US History · Week 27 · Postwar America and Civil Rights

Letter From Birmingham Jail

Students analyze how Martin Luther King Jr. answered his critics with reason and restraint and practice responding to criticism without losing their temper.

Relationship skills

Relationship skills mean building and keeping healthy relationships by communicating clearly, listening well, cooperating, and working through conflict. More relationship skills activities

What you get

A teacher guide with what to say, step by step, plus student pages and a supports page for students with diverse learning needs, including those with IEPs. Print or Project it, or assign it in Google Forms and Google Docs for Google Classroom. Your first 10 activities are free.

Standards

• 11.10.4: CA History Social Science Content Standard, Grade 11: United States History and Geography: Continuity and Change in the Twentieth Century (standard 11.10, item 4)
• CA HSS Analysis Skill: HREP1 Distinguish valid arguments from fallacious arguments in historical interpretations. (Historical Research, Evidence, and Point of View)
• C3 Framework (national): D2.His.16.9-12 Integrate evidence from multiple historical sources and interpretations into a reasoned argument about the past.
• Literacy in history: RH.11-12.5 Analyze how a text uses structure to emphasize key points or advance an explanation.

Fits these textbook chapters

• American History: Reconstruction to the Present, Module 15: Civil Rights
• History Alive! Pursuing American Ideals, Chapter 43: Segregation in the Post-World War II Period
• History Alive! Pursuing American Ideals, Chapter 44: The Civil Rights Revolution: "Like a Mighty Stream"

Textbook names are used only to help you find activities that fit what you teach. RoseThread Connect is not affiliated with these publishers.

More relationship skills activities for US History

• Debating the Constitution Relationship skillsStudents compare Federalist and Antifederalist arguments over ratification and practice deliberating respectfully with someone who sees an issue differently.
• Rebuilding After the Civil War Relationship skillsStudents learn how freedpeople rebuilt families, founded schools and churches, and voted during Reconstruction and consider what real repair after deep harm requires.
• Progressives Take Action Relationship skillsStudents learn how Progressives, including Hiram Johnson in California, won reforms such as the initiative, referendum, and recall and plan how a group can improve their school.
• Japanese American Incarceration Relationship skillsStudents examine the forced removal of Japanese Americans, Korematsu v. United States, and the 1988 apology and redress, and consider what a sincere apology requires.

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RoseThread Connect activities are drafted with the help of AI and shaped by educators. Students never have to share anything personal. Our five SEL skills are informed by CASEL's SEL Framework; RoseThread Learning is not affiliated with or endorsed by CASEL.