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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Struggle for Equality

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students read and discuss a selection of news clippings, sermons, and narratives that depict the continued struggle for equality and mistreatment of African American citizens. They present a "60 Minutes"-style news program with the...
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Lesson Plan
The Imagination Factory

Design a Postage Stamp for Black History Month

For Teachers 1st - 6th
Learners create a postage stamp for Black History Month. In this U.S. History lesson, students discuss the contributions of African-Americans and design a postage stamp to celebrate their impact.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Melba Pattillo and Ruby Bridges: Two Heroes of School Integration

For Teachers 3rd - 12th
Learners put themselves in the shoes of students who integrated Little Rock High School in 1957-58. Note: The primary resources in this activity provide powerful and poignant descriptions of what those students faced.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Three-Way Match: Famous Black Americans

For Teachers 3rd - 12th
Pupils research famous African-Americans using an online resource. They complete a three-way matching activity.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

African American Traditions: Cameroonian and African-American Folktales

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students compare Cameroonian and African-American folktales. In this folktales lesson, students participate in a jigsaw activity that requires them to read "The Owl Never Sleeps as Night," "Why the Lizard Often Nods," "Tappin, the Land...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Utilizing Art, Literature and Film to Teach Black History

For Teachers 5th
Fifth graders are introduced to different aspects of African-American history through literature, art, and films. As a class, they are read a story about the Underground Railroad, identify the main characters and put the events into...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Call and Response Singing

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students investigate call and response singing.  In this fine arts and U.S. history lesson, students listen to several call and response songs that were sung by African-American slaves during the period before the Civil War.  Students...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Harlem Renaissance

For Teachers 7th - 8th
Students investigate the African American culture in the 1920's and the Harlem Renaissance. They read and analyze poems written by poets of the Harlem Renaissance, listen to jazz music and identify the characteristics of the music, and...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Story of Latino Civil Rights: Fighting for Justice

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students identify the civil rights abuses suffered by African Americans, Japanesse Americans during WWII, and Hispanic Americans. They explain what the common element is among the discrimination against these three groups. Students are...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Long Walk

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students explore the concept of philanthropy. In this service learning lesson plan, students read an article that challenges them to consider African-American contributions to social justice.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Education Element of the Harlem Renaissance and Its Impact on the New Negro

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students investigate African American history by researching culture. In this Harlem Renaissance lesson, students identify the teachings, music and art associated with African Americans in Harlem in the early 20th century. Students...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Willie and Friends: Overcomers in the Land Stories by Faith Ringgold

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Young scholars use puppets and plays to examine the role of African Americans throughout history. After being read a story by a puppet, they respond to each one in writing. Individually, they write a story about a place they have wanted...
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Lesson Plan
National Endowment for the Humanities

Jacob Lawrence's Migration Series: Removing the Mask

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Describe, analyze, compare and contrast poets from the Harlem Renaissance. Critical thinkers analyze the imagery, characterization, tone, symbolism, and historical context of Jacob Lawrence, Helene Johnson, and Paul Laurence Dunbar. A...
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Lesson Plan
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Scholastic

Ruby Bridges: A Simple Act of Courage, Grades K-2

For Teachers K - 2nd Standards
A civil rights movement lesson designed specifically with the Common Core State Standards in mind, young learners are introduced to the story of Ruby Bridges as the first African American child to attend an all-white elementary school....
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Lesson Plan
Smithsonian Institution

The Vocal Blues: Created in the Deep South of the U.S.

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Bring the sounds of the deep South vocal blues to the classroom with a Smithsonian Folkways lesson. In preparation, scholars listen to and count the 12 bar blues patterns in several works and identify the I, II, IV, and V chords as well...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Genre Lesson: Poetry

For Teachers 5th Standards
Here is a terrific lesson on poetry! Learners bring in the lyrics to their favorite song. A class discussion ensues regarding what makes a song "catchy." After analyzing the alliteration of the poems, learners read the poem "This...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

William Lanson: New Haven's African King

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students discuss the misrepresentations of African Americans in the United States. In groups, they examine the life and accomplishments of William Lanson and the importance of extending the Long Wharf. Together, they pretend they lived...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Growing Like Dr. King

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students explore American History by reading biographical material. For this civil rights lesson, students read information about Martin Luther King Jr. and his successful demonstrations which led to equal rights for African Americans....
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Booker T. Washington and W. E. B. DuBois: The Problem of Negro Leadership

For Teachers 10th - 12th
Students focus on the problem of African American leadership throughout American history. In groups, they research the life and works of Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. DuBois and how they worked to promote the need for African American...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Steps to Freedom

For Teachers K - 4th
Students complete discussion and reading comprehension activities for the novel Almost to Freedom by Vaunda Micheax Nelson. In this African American history activity, students discuss the Underground Railroad and complete a reading...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Counting on Art

For Teachers K - 2nd
Explore the life and painting style of African-American artist Horace Pippin by looking carefully at its parts, then create a "secret number" painting for a classroom counting book.
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Lesson Plan
Penguin Books

Core Curriculum Lesson Plans for The Lions of Little Rock

For Teachers 5th - 7th Standards
Schools in the 1950s and 60s looked very different from the schools we know today. An educator's guide explores the civil rights movement and, specifically, the process of integrating schools. Questions cover key themes in the novel and...
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Lesson Plan
Smithsonian Institution

Spirits Across the Ocean: Yoruban and Dahomean Cultures in the Caribbean Brought by the Slave Trade

For Teachers 6th - 12th
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....
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Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Grade 11 ELA Module 2: Unit 1, Lesson 9

For Teachers 11th Standards
Change for the better. Scholars continue their study of the chapter "Of Our Spiritual Strivings" by looking at paragraph eight. They study how Du Bois continues to develop his ideas by describing the changes after the passing of the...