Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Frederick Douglass: This is Your Life; The Abolitionist

For Teachers 7th
Seventh graders study the abolitionist movement in antebellum America.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Sole People

For Teachers K - 8th
Explore the African American inventor Jan Ernst Matzeliger and create a "sole" painting.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Music Motivates

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students listen to songs from the Civil Rights movement. They explain how the music might have inspired African-Americans to be activists in the movement. They examine how the Civil Rights movement affected the common good.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Social Studies: Underground Railroad

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students role-play as escaped slaves making their way from North Carolina to Canada, stopping in Indiana. They track their journeys on maps and include a stop at Harriet Tubman's. Students write three paragraphs about how Tubman aids...
Lesson Plan
NPR

The Obama Years

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Beginning with a quick writing prompt, young historians write about what they will remember most about President Obama's legacy. The activity opens up a larger discussion and exploration of his accomplishments, milestones, and...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Tradition through storytelling and music

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Young scholars discover how storytelling can shape a person's tradition.Students examine different methods of storytelling such as music, biographies, and African folktales. They then demonstrate their knowledge of storytelling by...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Biographical Scene Investigators

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Students explore different activities that are centered on the subject of discovering the meaning of a biography and autobiography. This is done with the application of Howard Gardner's Theory of Multiple Intelligences.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Draw Me the Music

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students explore and investigate the foundation and history of jazz music. They listen to various pieces of music while creating drawings, develop a timeline of jazz history, and read and discuss biographies of famous jazz musicians.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Introducing the Victims of the Holocaust

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students consider the plight of Holocaust victims. For this World War II lesson, students discuss the number of Jews who were persecuted during the war and read biographies by Holocaust survivors. Students compose essays on personal...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Zora Neale Hurston:Fighting Jim Crow through the All-Black Community

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students explain the importance of equality of opportunity and equal protection of the law as a characteristic of American society and evaluate the validity and credibility of different historical interpretations.
Interactive
Curated OER

Martin Luther King, Jr.

For Students 7th - 12th
In this online interactive history worksheet, students respond to 10 short answer and essay questions about the accomplishments of Martin Luther King, Jr. Students may check some of their answers on the interactive worksheet.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Investigating the Harlem Renaissance

For Teachers 11th - 12th
The work of Langston Hughes opens the door to research into the origin and legacy of the Harlem Renaissance and how the literature of the period can be viewed as a commentary on race relations in America. In addition, groups are assigned...
Organizer
Curated OER

Rosa Parks

For Students 4th - 6th
Rosa Parks is a great book for studying the Civil Rights Movement. Use this packet of worksheets to track reading, elicit responses, and promote book-related activities. Character analysis, prediction and short essay skills will be...
Interactive
Curated OER

Bessie Smith

For Students 8th - 12th
In this jazz history worksheet, students respond to 7 essay and short answer questions about the life and accomplishments of Bessie Smith.
Lesson Plan
Stanford University

Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X: A Common Solution?

For Students 6th - 12th Standards
Much has been made of the differences between Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X. But was there any common ground between them? Class members reconsider what they think they know about these two civil rights leaders with...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

A Renaissance of Jazz and Poetry

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students explore, analyze, study and read a variety of poems and listen to jazz that have their roots in the Harlem Renaissance. They then discuss the similarities and differences of themes in the works of different poets and composers.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Lesson: Looking Closer: The Artwork of Shinique Smith

For Teachers 9th - 12th
A critical discussion regarding the nature of Shinique Smith's second-hand clothing art is the foundation for the lesson. Critical thinkers fully analyze the meaning behind her work, taking close consideration of where the clothing came...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

6th Grade: Express Yourself, Lesson 1: Poem

For Teachers 6th Standards
While originally created to accompany The Cay, this poetry lesson could be used on it's own, especially if you are working on dialect. Class members conduct a close reading of "When Malindy Sings" by Paul Laurence Dunbar and listen to an...
Activity
PBS

Heart to Heart

For Students 3rd - 7th
Study heart health and math in one activity. After measuring their resting heart rates by finding the pulse in their wrists, learners build a stethoscope to listen to their heart rate, and note the differences between the two methods.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Careers and Self-Portraits

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Students explore careers they may have in their future. They create a paper collage self-portrait of themselves as adults dressed for work. They write an autobiography describing the education and training required for their chosen career.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Making Choices

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students explore the life of Harriet Tubman. They examine a painting of Harriet Tubman and consider the tools used to communicate information about her. Sudents describe how the color of a painting explains the mood of the illustrator....
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students are introduced to the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), one of the "big 5" civil rights organizations (the other four were: the Urban League, NAACP, SCLC, and CORE). The SNCC is credited with having led the...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Love To Langston

For Teachers 1st - 6th
Students complete pre reading, writing, during reading, and interdisciplinary activities for the book Love To Langston. In this reading lesson plan, students complete journal entries, go over vocabulary, answer short answer questions,...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Story Quilts

For Teachers 1st - 2nd
Students listen to Tar Beach, by Faith Ringgold, and create story quilts.