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PBS

Malcolm X: Minister and Civil Rights Activist

For Teachers 3rd - 7th Standards
Any study of the leaders of the Civil Rights Movement would be incomplete without an examination of the life of Malcolm X. Class members view a short biographical video and analyze primary source documents to gain an understanding of the...
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Crafting Freedom

Harriet Jabocs and Elizabeth Keckly: The Material and Emotional Realities of Childhood in Slavery

For Teachers 6th - 8th
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...
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Crafting Freedom

Harriet Jabocs and Elizabeth Keckly: The Material and Emotional Realities of Childhood in Slavery

For Teachers 3rd - 5th Standards
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.
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Center for Civic Education

The Power of Nonviolence: Rosa Parks: A Quest for Equal Protection Under the Law

For Teachers 5th - 8th Standards
Teach young historians about the historical legacy of Rosa Parks with a multi-faceted lesson plan. Pupils follow stations and use journals to explore prominent events, analyze primary resource documents, and engage in interesting...
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Curated OER

Happy Birthday!

For Teachers 1st - 5th
Students honor African Americans in history. In this celebrating achievements lesson, students plan, design, and implement ways to honor persons in African American history during Black History Month.
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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...
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American Institute of Physics

Dr. Gates and the Nature of the Universe

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
What do Russian nesting dolls have to do with physics? They make a great demonstration tool for explaining Dr. Sylvester James Gates, Jr.'s string theory to young scientists. A two-part lesson first introduces learners to Dr. Gates'...
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K20 LEARN

Deconstructing Reconstruction: The Reconstruction Era

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
High schoolers examine the Reconstruction programs instituted following the American Civil War, the potential for change these efforts offered, and the realities that occurred. Guided by a PowerPoint presentation, class members read a...
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Center for History Education

Blockbusting: Social and Economic Change through Real Estate

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
"Redlining," "Blockbusting," and "White Flight" may not be terms familiar to young historians. Here's a activity that introduces middle schoolers to these terms and the actions associated with them. Class members examine a series of...
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Smithsonian Institution

The Vocal Blues: Created in the Deep South of the U.S.

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Bring the sounds of the deep South vocal blues to the classroom with a Smithsonian Folkways lesson. In preparation, scholars listen to and count the 12 bar blues patterns in several works and identify the I, II, IV, and V chords as well...
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National Woman's History Museum

Fannie Lou Hamer and Social Activism

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Not all heroes wear capes. An impactful lesson plan focuses on the life and activism of Fannie Lou Hamer during the civil rights movement. Scholars read her speeches and other material, participate in group discussion, and complete a...
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American Institute of Physics

African Americans and the Manhattan Project

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
A lesson about the Manhattan Project will explode young physicists' understanding of the racial attitudes in the United States during and after World war II. Groups select an African American scientist or technician that worked on the...
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American Institute of Physics

African Americans in Astronomy and Astrophysics

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
A two-part lesson focuses on the contributions to the fields of astronomy and astrophysics of two African Americans: Benjamin Banneker and Dr. George Carruthers. In part one, scholars learn about Benjamin Banneker by examining his...
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American Institute of Physics

The Physicist's War: Dr. Herman Branson and the Scientific Training of African Americans during World War II

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
The mobilization of soldiers for World War II resulted in a worker shortage in the defense industries, especially in the fields of physics and other sciences. The Engineering, Science, and Management War Training program (ESMWT) was...
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American Institute of Physics

Historical Detective: Edward Alexander Bouchet and the Washington-Du Bois Debate over African-American Education

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Young scientists meet Edward Alexander Bouchet who, in 1876, was the first African American to receive a PhD in Physics. This two-part lesson first looks at the debate between Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Du Bois about the type of...
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American Institute of Physics

Optics and Anthony Johnson

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Message sending has come a long way since the days of Morse code's dots and dashes. Young scientists study the research of optical physicist Anthony Johnson and his work in fiber optics, lasers, and the principle of total internal...
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Smithsonian Institution

Braiding Rhythms: The Role of Bell Patterns in West African and Afro-Caribbean Music

For Teachers 9th - Higher Ed
Africans transported to the Caribbean as part of the transatlantic slave trade brought with them a rich tradition of music and dance. Four lessons teach young musicians the rumba clave rhythm, cascara rhythm, and the 6/8 bell patterns...
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John F. Kennedy Center

Harriet Tubman: Secret Messages Through Song

For Teachers 3rd - 5th Standards
A lesson all about Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad introduces scholars to African American spirituals. By way of reading, speaking, and listening, learners discover, analyze, and decode African American spirituals. They...
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American Institute of Physics

Meet Four Pioneering African American Astronauts

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
An out-of-this-world resource introduces young scientists to four African American astronauts: Michael P. Anderson, Ronald E. McNair, Guion S. Bluford Jr., and Jeanette J. Epps. Groups read biographies of these individuals and prepare...
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Crafting Freedom

F.E.W. Harper: Uplifted from the Shadows

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Young historians discover the life of an incredible African American woman who, as an anti-slavery lecturer prior to the Civil War, defied stereotypes of what women could accomplish. Pupils explore the concept of stereotyping, read...
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Crafting Freedom

Thomas Day's Letter to His Daughter, Mary Ann

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Why is a letter a better way to learn about a person than a different primary source? Explore Thomas Day's ideas and advice to his daughter in a letter from 1851, which details the struggles of the American South before the Civil War....
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Scholastic

Lesson 1: What Are Barriers?

For Teachers 4th - 8th Standards
Scholars discuss the concept of a barrier with a short passage on Jackie Robinson. The writing process begins with a paragraph and several other sentences about Robinson's unique traits that made breaking a barrier...
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Crafting Freedom

George Moses Horton: Slavery from a Poet's Perspective

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Pupils have the unique opportunity to learn about the institution of slavery by reading first-hand experiences as described by George Moses Horton, the first slave to publish anti-slavery poetry.
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Crafting Freedom

The Self-Empowerment of Harriet Jacobs

For Teachers 3rd - 5th Standards
After reading Harriet Jacobs' Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, one of the most famous slave narratives of all time, learners imagine what it would have been like to experience the small dimensions of her hiding space. They then...

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