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Underground Railroad Simulation
Fourth graders explore the Underground Railroad. For this social studies lesson, 4th graders play the part of slaves and travel the "Underground Railroad" to freedom.
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Birth of a Nation, the NAACP, and the Balancing of Rights
Eleventh graders analyze primary sources. In this US History activity, 11th graders interpret written information. Students evaluate arguments and draw conclusions. Students develop and defend a position.
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MANY REASONS TO LEAVE
Students research different economic, cultural, and social characteristics of slavery after 1800, how slavery hindered the emergence of capitalist institutions and values, and slavery both prior to and after the Civil War.
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This Guilty Land
Students read and discuss several informational cards about John Brown, the historical context he lived in and his abolitionist cause. They complete a character chart and write an epitaph that conveys their opinion of his actions.
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The Underground Railroad
Students explore the Underground Railroad routes. In this map skills and Civil War lesson, students use map and globe reading vocabulary and skills to track the routes the slaves followed from the Bahamas to the United States and from...
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Exploring the Life of a Slave
Eleventh graders explore importance of abolitionists who worked to advance freedoms of black Americans prior to/during Reconstruction era, read and identify key concepts in Frederick Douglass's narrative, recognize how Douglass's slave...
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The Beginnings of Slavery in South Carolina
Eighth graders conduct research to find information about the beginning of slavery in South Carolina. They compile the information they find into oral and written group presentations. Specific questions provided in this lesson plan need...
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AFRICAN-AMERICAN POETRY BEFORE EMANCIPATION
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...
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Counting the Miles To Freedom
Students research Harriet Tubman via an Underground Railroad website in cooperative groups. They identify Tubman's first route to freedom and organize information gleaned from the research in a visual display (created in KidPix.)
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Abolitionists in U.S. History
Students read and discuss excerpts from the writings of Henry David Thoreau, Frederick Douglass and Sarah Parker Redmond. They compare and contrast the views of the three abolitionists concentrating on the experiences and reasons for...
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The Slave Market: Not Just a Southern Institution
Fourth graders analyze the existence of slavery in the North. In this slavery lesson plan, 4th graders research primary and secondary sources regarding Dutch colonial slavery in New York. Students consider how archeology made it possible...
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Fugitive from Labor Cases: Henry Garnett (1850) and Moses Honner (1860)
High schoolers engage in the comparison of cases which demonstrate the increasingly volatile political crisis in the 1850s arising over the issue of slavery and the necessity for the enactment of the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments to...
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White Southerners' Defense of Slaveholding
Students read transcriptions of articles from two historical Virginian newspapers and examine how white southerners defended the institution of slavery. They write a one-act play or a dialogue between an abolitionist and a slaveholder.
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Lincoln 2.0
Students investigate the Presidential history of Abraham Lincoln by completing a multimedia project. In this U.S. politics lesson plan, students examine the image of Lincoln on a penny and work in groups to research Lincoln's life...
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Underground Railroad
Fourth graders reflect on their knowledge of the Underground Railroad. For this slavery lesson, 4th graders discuss slavery and watch a video. Students complete a K-W-L chart after discussion and reading, as well as, a...
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What Does This Song Really Say?
Students investigate communication by analyzing lyrics from a song. In this music arts lesson, students discuss slavery, the Underground Railroad and African American traditions while listening to a song called "This Train." Students...
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Only 48 Hours
Students compare and contrast experiences of Les Aigner in Hungary and Kennie Namba in Oregon in being forced to relocate to concentration camps during WWII, and explore personal and social effects of prejudice, discrimination,...
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The Great "What If" Question. How might American history have been different had Lincoln lived?
Eleventh graders study the Presidency of Abraham Lincoln. In this American History lesson, 11th graders analyze documents related to Reconstruction. Students participate in a debate on Reconstruction.
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Morgan's Raid in Ohio
Students examine the cause, effect, and impact of Morgan's Ohio raid during the Civil War. They complete unit sections on the raid, dates, viewpoints, results, and historic markers.
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Fighting for Democracy, Fighting for Me
Students consider how African American responded to social injustice. In this social injustice lesson, students compare and contrast the visions of Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. DuBois for obtaining civil rights for African Americans.
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A Divided Community
Students work in teams to research the history of African migration and immigration in the U.S. They present their research in a town hall discussion format and then write a paragraph about their experiences.
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Inventors & Trailblazers
Students are introduced to a groups of African American inventors. In groups, they research the role of each person in improving different industries. They also examine the barriers African Americans faced from the Civil War to the...
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Voyage to Freedom - What Does It Mean?
Fifth graders investigate the Underground Railroad by creating a quilt. In this U.S. History instructional activity, 5th graders discuss the history of slavery through a class "word splash" and by reading an Underground Railroad...
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African American Emigration: Turner and McNeal
Students discuss reasons why African Americans may have wanted to emigrate from the United States followig the Civil War. They complete a Venn diagram noting the differences between proposals by Marcus Garvey and Henry McNeal Turner.