This lesson focuses on the post-Reconstruction South and the social practices based on race and skin color that hindered the South's growth as a region and relegated many people to the status of second-class citizens, in spite of the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments. The lesson provides historical background and outlines a task for students to write a report on President Theodore Roosevelt's handling of the post-Reconstruction South and the Supreme Court's Plessy v. Ferguson decision. It details a small-group exercise with puzzle pieces representing southern states in which the teacher assigns roles for each student to identify, take notes, and write a solution to a specific social problem, followed by a group meeting to discuss and write a group report. The lesson also provides a list of online resources, learning advice for oral presentations, and evaluation criteria, as well as reflection questions for students to answer. It concludes with notes for the teacher about grade level, content standards, lesson purpose and goals, information literacy, length of time for class periods, and resources needed. (BT)