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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Palm of My Heart: Poetry By African American Children

For Teachers 1st - 6th
Elementary students explore African American culture by reading children's poetry. They read the book, The Palm of My Heart which features poetry by an assortment of young African American boys and girls. Students define several...
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Lesson Plan
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Smithsonian Institution

Art to Zoo: Life in the Promised Land: African-American Migrants in Northern Cities, 1916-1940

For Teachers 4th - 8th Standards
This is a fantastic resource designed for learners to envision what it was like for the three million African-Americans who migrated to urban industrial centers of the northern United States between 1910 and 1940. After reading a...
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Interactive
Curated OER

Outstanding African Americans Activity

For Students 5th - 10th
Challenge historians to investigate influential African-Americans through this online research activity. Learners undertake this task using online links, some of which require investigative searching. Print the worksheet out first, so...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Breaking Barriers

For Teachers 8th - 12th
Determine how African-Americans have broken barriers in this history lesson. Middle schoolers discuss the 15th Amendment and the American civil rights movement prior to analyzing Barack Obama's speech "A More Perfect Union," taking care...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Insights of American Blacks During the 19th and 20th Centuries in New Haven, Connecticut

For Teachers 7th - 8th
Students examine the contributions of African Americans in New Haven, Connecticut in the 19th and 20th centuries. After being introduced to new vocabulary, they review the elements of autobiographies and read excerpts of African...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

African-American Musicians

For Teachers 6th - 10th
Learners research three African-American musicians and compose a report based upon their research in this Music Appreciation instructional activity for the middle level classroom. The instructional activity could be adapted for various...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Who Do You Know?

For Teachers 3rd - 4th
Students research and describe the contributions of African-American men and women. They write their notes in a Microsoft Word document. They present their information to the class.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Music: Off the Wall & Onto the Stage - Composing

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Kids explore Gullah music from Africa and then create original compositions based on what they've learned. They practice traditional melodies and rhythms then make some of their own, which they then perform for the class. 
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

African American Heritage in Arkansas

For Teachers 2nd - 4th
Students research and write about three African American composers from Arkansas: Scott Joplin, Florence Price and William Grant Still.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Civil Rights in America

For Teachers 7th
Seventh graders visit the Smithsonian and are shown different exhibits. They are to make their own drawing about one of the exhibits and write about the experience.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Buffalo Soldiers

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students investigate the role of the buffalo soldiers. In this African American history lesson plan, students research the African American soldiers of the 19th and 20th centuries. Students discuss their findings and compose songs that...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Breaking Barriers

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students examine the context of a speech delivered by Barack Obama. In this African-American history lesson plan, students discuss the 15th Amendment and the American Civil Rights Movement prior to analyzing Barack Obama's speech "A More...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

James Brown: Life and Times

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students trace James Brown's rise from "Little Junior" in Depression-era Augusta, Georgia, to the "Minister of the New Super Heavy Funk" and create a collage that captures his impact on American music.
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Lesson Plan
Crafting Freedom

Thomas Day's Letter to His Daughter, Mary Ann

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Why is a letter a better way to learn about a person than a different primary source? Explore Thomas Day's ideas and advice to his daughter in a letter from 1851, which details the struggles of the American South before the Civil War....
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Slavery: Acts of Resistance

For Teachers 9th - 11th Standards
Historical accounts of various events have proven to differ depending on the point of view of the person documenting the event. Learners read and analyze two first person accounts of acts of slave resistance seen at a southern...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Take a Memo - Primary Documents: African American Soldiers on the Homefront

For Teachers 5th - 12th
Pupils examine the discrimination experienced by black servicemen during World War II. They read and analyze an official memo written in 1943, complete worksheet questions, and participate in a class discussion.
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Activity
Library of Congress

The Harlem Renaissance

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
The Harlem Renaissance brought forth many American art forms including jazz, and the writings of Zora Neale Hurston and Langston Hughes. Using a carefully curated set of documents from the Library of Congress, pupils see the cultural...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Duke Ellington: Great American Musician and Composer

For Teachers 3rd - 6th
Students delve into the life and music of Duke Ellington as a major American musician and composer. The elements that made the sound of his orchestra unique and the talents of his band members are explored in this lesson.
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Lesson Plan
Scholastic

Lesson 3: Essay Organizer

For Teachers 4th - 8th Standards
A three-minute exercise warms-up scholars' writing abilities in order to follow a writing process that ends in an essay. The essay's topic is a barrier and the values used to break it. Four steps include choosing a topic, jotting-down a...
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Lesson Plan
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Curated OER

The Movement Before the Movement: Civil Rights Activism in the 1940s

For Teachers 8th - 11th
Many educators focus on the civil rights movement as it occurred after Rosa Parks incited the bus boycott. Extend the understanding of the fight for civil rights in the United States with this post-WWII lesson. Learners examine and...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Effects of African-American Emigration From the Late 1700s-Early 1900s

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students explore the pros and cons of the emigration movement and research major groups and people involved in it. They view a multi-media narrative imbedded in this plan, then compose an essay stating their point of view.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

African-American Gospel Music

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students examine gospel music including the lyrics and instrumentation. They explain the meaning of the lyrics and how they are related to the cultural values associated with the music. They differentiate between gospel and spiritual music.
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Worksheet
Curated OER

Frederick Douglass Expository Reading Guide

For Students 10th - 12th
Help your high schoolers navigate the cross-curricular text Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass with this reading guide. The questions guide learners through composing a summary of any given chapter in the text. In addition,...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Ray Charles

For Teachers 2nd - 4th
Learners read the book Ray Charles by Sharon Bell Mathis. For this biography instructional activity, students read about the life of Ray Charles. Learners answer pre-reading questions about senses, strengths, and weaknesses they have....