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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
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 plan with a resource that asks class members to analyze photos, travel documents, and letters written by some of New...
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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
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
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
K20 LEARN

LBJ and Voting Rights

For Teachers 11th - 12th Standards
Challenges to voting rights is not a new thing. Using President Lyndon B. Johnson's 1965 "The American Promise" speech on voting rights as a starting point, young historians research current voting rights laws and challenges.
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Lesson Plan
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Historical Thinking Matters

Rosa Parks: 5 Day Lesson

For Teachers 7th - 12th Standards
What led to the success of the Montgomery Bus Boycott, and how might historians approach this question differently? This rich series of lessons includes a short introductory video clip, analysis of six primary source documents, and...
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Lesson Plan
Historical Thinking Matters

Rosa Parks: 3 Day Lesson

For Teachers 7th - 12th Standards
How can evidence and perspective challenge even the most well-known of stories? Through primary and secondary source analysis, think-alouds, and discussion, young historians evaluate the historical narrative of Rosa Parks across multiple...
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Lesson Plan
ReadWriteThink

Martin Luther King, Jr. and Me: Identifying with a Hero

For Teachers K - 2nd
Here, young historians compare their early lives to that of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s. They listen to a read aloud of a story by Dr. King's sister, and then write in the provided reflective journal template. Lastly, they share their...
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Lesson Plan
National Park Service

Teaching with Historic Places: Discover the Jackie Robinson Ballpark

For Teachers 5th - 12th Standards
Can sports and popular culture change public opinion? That's the essential question asked by a lesson plan that looks at the role Jackie Robinson's appearance at City Island Ballpark in Daytona Beach, Florida played in the desegregation...
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Lesson Plan
Literacy Volunteers of Greater Hartford

Similes Activity using Jazz (featuring Duke Ellington)

For Students 4th
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...
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Lesson Plan
K20 LEARN

Forgotten Figures: The Civil Rights Movement

For Teachers 9th - 11th
Most have heard of Dr. Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, and Rosa Parks, but few recall Elizabeth Jennings, Samuel W. Tucker, or Ada Lois Sipuel Fisher. Young historians research and then develop a presentation about the contributions of...
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Lesson Plan
Facing History and Ourselves

Hardship and Hope: Teaching Amanda Gorman's "New Day's Lyric"

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Class members come together to study Amanda Gorman's poem "New Day's Lyric." After a close reading of the poem, learners watch a video of Gorman reading her poem, and then craft additional lines for the poem where they offer suggestions...
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Lesson Plan
Academy of American Poets

Teach This Poem: "Theme for English B" by Langston Hughes

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Langston Hughes' "Theme for English B" is featured in a instructional activity that asks pupils to first read a biography of Hughes and list things about his life they think are important. The class then reads the poem and compares what...
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Lesson Plan
PBS

Remembering Nelson Mandela

For Teachers 6th - 12th
To learn more about Nelson Mandela, young historians watch a 20 minute video that traces his life from boyhood in a small South African village, to his work as an activist opposed to Apartheid, his imprisonment, and to his leadership as...
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Lesson Plan
Academy of American Poets

Teach This Poem: "A New National Anthem" by Ada Limón

For Teachers 3rd - 12th Standards
Ada Limon's poem, "A New National Anthem," offers young scholars an opportunity to reflect on the significance of the US national anthem and the extent to which Key's vision applies to all Americans. After watching a video of Whitney...
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Lesson Plan
Academy of American Poets

Teach This Poem: "A Place in the Country" by Toi Derricotte

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Build young scholars' confidence in analyzing art and poetry with a lesson that first asks pupils to list details they notice in Edouard Vuillard's painting "Garden at Vaucresson" and then to describe how the painting makes them feel....
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Lesson Plan
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Learning for Justice

Marian Wright Edelman

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Marian Wright Edelman's 2014 Commencement Speech at Lewis and Clark College serves to inspire young scholars to investigate a problem in their community, to determine why the problem is important, and then to develop a plan for one thing...
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Lesson Plan
PBS

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s ‘I Have a Dream’ Speech as a Work of Literature

For Teachers 6th - 12th
To appreciate the oratory of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech, scholars examine the rhetorical devices and influences that make the speech so famous. They examine background information, conduct a close reading of the...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Texas Treasures

For Teachers 4th - 5th
Students explore the meanings of the word "treasure," and examine the use of clay in the construction of buildings in San Antonio, Texas. They examine clay artifacts, and watch a video about pottery artist, Harding Black. Students then...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Puppetry

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students explore puppetry. In this puppetry lesson, students research the history and culture of puppets. Student begin to understand that art work has special characteristics. Students create their own marionette puppet.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The End of the Civil Rights Movement

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Middle schoolers examine the relationships between blacks and whites in their community. In this racial discrimination lesson, students make race relations observations within their community and then write letters that reveal their...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Lift Every Voice and Sing

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Students analyze sculpture, poetry, and music to gain an understanding of historical events. In this critical thinking skills lesson, students take a closer look at African-American history as they examine "Lift Every Voice and Sing'"...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Class Mural

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students discover visual arts by examining a wall mural. In this art appreciation lesson, students discuss the history of art after researching information on the Internet. Students view famous paintings which feature physical movement...

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