Introducing the Choices in Little Rock Unit

Lesson Plan

Activity 1: Connect to Students’ Personal Experience

Open the unit by asking students to respond to the following statement in their journals: ​​”My quality of life is affected by the strength of our country’s democracy.”

Have students jot down in their journals whether they strongly agree, agree, strongly disagree, or disagree with the statement and write a sentence or two explaining their point of view. 

Discuss students’ responses as a class. If time permits, consider incorporating a movement-based activity like the Barometer teaching strategy, which allows students to share their answers by representing how much they agree or disagree with the statements on a continuum.

Activity 2: Evaluate the Characteristics of a Strong Democracy  

Transition to the next activity by telling students that in this unit, they will be exploring the story of the Little Rock Nine, focusing on nine African American high school students who were the first to desegregate Little Rock Central High in Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1957.

Explain that the unit will focus on the choices of the Little Rock Nine, as well as the choices made by political leaders, the media, and other individuals and groups during this moment in history. In particular, they will be focusing on how those choices impacted democracy. For this reason, it is important that students develop an understanding at the outset of the unit of what it means to build a strong democracy. 

Explain to students that they will work in groups to evaluate characteristics that strengthen democracy in a card sort activity. This activity requires advance preparation to ensure that it runs smoothly. Please see Teaching Note 1: Preparing for the Card Sort Activity for additional guidance.

Arrange students into groups of three to four, and distribute the Characteristics of a Strong Democracy handout to each group. Then instruct groups to clear a table/desk, place the characteristics on the surface, and read the characteristics aloud. Next, have groups work together to arrange the cards from the most important characteristics for strengthening a democracy to the least important. During this time, encourage students to use the blank cards to write in any characteristics they feel are missing from the list. 

After five minutes, ask groups to volunteer and share how they arranged their cards and why.

Then ask students to silently and independently think about which three characteristics they personally feel are the most important for supporting a strong democracy and why. Once students have had time to reflect independently, have them share their thinking with their small group. Then ask small groups to decide on the three characteristics they feel are the most important for strengthening a democracy and arrange these in order of importance, with the most important at the top.

Once the groups have chosen their top three characteristics, instruct them to create a “ladder” by taping the cards together, with the most important card taped on top, and post their ladder on the wall. (Keep these ladders posted on the wall throughout the unit to support students as they address the essential question.)

After groups have finished and posted their characteristics, give them time to walk around and take notes in their journals about any patterns or themes they observe in their classmates’ ladders. 

Debrief the activity with students using the following questions:

• Do you notice any patterns among the different lists on the wall?
• According to our cards, what are the most important characteristics of a strong democracy?
• According to our cards, who is responsible for making a democracy strong?
• According to our class, how vital to a strong democracy are the daily choices that people make? 
• Return to the statement you responded to at the beginning of the lesson: ​My quality of life is affected by the strength of our country's democracy. How has this activity changed the way you think about the strength of democracy and how it affects you personally? 

Activity 3: Share the Essential Question for the Unit 

Close the lesson by writing on the board or projecting the essential question for the unit: “How do the choices people make, individually and collectively, strengthen or weaken democracy?” 

In the same small groups they used for the previous activity, have students brainstorm questions related to the essential question. Let students know that all questions are encouraged—there are no bad questions. Prompt them to think about the kinds of questions they will need to answer in order to fully respond to the essential question (e.g., “What weakens democracy?”). Students may also ask clarifying questions about words they do not understand or will need to define throughout the unit. 

Instruct groups to assign a note-taker to record the group’s questions, and provide five minutes for students to brainstorm. After five minutes, ask each group to place a star next to the questions they believe are most important. If time allows, have students share one or two of these important questions aloud, and write them on butcher paper for the class to reference throughout the unit. If time is limited, you can collect the questions and write them on butcher paper before the next class meeting. Keep these questions posted throughout the unit and periodically revisit them when appropriate. (See Teaching Note 3: Using Students’ Questions to Guide Instruction for more information.)