Celebrate Black History Month with the help of 10 ideas that delve deep into the history, major events, contributions, famous African Americans, and sheds light on how scholars today can take a proactive stance on current civil rights...

Ezell Blair, Jr., David Richmond, Franklin McCain and Joseph McNeil changed history. Their sit-in at the lunch counter of the Woolworths in Greensboro, North Carolina on February 1, 1960 became a model for the nonviolent protests that...

This Groundhog's Day, challenge scholars to predict, estimate, tally, and graph in a weather-themed lesson plan in which class members play the role of the groundhog to forecast the weather come February second. 

February is Marijuana Awareness Month, and a set of interdisciplinary activities can make your class aware of the social, medical, legal, and psychological effects of marijuana. With writing prompts, research opportunities, and...

A lesson challenges scholars to analyze editorial cartoons created by Fred Seibel, illustrator for the Times-Dispatch, during the Massive Resistance. A class discussion looking at today's editorial pages and Jim Crow Laws leads the...

Is much required of those to whom much is given? That's the central question asked of middle schoolers in this lesson. Scholars consider the actions of Tommie Smith and John Carlos, Colin Kaepernick, Lady Gaga, and others who have taken...

Zora Neal Hurston, Toni Morrison, and Maya Angelou are featured in a guided inquiry unit. High schoolers research the lives and works of these and other Black women writers and craft an argument, using evidence from their research, to...

A unit focuses on the Civil War. Second graders follow along with an informational reading about the war—why it started, how it ended, and essential individuals such as Harriet Beecher Stow, Harriet Tubman, Abraham Lincoln, Ulisses, S....

A unit focuses on Civil Rights leaders. Scholars read or listen to an informational text about Susuan B. Anthony, Mary McLeod Bethune, Eleanor Roosevelt, Jackie Robinson, Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King Jr., Cesar Chavez, and other...

Have you ever been asked to explain a leap year/leap day? Use this response to reading worksheet to support your scholars in finding out what it is, and its importance to our calendar. This resource is made up of eight questions...

No need to look any further. This resource has everything for a solid exploration of the role of African Americans in the Vietnam War. Class members read primary sources, including a Martin Luther King speech, political cartoons of the...

Enhance Black History Month with a twenty-page resource designed to boost scholars' knowledge of the great accomplishments made by African Americans. Learners take in fun facts about famous inventors such as George Washington Carver and...

A unit study of the importance of a free press in a democracy begins with class members listening to a podcast featuring two journalists, one from a United States public radio station and one from Capetown, South Africa. The lesson,...

The reading of a contextual essay launches a study of Black Americans who served in Congress from 1870 through 1887. Young historians identify the African Americans who served during this period, investigate the ways they won national...

Despite some advances made during the Reconstruction Era following the Civil War, the period from 1887 through 1929, African Americans serving in Congress suffered severe setbacks due to Jim Crow Laws and voter suppression. Class members...

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...

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...

Informational text and impressionistic art lead a lesson plan about Harriet Tubman. Working in teams, scholars examine a variety of resources. They analyze, compare, and contrast the work.  Using their research findings, pupils...

Maya Angelou's work reflects her passion for life, civil rights, and justice for all. A collection of 12 primary sources provide scholars with insight into this amazing woman. The set includes photographs, articles, recordings of...

A activity all about Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad introduces scholars to African American spirituals. By way of reading, speaking, and listening, learners discover, analyze, and decode African American spirituals. They...

Finding good primary source materials to support any study of history can be a challenge and time-consuming. A set of 11 primary source letters, images, and text excerpts provide young historians with an opportunity to sharpen their...

Fifteen primary sources provide a context for a study of the Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. The packet captures the excitement for the changes promised by the amendment as well as the backlash against it.

After investigating the Black Lives Matter movement, class members do a close read of Roger Reeves' "Black Laws." They write down words and phrases that rhyme, consider the kinds of rhymes used and their function in the poem. Scholars...

Amanda Gorman, the United States's first National Youth Poet Laureate, is featured in a resource from the Academy of American Poets. Class members first read Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I Have A Dream" speech and note what King wanted...