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...

Introduce your middle schoolers to the lives of past Native Americans. First, learners work together to put photographs in a sequence. Then, using their sequence, they create stories to share with the whole class. No matter how old your...

Young scholars compare art and literature by examining a contemporary painting by Glenn Ligon and the essay by James Baldwin that inspired it. They write an essay about a personal experience that relates to the theme of being an "outsider."

While reading Arthur Miller's The Crucible, start or end each day with a journal activity. The project includes a list of prompts for each act of the play. Pupils choose a prompt every time they write and connect their own experiences to...

How much do you know about Latin American music? A crossword puzzle challenges learners to answer 24 questions about the history, genres, performers, and instruments of Latin American music.

Examine the contributions of African-Americans in the worlds of art and literature. Over the course of a few days, young scholars will read and analyze a poem, a short story, and a piece of art. They complete a range of...

The attitudes of European settlers toward the American wilderness, as reflected in art and literature, is the focus of this resource packet designed for teachers. Included in the unit overview you will find lists or paintings and...

Students read a variety of Native American Literature and discuss the main idea by answering critical thinking questions about the poem. Students use context clues to understand the feeling of the Native American culture about the Earth....

As part of their exploration of the American dream, class members examine primary source materials to compare immigrant experiences of those arriving early in our country's history to those arriving in the US after World War...

Learn more about the Civil War. Young scholars will choose a novel based on the Civil War to learn more about the viewpoints of that time period. They will then discuss the roles of the members of a Literature Circle and then participate...

Jazz and the City, Jazz and the Civil Rights Movement, Jazz and Gender, Jazz and Literature, Jazz and the Arts, Jazz and Film. Here's a packet of unit plans organized around themes that reflect American culture. Each unit examines how...

Students explore, analyze and discuss family origins, special legacies, and racial/cultural groups in literature and art that exposes them to positive examples in African-American history and culture. They encounter examples from dance,...

Young scholars examine letters of Japanese-American children during internment in World War II. They discover what it was like in the camps and how they were treated once they were released. They also view photographs of the camps.

Third graders complete a unit of lessons on the singing, instruments, and dancing of Native Americans. They identify and play various instruments, complete worksheets, define key vocabulary, sing songs, and perform dances.

Students explore the Latin American film industry. In this Latin American film lesson, students compare Latin American films to American films as they watch segments of "Que Viva Mexico!" Students research the painters on the film and...

Sixth graders make connections between art and literature studying about Medieval imagery and beliefs.

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...

Travel back in American history to the era of slavery and abolition. After reading about the Underground Railroad, young historians examine a painting depicting the event, and write a narrative from the point of view of a person in the...

Students explore elements of American folktales and tall tales. In this literature lesson, students read examples of American folktales and tall tales and prepare a monologue or news report to present to the class based on their readings.

Students participate in theatre activities to study American history. In this American history and theatre lesson, students work in groups to research a specific Native American group to investigate their lifestyle. Students then create...

Students are introduced to the culture of African American art. Using the internet, they research the events surrounding the Harlem Renaissance and discover how it produced a wide variety of art and literature. To end the instructional...

Students identify and connect themes of selected nonfiction, fiction, poetry, and art to Harlem Renaissance jazz. They compare and contrast historical and fictionalized versions of the jazz scenes of the Harlem Renaissance. They...

Fifth graders explore U.S. history by reading an award winning book about World War II. In this Japanese internment camp lesson, 5th graders read the book Under the Blood-Red Sun and discuss the entrapment of Japanese-Americans on our...

For those learning about Johnny Appleseed, this PowerPoint presents many wonderful activities across the curriculum. Activities in art, music, math, science, and literature are embedded in each of the slides. An excellent presentation...