This year marks the 60th anniversary of the Brown v. Board decision. Too often marked as the launch of the Civil Rights Movement, it is important to teach about the Supreme Court ruling in the context of the decades long struggle by people across the United States. This anniversary is also a key time to look at the progress that has been made and the inequities that continue today. Here are some lessons (three from Rethinking Schools), books, films, and articles that can be used to teach about Brown v. Board in grades 4-12. 

ACTIONS

Fulfilling the Promise of Brown v. Board May 13-17, 2014 To mark the 60th anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education, parents, students, educators and community residents are organizing actions across the country to continue the struggle for racial and educational justice and win the public schools all our children deserve. Teaching for Change is pleased co-sponsor the Alliance to Reclaim Our Schools event in Washington, D.C. at Sousa Middle School.

LESSONS AND TEACHING STORIES

	The March on John Philip Sousa: A Social Action Project by Elizabeth A. Davis A D.C. public school teacher and her students learn about and fight to preserve the historic role of one of the schools in the Brown v. Board case.
	Warriors Don’t Cry: Brown Comes to Little Rock by Linda Christensen A role play exercise brings Melba Pattillo Beals’ classic book about the Little Rock Nine to life for students.
	Teaching Brown in Tuscaloosa by Alison Schmitke Learning about their community’s civil rights history inspires students to action.
	Our Grandparents’ Civil Rights Era by Willow McCormick Second graders ask grandparents to write about their experience during the Civil Rights Movement. The letters bring surprising wisdom—and some thought-provoking issues—to the classroom.

 BOOKS AND FILMS

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Book Landmark Cases Left Out of Your Textbooks	Book Mendez v. Westminster: School Desegregation and Mexican-American Rights	Book Separate is Never Equal	Book Simple Justice: The History of Brown v. Board of Education and Black America’s Struggle for Equality	Book Students on Strike: Jim Crow, Civil Rights, Brown, and Me.
Book Warriors Don’t Cry: A Searing Memoir of the Battle to Integrate Little Rock’s Senior High	Book Remember: The Journey to School Integration	Book Sylvia & Aki	Film The Lemon Grove Incident	Film The Road to Brown
Book Fire from the Rock	Book The Girl from the Tar Paper School: Barbara Rose Johns and the Advent of the Civil Rights Movement	Article Segregation Now: The Resegregation of America’s Schools	Article Brown 50 Years Later