Lesson Plan
1
1
Center for Civic Education

The Power of Nonviolence: Rosa Parks: A Quest for Equal Protection Under the Law

For Teachers 5th - 8th Standards
Teach young historians about the historical legacy of Rosa Parks with a multi-faceted lesson plan. Pupils follow stations and use journals to explore prominent events, analyze primary resource documents, and engage in interesting...
Lesson Plan
American Institute of Physics

When Computers Wore Skirts: Katherine Johnson, Christine Darden, and the “West Computers”

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Did you know that people, known as computers, performed the complex calculations that are now done by electronic computers? Three of these human computers, Katherine Johnson, Christine Darden, and Melba Roy Mouton are featured in a...
Lesson Plan
American Institute of Physics

Dr. Gates and the Nature of the Universe

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
What do Russian nesting dolls have to do with physics? They make a great demonstration tool for explaining Dr. Sylvester James Gates, Jr.'s string theory to young scientists. A two-part lesson first introduces learners to Dr. Gates'...
Lesson Plan
Center for History Education

Blockbusting: Social and Economic Change through Real Estate

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
"Redlining," "Blockbusting," and "White Flight" may not be terms familiar to young historians. Here's a lesson that introduces middle schoolers to these terms and the actions associated with them. Class members examine a series of...
Lesson Plan
National Woman's History Museum

Fannie Lou Hamer and Social Activism

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Not all heroes wear capes. An impactful lesson focuses on the life and activism of Fannie Lou Hamer during the civil rights movement. Scholars read her speeches and other material, participate in group discussion, and complete a jigsaw...
Lesson Plan
American Institute of Physics

African Americans and the Manhattan Project

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
A lesson about the Manhattan Project will explode young physicists' understanding of the racial attitudes in the United States during and after World war II. Groups select an African American scientist or technician that worked on the...
Lesson Plan
American Institute of Physics

African Americans in Astronomy and Astrophysics

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
A two-part lesson focuses on the contributions to the fields of astronomy and astrophysics of two African Americans: Benjamin Banneker and Dr. George Carruthers. In part one, scholars learn about Benjamin Banneker by examining his...
Lesson Plan
American Institute of Physics

The Physicist's War: Dr. Herman Branson and the Scientific Training of African Americans during World War II

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
The mobilization of soldiers for World War II resulted in a worker shortage in the defense industries, especially in the fields of physics and other sciences. The Engineering, Science, and Management War Training program (ESMWT) was...
Lesson Plan
American Institute of Physics

Historical Detective: Edward Alexander Bouchet and the Washington-Du Bois Debate over African-American Education

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Young scientists meet Edward Alexander Bouchet who, in 1876, was the first African American to receive a PhD in Physics. This two-part lesson first looks at the debate between Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Du Bois about the type of...
Lesson Plan
American Institute of Physics

Optics and Anthony Johnson

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Message sending has come a long way since the days of Morse code's dots and dashes. Young scientists study the research of optical physicist Anthony Johnson and his work in fiber optics, lasers, and the principle of total internal...
Lesson Plan
Smithsonian Institution

Braiding Rhythms: The Role of Bell Patterns in West African and Afro-Caribbean Music

For Teachers 9th - Higher Ed
Africans transported to the Caribbean as part of the transatlantic slave trade brought with them a rich tradition of music and dance. Four lessons teach young musicians the rumba clave rhythm, cascara rhythm, and the 6/8 bell patterns...
Activity
Digital Public Library of America

The Fifteenth Amendment

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Fifteen primary sources provide a context for a study of the Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. The packet captures the excitement for the changes promised by the amendment as well as the backlash against it.
Interactive
DocsTeach

The Impact of Bloody Sunday in Selma

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Who is to blame when a peaceful protest turns deadly? Scholars research the impact of the civil rights march in Selma, better known as Bloody Sunday. The activity uses files from the FBI's investigation to help academics understand the...
Lesson Plan
American Institute of Physics

Meet Four Pioneering African American Astronauts

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
An out-of-this-world resource introduces young scientists to four African American astronauts: Michael P. Anderson, Ronald E. McNair, Guion S. Bluford Jr., and Jeanette J. Epps. Groups read biographies of these individuals and prepare...
Interactive
DocsTeach

Women of Color and the Fight for Women's Suffrage

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Introduce young historians to primary source analysis with a lesson that teaches them how to use a four-step process to analyze a photograph of a 1913 Suffrage Parade. Groups practice the process and share their observations with the...
Handout
Penguin Books

Up Close: Ella Fitzgerald

For Students 5th - 7th Standards
A reading of Tanya Lee Stones' biography of Ella Fitzgerald lets middle schoolers get up close and personal with the First Lady of Jazz. Stone recounts details of Fitzgerald's life from her early days through her experiences as a teenage...
Lesson Plan
Scholastic

Lesson 1: What Are Barriers?

For Teachers 4th - 8th Standards
Scholars discuss the concept of a barrier with a short passage on Jackie Robinson. The writing process begins with a paragraph and several other sentences about Robinson's unique traits that made breaking a barrier...
Worksheet
K12 Reader

African American Inventors: Granville T. Woods

For Students 3rd - 5th Standards
Get to know inventor, Granville T. Woods. Who is he? From what state did Woods come? What did he design? All questions your scholars will find the answers to with this response-to-reading activity. 
Interactive
Mr. Nussbaum

Martin Luther King Reading Comprehension

For Students 5th - 7th Standards
Boost reading comprehension with an interactive website featuring an informational passage about Martin Luther King Jr. Scholars read, or listen to, several paragraphs detailing MLK's life in order to answer seven...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Indigenous Peoples’ Day Lesson Plan

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Indigenous Land Guardianship, Settler Colonialism, Racial Capitalism. While the terms may be new to some, they feature in a lesson plan designed for Indigenous Peoples' Day. Young scholars investigate four concepts: Land...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Black History Project

For Teachers 3rd
Third graders explore and analyze about famous African-Americans by listening to four picture book biographies. They generate a list of 15 famous African-Americans and then create a survey to rank them according to importance of...
PPT
National Woman's History Museum

The Women of NASA

For Students 9th - 12th
Human computers? Although it may sound like science fiction, the term was used to describe the women who made the NASA calculations before the advent of electronic computers. A 21-slide presentation introduces viewers to the women who...
Lesson Plan
National Woman's History Museum

Ida B. Wells: Suffragist and Anti-Lynching Activist

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Suffragette, investigative journalist, and civil rights activist Ida B. Wells is the focus of a lesson plan that has young historians study the work of this amazing woman. Scholars watch a video biography of Wells, read the text of her...
Lesson Plan
Academy of American Poets

Teach This Poem: "When Fannie Lou Hamer Said" by Mahogany L. Browne

For Teachers K - 12th Standards
After watching an excerpt from a video of Fannie Lou Hamer's testimony before Congress, pupils do a close reading of Mahogany L. Browne's poem "When Fannie Lou Hamer Said," annotate words and phrases that draw their attention and list...

Other popular searches