Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media
The Revolutionary Times as Seen Through the Eyes of Women
The role of women before and during the American Revolution changed dramatically. To gain an understanding of these changes, middle schoolers analyze primary source documents, including letters from women that supported the patriot cause...
Curated OER
Who Is Sarah Mae Fleming?
Fifth graders learn about two influential women. In this historical figures lesson, 5th graders work in groups to read articles about Rosa Parks and Sarah Fleming and share their findings with the class. Students use a Venn Diagram to...
Curated OER
Fair Responses to Unfair Acts
Learners understand the sacrifices and problems in undoing an unfair situation. In this unfairness lesson, students discuss the reasons for the Montgomery Boycott and discuss worksheet and feelings about dealing with unfair situations.
Curated OER
North and South - Impact of the Abolitionist Movement
Students examine history of slavery in United States, discuss abolitionists such as Frederick Douglass who worked to end slavery, listen to excerpts from Douglass' autobiography, and visit interactive Underground Railroad web site.
Curated OER
Prudence Crandall House and Little Rock High School
Students examine how Prudence Crandall influenced the education of African Americans in New England prior to the Civil War and compare and contrast events in Canterbury, CN in the 1830's to those in Little Rock, AR in the 1950's.
Curated OER
Unintended Consequences: Policies that Impact Migration
Students examine the cause-and-effect relationship between the Agricultural Adjustment Acts of the New Deal or the 1965 Voting Rights Act and African-American migration. They write an essay evaluating the effectiveness of the Voting...
Curated OER
Urban Concentration and Racial Violence
Students research one of the many urban race riots in U.S. history, from the New York City riots during the Civil War to the "Red Summer of 1919" or the hate-strikes of 1943. They present their findings in the form of a newspaper's front...
Curated OER
Spirituals
Students review factors that contributed to the development of the spiritual, which reflects the influence of African religious and Christian traditions, and slavery. Students collect spirituals/songs of their heritage from family...
Curated OER
OK in Oklahoma? All-Black Communities
Students read to discover the African-American migration to Oklahoma following the Civil War and the eventual settlements of thirty-two all-black towns. To present their findings, students will write position papers and participate in...
Curated OER
Confict, Consensus, and Conclusion
Learners debate the key issues dealing with women's rights and the rights of African Americans during and after the Civil War. They analyze the women's rights movement in relationship to the desire for suffrage. They utilize the...
Curated OER
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Young scholars learn what goals Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. had when he wanted to change the inequality of the United States.
Curated OER
Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X: A Common Solution?: Lesson Plan
High schoolers explore the ideological and political development of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X through primary source documents. They identify the various personal, social, and political factors that influenced Martin Luther...
National Endowment for the Humanities
A Raisin in the Sun: Whose "American Dream"?
How does Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun factor into a discussion of the American dream? High schoolers define the American dream and recognize the historical setting of the play. Additionally, they identify forms of...
Facing History and Ourselves
Emmett Till: Examining the Choices People Made
The choices made by Roy Bryant and J.W. Millam, the men who murdered Emmett Till in 1955, are usually the ones people ponder when they examine the case. But other individuals made choices that contributed to the event and its subsequent...
Curated OER
I Have a Metaphor
Learners locate the literary devices used in Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech. For this figurative language lesson plan, students first distinguish between similes, metaphors, analogies, personification, etc. Learners...
Curated OER
To Be Black and American: World War II
Twelfth graders research wartime conditions African American had to endure during World War II. They explain what role African Americans played in World War II and describe what life was like for African Americans in the United States...
Smithsonian Institution
Watching Crystals Grow
Amazing science can sometimes happen right before your eyes! The class gets cozy as they watch crystals grow. They use Epsom salts, rocks, and food coloring to create crystals. They'll observe the entire process, documenting every step...
Curated OER
Courageous Voices that Shook the Nation to Action
Students study Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday. In this Martin Luther King, Jr. day lesson, students learn about the holiday for Dr. King through literature and music. Students learn the lyrics to Stevie Wonder's 'Happy Birthday' about...
Curated OER
African American Emigration: Turner and McNeal
Students discuss reasons why African Americans may have wanted to emigrate from the United States followig the Civil War. They complete a Venn diagram noting the differences between proposals by Marcus Garvey and Henry McNeal Turner.
National First Ladies' Library
Government: Defending the Bill of Rights
Pupils examine the proposition of a country without the Bill of Rights. In a role-playing activity, teams of students gather information to build a case for retaining the Bill of Rights and present it before their congressperson.
Curated OER
Resistance and Self-Determination
Fourth graders examine a person's education and their ability to be independent and to resist oppression. In this American History lesson, 4th graders study the ideas of James McCune Smith.
Curated OER
Perspective on the Slave Narrative
Learners work with the slave narrative as a resource for historical study and evaluate it as a work of literature; students then examine the narrative in the context of political controversy as an argument for abolition.
Curated OER
Reconsidering Malcolm X
Students analyze the strategies and speeches of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr.
C-SPAN
14th Amendment Equal Protection Clause
Two Supreme Court cases, Plessy v. Ferguson and Brown v. Board of Education take center stage in a instructional activity about the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. Class members research both cases to compare and contrast...