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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Torn from Each Other's Arms

For Teachers 6th - 9th
Learners consider how the institution of family suffered under slavery. In this slavery lesson, students watch segments of "Slavery and the Making of America". Learners examine the structure of the Driggus family and discuss how slavery...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Surveying our First President

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students act as surveyors. In this George Washington lesson, students read transcriptions from Washington's surveying journal and then try surveying skills on their own.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Open Door, Closed Door Lesson Plan: Discrimination in Immigration And Migration

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students read The Northern Migration and research immigration policies of different nations for the past and the present. They create a bulletin board or spreadsheet using their information.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Building New York

For Teachers 11th
Eleventh graders examine the role African Americans played in the expansion of New York.  In this American History lesson, 11th graders compare and contrast the images of a wealthy, free black against a black who was poor and enslaved. ...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Unsung Military Heroes

For Teachers 9th - 12th
In this lesson, students are introduced to the contributions made by African-American soldiers that have been excluded from traditional textbooks. To gain an appreciation for these unsung heroes, students engage in research to ultimately...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Heaven, Hell, and Baltimore

For Teachers 8th - 12th
This lesson allows students to research and compare the city of Baltimore to other northern cities of interest during the Great Migration. After reading a narrative entitled Return South Migration and conducting extensive research,...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Slavery in the Antebellum South

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students discuss Stephen Foster's depiction of slavery. Using the internet, they discover what the life of a slave was really like in the antebellum South. As a class, they discuss contemporary arguments for and against slavery.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Criminal or Hero

For Teachers 5th
Fifth graders explore the origins of slavery.  For this US History lesson, 5th graders create a map of the United States that shows where slavery existed.  Students examine the life of a Northern slave through the use of a video. 
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Mixing Races in New Orleans

For Teachers 10th - 12th
Learners discuss the changes in the legal, social, and political status of African Americans and those of mixed ethnicity after reading the narrative, Haitian Immigration: Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries.
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Lesson Plan
Constitutional Rights Foundation

History of Immigration Through the 1850s

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Everyone living in the United States today is a descendant from an immigrant—even Native Americans. Learn about the tumultuous history of American immigration with a reading passage that discusses the ancient migration over the Bering...
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Lesson Plan
Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation

Making a Patriot Inquiry: Are Independence, Freedom, and Liberty the Same Thing?

For Students 5th - 12th Standards
As part of a study of the American Revolution, class members engage in an inquiry-based lesson that has them watch a scene from the play Slave Spy, examine multiple primary source documents, and then discuss the similarities and...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Freedom and Dignity Project

For Teachers 11th
Eleventh graders explore slavery and the civil war. In groups, 11th graders discuss and slavery and identify reasons for its beginning. In groups, they role-play a character for a talk show. Students determine what slavery was like in...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Slave Auctions in South Carolina

For Teachers 6th - 9th
Students examine primary sources in the form of auction records, create frequency charts, graphs and diagrams that they analyze to anwer questions followed by the writing of a paper that demonstrates their comprehension of the lesson plan.
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Worksheet
Curated OER

Slave Laws in British Colonial New York, 1664—1722

For Students 8th - 12th
In this primary source analysis worksheet, students analyze colonial New York slave laws. Students respond to 4 short answer questions about the laws.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Brutal British

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Students read and predict the outcome of a story set during the Civil War, then map the story. To prepare for the activity, students determine why it is important to look at historical events from all angles by using primary and...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Criminal or Hero

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
Young scholars investigate slavery in America circa the American Revolution. They will examine point- of view and perspective as they research a variety of informational resources. While this is designed to be used with the PBS video...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Legacies of the Middle Passage

For Teachers 6th - 7th
Students research the Atlantic slave trade during the 18th century. In this slave trade lesson, students read a narrative about colonial expansion in the Americas and the rise of slavery in the United States. Students write down what...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

"An Eye For An Eye, A Tooth For A Tooth"

For Teachers 6th
Sixth graders debate their reactions to two different historical documents about managing a society.  In this U.S. history lesson, 6th graders read two articles on codes and laws from different time periods and debate their thoughts.  
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Log Book of a Connecticut Slave Trade Ship

For Teachers 7th
Seventh graders investigate the slave trade. In this Middle Passage lesson, 7th graders read excerpts of ship logs from Connecticut Slave Trade ships. Students respond to the provided analysis questions based on the logs. 
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Slave Market: Not Just a Southern Institution

For Teachers 4th
Fourth graders analyze the existence of slavery in the North. In this slavery instructional activity, 4th graders research primary and secondary sources regarding Dutch colonial slavery in New York. Students consider how archeology made...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

American Colonization Society Lesson Plan

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Students read an article online "Colonization and Emigration" and break into debating groups. They research points that support their side, namely whether or not the American Colonization Society was for or against segregation. They...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Through Their Eyes: Perspectives on Slavery

For Teachers 3rd - 6th
Students write a personal account of slavery seen from the eyes of a slave trader, a slave plantation owner, a fugitive slave, or a working slave.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Graphing and Demography: The Domestic Slave Trade

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students create graphs or charts based on the data a narrative imbedded in this plan. They make them either by hand or by using Excel or a similar database program. This lesson utilizes technology in a meaningful way.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Slavery, Manumission, and Freedom: Free Blacks in Charleston before the Civil War

For Teachers 7th - 10th
Students explore the concept of slavery and manumission through a variety of activities. In this civil rights lesson, students gather information from primary sources, then analyze the politics and historical context of the time....