National Endowment for the Humanities
The Music of African American History
High schoolers examine role spirituals have played in African American history and religion, examine Harriet Tubman's use of spirituals in her work, explore power of spirituals in Civil Rights Movement, and work with oral tradition,...
Curated OER
Down By the Riverside
Young scholars discuss the musical genre of spirituals and its influence on our musical history. They perform various songs, and read the student score for, Down By the Riverside.
Curated OER
Code Black
Eleventh graders gain an awareness and an appreciation of slave spirituals as part of their American Literature/American History heritage.
Curated OER
Migration of Music
In this music worksheet, students identify and define migration. They circle the different types of music created by the African-Americans who were brought to the New World. Students also explain why slavery is a bad thing.
Curated OER
Movement and Music: An Introduction to Slavery
Students create a slavery timeline. They identify key leaders in the anti-slavery movement. Students are asked what they can recall about slavery. They review the following vocabulary words slavery, spirituals, abolitionists, and...
Curated OER
African-American History and Culture in the English Classroom
Ninth graders identify and recognize characteristics of nonfiction in literary works, explore language and culture of Gullah people, compare and contrast purposes of spirituals and quilts in terms of their relationships to escape from...
Curated OER
Get On Board This Train
Students examine and discuss the African American Spiritual in a choir setting. They also sing the spiritual "Get On Board This Train" while using terms and techniques studied in the lesson.
Curated OER
Spirituals
Students review factors that contributed to the development of the spiritual, which reflects the influence of African religious and Christian traditions, and slavery. Students collect spirituals/songs of their heritage from family...