Introduction
In this lesson plan, students will use text from Mandela’s autobiography “Long Walk to Freedom” to connect with Mandela's life and words.
Subjects
News and current events, world, social issues
Estimated time
One class period
Materials
Excerpt from “Long Walk to Freedom”
Grade level
6-12
Warm up activity
Watch the story of Nelson Mandela’s life from Former NewsHour senior correspondent Charlayne Hunter-Gault that reflects on Mandela's life and the impact he had on South Africa and the world.
Main activity
- Print out the selection of Mandela’s autobiography “Long Walk to Freedom” and give it to each student.
- Ask them to underline every instance of the words “free” or “freedom.”
- Have them choose the one sentence with “free” or “freedom” in it that struck each student as the most meaningful.
- Ask all students to form a circle, and repeat out loud the sentence that most impressed them. Many will repeat the same one. The activity will have a choral sound.
- At the end, ask students to write just two sentences that summarize this selection from Mandela’s autobiography.
This lesson plan was created by Suzanne Vogt, Trevor Browne High School, Phoenix, AZ, and adapted by Syd Golston, Past President, National Council for the Social Studies.
This lesson was originally published on December 9, 2013, and updated on July 28, 2026.
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