This is a fantastic resource designed for learners to envision what it was like for the three million African-Americans who migrated to urban industrial centers of the northern United States between 1910 and 1940. After reading a...

Your high schoolers will examine the community in which they live and discuss with the class. Using the Internet, they identify the importance of African-American art and how it relates to the African-American culture. Individually, they...

From the Know-Nothings to the Bible Riots, immigration and urbanization changed the face of America in the middle of the 1800s. Using documents that range from immigrant experiences to renderings of violent conflict between immigrants...

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...

While cities had only a small fraction of the population in colonial America, they played a significant role in pre-revolutionary years, and this was certainly true for the largest city in the North American colonies: Philadelphia. Your...

Learners read narratives about the experiences of 19th century fugitive slaves that fled to urban centers. They conduct further research on the African-American urban migration movement and present their findings to the class.

Enable students to use the blues to explore urbanization, technology, and their effects on everyday life in the 20th century. Musicians were among the large number of people who, between 1914 and 1945, participated in the Great Migration...

Chicago is one city, four neighborhoods, and countless nationalities. The lesson explores the ethnic division of Chicago in the early twentieth century. Academics read primary sources, analyze maps, and tour an online exhibit to...

Students explore African American migration. In this black culture and history lesson, students use a map to identify northern and southern states in which African Americans lived in the 1900s. Students observe and describe objects and...

A reading of “Gatsby’s Green Light Beckons a New Set of Strivers,” a New York Times article by Sara Rimer, triggers a discussion of the American Dream and what it means to strive for something. Following the discussion, class members...

Emanuel Leutze's painting Washington Crossing the Delaware. Alexander Gardner's photograph of Abraham Lincoln. What do these works of art tell us about the character of these American Presidents? After examining the techniques the...

Students are introduced to the ideas of the American Dream at the turn of the century. They present their ideas on the American Dream at the turn of the century through a person characterized in Edgar Lee Masters' Spoon River Anthology.

High schoolers examine the changing American landscape. In this cause and effect instructional activity, students listen to rock music that exemplifies urban growth in America and the interconnectedness of America today. High schoolers...

Students examine the correlation between urbanization and industrialization. In this 19th century American history lesson, students investigate census data from the late 1800's to find out how urbanization and industrialization in...

Students, as a group, read "Sees Behind Trees" about a Native American boy. They discuss how the Native American culture is different from theirs. They also draw Native American scenes and read poetry.

Analyze primary source documents relating the conditions under with prompted American immigration. Learners will analyze information in order to create a six-panel pamphlet. Much of the lesson is not available but the key objectives are....

What were political machines and whom did they serve? As part of a study of US immigration patterns and how these patterns influenced politics, groups investigate how Tammany Hall and other political machines gained support from voters.

Take a trip to the turn of the twentieth century with a resource about industrialism in America. With primary source documents and focus questions, learners think about the ways that government groups and organizations paved the way...

Events related to the Civil Rights Movement in Sacramento, California during the 1960s offer class members an opportunity to compare the nonviolent resistance approach favored by Dr. Martin Luther King and the NAACP with those of the...

Students examine the time period of the Harlem Renaissance. As a class, they are introduced to five artists and discuss their art and techniques. Using the internet, they also research the philosophers of the time period and how...

Young scholars explore the reasons people choose to migrate including political, economic and familial motivations. They interview family members and compare their ancestors own reasons for migration to those of African American urban...

Students investigate 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...

For this geography skills worksheet, young scholars respond to 28 short answer questions about urban geography. The reading that students should refer to in order to answer the questions is not included.    

Students are introduced to new vocabulary words associated with tribes and relocation. As a class, they listen to their teacher read an excerpt on tribal termination and urbanization. To end the lesson, they identify how this act...