Curated OER
9/11 Backlash: Being Muslim In America
Discover the experience of being Muslim in America. For this diversity lesson, watch "9/11 Backlash: Being Muslim in America," and research how Muslims are portrayed in American television and movies. Debate the media portrayal of Muslims.
Curated OER
Civil Rights in America
Seventh graders visit the Smithsonian and are shown different exhibits. They are to make their own drawing about one of the exhibits and write about the experience.
Curated OER
African Americans in World War II: Staging a Double V Campaign in the Classroom
The feelings and attitudes of African-Americans during World War II are examined by high schoolers. After watching various clips from "The War," they answer comprehension questions for each section. In groups, they create their own...
Curated OER
African-American Soldiers in World War I: The 92nd and 93rd Divisions
Young scholars research the role played and contributions made by African American soldiers during World War I. They discuss the evolution of civil rights in America's history, and the progress that has been made in the last 100 years.
Curated OER
Barrels and Buckets: Access to Water - What Would It Be Like to Live in Africa?
Students compare water access in the United States with that of Africa. In this water access lesson, students located Ghana and Kenya on a globe before reading Peace Corps Volunteer accounts of the difficulty of accessing clean water....
Curated OER
Racial Violence in America: Lynchings, 1877 to 1920
Students analyze racial violence in America. Students listen to interviews with survivors of racial violence. They discuss the reasons behind the violence. Students explore the African-American community's response to racial violence and...
Curated OER
Jazz In America
Students explore the Jazz Era in America not only by answering questions but listening to music as well.
Curated OER
Researching African Americans Who Made a Difference
Celebrate Black History Month with this instructional activity, in which middle schoolers create an essay about a famous African-American. Writers conduct research online, take notes to write an essay in proper format, and use ideas,...
PBS
Out of the Shadows | Black America Since MLK: And Still I Rise
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.
Academy of American Poets
We Sing America
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...
Curated OER
From Jim Crow to Linda Brown: A Retrospective of the African-American Experience from 1897 to 1953.
Students research the American Memory collection to explore the African-American experience from 1897 to 1953.
Facing History and Ourselves
After Charlottesville: Contested History and the Fight against Bigotry
History doesn't always reflect all sides. Academics discover how the remembered history of the Civil War differs for White and African Americans. The lesson explores how Civil War monuments and celebrations have racist connotations for...
Center for History Education
Brown v. the Board of Education: Success or Failure?
Desegregation does not mean equality. An eye-opening instructional activity focuses on the impact of the Brown v. Board of Education decision to end school segregation. Scholars review a series of political cartoons to understand how the...
PBS
Ken Burns: Jackie Robinson Living in Jim Crow America
Your class members may know that Jackie Robinson was the first African American man to play Major League Baseball, but they may not be aware of his efforts to achieve social justice. A clip from Ken Burns: The Jackie Robinson Collection...
Curated OER
Migration of the African American Family
Students investigate the influence Africa has had on African-American families as they have migrated from Africa to various sections of the United States. They utilize map skills to locate regions in Africa and in the United States.
Curated OER
Say It Loud!: A Celebration Of Black Music in America - Louis Armstrong
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.
Curated OER
After Reconstruction: Problems of African Americans in the South
Students describe issues or problems facing African Americans following Reconstruction. They explain possible solutions to these problems suggested in the sources found and cite arguments for and against those solutions. Analyze primary...
Curated OER
Literature and Art Through Our Eyes: African-American Artists
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...
PBS
Keep Your Head Up | Black America Since MLK: And Still I Rise
Change may be slow in coming, but things do change. Oprah Winfrey and Black Entertainment Television CEO, Robert L. Johnson, discuss the opportunities available to them due to the efforts of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and other civil...
Middle Tennessee State University
Fights, Freedom, and Fraud: Voting Rights in the Reconstruction Era
As part of a study of post Civil War era, young historians investigate the changes in voting rights during the Reconstruction Era (1863-1876), the fraud involved in the Hayes-Tilden presidential election of 1876, and efforts by Pap...
Curated OER
Colonial Life in Virginia
Fourth graders compare and contrast life in England with plantation life in America. They study the dependencies or mini-industries that could be found on plantations.
Curated OER
Exploring the Roots of Modern Dance in America
Students develop an understanding of how African culture impacted modern dance in the United States.
Alabama Department of Archives and History
Two Different African-American Visions: W.E.B. Du Bois and Booker T. Washington
The strategies civil rights activists Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Du Bois proposed for blacks to achieve racial progress is the focus of an activity in which class groups identify the strategies as well as the benefits and drawbacks...
Alabama Department of Archives and History
The Wrong Side of History: How One Group Justified Its Opposition on the Freedom Riders and Civil Rights for African Americans
Designed as a supplement to the study of the Freedom Riders, this resource uses primary sources to reveal the views of those who opposed the Freedom Riders. After careful study of the arguments presented by the members of the Montgomery...