Lesson Plan
American Institute of Physics

African American Physicists in the 1960s

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Physicists Herman Branson and Tannie Stovall provide young scholars with two very different perceptions of the status of African American physicists in the 1960s. After reading and comparing the bios of these two men, class members read...
Lesson Plan
PBS

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s ‘I Have a Dream’ Speech as a Work of Literature

For Teachers 6th - 12th
To appreciate the oratory of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech, scholars examine the rhetorical devices and influences that make the speech so famous. They examine background information, conduct a close reading of the...
Lesson Plan
1
1
Anti-Defamation League

The Road to Brown

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
As part of the study of segregation in U.S. schools, scholars research and create a timeline of events that led to the historic Supreme Court case, Brown V. Board of Education. Groups research a topic or event that led to the decision,...
Lesson Plan
1
1
US House of Representatives

Objects in Time

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Artifacts can be used to study people and events of the past. That's the takeaway from the fifth lesson in a unit study of African Americans who served in Congress. Groups select an artifact associated with a Black Congress Member from...
Lesson Plan
2
2
Smithsonian Institution

Re-Segregation of American Schools: Re-Segregation

For Teachers 8th - 11th Standards
Examine the re-segregation of public schools in a thought-provoking resource. Young scholars read articles and primary sources, complete worksheets, and watch a video to explore the idea that desegregation made schools more segregated....
Lesson Plan
Center for History Education

Brown v. the Board of Education: Success or Failure?

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Desegregation does not mean equality. An eye-opening instructional activity focuses on the impact of the Brown v. Board of Education decision to end school segregation. Scholars review a series of political cartoons to understand how the...
Lesson Plan
National Woman's History Museum

Women, Education, Sports, and Title IX

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Title IX did more than change the face of sports in the United States. This landmark legislation also impacted women in education and politics. High schoolers examine the text of the legislation and the 2016 Senate resolution and watch...
Lesson Plan
1
1
Historical Thinking Matters

Rosa Parks: 5 Day Lesson

For Teachers 7th - 12th Standards
What led to the success of the Montgomery Bus Boycott, and how might historians approach this question differently? This rich series of lessons includes a short introductory video clip, analysis of six primary source documents, and...
Interactive
University of Richmond

Mapping Inequality: Redlining in New Deal America 1935-1940

For Students 9th - 12th Standards
Redlining—or the practice of racial discrimination in housing loans—directly led to today's segregated living patterns in America. Using data from the federal Home Owners' Loan Corporation, classmates visualize the impact of policy on...
Lesson Plan
1
1
US House of Representatives

Permanent Interests: The Expansion, Organization, and Rising Influence of African Americans in Congress, 1971–2007

For Teachers 7th - 12th
The fourth installment of the seven-lesson unit focused on African Americans elected to and serving in the US Congress looks at the period from 1971 through 2007. Class members read a contextual essay that provides background information...
Study Guide
Penguin Books

A Teacher's Guide to Sue Monk Kidd's: The Secret Life of Bees

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
A 12-page teacher's guide to Sue Monk Kidd's The Secret Life of Bees provides the discussion questions and activities that lead readers to understand not only Lily's fears, but her reasons behind them.
Lesson Plan
1
1
US House of Representatives

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Groups select a photograph from one of the four eras of African Americans in Congress and develop a five-minute presentation that provides background information about the image as well as its historical significance. The class compares...
Lesson Plan
Center for History Education

Blockbusting: Social and Economic Change through Real Estate

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
"Redlining," "Blockbusting," and "White Flight" may not be terms familiar to young historians. Here's a lesson that introduces middle schoolers to these terms and the actions associated with them. Class members examine a series of...
Lesson Plan
Center for History Education

African Americans and the Democratic Party

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Why did African American voters switch from the Republican Party to the Democratic party during the Depression Era? That is the question young historians attempt to answer as they study primary source documents from the period. The focus...
Lesson Plan
American Institute of Physics

The Physicist's War: Dr. Herman Branson and the Scientific Training of African Americans during World War II

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
The mobilization of soldiers for World War II resulted in a worker shortage in the defense industries, especially in the fields of physics and other sciences. The Engineering, Science, and Management War Training program (ESMWT) was...
Lesson Plan
1
1
Anti-Defamation League

Building Alliances

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Bystander or up-stander? The final lesson in the "Looking Back Reaching Forward" unit asks participants to consider how they can become involved in encouraging change in their school and community. 
Lesson Plan
1
1
Anti-Defamation League

The Problem We Still Live With?

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Norman Rockwell's painting "The Problem We Still Live With" launches a unit study of racism in the United States and segregation in U.S. schools. In the first lesson, scholars discuss the painting, review key elements of the Supreme...
Lesson Plan
1
1
Learning for Justice

The Color of Law: Creating Racially Segregated Communities

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
It is pointed, powerful, and painful! The first of three lessons about laws and practices that support inequality looks at how government policies created and reinforced segregated communities. Young social scientists read excerpts from...
Activity
National Woman's History Museum

Create your own Women’s History Museum

For Teachers 6th - 9th
Celebrate Women's History with a museum display. Divide the class into seven groups and assign each a different historical topic/time period. Each group member researches a different woman of that time period and creates an exhibit that...
Lesson Plan
1
1
US House of Representatives

Black Americans in Congress Speak Their Mind

For Teachers 7th - 12th
To conclude their study of Black Americans in Congress, groups select a statement made by one of the Members, examine the Member's profile on the provided link, and create a display that includes state represented, years of service, an...
Lesson Plan
1
1
Curated OER

Langston Hughes Was a Dreamer Too

For Teachers K - 12th
Encourage your pupils to imagine their own dreams for the future. After studying three poems by Langston Hughes and listening to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s I Have a Dream speech, young poets craft their own dream stanza. 
Lesson Plan
Center for Civic Education

Martin Luther King Jr. and the Power of Words

For Teachers 7th - 12th Standards
It is easy to forget the power that written or spoken word can have in effecting change. Using quotations from such inspirational leaders as Maya Angelou, Mahatma Gandhi, and Martin Luther King Jr., encourage your class members to...
Lesson Plan
Historical Thinking Matters

Rosa Parks: 3 Day Lesson

For Teachers 7th - 12th Standards
How can evidence and perspective challenge even the most well-known of stories? Through primary and secondary source analysis, think-alouds, and discussion, young historians evaluate the historical narrative of Rosa Parks across multiple...
Handout
Curated OER

Mississippi Trial, 1955: Concept Analysis

For Students 7th - 12th
Considering Christopher Crowe's Mississippi Trial, 1955 with reading groups or as a whole-class text? Check out the background information and instructional ideas in this seven-page resource packet.

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