Curated OER
African Art is Alive: Drum, Dance, Storytelling....
Young scholars investigate and experience African culture through various art forms. Students explore the physical and political geographies of Africa through mapping activities. Young scholars, in groups, prepare presentations about...
Curated OER
West African Art
Students engage in a lesson that is concerned with the concept of West African Art. They conduct research using a variety of resources. They focus upon the history, geography, economics, and political systems. The information is used to...
Curated OER
Water: A Source of Life and Culture
Students explore water as a feature of culture. In this visual arts lesson, students consider the necessity of water in every culture. Students select water symbols and use their artistic skills to create water symbol silhouettes.
Curated OER
Lesson 4: Author's Purpose
Learners identify the author's purpose in various poems from the book Words with Wings: A Treasury of African-American Poetry and Art. In order to determine the purpose, pupils first observe as the teacher completes a PIES char...
Curated OER
American Music Styles: European Roots and African Influences - Lesson 3
Students describe some of the characteristics of country and blues music. They see how country music rose to a nationally known music style. They write a two-paragraph essay on what they think country music be like in the next 100 years.
Curated OER
Art Exploration-A Global Approach
A high school unit focuses on a discipline-based study of artworks from many times, places, and cultures. Addressing historical works of art as well as modern techniques, the unit illustrates how a traditional organizational...
Curated OER
Breaking Barriers
Determine how African-Americans have broken barriers in this history lesson. Middle schoolers discuss the 15th Amendment and the American civil rights movement prior to analyzing Barack Obama's speech "A More Perfect Union," taking care...
Curated OER
The Harlem Renaissance Births a Black Culture
Students examine the men and women who were a part of the Harlem Renaissance. Individually, they recreate their favorite pieces of art from the time period and create their own original works after reading poem from the movement. In...
Curated OER
Dance: Discovering the Culture of Gullah
It's wonderful to see a lesson that incorporates art, movement, and writing. These three forms of creative expression are explored as learners dance to music from the Gullah people of West Africa. They analyze several paintings, listen...
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.
Curated OER
Pizza Biography
A biography writing lesson plan with a tasty twist! Kids create a "visual biography" in which each pizza slice represents a paragraph, and toppings represent supporting details. They learn research techniques, note-taking skills, and how...
Curated OER
Counting on Art
Explore the life and painting style of African-American artist Horace Pippin by looking carefully at its parts, then create a "secret number" painting for a classroom counting book.
Curated OER
Pendemonium: The Great African Surfari
Young scholars discover the importance of matching verbs to their subjects through a discussion of a whimsical video on verb agreement and a read aloud of the book, "To Root, To Toot To Parachute". They practice verb agreement in...
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...
Curated OER
On Sunday There Might Be Americans Lesson
Students examine the life of a rural Niger boy. They discover his relationship with foreigners and indigenous peoples. They read excerpts from a former Peace Corps volunteer.
Penguin Books
A Guide to the Works of Jacqueline Woodson
The works of Jacqueline Woodson introduce readers to diverse characters and themes. A guide covers many of the author's best-known books such as Brown Girl Dreaming and Locomotion. Dive & Discuss and Explore & Extend activities...
Curated OER
Elements of African Oral Literature
Ninth graders examine the importance of family history. In this Language Arts activity, 9th graders read and discuss African oral literature with a focus on the roles of griots. Students compare /contrast the elements of...
Curated OER
A South African Storm
Students read a letter titled "A South African Storm" on her experiences of discrimination in the country. Individually or as a class, they answer questions about the author's purpose in writing the piece was and how she made herself...
National Endowment for the Humanities
A “New English” in Chinua Achebe’s “Things Fall Apart”: A Common Core Exemplar
To examine the “New English” Chinua Achebe uses in Things Fall Apart, readers complete a series of worksheets that ask them to examine similes, proverbs, and African folktales contained in the novel. Individuals explain the meaning...
National Gallery of Canada
A Cultural Portrait
Explore heritage and identity through an examination of art and a related project. The featured art, related to the African diaspora, includes several types of art created by different artists. Pupils consider their own backgrounds 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
Kwanzaa Symbol Strips
Research the African family holiday of Kwanzaa and find the symbols for the seven principles of Kwanzaa. Learners analyze the symbols and how they may relate to their own lives. They then create an original art following the designs...
August House
Anansi and the Pot of Beans
Anansi is a tricky character, but can he realize he's wrong and write an apology letter? Learners use Anansi and the Pot of Beans to practice writing, art, and figurative language. A series of activities are engaging for both...
K20 LEARN
Diversity Quilt: A Lesson on Culture
After brainstorming the various aspects of cultural identity, class members interview each other, examine video clips, and read stories to discover how these aspects reveal one's cultural identity. Individuals then craft a quilt square...