Curated OER
A New Twist on Race Relations
Learners analyze the impact of American Bandstand on race relations. In this race relations instructional activity, students use the music and dance show American Bandstand to learn about race relations. Learners categorize pivotal...
Curated OER
All Access Spotlight: U2
Students listen to songs from the group U2 to examine civil rights issues.
Curated OER
The Many Faces of Paul Robeson
Young scholars discuss and construct timelines based on the life of author/performer/Civil Right's activist, Paul Robeson. They view photographs of him at various times in his life and discuss the roles he may have been playing at those...
Annenberg Foundation
Egalitarian America
What does a true American represent? Scholars investigate the equal rights era of the 1960s and 1970s in the 20th installment of a 22-part series on American history. Using photographic, magazine, written, and video evidence, groups...
Curated OER
Civil War Music
Students discover how both the North and South used music extensively during the Civil War to rally troops, as recreation, to march by, and many other reasons. They realize that both sides would borrow each other's tunes or lyrics and it...
Curated OER
Introduction to Music of the Civil Rights Era
Learners summarize the major events of the Civil Rights Movement. They examine leaders such as Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X and what they did for the movement. They also listen to music from the Civil Rights Era and their...
Curated OER
Social and Cultural Issues in the Civil Rights Movement
Students examine the society and culture during the times of the Civil Rights movement. They view video clips and answer comprehension questions. They work together to research different authors and musicians sharing their information...
Curated OER
How Music Motivates
Students form conclusions regarding the motivational effects of music on the mind during the Civil Rights era. In this Civil Rights movement activity, students describe how music motivates, describe the motivational role in freedom songs...
Curated OER
Learning to give: freedom songs
Students learn freedom songs and discuss how the famous leaders of the Civil Rights Movement used them to motivate people to overcome adversity during this time. In this freedom songs lesson, students learn the songs and discuss their...
Curated OER
Digital Curation: Life and Times of Mark Twain
By digitally organizing research, your class leaves a legacy for future learners on the life and times of Mark Twain. Before reading The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, scholars conduct group research projects on one of six (listed)...
Curated OER
Shakespeare Was A Black Woman
"I all alone beweep my outcast state." After a discussion of the "Shakespeare in American Life" segment in which Maya Angelou's relates her reaction to Sonnet 29, class groups create and perform a scene about an outcast that includes the...
Anti-Defamation League
10 Ideas for Teaching Black History Month
Celebrate Black History Month with the help of 10 ideas that delve deep into the history, major events, contributions, famous African Americans, and sheds light on how scholars today can take a proactive stance on current civil rights...
PBS
The Sixties: Hitsville USA
James Jamerson. You probably heard him but may not have heard of him. But fans of Motown Records will certainly recognize his contributions to the sound that desegregated popular music during the 1960s. Challenge young history...
Curated OER
Breaking the Code: Actions and Songs of Protest
Students listen to and discuss the purpose of protest music. They analyze an editorial cartoon related to Jim Crow and read questions from the literacy tests given to African-Americans. They work together to write a song about the...
Library Sparks
When Marian Sang: Reader's Theater
Put on an eight-actor show based on Pan Munoz Ryan's When Marian Sang: The True Recital of Marian Anderson. The resource comes with a color-coded script that includes some images from the picture book.
Curated OER
How Would the World be Different?
Students examine the impact of Martin Luther King, Jr. In this civil rights lesson, students imagine the outcome of the Civil Rights Movement had King never been born. Students compose essays that feature King's roles in the movement.
Curated OER
Racism in Jazz
Students listen to the Louis Armstrong song, "What Did I Do to Be So Black and Blue?" and consider it as a protest song. They write in their journals about Armstrong, his music, and civil rights.
Curated OER
This is Rosa Parks
Students observe the difference that one person can make. In this Civil Rights Movement lesson, students discuss the concepts of segregation and boycotting. They compare and contrast two African American women who were pivotal to the...
Curated OER
Connecting Literature, Writing and Music
Students assess the impact of music to portray emotions and tell stories. Examples are taken from the life of Rosa Parks and a piece of band music called "A Movement for Rosa". Evaluation is accomplished through in-class participation...
Curated OER
Mood in Music
Students portray the mood of a piece of music in a drawing. In this mood in music lesson, students discuss how music creates a mood. Students listen to Vivaldi's "Four Seasons," "The Wreck of The Wreck of the Edmund...
Curated OER
Word Art with King's Words
Learners investigate equality and racism by creating a word art project. In this civil rights lesson, students discover the life of Martin Luther King Jr. and create a word art project using the Internet site Wordle Web. ...
Curated OER
Music and Lyrics
Eighth graders analyze lyrics from songs from a variety of genres. In this musical analysis lesson, 8th graders write an essay about their life plans in which they discuss the lyrics of U2's song, "One." They tell how the writings of Dr....
Curated OER
Music Motivates
Young scholars listen to songs from the Civil Rights movement. They explain how the music might have inspired African-Americans to be activists in the movement. They examine how the Civil Rights movement affected the common good.
Curated OER
Sam Cooke - Lesson 1
Students identify the impact of the social injustices and Civil Rights movement on Cooke's life and career. They create lyrics to a familiar song that express a personal struggle or concern.