Lesson Plan
Maryland Department of Education

Our Children Can Soar

For Teachers 4th - 5th Standards
Amazing efforts of African American leaders are celebrated in a lesson plan on civil participation. The engaging resource focuses on primary and secondary sources to analyze the impact of African American leaders such as Ella Fitzgerald....
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

From Jim Crow To Linda Brown: A Retrospective of the African-American Experience from 1897 to 1953

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students examine African American issue between the years 1897 and 1953. In this African American history lesson, students research the social, economic, and political conditions of African Americans during the aforementioned time span...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Rise and Fall of the Jim Crow Era

For Teachers 9th - 12th
High schoolers explore African American history by researching the Jim Crow laws. In this Civil Rights lesson plan, students define the Jim Crow laws, the reasons they were put into place, and how they were ultimately defeated. High...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Booker T. Washington and W. E. B. DuBois: The Problem of Negro Leadership

For Teachers 10th - 12th
Students focus on the problem of African American leadership throughout American history. In groups, they research the life and works of Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. DuBois and how they worked to promote the need for African American...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Rationalizing Race in US History

For Teachers 10th - 12th
Students consider the classification of people. In this race studies lesson, students examine the concept of race as it relates to U.S. history and trends. Students research racial discrimination and prejudice in order to support their...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Oral History of World War II

For Teachers 10th - 12th
Students research how citizens from the United States respond to the onset, duration and aftermath of World War II. They view clips from the movie "Swing Shift" and discuss the roles of civilians, minorities and military personnel. They...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

American Women Who Shaped the Civil Rights Movement Explored Through the Literature of Eloise Greenfield

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Examine the women who contributed to the Civil Rights movement. In groups, children read excerpts of writings from Eloise Greenfield and research the women she mentions using the internet. To end the lesson plan, they create a timeline...
Lesson Plan
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National Park Service

Lesson 6: Researching Contemporary Slavery

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
While many believe slavery ended after the American Civil War, it continues today in various forms. Using a WebQuest research project, class members investigate how the institution of slavery lives on in the modern world. Activities also...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Breaking Barriers

For Teachers 8th - 12th
Determine how African-Americans have broken barriers in this history lesson. Middle schoolers discuss the 15th Amendment and the American civil rights movement prior to analyzing Barack Obama's speech "A More Perfect Union," taking care...
Lesson Plan
US National Archives

Documented Rights Educational Lesson Plan

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
How have groups struggled to have their unalienable rights recognized in the United States? Acting as a research team for the Human Rights Council of the United Nations, your young historians will break into groups to research...
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
Howard Hughes Medical Institute

Lesson 2: Gorongosa National Park

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
How has Gorongosa National Park changed over time? Discover the park's rich history, dating back to primitive human times, through an interactive timeline and scientific reading. The second installment in an eight-part series explores...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Pastoralists and Agrarians: Identifying Connections between Historical and Contemporary Migration

For Teachers 7th - 10th Standards
Pastoralists and agrarians, livestock raisers and farmers. Using the conflict in Darfur as a lens, class members investigate the conflicts that arise when these groups are forced to migrate from one area to another.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

In the Courts

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students explore desegregation in the courts. In this civil rights instructional activity, students listen to their instructor present a lecture on Supreme Court cases Brown v. Board of Education and Plessy v. Ferguson....
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Ancient Maya

For Teachers 7th - 8th
Students explore the culture of the Mayans through a variety of activities. For this lesson about Maya, students analyze pictures in books and on websites, produce scale models of Maya architecture, and create Maya mosaics. Students...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Integration of Education

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students explore the history of Civil Rights and how the struggle for Civil Rights and the Second Reconstruction, transformed society and politics in the United States in the 1950s. Then they identify why American Schools are integrated...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Humanities in Colonial and Revolutionary America

For Teachers 8th - 11th
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.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

AFRICAN-AMERICAN POETRY BEFORE EMANCIPATION

For Teachers 8th
Explore poetry written by African-Americans before emancipation. 8th graders create collages, and explain why they chose specific stanzas. They display the collages on the class bulletin board that demonstrate an understanding of the...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Life of Frederick Douglass

For Teachers 8th - 12th
Young scholars discuss the importance of effective leadership in a democratic society. They study the significance of the contributions of Frederick Douglass to America. They compare the effects of political, economic, and social factors...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Gullah People of the Sea Islands

For Teachers 8th
Eighth graders examine the lives of the Gullah-Geechee people. In this unique cultures lesson plan, 8th graders explore music, language, and slavery of the Gullah-Geechee people from the southern low-country in the United States....
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

From Canterbury to Little Rock: The Struggle for Educational Equality for African Americans

For Teachers 5th - 12th
Students explain the magnitude of the struggle involved in securing equal educational opportunities for African Americans. They examine how Prudence Crandall challenged the prevailing attitude toward educating African Americans
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Philanthropy and You

For Teachers 3rd - 6th
Young scholars identify human rights and study the values of historical figures who fought for human rights. In this human rights activity, students define the term human rights and research examples of human mistreatment in history....
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Ancient Origins: The Role of Archaeology in Reconstructing the Past

For Teachers 8th - 10th
Students read information about the ancient origins of art and archaeology with a focus on the Malian culture. In this art origins lesson, students read background information for the topic and compare ancient and contemporary objects....