Education Oasis
Creative Writing Unit: Analyzing, Interpreting, Discussing and Writing Various Genres of African-American Literature
A six-week unit takes high schoolers through various works of African-American literature, including poems, plays, and short stories. The lesson plan format includes a week-by-week description of activities, goals, materials, and...
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The South, the North and the Great Migration: Blues and Literature
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...
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Sharing African Culture
Students investigate African American culture by reading aloud an African folk tale and illustrating the tale. They use their illustrations to create a book or a bulletin board that retells the folk tale.
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African-American Autobiography for the Middle School Student
Students are introduced to the characteristics of an autobiography. For each author, they research their life and works and discuss why it reflects different time periods of African-Americans. In groups, they brainstorm characteristics...
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The Jacket: Journal Templates Teacher's Guide
Explore this story involving prejudice and racism to enhance learners' comprehension skills. The story The Jacket by Andrew Clements involves an African American boy who is falsely accused of stealing someone's jacket. This teacher's...
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American Literature and the Civil War
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...
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Struggle for Equality
Students read and discuss a selection of news clippings, sermons, and narratives that depict the continued struggle for equality and mistreatment of African American citizens. They present a "60 Minutes"-style news program with the...
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Willie and Friends: Overcomers in the Land Stories by Faith Ringgold
Learners use puppets and plays to examine the role of African Americans throughout history. After being read a story by a puppet, they respond to each one in writing. Individually, they write a story about a place they have wanted to...
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Utilizing Art, Literature and Film to Teach Black History
Fifth graders are introduced to different aspects of African-American history through literature, art, and films. As a class, they are read a story about the Underground Railroad, identify the main characters and put the events into...
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African American Traditions: Cameroonian and African-American Folktales
Students compare Cameroonian and African-American folktales. In this folktales lesson, students participate in a jigsaw activity that requires them to read "The Owl Never Sleeps as Night," "Why the Lizard Often Nods," "Tappin, the Land...
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Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave by Frederick Douglass
In this literature worksheet, students respond to 12 short answer and essay questions about Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave. Students may also link to an online interactive quiz on the novel at the bottom...
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Language Arts, Social Studies, African Americans, The Blues, To Kill A Mockingbird
African American history during the Jim Crow era includes encounters with poverty, racism, disrespect, and protest. Harper Lee develops all four of these themes in her famous 1960 novel, To Kill a Mockingbird. To help learners understand...
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Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave by Frederick Douglass
In this online interactive reading comprehension worksheet, students respond to 13 multiple choice questions about Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave. Students may submit their answers to be scored.
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Elements of African Oral Literature
Ninth graders examine the importance of family history. In this Language Arts lesson, 9th graders read and discuss African oral literature with a focus on the roles of griots. Students compare /contrast the elements of African oral...
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Parallel Studies in American/Afro-American Literature, Part II -- Black and White Images in Alienation
Students begin the lesson plan with a review of the elements of poetry. Individually, they read a variety of poems and literature one white and one black author focusing on decay, sterility and alienation. They identify these images...
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Zora Hurston Teacher's Guide
Students explore American culture by reading classic literature in class. In this African-American history lesson, students read the story Zora Hurston and the Chinaberry Tree while identifying the work and contributions of the real life...
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His Story/Her Story/Your Story
Students read a variety of biographies to gain insight on the experiences of an African-American's life. Individually, they try to determine the time period it was written and compare the event with ones that occured in their own lives....
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The Freedom to Fight
Students study the African American troop experiences in the Civil War. In this American history lesson, students examine primary and secondary sources regarding the experiences and contributions of African American soldiers who served...
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From Remus to Rap: A History in Theory and Practice of the African-American Storytelling Tradition
Young scholars examine the specific form and function of tall tales and toasts.
They discover the importance of performance in the telling of a story and the importance of rhythm in the telling of toasts. They create stories of their...
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History in Literature - The House of Dies Drear
Hook your learners with a great project. They research the underground railroad and civil rights movement through literature, view the video The Underground Railroad: Escape from Slavery, and read the book House of Dies Drear in their...
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Harlem Renaissance: Pivotal Period in the Development of Afro-American Culture
Students examine the time period of the Harlem Renaissance. In groups, they compare and contrast the type of art before and after the movement along with the state of society at the time. After reading a book on the topic of their...
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Her stories: African American folktales, fairy tales, and true tales
Pupils discuss the illustration's allusion to the myth, Pandora's Box. Students locate instances of folk sayings or expressions that make these tales seem authentic to the reader. Pupils draw a Venn diagram comparing Catskinella and...
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Multigenre Research Project
Students research influences on African American literature. They research someone who has influenced the development of African American literature and create a multi-genre research project. They create a photograph poem, character...
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Literature Overview: February
Third graders examine the phrase Touch and Go, and analyze the poem, Dream Variation by Langston Hughes. They read an African-American folktale and write interpretive paragraphs about the story.