One of the things that makes teaching meaningful for me is the chance to open a student’s eyes and help them see new possibilities. Know what I mean? But, it can be challenging to fit that in with all of the required curriculum, and it can be hard to find resources that help make that happen. That’s why I wrote 12 biographies about Civil Rights leaders like John Lewis. I researched about 20 leaders so that I could choose 12 leaders who fought for equality for women, blacks, hispanics, and farm workers. My goal was to help my students see themselves in these leaders, and I hope yours will too.
Each biography is short – just one page – and focuses on comprehension and vocabulary skills so you can meet your standards AND inspire kids! Win win!
Read on to learn more about this biography resource about John Lewis and how to use it in your classroom.
Table of Contents
Why Teach About John Lewis?
This biograpy about John Lewis will introduce your students to a key Civil Rights leader who worked for equality from the 1960’s to the present day. Because John overcame discrimination as a teenager , I think he is especially inspiring to students. Maybe one of your students will follow in his footsteps and end up in Congress someday, fighting for a cause they believe in!
As a teenager, John experienced discrimination in his daily life. Luckily, he had a wonderful teacher who encouraged him, and he was able to attend college. His career as a Civil Rights leader really began as a Freedom Rider, and eventually, led him to run for Congress, and win! John’s example is definitely one that can help students see how to overcome the challenges in their own life and reach great success.
Ideas for Teaching About John Lewis
John Lewis first came to national prominence as the President of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee, and he spoke at the March on Washington right before Dr. King spoke. I like to introduce my students to John Lewis by playing this video clip. In the clip, an older John Lewis reflects on that experience, and clips from his speech are woven throughout. This quick video gives students a wonderful introduction to John as a young man and as an older man (and the link is included in the Teaching Suggestions page of the resource as well!)
After playing the video, I introduce the vocabulary. The resource includes practice sheets for teaching these target vocabulary terms: discrimination, segregation and nonviolent. You can choose to use the PDF printable OR the Google Slides version of the practice sheets. I use my Civil Rights Word Wall cards to introduce the target vocabulary and prepare my students to understand the text. It is a perfect companion to this resource!
OR, introduce the vocabulary using one of your favorite strategies? Need some ideas? Be sure to check out this blog post which gives quick and easy strategies for introducing new vocabulary terms.
This resource includes Google Slides, Google Forms, and PDF Printables so that you have the maximum amount of flexibility. Personally, I prefer to have my students work on the vocabulary as a printable. This allows them to add the pages to their Word Work notebook, and makes it easy for them to find and use the words later. But, I prefer the Google Slides text and Google Form comprehension questions practice. There are two reasons.
Reading online text is an important skill and students need practice. This resource is formatted so that students read a paragraph, and take notes right on the Google Slide. The slides also include highlighting bars so that the students can easily highlight important information.
Google Forms are so easy to grade, and that saves me time! Want to know more? Check out this video where I walk through my process of grading this Google Form, and you will see how easy it is!
What Do Teachers Say About this Resource?
This resource will inspire your students, and help you meet goals in reading, comprehension and vocabulary. Plus, it’s versatile and easy to use! But don’t take my word for it. Here is what other teachers are saying!
“My students loved using this resource! It was very engaging and convenient to use! I will definitely use this again in the future.”
“I used this with our week of learning on activists and our focus on the Selma march. I was looking for a resource to support my students’ ability to read more about John Lewis on their level. This was so helpful, thank you!”
This resource will help you inspire your students as they learn about this amazing Civil Rights Leader. Ready to buy this biography resource about John Lewis?
This Civil Rights Activists resource includes the John Lewis resource featured in this blog post AND features biographies about 11 other Civil Rights Activists working for equality for women, blacks, hispanics, farm workers…. This resource is perfect for introducing students to many Civil Rights Leaders across time and a great jumping off place for a research project. Click the image to grab it now!
Future blog posts will go into greater detail about each of these resources. Check back soon!
And this Civil Rights Word Wall makes teaching important vocabulary terms easy and fun! Click the image and grab it today!
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