Your students will love learning about one of the most inspirational African-Americans of all time. Marshall became the first African-American Supreme Court Justice. Today, he is remembered for his service to this country as a Supreme Court Justice for 24 years. Thurgood Marshall used the law and the Constitution to fight for the rights of all people.
There are a variety of activities for you to teach Thurgood Marshall’s life story. This could be a week-long unit or as short as a day or two, depending on time allotted and the needs of your students. There are several ways to use this unit to differentiate for students.
Activities included:
✔ Meet Thurgood Marshall
✔ Life Story with Scenes & Questions
✔ Fact or Fiction Activity
✔ Character Mini-Booklet w/Timeline–fits perfectly inside their notebooks!
✔ Biography Organizers
✔ Famous Quote
✔ Character Traits Activity
✔ Quiz
✔ Writing Prompts
✔ Answer Keys
✔ Vocabulary Posters for important character traits:
Honest, Dedicated, Confident
Reading:
Have students read the passages about where they will meet Thurgood Marshall learn all about his life. It starts with him as a young boy and it continues through his death. The articles are written with questions and scenes for students to connect and color. There’s also custom-created organizers to use for review or for further research.
Suggestions and Ideas for four different centers:
1. Have students read the Meet Thurgood Marshall passage OR Life Story passages with scenes and questions. Then answer the questions on the biography organizers.
2. Have students complete the character mini-booklet with timeline dates. These fit nicely inside their notebooks.
3. Have students complete the quote activity & writing prompt(s).
4. Have students complete the character traits activity using the vocabulary posters as a guide and then complete the Venn diagram to compare Banneker to themselves.