Learners research the Internet, read designated books and selection, participate in discussions and write short reports while completing this series of lessons about slavery and the Underground Railroad. As a final project, they design a...

Read Booker T. Washington's inspiring story about arriving at his name with a short reading passage from his autobiography, Up From Slavery. After class members read the excerpt, they answer two reading comprehension...

Learning how to make accurate inferences by putting together facts found in multiple sources is one of those skills all learners must develop, but one that can be a challenge to teach. This resource is a must-have for your curriculum...

Through the journals written by Harriet Jacobs and Elizabeth Keckly, young readers gain insight into the lives of two enslaved children on nineteenth-century plantations.

Students investigate the history of civil rights by viewing historical photographs.  In this U.S. history lesson, students discuss why Black Soldiers fought for their rights by joining the Union Army in the 1800's.  Students...

Sojourner Truth is one of the most prominent faces of the abolitionist movement, but what was her life in slavery like? Learn more about her early years with a reading comprehension resource that provides a short passage from...

Panel 58 from Jacob Lawrence's "Migration Series" of paintings provides middle schoolers with an opportunity to sharpen their observation and analytical skills. After engaging in a warm-up activity that introduces the concepts of...

Sixth graders examine the use of slavery in the United States. Using a map, they draw the route of the Tecora and Amistad voyages. Individually, they write an essay describing their opinions on whether the Africans on the ships should be...

 The narrative works of Frederick Douglass engage learners in the topic of slavery. They will experience American history in a new way, a Douglass expresses his thoughts in his own words. Pupils then interpret this literary...

Encourage readers of Nightjohn, Gary Paulsen's young adult novel about slavery set shortly before the Civil War, to develop their categorization and organizational skills with a strategy that asks them to list all the words they can...

Students explain how a history of slavery distinguishes American society from other societies. They study posters and documents from different eras in our history which document the practice of slavery, and civil rights violations.

Students investigate the abolition of slavery by examining historical documents.  In this U.S. history lesson plan, students view photographs of East African residents who were forced into slavery.  Students write about the...

Students watch the series "Unforgiveable Blackness". They examine the media's response to Jack Johnson in the film. They role-play the role of reporters to compose poems of headlines.

Students use primary documents to analyze the events surrounding black soldiers joining the Union Army. In this content area reading lesson, students view multiple primary documents, analyzing and answering questions about them.

Sixth graders write a paper. In this writing and retelling lesson, 6th graders read the book The Black Snowman and answer comprehension questions. Students learn how to write good paragraphs and how to retell a story. Students write a 3...

Two great men, one time period, and one purpose; it sounds like a movie trailer, but it's not. It's a very good comparative analysis lesson plan focused on Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass. Learners will research and read...

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...

Students study the state of the world before the slave trade. They explain the geography and economics of the slave trade. They explore primary sources and how historians use these sources to create historical interpretations.

How did those faces get on that mountain, and why did they choose those particular presidents? Learn about Mount Rushmore's construction and the history behind the men represented on the mountainside with a short reading passage and set...

Personal narratives are powerful things. Whether told from the first-person or third-person point of view, whether in the form of an essay, a short story, novel, or video, whether fiction or fact, they capture readers and give them...

Eleventh graders gain an awareness and an appreciation of slave spirituals as part of their American Literature/American History heritage.

What is "virtual freedom"? How about "enslaved entrepreneurship"? Class members will learn about these terms and much more as they read the poems and examine the life of George Moses Horton.

This, the sixth in a series of 10 related resources, examines the life and works of Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, an African American author, born in 1825, who advocated literacy for both free and enslaved African Americans.

Young scholars analyze the Amistad case and how it impacted slavery in the United States. They, in groups, receive a document, answers the focus questions and presents their findings to the class.