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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

What Does This Song Really Say?

For Teachers 3rd - 7th
Students investigate communication by analyzing lyrics from a song. For this music arts lesson, students discuss slavery, the Underground Railroad and African American traditions while listening to a song called "This Train." Students...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Fugitive Slave Narratives

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students analyze the ways slavery shaped social and economic life in the South after 1800, the different economic, cultural, and social characteristics of slavery after 1800, and the ending of the Atlantic slave trade.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Who is Harriet Tubman?

For Teachers 2nd
Second graders read A Picture of Harriet Tubman, by David A. Adler. In this Harriet Tubman lesson, 2nd graders explore the concept of slavery and discover how Harriet helped free slaves in the past. The book is read out loud. They...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Fugitive Slaves and the Underground Railroad

For Teachers 11th
Eleventh graders consider the impact of the Underground Railroad. In this slavery instructional activity, 11th graders examine primary documents as they conduct independent research to explore the role of the Underground Railroad during...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Conflict Between the States

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Students explore the conflicts which evolved into the Civil War. Students examine the differences between the north and the south. They discuss slavery and the battles during the war. Students create a mural and write battle songs...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Underground Railroad and The Fugitive Slave Law of 1850

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Students discover racism and slavery by completing a role playing activity. In this U.S. history lesson, students analyze documents from the Civil War era and describe the Fugitive Slave Law. Students view a video on YouTube about the...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Steps to Freedom

For Teachers K - 4th
Students complete discussion and reading comprehension activities for the novel Almost to Freedom by Vaunda Micheax Nelson. For this African American history lesson, students discuss the Underground Railroad and complete a reading...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Underground Railroad

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students examine slavery and the civil war by creating a research project.  In this underground railroad lesson, students create a KWL chart and decide on one of several creative projects they will complete about slavery....
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Lesson Plan
Carolina K-12

Group Project: Freedom Parade

For Students 5th Standards
Parades are a great way to celebrate. Get young historians into the festivities by asking them to create an informational float for a Freedom Parade. Picking a topic from the provided list or suggesting one of their own, class members...
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Worksheet
Curated OER

Slave Trade Day

For Students 5th - 10th
For this Slave Trade Day worksheet, students complete activities such as reading a passage, matching phrases, fill in the blanks, choose the correct word, multiple choice, unscramble the words, sequencing, unscramble the sentences, write...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Uncle Tom's Cabin and American Culture

For Teachers 7th - 9th
Students examine and analyze primary sources. They analyze the causes and effects of major events of the Civil War. They explain a variety of antebellum notions of slavery. They understand the impact that Uncle Tom's Cabin had on the...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Meaning of Passover Story Through Songs and Traditions

For Teachers 1st - 5th
Students explore the meaning of Passover. For this holiday lesson, students participate in various learning centers that focus on the Passover holiday. The learning centers include simulating the feelings of slavery, listening to music...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Voyage to Freedom - What Does It Mean?

For Teachers 5th
Fifth graders investigate the Underground Railroad by creating a quilt.  In this U.S. History activity, 5th graders discuss the history of slavery through a class "word splash" and by reading an Underground Railroad map online....
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

U.S. Set to Celebrate Lincoln Bicentennial

For Teachers 2nd - 6th
Students use a news article about the celebration of the Lincoln Bicentennial to answer questions about Abraham Lincoln and the celebration. In this current events and US history instructional activity based on a news article, students...
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Worksheet
Curated OER

Freethinkers Day

For Students 5th - 10th
In this Freethinkers Day worksheet, students complete activities such as reading a passage, phrase matching, fill in the blanks, correct words, multiple choice, spelling, sequencing, scrambled sentences, writing questions, survey, and...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Quilt to Freedom

For Teachers K - 2nd
Students investigate the Underground Railroad. In this African-American history lesson, students listen to the book Clara and the Freedom Quilt and use map skills to identify the various locations in the book. Students create a freedom...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

A Nation Divided

For Teachers 5th
Fifth graders participate in various activities related to the Civil War. For this Civil War lesson students understand the events and feelings of people during the Civil War by studying primary sources, journal writing, readings,...
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Worksheet
Curated OER

Remembering Martin Luther King Jr.

For Students 5th - 10th
In this Dr. Martin Luther King activity worksheet, students use the 43 clues to identify the words needed to complete the crossword puzzle.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Culminating Activities for Sharon Draper’s Novel Copper Sun

For Teachers 10th - 12th
Student examine the elements of literature. In this literature lesson, pupils follow the provided procedures to review the novel Copper Sun by Sharon Draper.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Escape From Slavery

For Teachers 6th - 9th
Students make a timeline of Frederick Douglass' life. They role play your favorite scene from the story. Students write at least 5 journal entries from Frederick Douglass' point of view.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

I Am Freedom Bound!

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Upper elementary and middle school learners engage in this awesome lesson plan on the Civil War. In it, they watch streamed video, perform Internet research, engage in hands-on activities, and use their geography skills to locate...
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Study Guide
Penguin Books

A Teacher's Guide to the Signet Classics Edition of Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

For Teachers 6th - Higher Ed
Whether new to teaching The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn or an experienced pro, you’ll find useful resources in this teacher’s guide. The 40-page packet includes background information, historical context, an annotated list of...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Slaves, the Labor Force, and the Economy

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students examine critical role that slaves, freemen, and plebeians played in the Roman Empire. They complete creative writing that addresses how the Roman class system and the use of slavery contributed to the downfall of the Roman Empire.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Fugitive from Labor Cases: Henry Garnett (1850) and Moses Honner (1860)

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students engage in the comparison of cases which demonstrate the increasingly volatile political crisis in the 1850s arising over the issue of slavery and the necessity for the enactment of the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments to the U.S....