National Park Service
Lesson 3: Resistance
During the time of slavery, resistance was a way of life for the men and women held in bondage. Using music as evidence of their fight against oppression, learners explore how enslaved people fought back. Writing prompts round out the...
Annenberg Foundation
Slavery and Freedom
How do nineteenth-century texts by African American and Native American writers contribute to the country's ideals of freedom and individuality? Learners explore the topic by watching and discussing a video, reading biographies, writing...
Curated OER
Get Your Mojo Workin': Part 1 Writing Your Very Own Blues Tune!
Upper graders listen to the blues. They discuss blues scale, read a description of the blues, and work together to write an original piece. A lesson like this ties into American history and African-American musical contributions very...
Curated OER
Learning the Blues
Students take a virtual field trip to Memphis, Tennessee in their study of the blues, its characterisitics, founding fathers, and histororical influence on modern music. They compose blues lyrics that reflect present-day attitudes and...
Historic New Orleans Collection
Exploring Primary Sources: Music in New Orleans
Looking for a new and exciting way to teach young historians the art of primary source analysis? Jazz up your lesson with a resource that asks class members to analyze photos, travel documents, and letters written by some of New Orleans'...
Curated OER
Personal Clay Box
Students search for and sort ideas for content in their artwork, explore African art, and create and assemble a lidded box-like form from slabs of clay half way between soft and leather hard.
Curated OER
Global Music: Steve Reich – Ghana, Bali, America and Germany
Students explore the music of Steve Reich. In this global music lesson, students compare the music compositions of Steve Reich to African and Balinese music. Students discuss their personal comparisons.
Curated OER
Hispanic Arts: Visual Arts, Dance and Music
Students observe global cultures by listening to music and watching videos. In this Latin American dance lesson plan, students define merengue, salsa and other dances from the Hispanic culture while listening to Latin rhythm music....
Anti-Defamation League
10 Ideas for Teaching Black History Month
Celebrate Black History Month with the help of 10 ideas that delve deep into the history, major events, contributions, famous African Americans, and sheds light on how scholars today can take a proactive stance on current civil rights...
Curated OER
Tradition through storytelling and music
Students discover how storytelling can shape a person's tradition.Students examine different methods of storytelling such as music, biographies, and African folktales. They then demonstrate their knowledge of storytelling by writing...
Curated OER
The Influence of Musical Folk Traditions in the Poetry of Langston Hughes and Nicolás Guillén
Pupils listen and explore how African-American culture relates to learning Spanish as a foreign language. Poetry, music, and history are utilized while learning about Langston Hughes and Nicolas Guillen.
Curated OER
Exploring the Roots of Modern Dance in America
Young scholars develop an understanding of how African culture impacted modern dance in the United States.
Curated OER
Jazz in America
Young scholars explore jazz and its origins by focusing on the people in which Jazz came from.
Curated OER
"Humor" Afro-American Symphony (Third Movement)
A fun way for young learners to explore music and their personal reaction to it, this worksheet includes a short reading passage about musician William Grant Still, a word scramble, a matching activity and two short writing prompts. Some...
Curated OER
A Celebration of Africa
Students investigate early African civilizations. They create Kufi hats, musical instruments, pottery and African masks, sing songs, play African studenT games, and participate in a feast and tour of a museum where their artwork is...
Curated OER
Romare Bearden's The Dove - A Meeting of Vision and Sound
Students explore African american culture of the late 1950's and 60's through various primary sources including literature, music, art and others. They then prepare and conduct a mock interview and present with the class.
Curated OER
Harriet Tubman Integrated Unit: Lesson 3
Learners explore African spirituals. In this slavery lesson, students listen to and analyze the spiritual song "Wade in the Water" line by line. Learners share their interpretations with their classmates.
Curated OER
Celebrate Kwanzaa in the United States
Students explore and study the celebration of Kwanzaa in which African-Americans remember their heritage and remind people of the importance of sharing with family and friends. They participate in a chant about the seven continents and...
Curated OER
Celebrate Kwanzaa in the United States
Explore the components of the African American celebration of Kwanzaa in the United States. Complete with learning objectives, a materials and preparation list, and eight days of lesson plans, the resource incorporates the principles of...
Curated OER
African Women: Their Roles and Music
Students explore music by African women. In this African society lesson plan, students compare and contrast the roles of African and American women. Students listen to music by African women and analyze the lyrics of the music.
Curated OER
Cultural Impact on Development of African Kingdoms
Ninth graders consider the impact of development on African kingdoms. For this cultural diversity lesson, 9th graders conduct independent research to determine how development has changed Africa. Students write research papers based on...
Curated OER
Langston Hughes and the Blues
Learners explore the connections between Langson Hughes and blues music. In this African American culture instructional activity, students compare and contrast blues music with poetry and short stories by Langston Hughes.
Curated OER
The Great Migration
Students explore how migration to Harlem created a new life for African Americans. In this cross curricular lesson, students illustrate maps showing the migration, paint murals representing African American life in the South and create a...
Curated OER
Jazz Talk
Students analyze the origins of jazz music by examining work songs, spirituals, blues, and gospel songs as well as works of poetry from African American artists. They create their own poems from either the narrative, dramatic, or lyric...