Curated OER
Jazz in America
Young scholars explore jazz and its origins by focusing on the people in which Jazz came from.
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Torn from Each Other's Arms
Students consider how the institution of family suffered under slavery. In this slavery lesson, students watch segments of "Slavery and the Making of America". Students examine the structure of the Driggus family and discuss how slavery...
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Surveying our First President
Students act as surveyors. In this George Washington lesson, students read transcriptions from Washington's surveying journal and then try surveying skills on their own.
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Open Door, Closed Door Lesson Plan: Discrimination in Immigration And Migration
Students read The Northern Migration and research immigration policies of different nations for the past and the present. They create a bulletin board or spreadsheet using their information.
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Building New York
Eleventh graders examine the role African Americans played in the expansion of New York. In this American History lesson, 11th graders compare and contrast the images of a wealthy, free black against a black who was poor and enslaved. ...
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Unsung Military Heroes
In this lesson, students are introduced to the contributions made by African-American soldiers that have been excluded from traditional textbooks. To gain an appreciation for these unsung heroes, students engage in research to ultimately...
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Heaven, Hell, and Baltimore
This lesson allows pupils to research and compare the city of Baltimore to other northern cities of interest during the Great Migration. After reading a narrative entitled Return South Migration and conducting extensive research,...
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Slavery in the Antebellum South
High schoolers discuss Stephen Foster's depiction of slavery. Using the internet, they discover what the life of a slave was really like in the antebellum South. As a class, they discuss contemporary arguments for and against slavery.
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Criminal or Hero
Fifth graders explore the origins of slavery. In this US History lesson, 5th graders create a map of the United States that shows where slavery existed. Students examine the life of a Northern slave through the use of a video.
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Mixing Races in New Orleans
Learners discuss the changes in the legal, social, and political status of African Americans and those of mixed ethnicity after reading the narrative, Haitian Immigration: Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries.
Constitutional Rights Foundation
History of Immigration Through the 1850s
Everyone living in the United States today is a descendant from an immigrant—even Native Americans. Learn about the tumultuous history of American immigration with a reading passage that discusses the ancient migration over the Bering...
Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation
Making a Patriot Inquiry: Are Independence, Freedom, and Liberty the Same Thing?
As part of a study of the American Revolution, class members engage in an inquiry-based lesson that has them watch a scene from the play Slave Spy, examine multiple primary source documents, and then discuss the similarities and...
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Freedom and Dignity Project
Eleventh graders explore slavery and the civil war. In groups, 11th graders discuss and slavery and identify reasons for its beginning. In groups, they role-play a character for a talk show. Students determine what slavery was like in...
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Slave Auctions in South Carolina
Students examine primary sources in the form of auction records, create frequency charts, graphs and diagrams that they analyze to anwer questions followed by the writing of a paper that demonstrates their comprehension of the lesson.
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Slave Laws in British Colonial New York, 1664—1722
In this primary source analysis worksheet, students analyze colonial New York slave laws. Students respond to 4 short answer questions about the laws.
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Brutal British
Students read and predict the outcome of a story set during the Civil War, then map the story. To prepare for the activity, students determine why it is important to look at historical events from all angles by using primary and...
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Criminal or Hero
Young scholars investigate slavery in America circa the American Revolution. They will examine point- of view and perspective as they research a variety of informational resources. While this is designed to be used with the PBS video...
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Legacies of the Middle Passage
Students research the Atlantic slave trade during the 18th century. In this slave trade lesson, students read a narrative about colonial expansion in the Americas and the rise of slavery in the United States. Students write down what...
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"An Eye For An Eye, A Tooth For A Tooth"
Sixth graders debate their reactions to two different historical documents about managing a society. In this U.S. history lesson, 6th graders read two articles on codes and laws from different time periods and debate their thoughts.
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The Log Book of a Connecticut Slave Trade Ship
Seventh graders investigate the slave trade. In this Middle Passage lesson, 7th graders read excerpts of ship logs from Connecticut Slave Trade ships. Students respond to the provided analysis questions based on the logs.
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The Slave Market: Not Just a Southern Institution
Fourth graders analyze the existence of slavery in the North. In this slavery lesson, 4th graders research primary and secondary sources regarding Dutch colonial slavery in New York. Students consider how archeology made it possible to...
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American Colonization Society Lesson Plan
Students read an article online "Colonization and Emigration" and break into debating groups. They research points that support their side, namely whether or not the American Colonization Society was for or against segregation. They...
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Through Their Eyes: Perspectives on Slavery
Students write a personal account of slavery seen from the eyes of a slave trader, a slave plantation owner, a fugitive slave, or a working slave.
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Graphing and Demography: The Domestic Slave Trade
Students create graphs or charts based on the data a narrative imbedded in this plan. They make them either by hand or by using Excel or a similar database program. This lesson utilizes technology in a meaningful way.