Anti-Defamation League
10 Ideas for Teaching Black History Month
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...
Poetry Foundation
Dream in Color - High School
Whether focusing on African American poets, Black History Month, or the poetic experience, an amazing toolkit that encourages learners to develop unique poetic voices deserves a place in your curriculum.
National Gallery of Canada
My Mask, My Voice
Recognize Black History Month with an examination of the African diaspora and a hands-on mask-making project. Learners first view and discuss images of artwork before creating their own plaster masks.
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...
Poetry Foundation
Dream in Color — Middle School
Celebrate diversity with a toolkit designed to inspire young poets to develop their own voices. After examining poems by African American poets, individuals craft their own poetic stories. The packet features poems by Gwendolyn Brooks,...
Country Music Hall of Fame
Ray Charles and Country Music
Ray Charles used the pain and adversity from his life to influence an entire genre of American music. Learn about the musician's daily life, struggles and success, and powerful musical style with a thorough resource.
Odell Education
Making Evidence-Based Claims: "The Souls of Black Folk" by W.E.B. Du Bois
Scholars dig deep into the text of W.E.B. Du Bois The Souls of Black Folk and analyze his position that black people must be aware of how they see themselves as well as how the world sees them. The instructor and readers work through the...
Speak Truth to Power
John Lewis: Non-Violent Activism
After comparing and contrasting non-violent and violent social movements, your young historians will take a closer look at the work and influence of John Lewis on the civil rights movement. They will then choose a current social...
John F. Kennedy Center
Musical Harlem: How Is Jazz Music Reflective of the Harlem Renaissance?
Bring jazz music and the Harlem Renaissance to light with a instructional activity that challenges scholars to research and create. Pupils delve deep into information materials to identify jazz terminology, compare types of jazz and jazz...
Smithsonian Institution
Jamaican Song, Dance, and Play: Experiences with Jamaican Musical Traditions
Young musicians experience song, dance, and play of the Jamaican culture. Scholars listen for and recreate beats, they play tunes, make up original dances, and play a game that challenges pupils to pass stones to a specific beat.
Curated OER
Researching African Americans Who Made a Difference
Celebrate Black History Month with this instructional activity, 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,...
Scholastic
Ruby Bridges: A Simple Act of Courage, Grades K-2
A civil rights movement lesson designed specifically with the Common Core State Standards in mind, young learners are introduced to the story of Ruby Bridges as the first African American child to attend an all-white elementary...
Scholastic
Ruby Bridges: A Simple Act of Courage, Grades 3-5
Through character trait graphic organizers, a vocabulary sorting activity, class discussion, and a civil rights movement slide show, your young historians will be introduced to the amazing story of Ruby Bridges and her experiences as the...
American Institute of Physics
African American Inventors in History
A two-part lesson 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 one of their...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Jacob Lawrence's Migration Series: Removing the Mask
Describe, analyze, compare and contrast poets from the Harlem Renaissance. Critical thinkers analyze the imagery, characterization, tone, symbolism, and historical context of Jacob Lawrence, Helene Johnson, and Paul Laurence Dunbar. A...
CHPCS
The United States in the 1920s: The New Negro Movement and the Harlem Renaissance
Music, writing, and activism all tell the story of history! The resource uses these elements and more in a presentation to discuss the Jazz Age and Harlem Renaissance. Your class views biographies, discusses important events, and...
National Gallery of Canada
A Unity Wall Drawing
Build class community with an art project. Learners first examine and discuss works of art. They then contribute to a class mural by tracing their hands and decorating them in relation to their own cultures. The final mural...
Curated OER
The Journey to Civil Rights
Students explore Civil Rights. In this Civil Rights lesson plan, students read about Ruby Bridges and define the words segregation and supremacy. Students make a timeline of important events in Civil Rights and write a paragraph about...
Curated OER
An Academic, Economic, Cultural, and Political Lesson Plan
Students reflect on how many board games they've played have African Americans, their culture or history incorporated within. They identify four street games and three card games that appeal to African Americans. They play the...
Smithsonian Institution
Braiding Rhythms: The Role of Bell Patterns in West African and Afro-Caribbean Music
Africans transported to the Caribbean as part of the transatlantic slave trade brought with them a rich tradition of music and dance. Four lessons teach young musicians the rumba clave rhythm, cascara rhythm, and the 6/8 bell patterns...
Digital Public Library of America
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
Zora Neale Hurston's novel Their eyes Were Watching God has been highly praised and severely criticized for its depiction of African American folk culture. A set of primary source materials, including photographs, articles, essays, and...
Academy of American Poets
Teach This Poem: "A Place in the Country" by Toi Derricotte
Build young scholars' confidence in analyzing art and poetry with a lesson that first asks pupils to list details they notice in Edouard Vuillard's painting "Garden at Vaucresson" and then to describe how the painting makes them feel....
Historic New Orleans Collection
Exploring Primary Sources: Music in New Orleans
Looking for a new and exciting way to teach young historians the art of primary source analysis? Jazz up your lesson plan with a resource that asks class members to analyze photos, travel documents, and letters written by some of New...
Stanford University
Voices of the Struggle: The Continual Struggle for Equality
As part of a study of the Civil Rights Movement from 1868 to the present, class members examine first person narratives, the Supreme Court case Brown v. Board of Education, and other significant events in civil rights history....