Curated OER
Poetry: A Mirror in Which to See Myself
Fifth graders focus on their self-esteem and strengths while reading poetry. In groups, they research the contributions and achievements of African-Americans and discuss how they overcame obstacles. They are read a poem, define new...
Curated OER
Understanding and Appreciating Poetry: Afro-Americans and Their Poetry
Sixth graders are introduced to poems written by African-American authors. As a class, they read excerpts of poems from different time periods and discuss how and if anything has changed over time with discrimination and equal rights...
Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media
Fred Seibel, the Times-Dispatch, and Massive Resistance
A lesson challenges scholars to analyze editorial cartoons created by Fred Seibel, illustrator for the Times-Dispatch, during the Massive Resistance. A class discussion looking at today's editorial pages and Jim Crow Laws leads the way...
National Woman's History Museum
Shirley Chisholm, Unbossed and Unbought
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...
Curated OER
African-American Heroes
Students explore websites about famous African-Americans. They work in pairs to decide on an African American who should be honored with a stamp. They write a letter recommending this person for a stamp including appropriate reason why...
Curated OER
Women's History Week
Students investigate the contributions of women who influenced human rights in US history. They examine the influence Susan B. Anthony, Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth and Elizabeth Cady Stanton by participating in a jigsaw activity....
Curated OER
African Americans Seen Through the Eyes of the Newsreel Cameraman
Fifth graders learn about this history of jazz music. For this musical influences lesson, 5th graders read God Bless the Childand listen to a recording of it. Students create a KWL chart on jazz and early 1900s music and dance. Students...
Curated OER
Black Kentuckians and the Civil War
Students demonstrate how the American Civil War affected black Kentuckians socially and politically. They identify and discuss the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which forced the end of slavery in Kentucky months after the...
Curated OER
Quilting Our Diverse Classroom
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...
Curated OER
Pizza Biography
A biography writing lesson with a tasty twist! Kids create a "visual biography" in which each pizza slice represents a paragraph, and toppings represent supporting details. They learn research techniques, note-taking skills, and how to...
Smithsonian Institution
The Vocal Blues: Created in the Deep South of the U.S.
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...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Frances Ellen Watkins Harper’s “Learning to Read”
Frances Ellen Watkins Harper's poem "Learning to Read" is the focus of a lesson that teaches middle schoolers how to do a close reading of a text. The lesson introduces them to a brief biography of the poet, includes a video reading, and...
Curated OER
American Families: Portraits of African-American Families
Students develop a greater understanding and appreciation for their families. They increase personal self-esteem and pride as a result of studying about families through literature. They assess the importance of family values and...
Crafting Freedom
George Moses Horton: Crafting Virtual Freedom Through Poetry
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.
Curated OER
Countries of Africa
Students study the coutries of Africa. In this African American history, small groups of students research a different country, color the country on the map of Africa, write a paragraph about the country, and draw pictures of its flag.
Curated OER
Examining the African American Role in New Haven History: Pride in the Past? Hope for the Future
Fifth graders examine the role of African-Americans in New Haven, Connecticut. Using two maps, they compare and contrast the differences in the town from the past to today. In groups, they use the internet to research the contributions...
American Institute of Physics
Optics and Anthony Johnson
Message sending has come a long way since the days of Morse code's dots and dashes. Young scientists study the research of optical physicist Anthony Johnson and his work in fiber optics, lasers, and the principle of total internal...
American Institute of Physics
Dr. Gates and the Nature of the Universe
What do Russian nesting dolls have to do with physics? They make a great demonstration tool for explaining Dr. Sylvester James Gates, Jr.'s string theory to young scientists. A two-part lesson first introduces learners to Dr. Gates' life...
PBS
Malcolm X: Minister and Civil Rights Activist
Any study of the leaders of the Civil Rights Movement would be incomplete without an examination of the life of Malcolm X. Class members view a short biographical video and analyze primary source documents to gain an understanding of the...
Albert Shanker Institute
Heart of the Matter
Most people have heard of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and his famous "I Have a Dream" speech, but few have heard of Philip Randolph and Bayard Rustin. Who were these guys and what did they have to do with this famous landmark event in...
Crafting Freedom
Harriet Jabocs and Elizabeth Keckly: The Material and Emotional Realities of Childhood in Slavery
Learning how to make accurate inferences by putting together facts found in multiple sources is one of those skills all learners must develop, but one that can be a challenge to teach. This resource is a must-have for your curriculum...
Crafting Freedom
Harriet Jabocs and Elizabeth Keckly: The Material and Emotional Realities of Childhood in Slavery
Through the journals written by Harriet Jacobs and Elizabeth Keckly, young readers gain insight into the lives of two enslaved children on nineteenth-century plantations.
Learning to Give
Africa - The Great Southland
Applying the five themes of geography, preteen explorers develop a visual aid for younger learners in celebration African American History Month. They investigate the political, geographic, economic, and social aspects of the continent...
Curated OER
Research Project
After reading books about Black history, complete an outline and research important African Americans in history. Use the included outline to write a report.