"This library of mini-lessons targets a variety of landmark cases from the United States Supreme Court. Each mini-lesson includes a one-page reading and one page of activities. The mini-lessons are designed for students to complete independently without the need for teacher direction. However, they also make great teacher-directed lessons and class discussion-starters."  

"Hear Ed Dwight’s firsthand account of his experience and the challenges he faced as the nation’s first black astronaut trainee in this video adapted from Chasing the Moon | AMERICAN EXPERIENCE. Urged by U.S. Attorney General Robert Kennedy to admit a Black man into its astronaut training program, NASA selected Dwight in 1962. However, the program’s leaders later undercut his historic achievement and kept him from becoming an astronaut. Many believe this was due to racial politics."

Activity/Handout

"The 70th anniversary since the Supreme Court's landmark civil rights ruling of Brown v. Board of Education integrated public education took place May 17, 2024. NewsHour's Geoff Bennett discussed more with Annette Gordon Reed of Harvard Law School and the first Black student to enroll in an all-White school in her Texas hometown in 1963, and Kevin Young, director of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture."

Discussion Questions

"Alton Waldon shares a childhood memory meeting Jackie Robinson at a shop in Brooklyn. Robinson treated Waldon and his friends to ice cream that day, and here Waldon recounts the meaningful experience of meeting a real hero who looked like them." 

Discussion Questions:

• Why was meeting Jackie Robinson in person such a meaningful experience for Alton Waldon and his friends? Why is it important to see role models that resemble ourselves in media and in public?

• Have you ever met a role model in person? Who are they? Describe the experience.

"To many Black Americans, Carver became living proof that a Black man could achieve greatness despite societal hardships. To Southern white people, Carver showed the brilliance and heart that wordlessly challenged the system of sharp segregation. To many working for racial harmony, he exemplified their ideal — but he did have his critics."

Discussion Questions and Activities

"George Washington Carver's rise from enslavement to scientific accomplishment has inspired people worldwide, yet many just know him for identifying different uses for peanuts. In this short video, a variety of experts and scholars share their impressions of Carver as an artist, scientist, inventor, poet and humanitarian."

Discussion Questions and Activities

"We explore where the blues came from and how it went on to influence many modern genres of music. From Delta Blues pioneers like Robert Johnson and Son House to Chicago Blues icons like Muddy Waters and B.B. King. We breakdown how this genre can be heard in everything from heavy metal to country music. Later Nahre and LA take the elements of the blues to create their own unique track."

Discussion Questions and Activities

"In Los Angeles, jam skaters draw from a community and culture built over generations at Venice Beach and at rinks across the city. Roller skating hit the mainstream as a safe and relatively accessible pastime during the pandemic, with its international popularity bolstered by people recording their shaky progress on social media. Skates were sold out for months, and skaters have become major influencers on Instagram and TikTok. But longtime skaters are quick to remind everyone: This isn’t a fad."

Extension Project: Give your middle and high school students the opportunity to create and publish original dance videos with an accompanying artist statement with the First Person Youth Media Challenge Project.

Discussion Questions and Activities