The Media’s Choices During the Little Rock Integration Crisis - Lesson plan | Facing History & Ourselves

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Unit Choices in Little Rock Unit
Alex Wilson Being Assailed By Mob
Lesson

The Media’s Choices During the Little Rock Integration Crisis

Explore the conditions the media faced in documenting the situation in Little Rock and the impact of their reporting on the nation.

Duration

One 50-min class period

Subject

  • History
  • Social Studies

Grade

6–12

Language

English — US

Published

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About This Lesson

In the previous lesson, students examined the choices of elected leaders during the desegregation crisis in Little Rock. In this lesson, students will build on their exploration of individual and collective choices by examining how journalists chose to respond to the crisis. They will first explore the dangers facing journalists reporting on the Little Rock integration crisis and the impact that their reporting had on the nation. Then they will analyze the impact of media coverage in Little Rock, focusing on the galvanizing effect of the media on public opinion and on the nation’s emerging civil rights movement.

Essential Question

  • How do the choices people make, individually and collectively, strengthen or weaken democracy?

Guiding Question

  • How do the choices people make, individually and collectively, shape a society?

Learning Objective

  • Students will analyze the choices the media made to report under dangerous conditions in Little Rock and the impact of their reporting on the nation.

 

See the Additional Context & Background section in the Google Doc version of this lesson plan for the essential historical knowledge needed to teach this lesson.

Materials

View in Google Drive

Teaching Notes

Before teaching this lesson, please review the following information to help guide your preparation process.

When learning about hard histories such as the Little Rock integration crisis, students will be exposed to dehumanizing language.

One reading suggested as an extension for this lesson contains offensive and racist language, including the n-word:Alex Wilson on Covering Little Rock as a Black Journalist 

We recommend the following when encountering this type of content: 

  • Proactively preview the text(s) before reading with your students. Flag potentially challenging content beforehand so you will be ready to address the dehumanizing language and imagery with your students as they read. 
  • Explicitly remind students not to read dehumanizing language such as the n-word out loud when they encounter it in a text. The classroom contract can guide students in how to address this language (i.e., choose to pause in silence, skip the word, or say “the n-word”). 
  • We suggest this extension activity for classroom use only. It should not be provided as homework.

As educators, it is crucial for us to approach the topic of language with careful consideration. Failure to do so can lead to unintended harm and create unwelcoming classroom environments where students may feel excluded and unable to engage effectively. Certain words, such as the n-word, possess the capacity to disrupt the classroom dynamic if encountered without prior preparation or groundwork. When these words appear in resources, it is essential to acknowledge their presence, understand their harm, and establish guidelines for students when reading aloud or quoting the text. Neglecting to address these words can not only harm students but also divert attention away from constructive discussion on the topic at hand. 

When broaching sensitive topics, it is beneficial to revisit the class contract and reiterate norms for respectful and safe discussion. By fostering an environment of empathy, understanding, and mutual respect, we can empower students to navigate challenging subjects while promoting civic engagement and social responsibility.

In this lesson, students will encounter descriptions of racial violence. While we have chosen examples that we believe convey the seriousness of these crimes without being overly graphic, this topic is emotionally challenging and can elicit a range of emotional responses from students. We can’t emphasize enough the importance of previewing the resources in this curriculum to make sure they are appropriate for the intellectual and emotional needs of your students. 

It is difficult to predict how students will respond to such challenging content. One student may respond with emotion to an account or source, while others may not find it powerful in the same way. In addition, different people demonstrate emotion in different ways. Some students will be silent. Some may laugh. Some may not want to talk. Some may take days to process difficult stories. For some, a particular firsthand account may be incomprehensible; for others, it may be familiar. 

We urge teachers to create space for students to have a range of reactions and emotions while also holding students accountable to your class norms. This might include allowing time for silent reflection or writing in journals, as well as facilitating structured discussions to help students process content together. Some students will not want to share their reactions to emotionally challenging content in class, and teachers should respect that in discussions. For their learning and emotional growth, it is crucial to allow for a variety of student responses to emotionally challenging content.

As always when discussing sensitive topics that may provoke feelings of fear, anger, or concern, it is helpful to revisit your class contract and remind students of your classroom norms for respectful and safe discussion.

The first activity in this lesson includes a gallery walk where students will view several photographs. To prepare in advance, create gallery walk posters by taping/gluing the gallery walk resources to large pieces of butcher paper and hanging the posters around the room. Alternatively, posters may be placed on tables. Additionally, consider creating duplicates of posters to avoid congestion around a single poster.

Lesson Plan

Activity 1: Gallery Walk: Little Rock in Photographs

Explain to students that today’s lesson will focus on the role of the media—including the photographers, journalists, and television reporters who flocked to Little Rock Central High to report the story to the nation. 

Before beginning the lesson, ask students to share what they think ”the media” is or where they have heard the term before. Then explain that the media is different today than it was in 1957. The media today includes social media, television, and podcasts as well as print publications like newspapers and magazines. During the time when the events in Little Rock were taking place, people relied mostly on radio, newspapers, magazines, and, increasingly, television to get their news. 

After sharing this introductory information, have students participate in a gallery walk using images in The Little Rock Nine and the Integration Crisis in Photos, taken by journalists during the Little Rock integration crisis. As students walk around and view the images, ask them to record answers to the following questions in their journals:

  • Choose one image that stands out to you. Why does this image stand out to you? What emotions or feelings does it evoke in you?
  • Why do you think it was important for photographers to document to the world the events happening in Little Rock?
  • What impact do you predict these images may have had on Americans living outside of Little Rock?

Ask students to return to their desks. Then have them pair up with a partner and share their responses to the questions above using the Think-Pair-Share strategy. 

Activity 2: Explore the Impact of the Media

In the next activity, students will form groups of three to participate in a Save the Last Word for Me discussion based on a text that explores how the media’s reporting on the Little Rock crisis impacted the nation. 

Give each student in their small group the handouts The Impact of Media Coverage from Little Rock and Instructions: Save the Last Word for Me. Read the instructions as a class. Students will begin by reading silently and then recording one sentence that stands out to them from the text, along with an explanation of why they chose it. Then students will each take a turn reading the sentence they chose to the other two members of their small group. Next, the other two members of the group will discuss the meaning and significance of the sentence while the student who provided it listens. The student who read the sentence then gets the opportunity to weigh in on the discussion and explain why they chose the sentence. The group repeats the process until each member has had the opportunity to contribute a sentence for discussion. 

After all students have shared, regroup as a class.

Activity 3: Connect to the Essential Question and the Project of Building a Strong Democracy

Close the lesson by giving students the opportunity to connect what they have learned in class today to the essential question for the unit: “How do the choices people make, individually and collectively, strengthen or weaken democracy?” 

Use the following questions to guide a class discussion that links the material students have explored in class with the essential question: 

  • John Lewis stated that learning about the Little Rock Nine through the media “moved me to do my part.” 
    • Why do you think the reporting on the Little Rock Nine had this effect on Lewis? What impact did seeing the photos of the Little Rock Nine in today’s lesson have on you?  
    • What does Lewis’s reflection illustrate about the power of images, the media, and journalism? About the role of the media in a democracy? 

Extension Activity

To extend students’ learning in this lesson, you may want them to learn about the risks that journalists, especially Black journalists, faced while covering the crisis in Little Rock. 

Explain to students that the photographers, journalists, and television reporters in Little Rock were also targets of the angry mob, and they had to do their job in violent conditions. We recommend reading Alex Wilson on Covering Little Rock as a Black Journalist with students. (Please note that this reading contains the n-word. Refer to Teaching Note 1: Offensive and Dehumanizing Language for additional guidance.).

After reading, you might ask students to process the text by recording in their journals a response to the following question: 

  • What thoughts, feelings, or questions do you have after reading this text? 

Students can share their responses with a partner in a Think-Pair-Share format.

You may also want to share the following reflection questions to discuss as a class: 

  • What conditions did Black journalists face in Little Rock?
  • Why did Alex Wilson “refuse to run”? What message was he trying to send? 
  • Wilson stated that he was “dedicated to the cause of helping to bring full democracy to this great country of ours.” What do you think he meant? How might covering the crisis in Little Rock help bring about an expansion of democracy in the United States?  

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Lesson

The Media’s Choices During the Little Rock Integration Crisis

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