Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Amazing Grace

For Teachers 7th - 8th
Students study the meaning of the term 'Jim Crow'. They examine how this term originated, when it was used, and how it served its purpose? They read two short biographies of Maya Angelou and James Comer discover that both authors...
Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Analyzing Experiences: Carlotta Walls

For Teachers 8th Standards
What was life like in the American South following the Civil War? Scholars watch a video that discusses the aftermath of the Civil War and the events during the Reconstruction Period. Additionally, they continue reading Carlotta Walls...
Activity
Digital Public Library of America

Ida B. Wells and Anti-Lynching Activism

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
A packet of 13 primary sources provides young historians with insight into the anti-lynching activism of civil rights Ida B. Wells. Included are images of Wells, her letters, a political cartoon, newspaper lynching announcements, and a...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Great Migration: Comparing and Contrasting Northern Life to Southern Life

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Pupils research the Great Migration of African-Americans to the North and form an opinion as to whether this migration was beneficial to its participants. They, in groups, research various experiences and debate the topic.
Lesson Plan
Huntington Library

The Poetry and Prose of Langston Hughes

For Teachers 11th
Eleventh graders discover the poetry of Langston Hughes. In this social issues lesson plan, 11th graders experience the views of Langston Hughes. Students read Hughes' poetry and discuss the basic theme. Students evaluate the political,...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Separate is Not Equal: Brown v. Board of Education

For Teachers 8th - 12th
Students analyze photographs that feature segregation. In this human rights lesson, students examine photographs of a segregated movie theater, a Ku Klux Klan gathering, a segregated business sign, and an illustration from "Harper's...
Lesson Plan
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Center for History and New Media

The Daily Experience of the Laurel Grove School, 1925

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
What was daily life like for those attending segregated schools in 1925? Modern learners fill out a KWHL chart as they explore historical background and primary source documents about the Laurel Grove School in Fairfax County, Virginia....
Lesson Plan
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C-SPAN

14th Amendment Equal Protection Clause

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Two Supreme Court cases, Plessy v. Ferguson and Brown v. Board of Education take center stage in a lesson about the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. Class members research both cases to compare and contrast the rulings.
Activity
Digital Public Library of America

Voting Rights Act of 1965

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Despite the passing of the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments, as well as the passing of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the struggle to ensure fair voter registration and election procedures continues. Young historians...
Lesson Plan
PBS

Out of the Shadows | Black America Since MLK: And Still I Rise

For Teachers 9th - Higher Ed Standards
Two powerful video clips launch a study of race relations in the United States after the Selma, Alabama riots, the passage of the Votings Rights Act, and the riots in Watts, California. 
Lesson Plan
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US House of Representatives

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Groups select a photograph from one of the four eras of African Americans in Congress and develop a five-minute presentation that provides background information about the image as well as its historical significance. The class compares...
Lesson Plan
Center for History Education

African Americans and the Democratic Party

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Why did African American voters switch from the Republican Party to the Democratic party during the Depression Era? That is the question young historians attempt to answer as they study primary source documents from the period. The focus...
Lesson Plan
K20 LEARN

The Bank Of Justice: Civil Rights In The US

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
To launch a study of racial segregation and integration, young historians first watch a news video about a prom in Georgia that was first integrated in 2013. They then compare the goals in Lincoln's Gettysburg Address to King's "I Have a...
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
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Defining US

Integration of Education and American Society

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
How did the struggle for Civil Rights during the 1950s transform American society and politics? Why are American schools integrated today? Class members explore these essential questions by examining a series of primary and secondary...
Lesson Plan
1
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Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media

The Homestead Act

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
To understand how the Homestead Act of 1862 changed the US and the lives of the people during that time, class members examine primary source materials including letters, broadsides, and images. They then assume the voice of a...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Jackie Steals Home

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students read articles relating to Jackie Robinson's breaking of the racial barrier in professional baseball. This leads to a deeper exploration of racism in the United States. They use a variety of worksheets imbedded in this plan to...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Have Minorities Gained Acceptance

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Learners cite evidence gathered from magazines about how much Blacks are accepted into the mainstream of American life. They support their conclusions by writing an answer to an essay question.
Article
Siteseen

Siteseen: American Historama: Jim Crow Laws

For Students 9th - 10th
Learn about the Jim Crow Laws, Southern laws that legalized segregation.
Article
Khan Academy

Khan Academy: Us History: 1865 1898: Jim Crow

For Students 9th - 10th
After Reconstruction, states in the South passed laws that barred African Americans from voting and segregated schools, restaurants, and public accommodations.
Website
Digital History

Digital History: The 14th Amendment and the Jim Crow Laws [Pdf]

For Students 9th - 10th
Read about the background of the passage of the 14th Amendment which resulted in the famous case before the Supreme Court, Plessy v Ferguson, almost thirty years later. Suggested student exercises ask students to assess the issue of...
Handout
Khan Academy

Khan Academy: Ap Us History: 1844 1877: Reconstruction: The Compromise of 1877

For Students 9th - 10th
Discusses the Compromise of 1877 which gave the presidency to Rutherford B. Hayes and signaled the end of Reconstruction in the South. As a result of this act, federal troops withdrew from the South, and Jim Crow laws were passed by...
PPT
Virginia History Series

Virginia History Series: Virginia State History Reconstruction to 1900 [Pdf]

For Students 6th - 8th
Much of Virginia was devastated after the Civil War so a period of rebuilding commenced. Follow Reconstruction through the different plans, the effects on African-Americans and the South. This slideshow has pictures,charts, and maps to...
Handout
Khan Academy

Khan Academy: Ap Us History: 1865 1898: The Compromise of 1877

For Students 9th - 10th
Explains how the Compromise of 1877 settled the contested 1876 presidential election, declaring Rutherford B. Hayes the winner while agreeing to withdraw federal troops from the South. This paved the way for the South to enact Jim Crow...