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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Famous African-Americans for Animals

For Teachers 6th - 12th
They research influential African-Americans who work to help animals. They recognize the contributions African-Americans have made to society and to the animal rights movement.
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Lesson Plan
Scholastic

Lesson 1: What Are Barriers?

For Teachers 4th - 8th Standards
Scholars discuss the concept of a barrier with a short passage on Jackie Robinson. The writing process begins with a paragraph and several other sentences about Robinson's unique traits that made breaking a barrier possible.  
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Lesson Plan
Scholastic

Lesson 2: Values and Barriers

For Teachers 4th - 8th Standards
Scholars investigate and discuss the importance of values and how they can be used to break barriers. Small groups work collaboratively to examine the text and draw inferences to answer questions. A writing assignment challenges pupils...
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Lesson Plan
National Woman's History Museum

Ida B. Wells: Suffragist and Anti-Lynching Activist

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Suffragette, investigative journalist, and civil rights activist Ida B. Wells is the focus of a instructional activity that has young historians study the work of this amazing woman. Scholars watch a video biography of Wells, read the...
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Lesson Plan
Academy of American Poets

Teach This Poem: "When Fannie Lou Hamer Said" by Mahogany L. Browne

For Teachers K - 12th Standards
After watching an excerpt from a video of Fannie Lou Hamer's testimony before Congress, pupils do a close reading of Mahogany L. Browne's poem "When Fannie Lou Hamer Said," annotate words and phrases that draw their attention and list...
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Lesson Plan
Core Knowledge Foundation

Ray Charles

For Students K - 3rd Standards
Introduce young learners to the read-aloud process with a short biographical passage about Ray Charles. After listening to the passage, class members respond to factual, inferential, and evaluative questions, and then create a timeline...
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Lesson Plan
C-SPAN

1968: The Poor People's Campaign

For Teachers 6th - Higher Ed
The Poor People's Campaign of 1968 marked a shift in the civil rights movement to economic issues. Speakers in four C-SPAN video clips discuss different aspects of the campaign including Resurrection City, the Economic Bill of Rights,...
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Lesson Plan
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Learning for Justice

Mary McLeod Bethune

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Young historians conduct a close reading of the text of an interview with Mary McLeod Bethune, the daughter of former slaves who taught herself to read, grew up to establish schools for other Black women, and went on to become an advisor...
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Lesson Plan
National Endowment for the Humanities

Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
While many have heard of Harriet Tubman, few are aware of the many ways this remarkable woman was involved in the United States Civil War, the abolitionist movement, and the Underground Railroad. Young historians examine primary source...
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Lesson Plan
National Endowment for the Humanities

Toni Morrison's Beloved: For Sixty Million and More

For Teachers 11th - 12th Standards
Complex, disturbing, and challenging, Beloved is the focus of a lesson that provides three activities to guide a close reading of Toni Morrison's novel. Readers create chapter titles based on key plot elements or themes, identify...
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Lesson Plan
Historic New Orleans Collection

Exploring Primary Sources: Music in New Orleans

For Teachers 5th - 12th Standards
Looking for a new and exciting way to teach young historians the art of primary source analysis? Jazz up your lesson with a resource that asks class members to analyze photos, travel documents, and letters written by some of New Orleans'...
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Lesson Plan
Teaching for Change

Stepping into Selma

For Teachers 6th - 12th
The 1964 Selma to Montgomery, Alabama voting rights marches are the focus of a lesson designed to introduce learners to people who took part in the Civil Rights Movement. Class members set into the role of one of the participants,...
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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. 
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Lesson Plan
Academy of American Poets

Teach This Poem: "On Being Brought from Africa to America" by Phillis Wheatley

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Phillis Wheatley's poem, "On Being Brought from Africa to America" is the focus of a lesson that asks readers to consider how the poem is a critique of slavery. Groups comprise a list of words and phrases they notice as well as questions...
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Lesson Plan
Crafting Freedom

Creating Original Historical Fiction Using Henry "Box" Brown's Narrative and Runaway Slave Ads

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Young historians discover the experiences of runaway slaves after reading the brief biography and narrative excerpt of Henry "Box" Brown, who escaped slavery by having himself shipped away in a crate and popularized his flight in a...
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Lesson Plan
Crafting Freedom

The Self-Empowerment of Harriet Jacobs

For Teachers 3rd - 5th Standards
After reading Harriet Jacobs' Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, one of the most famous slave narratives of all time, learners imagine what it would have been like to experience the small dimensions of her hiding space. They then...
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Lesson Plan
C-SPAN

Last Days of Martin Luther King, Jr.

For Teachers 6th - 12th
On April 4, 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee. Four video clips reveal the events of that time, including the shift in the focus of the Civil Rights Movement, the aftermath of the assassination, and...
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Lesson Plan
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University of North Carolina

Remembering Martin Luther King, Jr.

For Teachers 8th Standards
After reading the article "Kings Dream Everyday," class members conduct a Socratic seminar discussion of Martin Luther King's contributions to the civil rights movement. They then read and respond to a passage from Michael Eric Dyson's...
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Lesson Plan
Albert Shanker Institute

The March on Washington Logistics Then and Now

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
I have a dream ... that all pupils will be able to organize a march of their own after learning about how Bayard Rustin organized the 1963 March on Washington for civil rights. Young reformers work collaboratively examining informational...
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Lesson Plan
Albert Shanker Institute

Who Was Bayard Rustin?

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Who was Bayard Rustin? Pupils analyze a series of primary source documents to learn about this important figure in the civil rights movement. The lesson contains a short film to watch along with guiding questions and other resources...
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Lesson Plan
Academy of American Poets

Teach This Poem: “Declaration” by Tracy K. Smith

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Tracy K. Smith's erasure poem "Declaration" challenges scholars to use their noticing skills to make connections between an engraving entitled "The Declaration of Independence" and Smith's poem. Class members record observations and...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Quilting Our Diverse Classroom

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Learners explore diversity and race by creating art. In this ethnic background lesson, students discuss their family history, where their relatives lived and how it affects their life today. Learners create pieces of a quilt representing...
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Lesson Plan
National Woman's History Museum

Shirley Chisholm, Unbossed and Unbought

For Teachers 11th - 12th Standards
An engaging resource introduces young historians to Shirley Chisholm, the woman, the Black congresswoman, the activist, and the candidate for President in 1972. Class members study primary sources, watch a video of her announcing her run...
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Lesson Plan
Crafting Freedom

George Moses Horton: Crafting Virtual Freedom Through Poetry

For Teachers 6th - 8th
What is "virtual freedom"? How about "enslaved entrepreneurship"? Class members will learn about these terms and much more as they read the poems and examine the life of George Moses Horton.