Teacher Guide

The Nickel Boys Lesson Plan

Study Objectives

If all of the elements of this lesson plan are employed, students will develop the following powers, skills, and understanding:

  1. 1

    Students will learn about the Civil Rights Movement and its central figures, especially Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

  2. 2

    Students will explore how people react to trauma and how its effects linger in their lives well after the traumatic event has occurred.

  3. 3

    Students will examine how racism and prejudice permeated virtually all aspects of the Black characters' lives in both the past and present.

  4. 4

    Students will compare and contrast Whitehead's Nickel Academy with the real-world Dozier School that inspired the novel.

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