Lesson Plan
Curated OER

John Jones and the Fight to Repeal the Black Laws

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students examine the role of John Jones and his fight to repeal the Black Laws of Illinois. Using the text of the law, they explore his reasoning for repealing the laws and the arguments he used to support his beliefs. They draw their...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Living Under the Illinois Black Codes

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Learners use the text of the Illinois Black Codes to examine the laws in place. Using this information, they draw their own conclusions about why the laws existed in a free state. They also identify the purpose of these laws and how they...
Unit Plan
C3 Teachers

Black Women Writers: What Gets Black Women Heard?

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Zora Neal Hurston, Toni Morrison, and Maya Angelou are featured in a guided inquiry unit. High schoolers research the lives and works of these and other Black women writers and craft an argument, using evidence from their research, to...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Exploring Ethnic Groups in Africa

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Pupils research the ethnic groups located in African countries where African Americans immigrated. They access an excellent, multi-media narrative imbedded in this plan to do their research.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Mixing Races in New Orleans

For Teachers 10th - 12th
Students discuss the changes in the legal, social, and political status of African Americans and those of mixed ethnicity. They access a multi-media narrative imbedded in this plan, and answer questions from an attached worksheet.
Lesson Plan
Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media

Reconstruction

For Teachers 6th - 8th
When slavery ended, what did the government do to help African American during Reconstruction? An interesting instructional activity uses primary sources such as newspaper articles to help scholars analyze Reconstruction policies and how...
Lesson Plan
Crafting Freedom

F.E.W. Harper: Uplifted from the Shadows

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Young historians discover the life of an incredible African American woman who, as an anti-slavery lecturer prior to the Civil War, defied stereotypes of what women could accomplish. Pupils explore the concept of stereotyping, read...
Lesson Plan
John F. Kennedy Center

Harriet Tubman: An Informative and Impressionistic Look

For Teachers 3rd - 5th Standards
Informational text and impressionistic art lead a lesson about Harriet Tubman. Working in teams, scholars examine a variety of resources. They analyze, compare, and contrast the work.  Using their research findings, pupils create an...
Lesson Plan
C-SPAN

1968: The Poor People's Campaign

For Teachers 6th - Higher Ed
The Poor People's Campaign of 1968 marked a shift in the civil rights movement to economic issues. Speakers in four C-SPAN video clips discuss different aspects of the campaign including Resurrection City, the Economic Bill of Rights,...
Lesson Plan
American Institute of Physics

When Computers Wore Skirts: Katherine Johnson, Christine Darden, and the “West Computers”

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Did you know that people, known as computers, performed the complex calculations that are now done by electronic computers? Three of these human computers, Katherine Johnson, Christine Darden, and Melba Roy Mouton are featured in a...
Lesson Plan
PBS

Out of the Shadows | Black America Since MLK: And Still I Rise

For Teachers 9th - Higher Ed Standards
Two powerful video clips launch a study of race relations in the United States after the Selma, Alabama riots, the passage of the Votings Rights Act, and the riots in Watts, California. 
Activity
Digital Public Library of America

Fannie Lou Hamer and the Civil Rights Movement in Rural Mississippi

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Good primary resources, offering different perspectives on important issues and events, are hard to find. A packet of 12 primary source images, videos, audio recordings, records, and newspaper articles related to the 1960s civil rights...
Worksheet
Curated OER

Chapter 28: Red Flags and Velvet Revolutions: The End of the Cold War, 1960-1990

For Students 10th - Higher Ed
Set your historians up for testing success using this interactive flashcard tool. It is one of many learning strategies offered in this thorough online resource. Although designed for use with a text, the site is valuable independently....
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Deep like Rivers: Four African American Poets of the 1920s and 1930s

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students examine work by outstanding African American poets from the time period of the 1920s and 1930s. They study aspects of American and African American social, cultural and artistic history that influenced the content of some of the...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

"ART ZOO 'Blacks in the Westward Movement', 'What Can You Do with a Portrait', and 'Of Beetles, Worms, and Leaves of Grass'"

For Teachers 7th - 8th
Students study black history, examine portraits and portrait making and create their own portraits, and  investigate their natural environment. This humanities lesson provides a text that can be used to teach lessons in black...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Say It Loud!: A Celebration Of Black Music In America

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students examine the role music played in African American history and research events of the Civil Rights movement.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Language Arts, Social Studies, African Americans, The Blues, To Kill A Mockingbird

For Teachers Pre-K - 6th
African American history during the Jim Crow era includes encounters with poverty, racism, disrespect, and protest. Harper Lee develops all four of these themes in her famous 1960 novel, To Kill a Mockingbird. To help students understand...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Desegregation of Schools

For Teachers 7th - 10th
Students explore ways African American students were discriminated against in the 1960's. In this United States History activity, students read three famous poems on the Civil Rights Movement then write their own poem.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

African Americans During the Civil War

For Teachers 9th
Ninth graders work together to discuss the various experiences of African Americans during the Civil War. Using the internet, they identify the laws and reasons African Americans were allowed to join the Union Army. Using their...
Worksheet
Curated OER

Famous Firsts Alphabet Activity

For Students 4th - 5th
In this alphabet activity worksheet, students read the names associated with Black History month. Students alphabetize the 10 names.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

African Americans: 1800 - 1870

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
Students explore living and working environment of both slave and free African Americans from places throughout the United States.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

United States Colored Troops in Missouri: Finding African American History at the M

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Students analyze primary source documents about African American soldiers in Missouri. They work together to complete a worksheet about the document. They discuss the information they gathered as a class.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

African American Homesteaders

For Teachers 8th - 11th
Students analyze the reasons African-Americans settled in the area to be known as Nebraska. Using primary source documents, they read about the challenges they faced and compare their growth and distribution of African-Americas in the...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

What was life like for African Americans after the Reconstruction?

For Teachers 9th - 12th
High schoolers examine the origins and effects of Jim Crow laws and how specific legislation supported segregation. The lesson provides foundational, historical background for unit on the media's role in the social justice campaign of...