Civil Rights and Civil Liberties

Resources

• Whiteboard, digital board, or another area to collect words for a word wall
• Image collection and a way to distribute images to students

Facilitation Notes

• This activity features topics and images that can be difficult to discuss or look at due to their emotional nature. Follow your school or district protocol for preparing students and families for sensitive topics.

Engage

• Ask students what words come to mind when they hear the phrases “civil rights” and “civil liberties.”
• Prompt with questions such as:
  • “Who comes to mind?”
  • “What time periods?”
  • “What specific events?”
  • “What does it mean to be civil?”
  • “What are rights and liberties, how are they similar, and how do they differ?”
  • “What are rights and liberties you exercise every day?”
• Record student responses to create a word wall visible to all.

Explore

• Split students into groups.
• Have each group select one image from a provided collection that resonates with the class word wall.
• Each group must describe their image and explain their choice without pointing, naming the position, or giving non-descriptive hints.
• If multiple groups choose the same image, they must offer unique descriptions and insights without repeating phrases or acknowledging the match.
• Teacher Note: Students don’t need to know specifics about the people or events in the images. Use visible cues like group size, press presence, body language, and text on signs as starting points.

Assess and Reflect

• Review any unchosen images as a whole class.
• Ask students what new words they would now add to the word wall.
• Discuss emerging patterns about rights and liberties observed in the images.
• At the end of Unit 7, have students revisit the images. Conduct reverse image look-ups for unfamiliar ones and explain why each image relates to civil rights and civil liberties.
• Ask students to explain the difference between civil rights and civil liberties.

Captions to Assist

• Civil Rights March on Washington, D.C.
• Crowd at Civil Rights March in front of Washington Monument
• President Lyndon Johnson signing the Civil Rights Act
• Bloody Sunday police attack
• Prayer at Sunday school
• Daniel Ellsberg