Objectives:

1. To explore and identify the challenges that African Americans have faced as they've struggled for equality throughout American history.
   
2. To examine and predict the effectiveness and the impact of Supreme Court decisions on the equal treatment of African Americans over time.
   
3. To understand the obstacles that African Americans faced during the Progressive Era in the early 1900s because of segregation and the Supreme Court decision of Plessy v Ferguson.

For comprehensive background information on segregation throughout history for teachers and/or students visit the following web site:

• http://www.pbs.org/wnet/jimcrow/stories_events.html

For short descriptions of all of the landmark Supreme Court decisions discussed in this lesson, see the interactive feature in this issue of History Now:

• http://www.historynow.org/04_2008/interactive.html

For some information on the amendments in simple terms and the Plessy case visit the sites below:

• Justice learning: Constitution Guide/Amendments
  Interpretation of the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendements
  http://www.justicelearning.org/
  http://www.justicelearning.org/justice_timeline/Amendment s.aspx?id=14
• PLESSY v FERGUSON
  Facts and background on the landmark case
  http://www.landmarkcases.org/plessy/home.html

Procedure:
Start this lesson's PowerPoint presentation. Students will enter the classroom and see the swirling time travel icon on the screen (the first slide.) This will prompt them to take their time traveler positions. They will sit on top of their desks and hold onto the sides as we prepare to travel back in time. The teacher will shut off the lights for effect. Using a wireless or standard keyboard for the computer, the teacher will advance the PowerPoint slides and narrate using the information on the screen.

The PowerPoint is created to guide the students through the struggle for equality during the Progressive Era making stops along the way to see how the Supreme Court decision in Plessy v Ferguson affects the feelings and behaviors of Americans. The PowerPoint is comprehensive, but teachers can decide whether or not to include some additional thoughts or answer a question from an interested student during the presentation. The slides will explain the separate but equal decision in the Plessy case, the results, and some feelings of Americans around the country. The last slide has some Essential Questions that will tie the whole journey and its information together.

When the time travelers return to the present, students will be asked to sit in their seats. The teacher will pass out a hard copy of the Essential Questions that remain on the screen. Groups or partners can work together to come up with thoughtful answers to the questions based on their travels through the time period and what they have witnessed. Class discussion to follow.

Materials : PowerPoint slide show, Essential Question handout, imagination

Assessment : Answers to the Essential Question handout and discussions that follow today or tomorrow.

Homework : Finish Essential Questions if needed.