Curated OER
Families in Bondage
Students examine actual letters writen by slaves and write essays based on these letters describing what it might have been like for an African American family living in the South during that time period.
NET Foundation for Television
1850-1874 African American Settlers
Go West, young man! Scholars investigate the impact of African American settlers moving to the Nebraska territory, following the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act in the mid 1800s. Using primary sources, timelines, maps, and...
Smithsonian Institution
Art to Zoo: Life in the Promised Land: African-American Migrants in Northern Cities, 1916-1940
This is a fantastic resource designed for learners to envision what it was like for the three million African-Americans who migrated to urban industrial centers of the northern United States between 1910 and 1940. After reading a...
Alabama Department of Archives and History
Alabama BEFORE the American Revolution
Did you know that prior to the American Revolution, Alabama was a part of the British empire and called New West Florida? Class members research the economic, political, and social realities of this territory and compare them to those of...
Curated OER
Depicting Motherhood in Family Stories
Students examine the roles of mothers and grandmothers by looking at black-and-white photographs of one American family and comparing that family's multi-generational story with their own. In this mothers and grandmothers lesson plan,...
Curated OER
Portrait of The African American Family
Students examine how African American families were affected by slavery. As a class, they watch and read King's "I Have a Dream Speech" and write a paper on how this message relates to families. In their journals, they compare and...
Curated OER
Exploring Meaning In Native American Art
Native American artwork includes symbolism that will inspire students' own work.
Curated OER
Stories of the American Experience
Learners interview a veteren of any of the major U.S. wars. They must identify one quote from the veteren that sums up their experience.
Curated OER
What Is an American?
Students explore different backgrounds of Americans. In this lesson, students discuss how people in the United States may come from a different background, yet have similar values and beliefs. After the class discussion, several...
Smithsonian Institution
A Life in Beads: The Stories a Plains Dress Can Tell
Young learners discover how the Sioux and Assiniboine tribes preserved native culture through the making of traditional dresses, identifying the resources used to make the dresses and discussing behind the meaning behind some American...
Curated OER
African American Poetry: Family and Traditions
Students are introduced to the elements of African-American poetry. As a class, they are read different types of poems to discover there are different styles of poems and practice rhyming words. They share information on their family...
Curated OER
Family Origins and American Cultural Pluralism
Students explore, analyze and discuss family origins, special legacies, and racial/cultural groups in literature and art that exposes them to positive examples in African-American history and culture. They encounter examples from dance,...
Curated OER
Learning about Native Americans through Artifact Analysis and Artwork
Sixth graders assess how a Native American's environment and the geographic region where they lived influenced their food, clothing, shelter and the overall culture of a tribe. They study the impact of conservation, family, rural life,...
Curated OER
Family History
Students discover their family history. In this genealogy lesson, students participate in a discussion about family history and why it is important. Students create a family tree and present the family tree to the class. Students write a...
Curated OER
The Affects of Environment on Native American Culture
Students research the culture of the Native Americans. In this U.S. History lesson, students are given the major geological areas where the Indians lived prior to the arrival of the Europeans, then they create a notebook that compares...
Curated OER
Passing Down Family History Through Oral Tradition: Corridos
Students create and perform Corridos which are oral tradition ballads. In this Passing Down Family History Through Oral Tradition lesson, students interview family members using a predetermined list of questions. In addition, students...
Curated OER
American Indians
Students research early Indian adaptations in this lesson. They research the different American Indian tribes. They also research and compare the tribes' rituals, daily lives, and their impact on the Europeans who came later to the...
Curated OER
A Salute to American Symbols
Students research American symbols. For this American History lesson, students listen to the story The Wall and discuss the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. They also listen to One Nation and research an American Symbol to create a poster.
Curated OER
Native Americans
Students explore Native American cultures. In this cultural comparisons lesson, students participate in several activities that compare and contrast the culture of the Hopi and Comanche Tribes.
Curated OER
Self-Fulfilling Prophecy in African American Students: Exploring African American Achievers
Fifth graders are introduced to ways to increase their self-esteem. As a class, they share their specific talents under three categories. In groups, they use the internet to research the lives of various African Americans making sure...
Curated OER
Understanding and Appreciating Poetry: Afro-Americans and Their Poetry
Sixth graders are introduced to poems written by African-American authors. As a class, they read excerpts of poems from different time periods and discuss how and if anything has changed over time with discrimination and equal rights...
Curated OER
The Insights of American Blacks During the 19th and 20th Centuries in New Haven, Connecticut
Students examine the contributions of African Americans in New Haven, Connecticut in the 19th and 20th centuries. After being introduced to new vocabulary, they review the elements of autobiographies and read excerpts of African...
Curated OER
Songs of Native Americans
Students listen to chapter from novel When Legends Die by Hal Borland, listen to traditional Lakota song, discuss feeling song induces and in what circumstance it may be used, and examine connection between cultural music and family...
Curated OER
Interpreting Selected Works of Art from the 20th Century African-American Experience
Students examine pieces of art by African-American artists in the 20th Century. For each piece, they are shown slides of the artwork and others by the artist to identify the techniques used. In groups, they discuss and research the...