Curated OER
After the American Revolution: Free African Americans in the North
Students investigate the life of African Americans in the North during the American Revolution. They analyze how authors use various techniques to write biographies, read about Sojourner Truth, conduct research, and write an excerpt...
Curated OER
African-American Communities in the North Before the Civil War
Students examine what life was like in free African-American communities before the Civil War. They analyze maps, identify elements of everyday life in these communities, explore various websites, and complete a chart.
Curated OER
The Palm of My Heart: Poetry By African American Children
Elementary students explore African American culture by reading children's poetry. They read the book, The Palm of My Heart which features poetry by an assortment of young African American boys and girls. Students define several...
Curated OER
African American Women Before and After the Civil War: Slavery and Freedom
Students listen to data on African American women in Texas before the Civil War. In this Civil War activity, students compare and contrast the lives of slave and free women, and discuss case studies, locating areas on a map. Students...
North Carolina Consortium for Middle East Studies
Missing Pieces of the Puzzle: African Americans in Revolutionary Times
What's missing from most studies of the American Revolutionary War is information about the role African Americans played in the conflict. To correct this oversight, middle schoolers research groups like the Black Loyalists and Black...
American Institute of Physics
African American Inventors in History
A two-part lesson introduces young historians to the work of famous African American inventors. Groups first research and develop a presentation of an inventor that includes biographical information and information about one of their...
Center for Instruction, Technology, & Innovation
Did African American Lives Improve After Slavery?
The Civil War made slavery illegal, but all ex-slaves were not totally free. Scholars visit eight different classroom stations to uncover life during the Reconstruction Era in America. Groups discover items such as Black Codes, 13th,...
Smithsonian Institution
Art to Zoo: Life in the Promised Land: African-American Migrants in Northern Cities, 1916-1940
This is a fantastic resource designed for learners to envision what it was like for the three million African-Americans who migrated to urban industrial centers of the northern United States between 1910 and 1940. After reading a...
K12 Reader
African American Inventors: Elijah McCoy
What do a folding iron board, lawn sprinklers, and a device for oiling engines on trains all have in common? They were all invented by Elijah McCoy, an African American inventor with 57 patents to his credit. McCoy is the subject of a...
PBS
Free, but Not Free: Life of Free Blacks Before the Civil War
Using the family stories of a famous comedian and singer-songwriter, learners consider what life was like for African Americans who were enslaved and free before the Civil War. To complete a concluding activity, they write about the...
Smithsonian Institution
Fighting For Freedom: The Stono Rebellion and Free Frank McWhorter
Travel back in time to the Stono Rebellion. Young historians research historical figures who played a role in African Americans' fight to escape slavery. Scholars research material, complete handouts, participate in group discussion, and...
PBS
African-Americans in the American West
Secondary learners explore the westward movement of African Americans. Segmented into four time periods, the activity provides an overview of how African Americans experienced westward expansion. Learners view PBS specials on the...
Curated OER
African American Poetry: Family and Traditions
Students are introduced to the elements of African-American poetry. As a class, they are read different types of poems to discover there are different styles of poems and practice rhyming words. They share information on their family...
Curated OER
African American Life in the Nineteenth Century
Students read about the life and work of John and Mary Jones. Using primary source documents, they draw conclusions about their role in the abolistionist movement. They also examine artifacts from their lives and analyze their portrait...
Curated OER
African American Population Shifts
Students investigate population trends. In this African American history lesson, students access U.S. Census records from 1900 to the present online. Students analyze the migration of African Americans from one area of the U.S. to another.
Curated OER
African American Concentration
Students study African American history month. In this culture activity, students discuss the origins of African American history and play a concentration game by matching the picture to the name of a famous African American.
Joy Uzarraga
Famous American Research Project
Designed specifically for lower elementary pupils, this is a great biographical research project in which students research a famous American, and then design creative poster boards to help them "become" the famous American they have...
K12 Reader
African American Inventors: Lewis Latimer
Celebrate Black History Month getting to know more about Lewis Latimer. Here, scholars read about his life and success, then apply their new-found knowledge by responding to questions about the text with short answers.
K12 Reader
African American Inventors: Granville T. Woods
Get to know inventor, Granville T. Woods. Who is he? From what state did Woods come? What did he design? All questions your scholars will find the answers to with this response-to-reading worksheet.
K12 Reader
African American Inventors: Patricia Bath
Young readers practice their comprehension skills by responding to a series of text-based questions on a passage about Patricia Bath, the first black woman medical doctor to receive a patent.
K12 Reader
African American Freedom Fighters Word Search
An informative word search includes the names of six famous African American civil rights leaders. The list includes Rosa Parks, Sojourner Truth, Martin Luther King, Jr., Harriet Tubman, and Frederick Douglass.
Crafting Freedom
F.E.W. Harper: Uplifted from the Shadows
What is stereotyping, and how do we handle stereotyping in our daily interactions? Your young historians will not only have the opportunity to learn about the first African American woman to publish a short story–Frances Ellen...
Curated OER
Mapping the African American Past
Fourth graders explore the African Americans impact on New York. In this US History lesson, 4th graders examine an archaeological website. Students research the Five Points neighborhood.
National Endowment for the Humanities
David Walker vs. John Day: Two Nineteenth-Century Free Black Men
What was the most beneficial policy for nineteenth-century African Americans: to stay in the United States and work for freedom, or to immigrate to a new place and build a society elsewhere? Your young historians will construct an...