Curated OER
Ruby Bridges: One Little Girl's Brave Act
Second graders examine the life of Ruby Bridges. In this bravery instructional activity, 2nd graders read the story of Ruby Bridges and discuss Ruby's actions and decisions.
Curated OER
We Have a Dream
Pupils work as partners to study Dr. Martin Luther King's 'I Have a Dream' speech. In this African American history activity, students work with their cross-grade partner to study, understand, and memorize the speech. Pupils meet with...
Curated OER
G8: Classroom Activities
Young scholars explore the G8 Summit. In this current events lesson, students research the provided web links to learn more about the summit. Young scholars research issues to be debated at the summit.
Albert Shanker Institute
Economic Causes of the March on Washington
Money can't buy happiness, but it can put food on the table and pay the bills. The first of a five-lesson unit teaches pupils about the unemployment rate in 1963 and its relationship with the March on Washington. They learn how to create...
Curated OER
The Supreme Court and the Fourteenth Amendment
Students examine the ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment. In this Reconstruction Era lesson plan, students read and analyze 4 Supreme Court decisions regarding the Fourteenth Amendment and determine how the decisions impacted...
Center for History Education
The Freedmen's Bureau: Success or Failure?
What is freedom? The United States grappled with the question at the end of the Civil War after four million enslaved people were freed. Using circulars and images from the Reconstruction period, individuals examine how successful the...
Curated OER
What is a Biography?
Investigate biographies with your class. Compare autobiographies and biographies of Martin Luther King, Jr. as an example. Learners explore the factual components that make up a biography and locate several biographies of notable...
Curated OER
The War Lesson Plan
Young scholars view video clips of the film "The War". Several classroom activities are included and address major themes found in the film. The lessons incorporate video clips from the film as well as additional resources provided.
Curated OER
A Voice for the Times
Students make connections with events of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960's with songs made popular by Aretha Franklin.
Curated OER
Social Studies: Segregation, Jim Crow Laws, Plessy vs. Ferguson
Students examine the concept of segregation. In this civil rights lesson plan, students discuss the separate but equal theory as well as the Plessy vs. Ferguson decision. Students also research women of the Civil Rights Movement and Jim...
Fairfax Public Schools
Walter Dean Myers
If you are reading works by Walter Dean Myers in your class, this resource might be worth a look. Included here are activities and discussion questions for Malcolm X: By Any Means Necessary, Somewhere in the Darkness, Scorpions, Fallen...
Curated OER
Freedom's Children
Learners role play a story from from Freedom's Children: Young Civil Rights Activists Tell Their Own Stories. In this segregation activity, students work in a literary circle to create a role play to present to the class. Each student in...
Curated OER
WHERE DO I COME FROM?
Students analyze the struggle for racial and gender equality and for the extension of civil liberties, the social and economic impact of the Great Depression, and the economic boom and social transformation of post-World War II United...
Reed Novel Studies
Piecing Me Together: Novel Study
Jade from Renée Watson's Piecing Me Together wants to improve the world—and herself. Worksheets introduce new vocabulary, asks comprehension questions, and review personification and alliterations.
Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media
The Revolutionary Times as Seen Through the Eyes of Women
The role of women before and during the American Revolution changed dramatically. To gain an understanding of these changes, middle schoolers analyze primary source documents, including letters from women that supported the patriot cause...
Curated OER
Who Is Sarah Mae Fleming?
Fifth graders learn about two influential women. In this historical figures lesson, 5th graders work in groups to read articles about Rosa Parks and Sarah Fleming and share their findings with the class. Students use a Venn...
Curated OER
Fair Responses to Unfair Acts
Middle schoolers understand the sacrifices and problems in undoing an unfair situation. In this unfairness lesson, students discuss the reasons for the Montgomery Boycott and discuss worksheet and feelings about dealing with unfair...
Curated OER
North and South - Impact of the Abolitionist Movement
Students examine history of slavery in United States, discuss abolitionists such as Frederick Douglass who worked to end slavery, listen to excerpts from Douglass' autobiography, and visit interactive Underground Railroad web site.
Curated OER
Prudence Crandall House and Little Rock High School
Pupils examine how Prudence Crandall influenced the education of African Americans in New England prior to the Civil War and compare and contrast events in Canterbury, CN in the 1830's to those in Little Rock, AR in the 1950's.
Curated OER
Unintended Consequences: Policies that Impact Migration
High schoolers examine the cause-and-effect relationship between the Agricultural Adjustment Acts of the New Deal or the 1965 Voting Rights Act and African-American migration. They write an essay evaluating the effectiveness of the...
Curated OER
Urban Concentration and Racial Violence
Students research one of the many urban race riots in U.S. history, from the New York City riots during the Civil War to the "Red Summer of 1919" or the hate-strikes of 1943. They present their findings in the form of a newspaper's front...
Curated OER
Spirituals
Students review factors that contributed to the development of the spiritual, which reflects the influence of African religious and Christian traditions, and slavery. Students collect spirituals/songs of their heritage from family...
Curated OER
OK in Oklahoma? All-Black Communities
Students read to discover the African-American migration to Oklahoma following the Civil War and the eventual settlements of thirty-two all-black towns. To present their findings, students will write position papers and participate in...
Curated OER
Confict, Consensus, and Conclusion
Students debate the key issues dealing with women's rights and the rights of African Americans during and after the Civil War. They analyze the women's rights movement in relationship to the desire for suffrage. They utilize the...