Why Was Selma So Significant?

This lesson contains:

• A starter which asks students to consider who MLK was an his role in Civil Rights. This can be building on a previous Civil Rights lesson, or can just be open ended, as many have heard of MLK.
• An overview of where Selma was on the board with maps and information. There is a YouTube clip from the 2015 film, Selma, showing the lack of access to voting people had, to really drive home the injustice.
• A task for students to study sources on the information sheet provided and pick out the main reasons why Selma was chosen for the marches.
• An activity to read information about the major marches and summarise what occurred during those, including Bloody Sunday itself.
• A task to study the consequences of the marches on the Civil Rights Movement and to summarise, in their own words, the main impacts. There is an optional printout that also allows this to be a colour-coding activity based on the importance of each point.
• A final look at the Voting Rights Act in more detail. Students note down the objective and the effects of the Act.
• A plenary to note down the importance of the event as a whole. Students might even discuss its impact today after studying the image of Obama recreating the march on the 50th anniversary.

Attachments:

• 1 x Powerpoint Presentations
• 2 x Publisher Files