Voting is the cornerstone of our democracy. For Black Americans, securing the right to vote has been a battle. While the 14th Amendment granted Black Americans citizenship in 1868, poll taxes, literacy tests, and intimidation created insurmountable barriers to the polls. Due to the courage of many Americans who marched, protested, and applied consistent pressure on legislators, the 1965 Voting Rights Act prohibited attempts at excluding Black Americans from voting. However, in 2024, voter suppression tactics, such as gerrymandering, limited poll locations and voting times continue to prevent Black Americans from voting. The Walk (A Stroll to the Polls) takes readers along as Granny and her granddaughter, both Black Americans, set out on foot to cast their votes. Along the way, community members join them, creating a large group who arrives at the polls together to, as Granny says, “stand up and say what’s on our minds.” For Granny, this walk is sacred.
3-5
The Heart of Social Studies
Inquiries
Voting is the cornerstone of our democracy. For Black Americans, securing the right to vote has been a battle. While the 14th Amendment granted Black Americans citizenship in 1868, poll taxes, literacy tests, and intimidation created insurmountable barriers to the polls. Due to the courage of many Americans who marched, protested, and applied consistent pressure…
A notable phenomenon in US schools is the recent increase in book bans. Between 2021-2023, book bans rose 33% in K-12 public schools. The most consistently challenged books are those that center the lives, histories, and perspectives of people of color and members of the LGBTQIA+ community. The Great Banned-Books Bake Sale is a trade…
This inquiry unit is designed for 5th grade students to investigate the election process. Students will learn how the process works and be asked to think critically about it. They will investigate primary sources, biased articles, statistics, and more to eventually form an opinion on this “hot” topic in the United States of America. Throughout…
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This inquiry is an exploration into the roots of our modern democracy. It uncovers the idea that a deep influence of Greek architecture (columns on the Parthenon, U. S. Supreme Court building), law, and the Olympic Games impacts the present. It also compares and contrasts Athens as a direct democracy and the United States as…
This inquiry leads 2nd and 3rd grade students through an investigation of their community and the impact of their actions on their community. The compelling question, “How do my actions matter to my community?” gives students the opportunity to think deeper about the roles and responsibilities of every member in the community, from everyday people…
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This inquiry leads 4th grade students through an investigation of the Santa Fe Trail and its impact on communities, states, and nations. The compelling question, “For Better or Worse, How Did the Santa Fe Trail Change America?” gives students the opportunity to think deeper about the Santa Fe Trail and its impact on the United…
This inquiry leads students through an investigation of the various types of information represented in pictures and in words. By investigating the compelling question, students examine what can be learned by looking at a series of pictures and comparing them with what can be learned by reading the words in a story. By completing this…
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This action-embedded inquiry leads students through an investigation of how they can make a difference in their community. By featuring an opportunity for students to think through the issues that surround them, the inquiry enables them to choose one to work on, to decide what kinds of action they could take, to assess the challenges…
This 3rd grade inquiry asks students to think about a challenging local public policy issue: eminent domain. The compelling question—“Was the Chickamauga Dam worth it?”—engages students in an examination of a historic eminent domain case study that happened right in their backyard. The Chickamauga Dam was a Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) project — a result…
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This 4th and 5th grade inquiry expands students’ understandings of Indian removal in the early 1800s by centering Cherokee resistance to removal policies. The compelling question—“How did the Cherokee resist removal?”—engages students in an examination of the Cherokee, whose ancestral homelands include parts of present day Tennessee, and the efforts they took to resist removal…