Malcolm X Lesson Plan: Individuals' Contributions and Identities

Grade Levels: 6-8, 9-12

*Click to open and customize your own copy of the Malcolm X Lesson Plan.

This lesson accompanies the BrainPOP topic Malcolm X, and supports the standard of understanding how individuals have contributed to social change in the United States. Students demonstrate understanding through a variety of projects.

Step 1: ACTIVATE PRIOR KNOWLEDGE

Display an image of civil rights leaders Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr., such as the one shown below:

Ask students:

Who do you recognize from this image? What do you know about them?

Step 2: BUILD BACKGROUND

Read the description on the Malcolm X topic page.
Play the Movie, pausing to check for understanding.
Have students read one of the following Related Reading articles: “Quotables” or “Arts and Entertainment”. Partner them with someone who read a different article to share what they learned with each other.

Step 3: APPLY

Students synthesize their ideas and express them through one or more of the following projects. They can work individually or collaborate.

Make-a-Movie: Produce a mini-documentary describing the events and figures that shaped Malcolm X’s leadership in the American Civil Rights Movement.
Make-a-Map: Make a concept map comparing and contrasting the philosophy and strategies of Malcolm X and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Creative Coding: Code a digital museum exhibit featuring important symbols from Malcolm X’s childhood and political life.
Primary Source Activity: Examine and analyze FBI files.

Step 4: REFLECT & ASSESS

Reflect: Students reflect on what they’ve learned about Malcolm X. Prompt them by asking questions such as:

How did Malcolm X’s views change over time?

How did religion influence Malcolm X and Dr. King differently?

How did Malcom X’s beliefs and goals differ from other Civil Rights leaders?

Assess: Wrap up the lesson with the Malcolm X Challenge.

Step 5: Extend Learning

Time Zone X: Malcolm X: This interactive timeline game challenges players to put historical events in chronological order.

Black History Unit: Continue to build understanding around important Black history figures and events with more BrainPOP topics.

Additional Support Resources:

Modifications for BrainPOP Learning Activities: Strategies to meet ELL and other instructional and student needs.
BrainPOP Learning Activities Support: Resources for best practices using BrainPOP.

Lesson Plan Common Core State Standards Alignments

Grade: 11-12

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.11-12.2

Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary that makes clear the relationships among the key details and ideas.

Grade: 06, 07, 08

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.6-8.2

Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary of the source distinct from prior knowledge or opinions.

Grade: 06, 07, 08

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.6-8.7

Integrate visual information (e.g., in charts, graphs, photographs, videos, or maps) with other information in print and digital texts.

Grade: 09, 10

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.9-10.2

Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary of how key events or ideas develop over the course of the text.

Grade: 09, 10

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.9-10.7

Integrate quantitative or technical analysis (e.g., charts, research data) with qualitative analysis in print or digital text.

Grade: 11-12

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.11-12.3

Analyze a complex set of ideas or sequence of events and explain how specific individuals, ideas, or events interact and develop over the course of the text.

Grade: 11-12

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.11-12.4

Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative, connotative, and technical meanings; analyze how an author uses and refines the meaning of a key term or terms over the course of a text (e.g., how Madison defines faction in Federalist No. 10).

Grade: 06

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.6.3

Analyze in detail how a key individual, event, or idea is introduced, illustrated, and elaborated in a text (e.g., through examples or anecdotes).

Grade: 06

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.6.4

Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative, connotative, and technical meanings.

Grade: 06

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.6.7

Integrate information presented in different media or formats (e.g., visually, quantitatively) as well as in words to develop a coherent understanding of a topic or issue.

Grade: 07

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.7.3

Analyze the interactions between individuals, events, and ideas in a text (e.g., how ideas influence individuals or events, or how individuals influence ideas or events).

Grade: 07

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.7.4

Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative, connotative, and technical meanings; analyze the impact of a specific word choice on meaning and tone.

Grade: 08

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.8.3

Analyze how a text makes connections among and distinctions between individuals, ideas, or events (e.g., through comparisons, analogies, or categories).

Grade: 08

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.8.4

Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative, connotative, and technical meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone, including analogies or allusions to other texts.

Grade: 09, 10

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.9-10.4

Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative, connotative, and technical meanings; analyze the cumulative impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone (e.g., how the language of a court opinion differs from that of a newspaper).

Grade: 11-12

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.11-12.5

Make strategic use of digital media (e.g., textual, graphical, audio, visual, and interactive elements) in presentations to enhance understanding of findings, reasoning, and evidence and to add interest.

Grade: 06

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.6.2

Interpret information presented in diverse media and formats (e.g., visually, quantitatively, orally) and explain how it contributes to a topic, text, or issue under study.

Grade: 07

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.7.2

Analyze the main ideas and supporting details presented in diverse media and formats (e.g., visually, quantitatively, orally) and explain how the ideas clarify a topic, text, or issue under study.

Grade: 07

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.7.5

Include multimedia components and visual displays in presentations to clarify claims and findings and emphasize salient points.

Grade: 08

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.8.5

Integrate multimedia and visual displays into presentations to clarify information, strengthen claims and evidence, and add interest.

Grade: 09, 10

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.9-10.5

Grade: 11-12

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.11-12.2a

Introduce a topic; organize complex ideas, concepts, and information so that each new element builds on that which precedes it to create a unified whole; include formatting (e.g., headings), graphics (e.g., figures, tables), and multimedia when useful to aiding comprehension.

Grade: 11-12

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.11-12.6

Use technology, including the Internet, to produce, publish, and update individual or shared writing products in response to ongoing feedback, including new arguments or information.

Grade: 06

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.6.9b

Apply grade 6 Reading standards to literary nonfiction (e.g., “Trace and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, distinguishing claims that are supported by reasons and evidence from claims that are not”).

Grade: 07

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.7.9b

Apply grade 7 Reading standards to literary nonfiction (e.g. “Trace and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, assessing whether the reasoning is sound and the evidence is relevant and sufficient to support the claims”).

Grade: 09, 10

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.6

Use technology, including the Internet, to produce, publish, and update individual or shared writing products, taking advantage of technology’s capacity to link to other information and to display information flexibly and dynamically.

Grade: 06, 07, 08

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.WHST.6-8.6

Use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing and present the relationships between information and ideas clearly and efficiently.

Grade: 09, 10

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.WHST.9-10.6