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Grade 5 Social Studies · World 7: Civil Rights · Level 74
Leaders Lost
Describe how the deaths of John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy, and Dr. King affected the country.
Warm-up, learn, try it together, practice, then a quick check. About 15 minutes.
For grown-ups
This lesson covers the assassinations of President Kennedy, Dr. King, and Robert F. Kennedy, in one calm sentence each. It doesn't describe how they died. We suggest reading it together.
What children learn in Level 74
- This is a sad lesson. In the 1960s, the country lost three leaders to assassination, which means being killed in a planned attack. Take your time, and talk about it with a grown-up if you'd like.
- President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas, on November 22, 1963. People across the country wept. Vice President Lyndon Johnson became president, and pushed through laws Kennedy had asked for.
- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 4, 1968, where the civil rights leader had gone to support striking sanitation workers. Grief and anger shook American cities.
- Two months later, Robert F. Kennedy, the president's brother, was assassinated in Los Angeles, while running for president.
- Hope was badly shaken, but it didn't end. Coretta Scott King carried on the work from Atlanta. Today, Dr. King's birthday is a national holiday, and people honor it by serving others.
Georgia Standards of Excellence in Social Studies:
- SS5H6.c — Describe the impact on American society of the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy, and Martin Luther King, Jr.