Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Syncopation and Rhythm in Igor Stravinsky's Rite of Spring and Rap Music

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students recognize and clap the syncopated rhythmic beat of a rap song and identify recurring rhythmic pattern in the excerpt of "Dance of the Adolescents" from Igor Stravinsky's Rite of Spring.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

All About Me Poster

For Teachers Pre-K - 1st
For this biography/autobiography lesson, young scholars read a few biographies and discuss the term and it's characteristics. Students then brainstorm what makes a good biography/autobiography and create an 'All about me' poster....
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The All About Me Poster

For Teachers K - 1st
Students discover the literary genre of biographies.  In this creative writing lesson, students write about their own life experiences and personal stories.  Students create a poster about their lives, a biographical...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

People Take the Stand

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students learn how to be a philanthropist. In this community lesson, students define words associated with philanthropy. Students read Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes and discuss the problem and how it was solved. Students...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Colonial Life in Virginia

For Teachers 4th
Fourth graders compare and contrast life in England with plantation life in America. They study the dependencies or mini-industries that could be found on plantations.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Working Watermelon

For Teachers 2nd - 4th Standards
You're going to wish you had a watermelon for this lesson! Class members read about watermelons and make a salad in class to sample. They also perform estimates, measurements and calculations on a watermelon. They predict what percentage...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Axis and Allies World War II Simulation

For Teachers 5th - 12th
Young scholars investigate World War II through the computer game Axis and Allies. They discuss the basics of World War II before playing the game, spend eight weeks playing the game that is a simulation of World War II, and write a...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The U.S. Recognition of the State of Israel

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Pupils research the political aspects of the U.S. position in the Middle East, considering, for example, Truman's position in view of the 1948 presidential election. They examine a telegram sent by the Secretary of State, George C....
Article
National Humanities Center

National Humanities Center: Teacher Serve: Freedom's Story: Pigmentocracy

For Students 9th - 10th
Trudier Harris, Professor of English at the University of North Carolina, takes a look at pigmentocracy, the distinctions that people of African descent in America make in their various skin tones. She suggests that there is a...
Primary
National Humanities Center

National Humanities Center: Toolbox Library: Community on Film, Making of African American Identity: V. 3

For Students 9th - 10th
Excerpts from a 1941 film that depicts black and white communities in Kannapolis, NC, by H. Lee Waters (1902-1997). This two part film characterizes the differences in economy, community, and values of two separate cultures.
Primary
National Humanities Center

National Humanities Center: Toolbox Library: Community and Culture, Making of African American Identity: V. 3

For Students 9th - 10th
An attempt to define community as a shared culture. In this article and review, critic, poet, and playwright Larry Neal (1937-1981) applies the principles of self-determination espoused by Stokely Carmichael and others to the arts and...
Handout
Other

Challenges Facing Diaspora Africans Who Return to Africa

For Students 9th - 10th
This is an examination of African-Americans who return to Africa and how they are accepted and accept African people and African life as well as how they cope with the challenges of adopting their ancestral homeland as foreign outsiders.
Website
University of Groningen

American History: Outlines: Clash of Cultures

For Students 9th - 10th
Overview of the 1920s era clash in values in which religious fundamentalism flourished alongside literary and artistic movements of African-Americans and other American intellectuals.
Website
Independence Hall Association

U.s. History: Intolerance

For Students 5th - 8th
The 1920s was a time of intolerance and a return to nativism, a claim to return to American values, defined as those held by white, western European descendents. Read about the resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan, restriction on immigration,...
Activity
Other

For Many, One: Passing From Light to Dark

For Students 9th - 10th
This scholarly article looks into the treatment of race and ethnicity in the 1920s and how they were handled in popular culture. Read about stereotypes of African Americans and immigrants from Asia and southern Europe and find out how...
Website
Indiana University

Iu: Literature as Lessons on the Diversity of Culture

For Students 9th - 10th
Very scholarly article that looks at the role literature helps teach us about the diversity of our culture. The author looks at various aspects of literature and then gives teacher resources and a helpful bibliography.
Article
Virginia Tech

Virginia Tech: At Home With Multicultural Adolescent Literature

For Students 9th - 10th
List of "Must read," multicultural literature for the adolescent reader. The books are categorized by the culture that they represent and by reading level. An excellent resource for teachers and students alike.
Handout
Baertracks

Creative Quotations: Ruby Dee

For Students 9th - 10th
These are Ruby Dee's personal quotes that reflect her values and life themes. If you scroll down to the bottom of the page, you will find the sources of the quotes listed.
Website
PBS

Pbs Learning Media: Dance Theatre of Harlem

For Students 9th - 10th
Learn about the Dance Theatre of Harlem is this segment from A Walk Through Harlem.
Activity
Virginia Tech

Virginia Tech: A Multicultural Literature Bibliography

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
A list that provides either the teacher or the student with a list of books that gives a representation of the multicultural society that exists in the United States. A brief synopsis of each book is given along with a suggestion for the...