According to the National Women's History Museum, Rosa Parks made history on December 1, 1955. After she boarded a bus, she decided to sit in the front of the bus instead of the back, an area designated for African Americans. When asked to move and give up her seat to a white passenger, she refused, leading to her arrest. Her act of defiance became a milestone in the civil rights movement, resulting in the now famous Montgomery bus boycott, a key event of the era.
Rosa Parks lesson plan
You can download a lesson plan below, with Rosa Parks activities in language arts and social studies, including primary source analysis, to better understand the immediate and long-term impacts of her actions. Note that the following lesson plan includes a potential text you can use, but always check with your school or district for recommended resources.
While page 1 of this lesson plan includes some activities surrounding the book I Am Rosa Parks by Rosa Parks with Jim Haskins, students can complete the subsequent activities by conducting some online research, including on the Library of Congress website, as noted in the downloadable.
Download now: Rosa Parks lesson plan.
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This blog, originally published in 2020, has been updated for 2025.
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