African-American history is an integral part of what America is. Learners examine important events, read informational texts, and create quilts depicting specific eras in African-American history. Each image created for the quilt will be...

Students describe issues or problems facing African Americans following Reconstruction. They explain possible solutions to these problems suggested in the sources you find, and cite arguments for and against these solutions.

The feelings and attitudes of African-Americans during World War II are examined by high schoolers. After watching various clips from "The War," they answer comprehension questions for each section. In groups, they create their own...

High schoolers examine the experiences of African-American women during the Civil War. Reading letters and autobiographies, they gain insight into how they dealt with slavery and losing their children. They create a model to evaluate the...

The Civil Rights Act of 1866, which granted citizenship to all males in the U.S., resulted in the first African Americans to be elected to Congress. Class members research 11 of these men, the challenges they faced, and craft...

Bessie Coleman. William Powell. Willa Brown. Benjamin O. Davis, Jr. While these names may not be familiar to many Americans, they are African American pioneers in aviation history. Class members have an opportunity to research the...

A two-part lesson asks young scientists to research the contributions of African American scientists at Bell Laboratories. After presenting their findings, class members watch two demonstrations that introduce them to total internal...

A two-part instructional activity focuses on the contributions to the fields of astronomy and astrophysics of two African Americans: Benjamin Banneker and Dr. George Carruthers. In part one, scholars learn about Benjamin Banneker by...

Students research the American Memory collection to explore the African-American experience from 1897 to 1953.

Students create a poster and paper describing the importance of African American History Week after a visit to the Phillips Collection in Washington DC.

What's missing from most studies of the American Revolutionary War is information about the role African Americans played in the conflict. To correct this oversight, middle schoolers research groups like the Black Loyalists and ...

The era after the Civil War saw a flourishing of African Americans exercising their rights. Using graphic organizers and Internet research, pupils consider the legacy of Benjamin Sterling Turner, who sat in Congress. Afterward, they...

To gain an understanding of the treatment of African American soldiers during World War I, class members watch an excerpt from the History Detectives film, Our Colored Heroes, and then examine three recruitment posters from that...

Celebrate Black History Month with this lesson plan, in which middle schoolers create an essay about a famous African-American. Writers conduct research online, take notes to write an essay in proper format, and use ideas, text, and...

Pupils analyze a variety of primary source materials related to lynching (news articles, letters written to or written by prominent Americans, pamphlets, broadsides, etc.) in order to assess the effectiveness of the anti-lynching...

Ida B. Wells, Rosa Parks, and Fannie Lour Hammer are three African American activists who stood up for change. Though living in different time periods, all three women sought justice and equality. Class members examine primary source...

Students examine African American issue between the years 1897 and 1953. In this African American history lesson, students research the social, economic, and political conditions of African Americans during the aforementioned time span...

Celebrate Black History Month with a packet of materials on African American inventors. Readers discover several inventors' character traits, their inventions, and their lives. They even have the opportunity to conduct further research...

A two-part instructional activity introduces young historians to the work of famous African American inventors. Groups first research and develop a presentation of an inventor that includes biographical information and information about...

Middle schoolers may be surprised to learn that before the American Civil War there were more slaves living in New York than there were in Kentucky! Young historians examine maps and census data to gather statistics about...

Lynchings, race riots, and Jim Crow laws were just a few examples of antagonism that African Americans faced after Emancipation. Class groups investigate these and other events, and prepare a presentation to inform the class about...

Learners research the role played and contributions made by African American soldiers during World War I. They discuss the evolution of civil rights in America's history, and the progress that has been made in the last 100 years.

Helpful for an American literature or history unit, this instructional activity prompts middle schoolers to examine slavery in the United States. They read slave narratives that were part of the Federal Writers' Project and then conduct...

Here is a complex lesson plan that interweaves the history of the Jim Crow South and the Great Migration with the study of poetry, art, and blues music from the Harlem Renaissance. The plan helps young historians develop a deep...