I recommend the following books for use when teaching the era of the American Revolution to students in intermediate-level grades:

• Mighty Times: The Legacy of Rosa Parks
• Start Something (Elementary Curriculum) provided by the Tiger Woods Foundation
• Freedom on the Menu: The Greensboro Sit-Ins by Weatherford, Carole Boston
• Abby Takes a Stand (Scraps of Time) by McKissack, Patricia and James, Gordon
• Freedom School, Yes! by Littlesugar, Amy
• Great Speeches by African Americans: Frederick Douglass, Sojourner Truth, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Barack Obama, and Others (Thrift Edition) by Daley, James
• Let Them Play! by Raven, Margot Theis
• Martin's Big Words: The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. by Rappaport, Doreen
• My Brother Martin: A Sister Remembers Growing Up with the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. by Farris, Christine King
• Rosa by Giovanni, Nikki and Collier, Bryan
• The School is Not White! by Rappaport, Doreen and Curtis, James
• The Story Of Ruby Bridges by Coles, Robert
• . . . If You Lived at the Time of Martin Luther King by Levine, Ellen
• Nobody Gonna Turn Me 'Round: Stories and Songs of the Civil Rights Movement by Rappaport, Doreen and Evans, Shane
• Malcolm X: A Fire Burning Brightly by Myers, Walter Dean
• A Sweet Smell of Roses by Johnson, Angela
• I Am Rosa Parks by Parks, Rosa
• The Civil Rights Movement: Revised Edition by Dierenfield, Bruce
• The Watsons Go to Birmingham--1963 by Curtis, Christopher Paul
• Our Friend, Martin a video by 20th Century Fox
• Delivering Justice: W.W. Law and the Fight for Civil Rights by Haskins, James
• I've Seen the Promised Land: The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. by Meyers, Walter Dean
  

This time line, titled "African American Freedom Struggle Timeline: An International Human Rights Perspective," appeared in the April 2008 edition of OAH Magazine of History.

"The Pay It Forward Foundation was established in September 2000 by author Catherine Ryan Hyde and others to educate and inspire students to realize that they can change the world, and provide them with opportunities to do so. By bringing the author's vision and related materials into classrooms internationally, students and their teachers are encouraged to formulate their own ideas of how they can pay it forward."

The Foundation offers mini-grants (up to $500) to educators to assist in Pay It Forward endeavors. Application reviews occur twice a year—September 15th and February 15th—but grant applications are accepted year round. Contact the Pay It Forward Foundation's Mini-Grant Explanation Website for more details.

Below are links to reports developed to provide models of action research reports for educators participating in the Teaching American History Grant module on Civil Rights/Service Learning. The documents use data collected from module participants to report on the success and needs of the module. Note the appreciation of confidentiality in the reports (names and other identifying information are removed from the report) and note that this report is based solely on assessments appearing in the form of action research reports. A true action research report would address many pedagogical elements in addition to assessment data (e.g., instructional design and delivery, student participation and attitudes toward instructional delivery).

• Phase I: "Plan of Action"
• Phase II: "Data Plan"
• Phase III: "Data Collection"

Below are links to webquests designed by students in the Civil Rights/Service Learning module who were unable to engage in service learning with students. Their alternative assignment was to create a webquest that would guide intermediate level students through the process of conceptualizing and enacting a service project.

• Teaching American History: Civil Rights Movement/Service-Based Learning WebQuest by Verena K. Bryan
• Save the Desert Wildlife by Donelle Stevens
• Skills for Growing: Civil Rights WebQuest by Christine Thomas
• Learning Civil Rights through Service Learning by Lacey Peckham
  

Lecture: Michael S. Green, Ph.D. — "Civil Rights in Las Vegas"

In addition to the Freedom's Song video, Farmer's Insurance has produced other videos that are excellent. One of these, Ordinary People Doing Extraordinary Things, is available for you to view online. You can also order a DVD to keep in your classroom. See: mms://207.38.23.122/Ordinary%20People%20Doing%20Extraordinary%20Things

The video is only 4 minutes long and shows images of great men and women in history. Using written text and music, it tells how these individuals thwarted their circumstances to create great change in the world. I think the video might be a great culmination of a service learning unit. Students will see that what might not seem like a lot at the beginning can truly be the beginning of something great. I think this video is particularly good for students who are from at-risk environments including those who have special needs. Enjoy!

Lecture: DeAnna Beachley, Ph.D. — "Civil Rights: The 1960s"

Lecture: Michael S. Green, Ph.D. — "Civil Rights: The 1960s"

This recommendation comes from Margaret Loveall:

"I thought you might like information about a great MLK DVD that I found several years ago while student teaching. It is called Our Friend Martin, and is perfect for grades 3-5. It is a cartoon story about MLK that includes real video footage. Every year my students love to watch this video and discuss the impact that MLK has had on their lives.

The DVD is available from Amazon for about $10.00. It is a great investment. I have attached the Amazon site so that you can read more about the video.

A cool thing about it is that all of the voices of the cartoon characters are famous celebrities like Whoopi Goldberg, Susan Sarandon, and James Earl Jones."

I highly recommend the StoryPath unit plan by Margit McGuire titled "Freedom's Summer." During this unit, students become personally involved with civic education and the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s. The unit is targeted at students in grades 5-8. The curriculum and teacher's guide (including all needed resources) is available for free online.

For teachers hoping to teach similar concepts (e.g., service learning, civic responsibility, making community change) in the younger grades, I recommend the StoryPath unit titled "The Park." It is also available for free online.