School Segregation

• Fifth grade books on school segregation are available for teachers.Pixland/Pixland/Getty Images
  
  Students may examine their own rights at school as an analogy to the civil rights movement. A discussion about modern-day student privileges can serve as a segue to examine educational segregation and the struggle for student equality. "The Journey to School Integration" by Toni Morrison is an appropriate, fifth grade reading tool to integrate into this project.
  
  

Stereotyping and Civil Rights

• Students identify with stereotyping when left out of activities.Pixland/Pixland/Getty Images
  
  Students can learn the pitfalls of stereotyping by exploring how they feel when they are left out of a group, game or activity. Fifth graders can cut out silhouettes of their shoes with construction paper and write on the footsteps how they feel when excluded from of an event. The footsteps can be displayed in class as a reminder of the harm caused by eliminating people based on differences. "Walking to the Bus-Rider Blues" by Harriette Gillem Robinet is a helpful, reading tool to integrate into this lesson.
  
  

Civil Rights Heros

• Civil rights lessons can include black women in aviation.Digital Vision./Photodisc/Getty Images
  
  Fifth graders can absorb the civil rights movement by studying specific heroes in the movement. Students may study a strong figure, such as Bessie Colman, who was the first African American woman to receive a pilot's license. They can discuss the importance of civil rights pioneers and their perseverance in the face of challenges. The book, "Black Eagles: African Americans in Aviation" by Jim Haskins can be used to enhance this lesson.
  
  

Equality Lessons and Literature

• Students can create poster boards on civil rights lessons.Comstock Images/Comstock/Getty Images
  
  Fifth graders can read a specific book about characters who face civil rights struggles. Students can graph the characters' experiences by placing events in the books on poster boards. The events can denote sadness, happiness, victories and defeats that the characters encountered on their journeys. The graph becomes a visual display that can be kept in the classroom after the project is completed. The book, "Oh, Freedom! Kids Talk About the Civil Rights Movement With the People Who Made it Happen" by Linda Barrett Osborne can serve as reading material for this activity.