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American Music Styles: European Roots and African Influences - Lesson 3
Young scholars describe some of the characteristics of country and blues music. They see how country music rose to a nationally known music style. They write a two-paragraph essay on what they think country music be like in the next 100...
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Jazz it Up!
Students research the history and contributions of Jazz in their local environments. They then design and create a wide variety of presentations to share with the class using as many mediums as possible.
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Lift Every Voice and Sing
Students analyze sculpture, poetry, and music to gain an understanding of historical events. In this critical thinking skills lesson, students take a closer look at African-American history as they examine "Lift Every Voice and Sing'"...
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Remember the Bridge: Poems of a People
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...
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Map Making Exercise
Students complete a Web Quest in order to determine why Harlem was an attractive place for African Americans to live. They study a map of Harlem in the 1930's.
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A Comparative Look at Migrations
Students examine two narratives on migration, and provide and compare the migration of African Americans at two distinct points in history. They write an essay detailing the similarities and differences they have found.
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The Northern Migration
Students assume the role of a Nineteenth Century African American who is contemplating participating in a Northern migration, and write a letter to a loved one explaining the reasons for their decision.
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Is this the Promised Land?
Students explore the "broken promises" such as overcrowding, poverty, housing, and broken wage promises that African Americans encountered as a result of moving north during the period of 1916-1930. They create journal entries.
Crafting Freedom
Man in the Middle: Thomas Day and the Free Black Experience
How did free and enslaved blacks work to craft freedom for themselves and their families before the Civil War? Young historians read about the life of Thomas Day, a free black man who also owned slaves and had abolitionist ties in...
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Artistic Symbols
Students compare and contrast symbols used in African and Plains Indian art. In this visual arts lesson, students compare symbols of 2 cultural groups found in their art. Students write a description of what items might have been left...
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Being Me in the Face of Adversity - Americans Who Stood Up for Their Beliefs
Students identify important Americans from the colonial, revolutionary and slavery periods who are noted for standing up for their beliefs in the face of peer disapproval. They identify the importance of music in motivating and...
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Abuela's Weave Teacher's Guide
Learners read and response to the book, Abuela's Weave. In this African-American literature lesson, students discuss pre-reading questions, that focus on family traditions and make predictions about the text. Learners read the text and...
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Comparing African, American, and European Folktales
Pupils listen to John Steptoe's story, "Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters," and then identify similarities and differences between an African, a Native American, and a European folktale.
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Using Oral Traditions to Improve Verbal and Listening Skills
Students examine the role of stories in African and African-American cultures. This lesson plan is written for students with visual impairments. They
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The Struggle Against Segregation
Middle schoolers use vocabulary related to the history of segregation in the United States. They study about the history of segregation in America and recognize the challenges and prejudice that many African Americans faced in the 1950s....
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Breaking the Chains: Rising Out of Circumstances
Study history through photographs. In this visual arts and history lesson, students learn to analyze photographs to discover details about life during the Civil War era. Students write journal entries as if they are the African-American...
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An Analysis of Jim Crow Laws and their Effects on Race Relations
First graders analyze the role of the Jim Crow laws on race relations. As a class, they are segregated based on the color shirt they have or some other simple criteria and wear either a square or circle sticker representing the majority...
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My First Kwanzaa Book Activity Card
Kindergartners respond to the events in My First Kwanzaa Book by completing an activity at home with a parent. After cutting out six labeled picture cards, they arrange them in the order in which they appeared in the book.
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Walking the Line
Students participate in activities that engage all learning styles (such as picture walks, tracing lines, movement/theatre technique) as an introduction to the art element of line and its importance to art.
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Mood in Music
Young scholars portray the mood of a piece of music in a drawing. In this mood in music lesson, students discuss how music creates a mood. Young scholars listen to Vivaldi's "Four Seasons," "The Wreck of The Wreck of the...
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African Folktales
Learners read African folktales. For this literature lesson, students share prior knowledge about South Africa, Morocco, and Nigeria. Then learners work in groups to read an assigned African folktale and answer response questions about...
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American Literature and the Civil War
Students prepare for and respond to literature selections. This package includes fourteen lessons from the American Literature, The Civil War and Its Aftermath: 1845-1880 series, each covering a different reading selection. Pre-reading...
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Cinderella Stories - Native American Cinderella Stories
Students examine a Native American Cinderella story. In this Cinderella lesson, students listen to and compare Rafe Martin's, The Rough Face Girl, to other Cinderella stories. They complete the associated worksheets, role play scenes...
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Economics Lesson: The Real McCoy
Students research the origination of the expression "The Real McCoy." In this economics research lesson plan, students read the book The Real McCoy. Students examine Elijah McCoy and his invention of the oil cup and how it relates to the...