With Compassion Toward One Another: Lesson Plans for Teaching Civic Unity, Historical Inquiry, and Moral Leadership
The Center for Economic and Civic Learning at Ball State University is pleased to share a set of classroom-ready lesson plans developed through With Compassion Toward One Another: Preparing for the Challenge of Civic Unity for America250 Through the Legacy of Kennedy and King and April 4, 1968. This project invites teachers and students to explore one of the most consequential days in modern American history through primary sources, historical inquiry, and civic reflection.
Centered on the events of April 4, 1968, these lessons draw attention to the intertwined legacies of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy, including Kennedy’s speech at Ball State University and his later remarks in Indianapolis following news of King’s assassination. Together, these materials help students consider moral leadership, nonviolence, compassion, public responsibility, and the enduring challenge of civic unity across difference.
The lesson plans below were created for different grade levels and subject areas and show how primary sources can be adapted for meaningful instruction in history, civics, English language arts, and interdisciplinary elementary classrooms. Each lesson encourages students not only to study the past, but also to reflect on how language, leadership, empathy, and community shape democratic life in the present.
Available Lesson Plans
With Compassion APUSH Contextualizing 1968 RFK MLK Lesson Plan
Designed for AP U.S. History and high school U.S. history classrooms, this lesson uses the speeches of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy to help students practice historical contextualization and identify connections among major developments of the civil rights era. Students work with primary sources, AP themes, and inquiry-based discussion to better understand April 4, 1968 within a broader historical framework.
With Compassion Middle School Moral Leadership RFK Crisis Response Lesson Plan
This middle school U.S. history lesson focuses on moral leadership in times of crisis. Students examine Kennedy’s response to the assassination of Dr. King, consider how leaders use language to calm, unify, and guide the public, and compare Kennedy’s Ball State and Indianapolis speeches. The lesson also encourages students to connect historical analysis with contemporary civic responsibility.
With Compassion Grade 5 ELA RFK Word Choice Empathy Lesson Plan
Created for a fifth-grade English language arts setting, this lesson centers on close reading, word choice, tone, and empathy. Students analyze how Kennedy’s language communicated peace, unity, and compassion in a moment of national grief. They then apply these ideas by developing their own “dual-path” models that show how words can shape choices and outcomes in personal or community situations.
With Compassion Grade 2 Community Ecology Civic Connections Lesson Plan
This interdisciplinary lesson for second grade connects civics and science by helping students think about community, contribution, and interdependence. Using age-appropriate discussion and classroom activities, students reflect on how people, animals, places, and ecosystems work together to form a community. The lesson introduces young learners to the idea that compassion, responsibility, and participation begin close to home.
These resources were developed to support teachers seeking meaningful, primary source-rich approaches to civic learning as the nation approaches America250. They demonstrate how the historical legacy of April 4, 1968 can be used to foster reflection, inquiry, and constructive democratic engagement across grade levels.
Note: Please click each lesson title above to access the downloadable lesson plan.