The greatest turning point in United States history was when the Brown vs. Board of Education decision outlawed the policy of separate but equal. It paved the way for equal rights to become a reality across the nation. This unit starts with the national context educating students on segregation before the Brown decision. As students move through the lessons they build background knowledge on the impact of Brown from a national context down to a more local context by focusing on the desegregation in Portland Public Schools in Portland, Oregon. Students will develop reading, writing, and critical thinking skills through a variety of activities. This unit can be taught chronologically or thematically in relation to a Civil Rights unit.
This unit can be placed in a unit/class with the broader theme of national and local equal rights. It is the teacher’s discretion whether students should have explicit instruction on the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 prior to teaching this unit.https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/hist_lessonplan/1003/thumbnail.jp
