Students identify, summarize and present facts about cultural, educational and political inequalities of Reconstruction, explain hidden codes of slave spirituals and their importance in slaves' communication, and create poetry based on...

Students complete a unit of 9 lessons to learn about realism in music during the time of the Underground Railroad. In this music realism lesson, students learn about coded lyrics in the slave songs. Students complete 9 lessons using...

Students explore their own responses to sound by hearing the music as a regular part of the class structure. They develop an awareness that certain art evokes certain sounds and moods and develop an intuitive responses to the music.

Students investigate call and response singing.  In this fine arts and U.S. history lesson, students listen to several call and response songs that were sung by African-American slaves during the period before the Civil War. ...

Students discover racism and slavery by completing a role playing activity. For 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...

Students explore power and the symbols of power in West African music. They discuss the music of West Africa and compare it to African American music of today. In addition, they investigate musical instruments of Africa, identify the...

Students research the Gullah people and their impact on South Carolina. In this South Carolina history lesson, students study, locate, and color the region of Africa the Gullah people came from. Students listen to Gullah music and watch...

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...

Students learn about the Underground Railroad. In this Civil War and slavery lesson, students discuss how successful slaves would be moving around at night, learn the secret vocabulary used for escape routes and review background about...

Fifth graders listen to and discuss the music of the Civil War Era in order to better explain society during this time period. They identify the musical instruments and write their own word to accompany the music of one of the songs.

Students explore the Gullah culture. In this social studies lesson, students construct and play instruments similar to those of the Gullah people.

Students explore living and working environment of both slave and free African Americans from places throughout the United States.

Learners explore the meaning of Passover. In 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 by...

Students investigate communication by analyzing lyrics from a song. In this music arts lesson, students discuss slavery, the Underground Railroad and African American traditions while listening to a song called "This Train." Students...

Students explore life on a southern plantation, and the difficulties slaves encountered in food preparation. They make a sweet potato pie and discuss the uses of sweet potatoes instead of traditional fruits in southern cooking.

Fourth graders create a coded message in a quilt. For this art lesson students demonstrate the communication used by the Underground Railroad. Students work in a group to make a quilt with a code in it.

Learners create a poster advertising the Gullah Geechee Cultural Festival on Sapelo Island.  In this Gullah Geechee culture lesson, students watch a video called "Gullah Music" and discuss the music and traditions of the slaves from...

Students prepare and organize a cultural celebration of African migration and immigration. Working in groups or individually, they research topics and present the information, including dance demonstrations, instrumental or vocal...