Lesson Plan
Center for History Education

Speaking Up and Speaking Out: Exploring the Lives of Black Women During the 19th Century

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Young historians investigate the often-hidden history of free and enslaved African American women before the Civil War. Using a collection of primary and secondary sources, including speeches, diaries, and poems, they evaluate the often...
Lesson Plan
National WWII Museum

The Red Ball Express: Statistics as Historical Evidence

For Students 7th - 12th Standards
Historians use all kinds of information to make conclusions ... including statistics. Young scholars examine how two historians evaluate The Red Ball Express—a supply line staffed primarily by African Americans—using numbers. The...
Lesson Plan
Center for History Education

Helping to Move On? An Analysis of the Reconstruction Amendments

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Reconstruction amendments: a helping hand or another form of slavery? An inquisitive lesson compares the Reconstruction legislation that ended slavery, granted citizenship, and protected voting right for African American men. Scholars...
Lesson Plan
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US House of Representatives

“The Fifteenth Amendment in Flesh and Blood,” The Symbolic Generation of Black Americans in Congress, 1870–1887

For Teachers 7th - 12th
The reading of a contextual essay launches a study of Black Americans who served in Congress from 1870 through 1887. Young historians identify the African Americans who served during this period, investigate the ways they won national...
Lesson Plan
Anti-Defamation League

Major League Baseball and the Negro Leagues: Correcting an Injustice

For Teachers 6th - 9th Standards
It's been a long time coming! In 2020, MLB Commissioner Robert D. Manifred, Jr. stated that "the Negro Leagues would be recognized as official major leagues." Middle schoolers investigate the history of the Negro Leagues and use evidence...
Lesson Plan
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US House of Representatives

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Groups select a photograph from one of the four eras of African Americans in Congress and develop a five-minute presentation that provides background information about the image as well as its historical significance. The class compares...
Lesson Plan
Smithsonian Institution

Spirits Across the Ocean: Yoruban and Dahomean Cultures in the Caribbean Brought by the Slave Trade

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Much of Latin American music owes its origins to the slave trade. Peoples from the Yoruban and Dahomean cultures brought with them the distinctive rhythms, time signatures, and eighth note patterns that now characterize Caribbean music....
Lesson Plan
American Institute of Physics

Physicist Activist: Dr. Elmer Imes and the Civil Rights Case of Juliette Derricotte

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Elmer Imes was not only a brilliant physicist but also a civil rights activist. After an introductory lecture, groups read two articles about a traffic accident that killed one Fisk University student and injured several others. The...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Black History Month

For Teachers 3rd - 6th
Students work in cooperative pairs to research information and give oral presentations about African American men and women who have made significant contributions to U.S. history.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Movement of African Americans in the United States During the Twentieth Century

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Students examine data and maps to create migration maps of African-American movement in the Twentieth century. They analyze the patterns in the migration.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

African-American Participation in Wars and Conflicts

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students research the enlistment of African Americans, including particular divisions and individuals, in different conflicts. They access a narrative which contains excellent information they can use to research a variety of conflicts.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

African Americans and the Move West

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Middle schoolers examine the phases of the migration west and analyze the incentives for African Americans to move.They create a timeline of migration to the west along with charts depicting the changes in demographics of areas at...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Land Promised: African-American Homesteaders

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students explore the story of African Americans with agricultural backgrounds who migrated west following the Civil War and availed themselves of the opportunity to homestead. They access a multi-media narrative imbedded in this plan.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Black History & Martin Luther King Jr.

For Teachers 5th - 6th
Students identify African American and their contributions to American Society. They describe what African Americans did and explain how it positively changed our way of life.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

African Americans in California’s Heartland – The Civil Rights Era

For Teachers 11th Standards
Events related to the Civil Rights Movement in Sacramento, California during the 1960s offer class members an opportunity to compare the nonviolent resistance approach favored by Dr. Martin Luther King and the NAACP with those of the...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Black History Web Design

For Teachers 8th - 10th
Each student or student team creates a web page. Students research and make decisions for content of the page. Each web page should contain at least six images and six links, as well as any necessary commentary. Students indicate on the...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

How Africans Became Slaves for the Colonists

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students complete a t-chart identifying the advantages and disadvantages of having indentured servants. In groups, they research the use of serfs and slaves in various cultures and share their responses. To end the lesson, they...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Africa Review

For Teachers 7th
Seventh graders trace the major events in African history. In this social studies lesson students, create a flowchart depicting the things they learned during this lesson. Students understand the chronology of major events that took...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

New Voices for African Americans

For Teachers 11th
Eleventh graders study Malcolm X and black power. In this African American lesson, 11th graders write a journal entry about black power and create a timeline of the events during the civil right movement.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Scaffolded Reading of "Drawing of an African Burial Ground Grave in Situ"

For Teachers 7th - 9th
The class reads the description of the "Drawing of an African Burial Ground Grave In Situ" then completes a work sheet. They act like archaeologists and answer a series of critical thinking questions to better understand the historical...
Lesson Plan
Rutgers University

African-Americans in WWII

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Using transcripts of interviews of African-Americans who served in WWII, class members work in pairs to understand their experience. Prior to the group work, the teacher provides background on WWII and the African-American experience....
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The National Women's Party and the Enfranchisement of Black Women

For Teachers 8th - 10th
Students analyze the attitudes and hostility given to African-American women within the National Women's Party. They finish the lesson by examining another moment in the party's history and writing about it.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

African American Achievers

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Students complete research projects. Students research the achievements of various African Americans and their contributions to the world. They use various resource links on the Internet to become more knowledgeable about the topic.
Lesson Plan
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National Park Service

Lesson 5: Coded Spirituals, Metaphor in African Spirituals

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
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...

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