jim Crow for the criminal he his and what he had done to one life multiplied millions of times over these United States and
the world.
He walks us on a tight rope from birth to the end of life’s span, whether it be long or of brief duration. Little children are so conditioned
early to learn their places in the segregated pattern as they take their first toddling steps and are weened from their mother’s breast.

ASU Dept. of History​· ​ History Education Program​·​ 2019-2020 

 
Content Notes

● "Affluent": having a great deal of money or wealth

○ Post WWII, the American economy was better than it was going in which is unheard of across history in terms of nations
wealth during wartime
○ The American economy boomed, with huge surges in consumerism
○ This economic boom played a strong role in reshaping American culture, standards of living increased as did wages
○ The rise in wages also lead to the emergence of the American middle class
○ However, the affluent society had massive flaws. Women struggled to find equal rights and the Jim Crow south viciously
defended segregation. Minorities were often left of this affluent society
● Suburbia
○ New Deal programs made it easier for families to buy and maintain homes. (HOLC and FHA)
○ The GI Bill after WWII offered low interest home loans to veterans.
○ Builders began to create huge communities of single family homes on the outskirts of cities. - William Levit became popular
for his Levittowns and his use of the assembly line for housing construction- he offered cheap housing to veterans and their
family.
○ 83% of all population growth occurred in the suburbs.
● Gender of the Affluent Society
○ Baby Boom- a century of declining birth rates was suddenly reversed. Families were finally wealthy enough to support a
large family. Because of this, child rearing became a key part of young adults' lives.
○ Women began to give up careers to become housewives.
○ Society developed a consensus of what gender roles should be. Advertisers appealed to this consensus by advertising new
appliances and other consumer goods to housewives.
● Race and Education
○ 1896: Plessy v Ferguson- "separate but equal"- In practice, black schools received less funding, inadequate facilities, and
substandard materials
○ 1954: Brown v Board of Education of Topeka- separate facilities are inherently unequal
○ de facto and de jure segregation
○ In the South, 14 years after Brown, 80% of schools were still segregated
○ Persistent racism and racial segregation undermined promises of economic and social stability
○ Civil Rights Act of 1957: very little impact on changing racial inequality
○ Movement violently opposed. African Americans faced frequent violence and intimidation from white southerners.

ASU Dept. of History​· ​ History Education Program​·​ 2019-2020