Brazilian music, culture, and religion have been heavily influenced by African's who were brought to South America during the time of slave trading. This presentation covers the blending of two cultures which resulted in Afro-Brazilian...

Examine the contributions of African-Americans in the worlds of art and literature. Over the course of a few days, young scholars will read and analyze a poem, a short story, and a piece of art. They complete a range of...

Two lessons focus on making a beat. Using popular African American music of its time, scholars listen and analyze the rhythm then recreate it with hands drums, and cups. 

African-American history is an integral part of what America is. Learners examine important events, read informational texts, and create quilts depicting specific eras in African-American history. Each image created for the quilt will be...

Students examine seven different African-American artists. In groups, they use the internet to identify their contribution and techniques to the art world and examine the time period in which the artwork was produced. To end the...

Students investigate the geography of Africa.  In this African culture lesson plan, students research the lifestyles of African residents and create a PowerPoint presentation based on a single African country.  Students share...

Young scholars view and analyze various artists' representations of slavery. They create their own illustrations of slavery.

A carefully crafted three-day instructional activity integrates poetry and visual art. By analyzing and comparing Langston Hughes' poem "Mother and Son" and Romare Bearden's collage "The Dove," readers explore the theme of hope. The...

Young scholars develop an understanding of how African culture impacted modern dance in the United States.

Students demonstrate dances of colonial America. In this colonial American lesson, students learn forms of colonial social dancing including the Juba and Virginia Reel. Students examine the history of the 2 dances as well.

Students examine the role music played in African American history and research events of the Civil Rights movement.

Students explore slavery by reviewing the written laws intended to keep African Americans subservient. In this U.S. slavery lesson, students analyze a time-line of the history of African Americans. Students discuss the patterns of the...

Students watch a video that highlights the role of artists' images throughout the history of Black music in the United States and describe the influences of the civil rights movement on Black culture.

Students compare art and literature by examining a contemporary painting by Glenn Ligon and the essay by James Baldwin that inspired it. They write an essay about a personal experience that relates to the theme of being an "outsider."

Young scholars develop character, write short narrative about how it got its powers, and create a clay figure using modeling and assembling techniques to explore the concepts relating their figure to the African power figures.

Pupils explore music by African women. In this African society lesson, students compare and contrast the roles of African and American women. Pupils listen to music by African women and analyze the lyrics of the music.

Students explore, analyze and discuss family origins, special legacies, and racial/cultural groups in literature and art that exposes them to positive examples in African-American history and culture. They encounter examples from dance,...

Students investigate call and response singing.  In this fine arts and U.S. history instructional activity, students listen to several call and response songs that were sung by African-American slaves during the period before the...

Third graders create a poster of a travel route. In this discrimination lesson, 3rd graders read The Gold Cadillac and use it to discuss the problems African Americans faced while traveling south in the 1950's. Students compare three...

Students explore popular music of West Africa. In this musicians lesson, students complete listening tasks that challenge them to analyze the music of Oumou Sangare, Angelique Kidjo, and Baaba Maal.

In this African American music history worksheet, students research the history of African American music. Students then answer the fifteen questions.

Students examine the men and women who were a part of the Harlem Renaissance. Individually, they recreate their favorite pieces of art from the time period and create their own original works after reading poem from the movement. In...

Students identify general business terms such as entrepreneur, corporation, marketing, demographic, promotion and distribution. They identify many Black music industry leaders and their contributions.

Students listen to selections of New Orleans street band music. They explore the culture of New Orleans in the 1920's, and perform a closer examination of Armstrong's music.