Here is a complex lesson plan that interweaves the history of the Jim Crow South and the Great Migration with the study of poetry, art, and blues music from the Harlem Renaissance. The plan helps young historians develop a deep...

Pupils analyze a variety of primary source materials related to lynching (news articles, letters written to or written by prominent Americans, pamphlets, broadsides, etc.) in order to assess the effectiveness of the anti-lynching...

High schoolers will learn to appreciate the civil rights movement with a focus on Little Rock, Arkansas. They will also acknowledge Louis Armstrong's unparalleled contributions to American music.

Fifth graders learn about this history of jazz music. In this musical influences lesson, 5th graders read God Bless the Childand listen to a recording of it. Students create a KWL chart on jazz and early 1900s music and dance. Students...

Students investigate the African American culture in the 1920's and the Harlem Renaissance. They read and analyze poems written by poets of the Harlem Renaissance, listen to jazz music and identify the characteristics of the music, and...

Students research the Gullah people and their impact on South Carolina. For 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...

Upper graders listen to the blues. They discuss blues scale, read a description of the blues, and work together to write an original piece. A lesson like this ties into American history and African-American musical contributions very...

Students explore how migration to Harlem created a new life for African Americans. For this cross curricular lesson, students illustrate maps showing the migration, paint murals representing African American life in the South and...

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...

Ninth graders consider the impact of development on African kingdoms. In this cultural diversity lesson plan, 9th graders conduct independent research to determine how development has changed Africa. Students write research papers based...

American life before the Civil War was very different from American life today. To show this difference in a full spectrum, learners compare two communities that illustrate the differences between Northern and Southern life. Throughout...

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

Fifth graders explore poems of African Americans. They research a famous African American, write a report, create a timeline of events in African American history, create a map of the New World, and research Molly Walsh. After...

Learners examine the Caribbean in terms of its music, art, and folklore. As a class, they listen to a folktale and discuss the difference between telling a story and reading a story. In groups, they write their own folktale and share...

Eighth graders examine the lives of the Gullah-Geechee people. In this unique cultures lesson, 8th graders explore music, language, and slavery of the Gullah-Geechee people from the southern low-country in the United States. Students...

Working in small teams, learners analyze a variety of primary source materials related to lynching (news articles, letters written to or written by prominent Americans, pamphlets, broadsides, etc.) in order to assess the effectiveness of...

Young scholars analyze images and music of common rituals in America with those of other countries. They use worksheets to compare and contrast the events.

Sixth graders explore the aspect of slave life on the Sea Islands. They explore the Gullah language, folk tales, music and games during the "off" times of slaves. Students read and interpret Gullah folk tales. They recognize music in the...

Young scholars examine how Lennie Gardner's process of discovery about his bronze mask parallels a personal discovery process. They receive an introduction to the art, history, and religion of Benin

Students examine the life of John Lawson and his many roles he took on during his life. Using their text, they discover the area in which he traveled and lived. They write an essay about his movements and identifying his contacts in...