Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Using Oral Traditions to Improve Verbal and Listening Skills

For Teachers All
Students examine the role of stories in African and African-American cultures. This lesson plan is written for students with visual impairments. They
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Struggle Against Segregation

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Middle schoolers use vocabulary related to the history of segregation in the United States. They study about the history of segregation in America and recognize the challenges and prejudice that many African Americans faced in the 1950s....
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Breaking the Chains: Rising Out of Circumstances

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Study history through photographs. In this visual arts and history lesson, students learn to analyze photographs to discover details about life during the Civil War era. Students write journal entries as if they are the African-American...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

An Analysis of Jim Crow Laws and their Effects on Race Relations

For Teachers 1st
First graders analyze the role of the Jim Crow laws on race relations. As a class, they are segregated based on the color shirt they have or some other simple criteria and wear either a square or circle sticker representing the majority...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Walking the Line

For Teachers K - 1st
Students participate in activities that engage all learning styles (such as picture walks, tracing lines, movement/theatre technique) as an introduction to the art element of line and its importance to art.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Mood in Music

For Teachers 9th - 11th
Young scholars portray the mood of a piece of music in a drawing.  In this mood in music lesson, students discuss how music creates a mood.  Young scholars listen to Vivaldi's "Four Seasons," "The Wreck of The Wreck of the...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

African Folktales

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Learners read African folktales. For this literature lesson, students share prior knowledge about South Africa, Morocco, and Nigeria. Then learners work in groups to read an assigned African folktale and answer response questions about...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

American Literature and the Civil War

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students prepare for and respond to literature selections. This package includes fourteen lessons from the American Literature, The Civil War and Its Aftermath: 1845-1880 series, each covering a different reading selection. Pre-reading...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Cinderella Stories - Native American Cinderella Stories

For Teachers K - 2nd
Students examine a Native American Cinderella story. In this Cinderella lesson, students listen to and compare Rafe Martin's, The Rough Face Girl, to other Cinderella stories. They complete the associated worksheets, role play scenes...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Economics Lesson: The Real McCoy

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Students research the origination of the expression "The Real McCoy." In this economics research lesson plan, students read the book The Real McCoy. Students examine Elijah McCoy and his invention of the oil cup and how it relates to the...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Say It Loud!: A Celebration Of Black Music In America - Lesson 1

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Learners identify many careers within the music industry such as producer, A&R representative and recording studio engineer. They connect achievements of noted artists with their roles in the music industry.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Say It Loud!: A Celebration Of Black Music in America - Lesson 3

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students listen to many examples of Motown music and explain the relationship between the word "Motown" and the city of Detroit. They examine and identify distinctive musical elements of the early "Motown Sound."
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Thurgood Marshall Makes a Difference

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Students find information about the life and legal career of Thurgood Marshall, including the NAACP and its causes. They comprehend the issues and context of the Brown v. Board of Education case that Marshall argued before the U.S....
Lesson Plan
Maryland Department of Education

A Raisin in the Sun and Dreams Deferred

For Teachers 10th Standards
To conclude a study of A Raisin in the Sun and to prepare for a visit to the Lewis Museum, class members analyze Langston Hughes' poem "Harlem." Learners then draw connections to characters in the play and to their own experiences...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Criminal or Hero

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
Young scholars investigate slavery in America circa the American Revolution. They will examine point- of view and perspective as they research a variety of informational resources. While this is designed to be used with the PBS video...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Picturing America: Images and Words of Hope from Romare Bearden and Langston Hughes

For Teachers 9th - 12th
A carefully crafted three-day instructional activity integrates poetry and visual art. By analyzing and comparing Langston Hughes' poem "Mother and Son" and Romare Bearden's collage "The Dove," readers explore the theme of hope. The...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Mini Masks: Ceramics

For Teachers 6th - 9th
Masks have been used for many reasons throughout human history. They are also great subjects for art projects! Included here are instructions, background information, and all the supplies needed to create mini masks in your class. 
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Different Strokes For Different Folktales

For Teachers K - 1st
Young readers use graphic organizers, such as Venn diagrams and story maps, to analyze a variety of folktales and the elements of a story. They use writing, sequencing activities, and creative art to identify the morals learned from a...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

We the People: The Citizen and the Constitution

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
Robert Coles’ The Story of Ruby Bridges forms the basis of this powerful cross-curricular study of civic education and civic responsibility. Class members consider how the book presents authority, responsibility, justice, and privacy.....
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Gettin' Through Thursday

For Teachers 1st - 4th
Have your class explore active reading strategies! In this guided reading lesson, learners make personal connections to characters having a bad day as a prior knowledge activation discussion. After reading Gettin' Through Thursday, class...
Lesson Plan
Learning to Give

The Beginning of the Storm

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Introduce readers to Mildred Taylor's Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry with a instructional activity that sets the context for the novel. Class members research the bigotry in Mississippi during the Great Depression and identify examples in...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Time Marches On

For Teachers 9th - 12th
High schoolers discover the times of Colonial America by creating a timeline.  In this U.S. History lesson, students research a teacher-directed website about African Americans in early colonial times.  High schoolers utilize...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Thanks Be To You

For Teachers 4th - 5th
Students research U.S. history by completing a worksheet activity in class. In this historical figure lesson, students identify the contributions and risks taken by the former African-American leader Martin Luther King Jr. Students read...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

A Monster's World

For Teachers 3rd - 6th
Students will use texture to create imaginary monsters and learn about the African American inventor Jan Earnst Matzeliger.