Art, Music, Literature by Era Lesson Plans

African American history during the Jim Crow era includes encounters with poverty, racism, disrespect, and protest. Harper Lee develops all four of these themes in her famous 1960 novel, To Kill a Mockingbird. To help students understand these ideas, this

Examine the contributions of African Americans in art and literature through a series of lessons based. Over the course of a few days, young scholars will read and analyze a poem, a short story, and a piece of art. They complete a range of comprehension-building activities, including writing poetry about their reflections, comparing different peoples through a graph, and creating a class mural.

Students examine the life style of the 1930's using art, music, the Internet and interviews as resources. They complete worksheets including a Venn diagram comparing two pieces of artwork. They determine what life during the Great Depression was like through these lessons.

Students discover details about 1920's America. In this American history lesson, students read "From the Great War to the Great Depression." Students then research famous Americans from the time period and present their findings to their classmates.

This lesson focuses on how the blues both operates as poetry and informs the poetry of many prominent African American poets. Students consider the poetic devices and recurring themes in blues lyrics and the significance of the poetry of the blues as part

Students explore the contributions of African Americans of the 20th century. In this African American history lesson, students examine portraits of Muhammad Ali, Romare Bearden, Lorraine Hansberry, Judith Jamison, and Leontyne Price in efforts to analyze the images and make inferences prior to discovering their individual contributions.

Eleventh graders research a given decade in US History.  In this American History lesson, 11th graders interview a person who lived during the decade to gain a personal perspective on it.  Students rehearse and present their composition. 

Students explore the contributions of African Americans of the 20th century. For this African American history lesson, students examine portraits of Muhammad Ali, Romare Bearden, Lorraine Hansberry, Judith Jamison, and Leontyne Price in efforts to analyze the images and make inferences prior to discovering their individual contributions.

Students focus on a way to help with the alienation they feel during adolescence. In groups, they view a variety of art and read different pieces of literature. As a class, they reflect on the art and literature and how it relates to their own feelings. They write an essay to end the instructional activity.

Students examine 1920's America. In this 20th century American history lesson, students watch segments of the Discovery video "From the Great War to the Great Depression." Students conduct further research pertaining to World War I, Pop Culture, and Prohibition. Students select one of several listed topics or people to research in depth and present to their classmates.