Rites of Passage

Use the power of primary sources to help young historians understand the conditions Africans endured while being shipped during the slave trade. After reading an excerpt from Eyewitness Accounts of Slavery in the Danish West Indies,...

Go West, young man! Scholars investigate the impact of African American settlers moving to the Nebraska territory, following the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act in the mid 1800s. Using primary sources, timelines, maps, and...

Sixth graders examine how Africans were treated in the Caribbean and Haiti after reading about the Atlantic Slave Trade. From a multicultural information passage, they complete a time line on Toussiant L-Ouverture and write an obituary.

Africa was home to many great ancient civilizations, this presentation covers aspect of 4 of them. Middle schoolers explore aspects of civilizations from Nubia, Ghana, Mali, and Songhay. Topics covered are achievements, culture, great...

Young scholars explore ancient tradition and craft of mask making, examine role or function of masks in African culture, create instruments, and participate in class projects.

Much of Latin American music owes its origins to the slave trade. Peoples from the Yoruban and Dahomean cultures brought with them the distinctive rhythms, time signatures, and eighth note patterns that now characterize Caribbean music....

Students explore the influence of African-American artists, writers, and musicians on American culture. After researching different figures in these areas, they create collages representing each person's life and legacy.

Middle schoolers go on an information gathering hunt on the Internet to study West African empires. They work in teams; meteorologists, bankers, writers, and archaeologists. They collect data on all sorts of topics related to West...

Students will examine European world maps from the Middle Ages, the Age of Discovery, and the period of New World exploration. They will then look at maps that record the early exploration of the American West and collect present-day...

Students study folktales and other stories from West Africa. By hearing and reading these stories they explore many new cultural and religious beliefs, such as spirits inhabiting nature and possessing special powers. Once the students...