Curated OER
Jinga All the Way
Students study African history and the life of one of its most successful warriors, Queen Jinga. They write a diary as if they were Queen Jinga and examine other important women in history from around the world.
Curated OER
Black Separatism or the Beloved Community? Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr.
Learners interpret historical evidence presented in primary and secondary resources. For this African American history lesson, students compare and contrast the tactics employed by Malcolm X and Martin Luther...
Curated OER
International Women's Day 100th Anniversary Nobel Laureate Wangari Maathai: Shaking the Tree
Students explore the significance of International Women's Day. For this women's history lesson, students read excerpt of Wangari Maathai's acceptance speech for the Nobel Peace Prize and analyze the lyrics of "Shaking the Tree," by...
Curated OER
The Gettysburg Address (1863): Defining the American Union
Students explore the Gettysburg Address. In this U. S. history lesson, students examine Abraham Lincoln's speech and it's themes of freedom, equality, and emancipation.
Curated OER
Building Bridges for Young Learners--Culture
Students explore the concept of "culture." In this cross curriculum literacy and world history instructional activity, students listen to a letter written by a child from Namibia, then compare and contrast life in Africa with their own...
Library of Virginia
Antebellum Freedom
From indentured servitude to involuntary race-based servitude, slavery has taken many forms in American history. Class members examine three manumission petitions that reveal how the rights of African Americans and African American...
Curated OER
Jazz Exploration: A Collage Project
Middle schoolers explore and experience jazz through collage. They listen to improvisational jazz, discuss the origins of jazz, then design and create a collage that shows jazz being played. This project will result in amazing works of...
Curated OER
The Problem with Profiling
Students explore the issue of racial profiling and post their conclusions to a youth message board. They research the issue of racial profiling and post their thoughts to a message board.
Civil War Trust
Uncle Tom's Cabin
Through a careful reading and examination of Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin, scholars take part in grand conversations about the novel's contents, slavery, and the impact the book had on it. Furthermore, learners analyze an...
Curated OER
Music: Off the Wall & Onto the Stage - Composing
Kids explore Gullah music from Africa and then create original compositions based on what they've learned. They practice traditional melodies and rhythms then make some of their own, which they then perform for the class.
American Evolution
Virginia Runaway Slave Ads
What does an ad reveal about a culture, or about the values of its intended audience? Class members examine a series of runaway slave ads—one of which was written by Thomas Jefferson—and consider what these primary source documents...
Teaching for Change
Stepping into Selma
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,...
Institut Obert de Catalunya
20th Century Music: Jazz
A 67-page packet provides instructors with a complete course in the history of Jazz. Lessons look at the roots of jazz in early 20th century African American communities in the southern United States and continues to the New Orleans...
Annenberg Foundation
Egalitarian America
What does a true American represent? Scholars investigate the equal rights era of the 1960s and 1970s in the 20th installment of a 22-part series on American history. Using photographic, magazine, written, and video evidence, groups...
Core Knowledge Foundation
Unit 6: The Genius of the Harlem Renaissance Teacher Guide
Introduce your seventh graders to the Harlem Renaissance with a unit that explores this dynamic period's music, literature, and ideas. The 160-page guide includes a unit calendar, an introduction to the unit, 10 richly detailed lessons...
Curated OER
Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad
Students develop computer research skills while searching facts about Harriet Tubman. Students learn about ways in which Harriet Tubman's childhood influenced her future. Students learn to use primary documents to learn about the...
Curated OER
A 'Stone of Hope'
Kids uncover the who, what, when, where, and why regarding the dedication of the Martin Luther King National Memorial. They read the provided New York Times article and then answer each of the 10 comprehension questions.
Speak Truth to Power
John Lewis: Non-Violent Activism
After comparing and contrasting non-violent and violent social movements, your young historians will take a closer look at the work and influence of John Lewis on the civil rights movement. They will then choose a current social justice...
Curated OER
Rediscovering Forgotten Women Writers
Women's voices are becoming more prominent in the world of literature, but for centuries, this wasn't the case. Young historians research a woman whose writings are considered to be lost, out of print, or forgotten. They develop an oral...
Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation
What Was Everyday Life like in Colonial Virginia?
What was everyday life like in Colonial Virginia? To find the answer cooperative groups work collaboratively to read an informational handout and complete a graphic organizer. The speaker of the group then shares their new-found...
C3 Teachers
Emancipation: Does It Matter Who Freed the Slaves?
Scholars generally agree on the emancipation of enslaved people in the United States. This inquiry-based lesson asks high schoolers to consider more than the claims of who freed the enslaved people but the significance of the issues...
Adult Fiction by Jewell Parker Rhodes
Ghost Boys: Educator Guide
The spirit of the Civil Rights Movement lives on in a more literal than figurative way in Ghost Boys. A focused lesson plan features Jewell Parker Rhodes' novel about ghosts of slain black teenagers, including the main character, Jerome,...
Literacy Volunteers of Greater Hartford
Similes Activity using Jazz (featuring Duke Ellington)
Language learners get into the swing of things with a jazzy lesson about similes. They read an article about Duke Ellington, listen to samples of his music, and then try their hand at crafting similes to describe his improvisational and...
American Museum of Natural History
A Whale of a Tale
What's the most interesting fact about a blue whale? Learners read an interview about the similarities between the Titanosaur and the blue whale displays at the American Museum of Natural History. Pupils learn not only about blue whales...