Curated OER
Pizza Biography
A biography writing lesson 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 to...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Jacob Lawrence's Migration Series: Removing the Mask
Describe, analyze, compare and contrast poets from the Harlem Renaissance. Critical thinkers analyze the imagery, characterization, tone, symbolism, and historical context of Jacob Lawrence, Helene Johnson, and Paul Laurence Dunbar. A...
Curated OER
Lesson 2-Profiles in Courage: To Kill A Mockingbird and the Scottsboro Boys Trial
Review one of the most memorable cases in the history of the United States. After reading To Kill A Mockingbird, young scholars read and select court transcripts and other primary source material from the Scottsboro Boys Trial of 1933....
Curated OER
Black History Month
Students work in cooperative pairs to research information and give oral presentations about African American men and women who have made significant contributions to U.S. history.
Curated OER
Black and White Still Life
There isn't a lot to this lesson, but it could provide some guidance. It outlines a five-day drawing lesson where learners view a presentation on the importance of drawing in art history, practice pencil skills, and compose a black and...
Curated OER
An Academic, Economic, Cultural, and Political Lesson Plan
Students reflect on how many board games they've played have African Americans, their culture or history incorporated within. They identify four street games and three card games that appeal to African Americans. They play the...
Safe Routes to School
Pollution & Evolution
Bring together a study of two major scientific topics with a lesson on the relationship between pollution and evolution. With the help of a PowerPoint presentation, hands-on activity. and class demonstration young scientists learn...
Curated OER
Mondrian Inspired Abstract Art
Students explore the art of Piet Mondrian. In this abstract art lesson, students look at paintings by the Dutch painter and then follow the provided steps to create their own abstract art inspired by his works.
Curated OER
Classic Still Life Drawing
Provide your young artists with an opportunity to study the masters and their techniques to become skilled at drawing still life. They discuss and view images from artists like Degas and Michelangelo, practice drawing techniques such as...
Academy of American Poets
Teach This Poem: "A Place in the Country" by Toi Derricotte
Build young scholars' confidence in analyzing art and poetry with a lesson that first asks pupils to list details they notice in Edouard Vuillard's painting "Garden at Vaucresson" and then to describe how the painting makes them feel....
Curated OER
The Journey to Civil Rights
Students explore Civil Rights. In this Civil Rights lesson plan, students read about Ruby Bridges and define the words segregation and supremacy. Students make a timeline of important events in Civil Rights and write a paragraph about...
PBS
Being Heard
Examine the work of contemporary authors who use their writing to express opinions about the struggle against prejudice and oppression in our society. A short lesson on the Harlem Renaissance introduces learners to the most prominent...
Curated OER
Black and Blue: Jazz in Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man
Students analyze the impact of jazz on the novel, "Invisible Man," by Ralph Ellison. They read and discuss excerpts of the novel, write an essay on the influence of jazz on Ralph Ellison as a writer, and view video excerpts on jazz...
Curated OER
The Story of Red and Blue: Art
Middle schoolers identify art history by examining a list of images on-line. In this painting lesson, students identify the work of Keith Haring by researching the Internet and discuss his style of artwork. Middle schoolers utilize...
Curated OER
Explore the Elements of Art
Students recognize elements of art such as texture, shape line and color. In this elements of art lesson plan, students create a still life picture with oil pastel or crayons. Students define elements of art vocabulary....
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
Researching African Americans Who Made a Difference
Celebrate Black History Month with this instructional activity, in which middle schoolers create an essay about a famous African-American. Writers conduct research online, take notes to write an essay in proper format, and use ideas,...
Smithsonian Institution
The Sounds of an Island: Jamaican Music for the Classroom
Introduce young explorers to the music and history of Jamaican culture through game songs and dances. As a bonus, class members get to play simple songs transcribed for the recorder.
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...
Adult Fiction by Jewell Parker Rhodes
Ghost Boys: Educator Guide
The spirit of the Civil Rights Movement lives on in a more literal than figurative way in Ghost Boys. A focused lesson plan features Jewell Parker Rhodes' novel about ghosts of slain black teenagers, including the main character, Jerome,...
Digital Public Library of America
Teaching Guide: Exploring To Kill a Mockingbird
Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, considered by many to be a seminal piece of American literature, contains many complex literary themes that carry through United States history. Use a series of discussion questions and classroom...
Curated OER
A Story on a Vase
Learners associate a hydria with Greek myths. In this Greek art and mythology lesson, students examine a scene on a hydria, then choose a Greek myth to illustrate on their own painting.
Curated OER
365 Days of African American History
Students use a calendar template to create a daily calendar of African American historical events. They put one event on each day of the calendar.
Curated OER
Satchel Page
Bring a lesson about Negro League Baseball to your Black history unit, or any other research unit throughout the year. While the lesson plan itself is simplistic, there are several good ideas that you could use, such as creating trading...