Document Type
Article
Abstract
This semester-long project examined the use of social studies trade books to thematically teach the civic contributions of three individuals who served as change agents in the United States during the late 19th and early 20th century. Two were African American men, Robert Smalls and Frederick Douglass, who took civic action to address racial discrimination faced by the Black community following the U.S. Civil War. The other was Ida B. Wells who challenged social inequities and injustices within her community. Throughout this project, sixth-grade students read selected trade books, examined primary sources, completed graphic organizers, and crafted writing assessments about each of these three individuals. Students demonstrated complex historical thinking, integrated economic and civic thinking, and communicated thematic ideas of systemic oppression of minorities, women, and the poor yet struggled to make connections between examples of historic oppression and contemporary examples of societal oppression.
Recommended Citation
Whitford, Alyssa; Lintner, Timothy; and Sheffield, Caroline
(2025)
"Using Trade Books to Thematically Teach Civil Rights Issues,"
The Councilor: A National Journal of the Social Studies: Vol. 88:
No.
1, Article 3.
Available at:
https://thekeep.eiu.edu/the_councilor/vol88/iss1/3
AI Statement
Grammarly was used as an additional proofreader.
Included in
Curriculum and Instruction Commons, Economics Commons, Educational Methods Commons, Elementary Education Commons, Elementary Education and Teaching Commons, Geography Commons, History Commons, Junior High, Intermediate, Middle School Education and Teaching Commons, Political Science Commons, Pre-Elementary, Early Childhood, Kindergarten Teacher Education Commons, Secondary Education Commons