The Civil Rights Movement, 1954–1968

This complete lesson takes students from Brown v. Board of Education in 1954 to the Voting Rights Act of 1965, covering the Montgomery Bus Boycott, the Little Rock Nine, the sit-ins and Freedom Rides, Birmingham, the March on Washington and Selma. Each event is explained in short steps with historical photographs and brief primary-source excerpts, followed by whole-class checks, a timeline sequencing task, a comparison of the movement's strategies, a discussion of why nonviolent protest was effective and a five-question knowledge check.

Use the deck as supplied or edit the PowerPoint to add local civil rights history from your own state, extend the primary-source work or change the lesson length. Answer slides are included so teachers can review each activity quickly.