Boston University
South African Short Stories: Apartheid, Civil Rights, and You
How are short stories from South Africa connected to issues of civil rights in the United States? A unit plan uses South African short stories to discuss issues such as apartheid, colonization, and civil rights. Questions and activities...
K12 Reader
African American Inventors: Granville T. Woods
Get to know inventor, Granville T. Woods. Who is he? From what state did Woods come? What did he design? All questions your scholars will find the answers to with this response-to-reading worksheet.
Center for History Education
Frances Ellen Watkins Harper: 19th Century African-American Writer and Reformer
Although some African American abolitionists—such as Sojourner Truth and Frederick Douglass—are well known, others, like Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, remain in the shadows of history. Harper was a poet and activist who played an...
Carolina K-12
African American Troops in the Civil War
Middle schoolers explore the history of the African-American troops that served during the American Civil War. After reading primary source documents that detail the controversies about permitting freemen and former slaves to serve,...
American Institute of Physics
The Physicist's War: Dr. Herman Branson and the Scientific Training of African Americans during World War II
The mobilization of soldiers for World War II resulted in a worker shortage in the defense industries, especially in the fields of physics and other sciences. The Engineering, Science, and Management War Training program (ESMWT) was...
US House of Representatives
“‘The Negroes’ Temporary Farewell,” Jim Crow and the Exclusion of African Americans from Congress, 1887–1929
Despite some advances made during the Reconstruction Era following the Civil War, the period from 1887 through 1929, African Americans serving in Congress suffered severe setbacks due to Jim Crow Laws and voter suppression. Class members...
Visit St Augustine
African Americans in St. Augustine
A colorful travel brochure reveals why St. Augustine is considered the birthplace of African-American history. Images and maps bring the rich history of the city to life by displaying the many individuals, events, and sites that honor...
National Park Service
Lesson 5: Coded Spirituals, Metaphor in African Spirituals
If a picture is worth a thousand words, song lyrics also can communicate many meanings. Using the lyrics of spirituals, young historians analyze them for coded messages about freedom. Resources include a chart to help individuals track...
National Endowment for the Humanities
A Debate Against Slavery
Slavery is a serious topic that can be challenging for middle schoolers to study. Young scholars can see firsthand through primary sources what occurred during that time period in the United States. The third of five lessons provides...
Penguin Books
A Guide to the Works of Jacqueline Woodson
The works of Jacqueline Woodson introduce readers to diverse characters and themes. A guide covers many of the author's best-known books such as Brown Girl Dreaming and Locomotion. Dive & Discuss and Explore & Extend activities...
Americans All
A Simulation: The Peopling of America
What was it like to pass through Ellis Island? Learners move through the immigration process of the early 1900s in a simulation activity. A comprehensive activity includes role-playing profiles and other manipulative items such as...
National Endowment for the Humanities
How to Win a World War
High schoolers are have begun to learn the art of diplomacy with each other, but do they understand how diplomacy works at a global level? The second in a series of four lessons, guides scholars in evaluating primary sources....
Charlesbridge
Under the Freedom Tree: A Readers Theater
Susan VanHecke's Under the Freedom Tree is transformed into a 12-part readers theatre script appropriate for a performance by upper-elementary classes.
Time For Kids
A Peaceful Leader
The legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr's life and message is just as important today as it was in his lifetime. Introduce elementary learners to the movement for civil rights with a timeline of Dr. King's life, as well as...
Penguin Books
Folklore and Fairytales: A Guide to Using Traditional Tales and Reimagined Classics
Every culture has its own stories to tell. An interesting educator's guide shares a large collection of fairytales and folktales, some from different cultures and some re-creations of classics. A summary and brief teaching ideas...
Curated OER
Honor African American Leaders
Students research people of African descent, identify the person's achievements and contributions made to society. Afterward, they draw a sketch of the person researched, and write a summary of their findings. Students include important...
National Endowment for the Humanities
A “New English” in Chinua Achebe’s “Things Fall Apart”: A Common Core Exemplar
To examine the “New English” Chinua Achebe uses in Things Fall Apart, readers complete a series of worksheets that ask them to examine similes, proverbs, and African folktales contained in the novel. Individuals explain the meaning...
C3 Teachers
African American Voices and Reconstruction: What Does It Take To Secure Equality?
High schoolers research the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments, as well as other primary source documents, to determine Reconstruction's impact on the North and South. The 34-page inquiry-based lesson includes a staging question and...
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,...
Carolina K-12
“Stealing a Little Freedom”: Slave Runaways in North Carolina
As part of a study of slavery during the US colonial period, class members investigate why enslaved people ran away, the risks inherent in escaping, and the methods used to locate them.
American Institute of Physics
The Tuskegee Weathermen: African-American Meteorologists during World War II
Chances are good that young scholars have heard of the Tuskegee Airmen but few would predict that these pilots had their own support in the form of the Tuskegee Weathermen. These Black meteorologists were recruited and trained to provide...
Curated OER
Migration of the African American Family
Learners investigate the influence Africa has had on African-American families as they have migrated from Africa to various sections of the United States. They utilize map skills to locate regions in Africa and in the United States.
Curated OER
African-American Women and the Women's Christian Temperance Union
Students examine the appeal of temperance to African-American women. They also discover the racial tensions involved in this movement. They work together to read articles and answer questions.
Curated OER
African Development: Cultures, Settlers, and Policy Debates
Discuss the waves of settlers that attempted to colonize the African continent. Racial, social, and political issues relating to each wave of colonization are included. Note: Text is scant and will need to be fully described for the...