Choices in Little Rock: An Approach to Teaching the Civil Rights Movement

In 1957, nine Black teenagers faced the threats of angry mobs when they attempted to enter Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. The desegregation of Central High following Brown v. Board of Education ignited a crisis that historian Taylor Branch has described as “the most severe test of the Constitution since the Civil War.”

This self-paced online workshop will introduce you to the Choices in Little Rock unit and help prepare you to teach this unit in your classroom. You will engage directly with unit materials, explore teaching strategies appropriate for this content, and reflect on ways to adapt and expand on this content with your students.

If you are an educator with Chicago Public Schools, there is a separate Choices in Little Rock online workshop that is part of the Curriculum Project for CPS Educators. Please email mara_moore [at] facinghistory.org to be enrolled in the CPS version. 

In this self-guided workshop, you will:

• Prepare for the implementation of the Choices in Little Rock unit in your classroom.
• Utilize strategies for establishing a safe and reflective classroom environment.
• Understand the summative assessment and informed action toward which the unit builds.

Workshop Structure

• Welcome Module
• Module 1: The Individual and Society
• Module 2: We & They: Segregation and Its Consequences
• Module 3: Case Study: Choices in Little Rock
• Module 4: The Lost Year
• Module 5: Legacies and Choosing to Participate

Workshop At-a-Glance Details

Time Commitment: We estimate that it will take about one hour to complete each of the content modules. The modules are designed to be self-guided, and you can work at your own pace through the workshop.

Cost: Free. The registration fee and event fee for this online workshop have been waived, thanks to generous funding from Facing History and Ourselves donors and partner organizations.

Accessibility: Facing History is committed to creating and maintaining a welcoming and inclusive educational environment for educators of all abilities. If you have an accessibility need, please contact us at support [at] facinghistory.orgrel="nofollow".

Workshop Access: After registering, you will receive an email with self-enrollment instructions to access the workshop. Once you log in, you will have access to the workshop for three months.

Certificate of Completion: Awarded upon successful completion of the workshop for 10 professional development hours. Requirements for professional development hours vary by state. It is the educator’s responsibility to ensure that they are meeting the requirements of their state. 

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