U.S. History
Civil Rights
(1945-1975)
Unit Compelling Questions
Instructions: Choose one or more Compelling Questions (CQ) for the unit based on your available time. Each Supporting Question (SQ) is sequenced and scaffolded for the Compelling Question.
Note: Starred (*) Compelling Questions are in the H.S. U.S. History example Planning & Pacing Guide.
CQ: Is it ever too late for justice? (C3 Teachers)
Teacher Guide
Student Workbook
Student Slides:
Staging the Compelling Question
SQ 1: What happened to Emmett Till on August 28, 1955?
SQ 2: Why was justice denied in the original trial?
SQ 3: What efforts and struggles have occurred in recent attempts to pursue justice?
SQ 4: How does the story of Emmett’s death and the legacy of Emmett’s life impact people today?
District Assessment: Summative Performance Task
Take Action (Optional)
CQ: How did the Civil Rights Movement represent Black agency, resistance, and perseverance?
Student Workbook
Student Slides:
Staging the Compelling Question
SQ 1: What ideologies defined the Civil Rights Movement?
SQ 2: How did organizations of the Civil Rights Movement achieve their goals?
SQ 3: What role did nonviolent protest have in the success of the Civil Rights Movement?
SQ 4: Why did the Montgomery Bus Boycott succeed? (SHEG)
SQ 5: Why was Minnijean Brown expelled from school? (SHEG)
District Assessment: Summative Performance Task
Take Action (Optional)
CQ: What made nonviolent protest effective during the Civil Rights Movement? (C3 Teachers)
Teacher Guide
Student Workbook
Student Slides:
Staging the Compelling Question
SQ 1: What was the impact of the Greensboro sit-in protest?
SQ 2: What made the Montgomery bus boycott, Birmingham campaign, and Selma to Montgomery marches effective?
SQ 3: How did others use nonviolence effectively during the civil rights movement?
District Assessment: Summative Performance Task
Take Action (Optional)
CQ: What is good trouble? (C3 Teachers)
Teacher Guide
Student Workbook
Student Slides:
Staging the Compelling Question
SQ 1: What were the moral disagreements between Civil Rights leaders?
SQ 2: How did some Civil Rights leaders break the rules?
District Assessment: Summative Performance Task
Take Action (Optional)
CQ: What gets Black Women heard? (C3 Teachers)
Teacher Guide
Student Workbook
Student Slides:
Staging the Compelling Question
SQ 1: How can Black women writers use authenticity and blackness to connect with audiences?
SQ 2: How can Black women writers use social issues to frame a narrative?
SQ 3: How can Black women writers use intellectualism to propel their writing?
SQ 4: Have these writers’ literary devices stood the test of time?
District Assessment: Summative Performance Task
Take Action (Optional)
CQ: How did Black Identities shape a movement?
Teacher Guide
Student Workbook
Student Slides:
Staging the Compelling Question
SQ 1: How do historical photographs fit into the history of the African American Civil Rights Movement in the 20th century? (SHEG)
SQ 2: Did Dr. King’s arguments for human rights change over time?
SQ 3: How do historical letters fit into the history of the African American Civil Rights Movement in the 20th century? (SHEG)
SQ 4: What was the Black Power Movement in Los Angeles? (SHEG)
SQ 5: How did Black Power change the Civil Rights Movement?
District Assessment: Summative Performance Task
Take Action (Optional)
CQ: How did governmental policies change and stay the same over time during the Civil Rights Era?
Teacher Guide
Student Workbook
Student Slides:
Staging the Compelling Question
SQ 1: Was JFK a strong supporter of Civil Rights? (SHEG)
SQ 2: Politics or Principle: Why Did L.B.J. Sign the Civil Rights Act of 1964? (DBQ American History V2)
SQ 3: How well did laws protect the civil rights of different groups?
SQ 4: How well did executive actions protect the civil rights of different groups?
SQ 5: How well did court cases protect the civil rights of different groups?
District Assessment: Summative Performance Task
Take Action (Optional)
CQ: What makes Civil Rights similar and different?
Teacher Guide
Student Workbook
Student Slides:
Staging the Compelling Question
SQ 1: How have Hispanic and Latinx groups’ fought for equality?
SQ 2: What Made Cesar Chavez an Effective Leader? (DBQ American History V2)
SQ 3: What were the goals of the American Indian Movement?
SQ 4: Did Dr. King’s arguments for human rights change over time?
SQ 5: How does intersectionality change how individuals were treated within groups seeking equality?
District Assessment: Summative Performance Task
Take Action (Optional)
CQ: How did gender equality progress and decline?
Teacher Guide
Student Workbook
Student Slides:
Staging the Compelling Question
SQ 1: Is the image of the happy 1950s housewife accurate? (SHEG)
SQ 2: What conditions did women protest?
SQ 3: Was the Equal Rights Amendment unpopular in the 1970s? (SHEG)
SQ 4: Why Was the Equal Rights Amendment Defeated? (DBQ American History)
District Assessment: Summative Performance Task
Take Action (Optional)
CQ: Why was the Stonewall Riot historically significant?
Teacher Guide
Student Workbook
Student Slides:
Staging the Compelling Question
SQ 1: What caused the Stonewall Riots? (SHEG)
SQ 2: Acceptance or Activism: What is Stonewall’s More Significant Legacy? ( U.S. Vol 2 Mini-Qs Unites 13-27)
SQ 3: What conditions prompted LGBTQ+ Americans to fight for equality?
District Assessment: Summative Performance Task
Take Action (Optional)