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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Langston Hughes: Dream Variations

For Teachers 8th - 12th
Students examine African-American communal life. In this Langston Hughes lesson, students read poetry by Hughes in order to gain insight into the Harlem community. Students select artwork that represents their community.
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Lesson Plan
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Learning for Justice

Maya Angelou

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Maya Angelou's poem, "Still I Rise", offers young scholars an opportunity to consider how poets use literary devices to create powerful messages. After a close reading and discussion of the poem, class members reflect on how they can...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Influence of Musical Folk Traditions in the Poetry of Langston Hughes and Nicolás Guillén

For Teachers 8th - 12th
Pupils listen and explore how African-American culture relates to learning Spanish as a foreign language. Poetry, music, and history are utilized while learning about Langston Hughes and Nicolas Guillen.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Langston Hughes and the Blues

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Students explore the connections between Langson Hughes and blues music. In this African American culture instructional activity, students compare and contrast blues music with poetry and short stories by Langston Hughes.
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Lesson Plan
Crafting Freedom

George Moses Horton: Crafting Virtual Freedom Through Poetry

For Teachers 6th - 8th
What is "virtual freedom"? How about "enslaved entrepreneurship"? Class members will learn about these terms and much more as they read the poems and examine the life of George Moses Horton.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Parallel Studies in American/Afro-American Literature, Part II -- Black and White Images in Alienation

For Teachers 11th - 12th
Students begin the instructional activity with a review of the elements of poetry. Individually, they read a variety of poems and literature one white and one black author focusing on decay, sterility and alienation. They identify...
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Lesson Plan
Academy of American Poets

Teach This Poem: "On Being Brought from Africa to America" by Phillis Wheatley

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Phillis Wheatley's poem, "On Being Brought from Africa to America" is the focus of a lesson that asks readers to consider how the poem is a critique of slavery. Groups comprise a list of words and phrases they notice as well as questions...
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Lesson Plan
Academy of American Poets

Teach This Poem: "When Fannie Lou Hamer Said" by Mahogany L. Browne

For Teachers K - 12th Standards
After watching an excerpt from a video of Fannie Lou Hamer's testimony before Congress, pupils do a close reading of Mahogany L. Browne's poem "When Fannie Lou Hamer Said," annotate words and phrases that draw their attention and list...
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Lesson Plan
Academy of American Poets

Teach This Poem: “Declaration” by Tracy K. Smith

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Tracy K. Smith's erasure poem "Declaration" challenges scholars to use their noticing skills to make connections between an engraving entitled "The Declaration of Independence" and Smith's poem. Class members record observations and...
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Lesson Planet Article
Curated OER

The Life and Work of Jacob Lawrence

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Black History Month provides a time to talk about the accomplishments of African Americans like Jacob Lawrence.
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Lesson Plan
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Academy of American Poets

We Sing America

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Pair the famous poems "I Hear America Singing," by Walt Whitman, and "I, Too, Sing America," by Langston Hughes, with a more recent poem by Elizabeth Alexander called "Praise Song for the Day" to demonstrate a theme and introduce your...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

“And Still I Rise” Proud Black Women

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students examine the experiences of African American women. In this poetry instructional activity, students use their literary analysis skills to compare the poetry of Maya Angelou to rap music performed by Queen Latifah and Lauryn Hill.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Inside The Harlem Renaissance

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students explore the Harlem Renaissance to discover where, when, and why it took place and who was associated with the experience. They decide what are the most informative facts, interesting people, and events in this lesson.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Investigating the Harlem Renaissance

For Teachers 11th - 12th
The work of Langston Hughes opens the door to research into the origin and legacy of the Harlem Renaissance and how the literature of the period can be viewed as a commentary on race relations in America. In addition, groups are assigned...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Role of Protest Songs

For Teachers 6th - 12th
tudents will illustrate the role, significance, and history of protest songs from the African American Civil Rights Movement. They will verbally answer the question: "What is the link between the Civil Rights Movement and Hip Hop music...
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Lesson Plan
Huntington Library

The Poetry and Prose of Langston Hughes

For Teachers 11th
Eleventh graders discover the poetry of Langston Hughes. In this social issues lesson plan, 11th graders experience the views of Langston Hughes. Students read Hughes' poetry and discuss the basic theme. Students evaluate the political,...
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Lesson Plan
Smithsonian Institution

Solomon G. Brown: Letter Writing

For Teachers 4th - 6th Standards
Personal correspondence in the form of letters is not as common as it once was. This resource presents an opportunity for you to introduce your class to letter writing and cover topics in social studies. Learners read a letter written in...
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PPT
Curated OER

Good Times and bad; The Roaring Twenties

For Teachers 7th - 8th
Changes in society through 1900 to 1930 in the suburbs and work culture are covered in this presentation on aviation and the automobile.  Music, movies and the Harlem Renaissance are the other main topics, with 6 or so bullet points...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Harlem Renaissance

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students, after researching/analyzing the movement "Harlem Renaissance" and Africa as well as reading literature from that time period, create lists of the major characteristics of the movement and its important writers. They bridge the...
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Lesson Planet Article
Curated OER

The Harlem Renaissance Movement and its Music

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Harlem Renaissance lesson plans can bring the music, poetry, and literature of this time period alive.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Dialect Poems of Paul Laurence Dunbar

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students examine the life and works of Paul Laurance Dunbar. In groups, they read various poems of his and use a database to examine the covers of his books. They also discuss the criticism he faced during his life and how he dealt...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Romare Bearden

For Teachers K - 12th
Young scholars examine and discuss a collage by the artist Romare Bearden. They analyze the impact of jazz on art, listen to jazz, and create an original collage.