Civil Rights...As Seen Through the Eyes of a Child

This WebQuest has students looking at three major pieces of the Civil Rights Movement: The Montgomery Bus Boycott, the experiences of the Little Rock Nine during the Central High School integration crisis in Little Rock, Arkansas, and Dr. Martin Luther King's March on Washington and his speech that followed. This WebQuest can be used in a variety of ways to introduce upper elementary students to the Civil Rights Movement that exploded in the 1950s and continued on through the 1960s.  Some of the information that students will be reading is difficult to process, so it is very important for students to feel comfortable asking questions about what they are reading.  It is vital that a class discussion about racism, segregation, and prejudice occur before beginning this WebQuest.  In addition to the historical context of this assignment, this WebQuest also provides a great opportunity to explore historical fiction.  It is important that students have been exposed to the genre before beginning the WebQuest.  I would recommend reading students some examples of historical fiction related to the Civil Rights Movement.  Having these books available as they begin writing will be helpful for them to understand how the pieces should come together. 

Credits

A huge thank you to Andrea Schenk who originally came up the idea for this WebQuest and created all of the original material. I have taken the liberty of making some minor edits, and updating some of the websites, as a few that Ms. Schenk posted have either disappeared or are no longer available.