Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Investigating the Harlem Renaissance

For Teachers 11th - 12th
The work of Langston Hughes opens the door to research into the origin and legacy of the Harlem Renaissance and how the literature of the period can be viewed as a commentary on race relations in America. In addition, groups are assigned...
Unit Plan
Oklahoma City of Museum Art

Harlem Renaissance

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Individuals expressed the Harlem Renaissance in diverse forms of art, ranging from poetry to photography to painting. Learners explore pieces using a carefully curated collection from the Oklahoma City Museum of Art. Included lessons ask...
Lesson Plan
PBS

The Harlem Renaissance

For Teachers 7th - 12th
A reading of Walter Dean Myers' "Harlem" sets the stage for studying the literature, art, and music of the Harlem Renaissance. The lesson begins with a review of the social, political, and economic conditions of the 1920s and 1930s that...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

1920s Variety Show

For Students 6th - 8th Standards
To better understand the cultural achievements of the Harlem Renaissance and become familiar with its major figures, class members examine a painting by Aaron Douglas and a poem by Langston Hughes and compare how the artists develop...
Lesson Plan
Syracuse University

Harlem Renaissance

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
The music and literature of the Harlem Renaissance defined American culture, including its poetry. Using a poem from the period, individuals explore its musical qualities and how it is reflective of the period. Then, they use what they...
Unit Plan
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Core Knowledge Foundation

Unit 6: The Genius of the Harlem Renaissance Teacher Guide

For Teachers 7th Standards
Introduce your seventh graders to the Harlem Renaissance with a unit that explores this dynamic period's music, literature, and ideas. The 160-page guide includes a unit calendar, an introduction to the unit, 10 richly detailed lessons...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Visualizing Jazz Scenes From the Harlem Renaissance

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Students identify themes of selected nonfiction, fiction, poetry and art to Harlem Renaissance jazz and describe the impact of jazz on African-American literature of the Harlem Renaissance
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Harlem Renaissance and Toni Morrison's Jazz

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students study the historical time of the Harlem Renaissance, including key events and figures. They read literature that weaves fiction and history and survey some of the references to the Harlem Renaissance in the novel, Jazz, by Toni...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Harlem Renaissance

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students discover the Harlem Renaissance. In this early 20th century lesson, students use various primary sources including handouts, worksheets, maps, music, and poetry to examine aspects of African American culture. Students will...
Lesson Plan
National Endowment for the Humanities

Jacob Lawrence's Migration Series: Removing the Mask

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Describe, analyze, compare and contrast poets from the Harlem Renaissance. Critical thinkers analyze the imagery, characterization, tone, symbolism, and historical context of Jacob Lawrence, Helene Johnson, and Paul Laurence Dunbar. A...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Heroes of Harlem

For Teachers 6th - 11th
Students explore the artists of the Harlem Renaissance. Their research culminates in a Harlem Renaissance Fair celebrating the movement's cultural and artistic contributions to society.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Rhythm and Improv, Jazz and Poetry

For Teachers 11th - 12th
Connect the ideas of jazz improvisation and art to writing poetry. Learners collaborate and write different lines of poetry, imitating the jazz styles of improvisation and freewriting. Take a close look at the poems "Tenebrae" by Yusef...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Harlem Renaissance Research Project

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students complete a group research project on the Harlem Renaissance. In this Harlem lesson, students pick from a list of topics all related to the Harlem renaissance. They create a PowerPoint presentation, topic outline, and...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Harlem Renaissance

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Students locate Harlem on a city map of New York City. As a class, they are given information and take notes on the Harlem Renaissance. They are read two poems by different authors and write a paragraph about what they believe it means....
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Jazz Scenes of the Harlem Renaissance

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Learners identify and connect themes of selected nonfiction, fiction, poetry, and art to Harlem Renaissance jazz. They compare and contrast historical and fictionalized versions of the jazz scenes of the Harlem Renaissance. They...
Lesson Plan
Academy of American Poets

Teach This Poem: "Violin" by Nikki Wallschlaeger

For Teachers 3rd - 12th Standards
Nikki Wallschlaeger's Violin is the featured poem in a lesson that uses music and multiple readings to delve deep into its analysis. After a writing warm-up, learners watch and listen to a video that showcases Regina Carter...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Education Element of the Harlem Renaissance and Its Impact on the New Negro

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students investigate African American history by researching culture. In this Harlem Renaissance lesson, students identify the teachings, music and art associated with African Americans in Harlem in the early 20th century. Students...
Unit Plan
Smithsonian Institution

Smithsonian In Your Classroom: The Music in Poetry

For Teachers K - 12th
Take poetry off the page and put it into terms of movement, physical space and, finally, music with this series of three lessons from the Smithsonian Institution. This resource introduces students to two poetic forms that originated as...
Lesson Planet Article
Curated OER

The Harlem Renaissance

For Teachers 5th - 8th
The Harlem Renaissance inspired a group of writers, musicians, and artists whose influence is still seen today.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The South, the North and the Great Migration: Blues and Literature

For Teachers 8th - 12th Standards
Here is a complex lesson plan that interweaves the history of the Jim Crow South and the Great Migration with the study of poetry, art, and blues music from the Harlem Renaissance. The plan helps young historians develop a deep...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Poets Got Them Blues

For Teachers 11th - 12th
Contemplate what music learners listen to and why they listen. Can they find poetry within music lyrics? Specifically hone in on blues lyrics and ruminate upon the social issues prevalent in the themes. Particular song lyrics coincide...
Lesson Plan
PBS

Being Heard

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Examine the work of contemporary authors who use their writing to express opinions about the struggle against prejudice and oppression in our society. A short lesson on the Harlem Renaissance introduces learners to the most prominent...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Harlem Renaissance

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students, after researching/analyzing the movement "Harlem Renaissance" and Africa as well as reading literature from that time period, create lists of the major characteristics of the movement and its important writers. They bridge the...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Changes in African-American Expression from the Harlem Renaissance to the Present

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students examine and analyze struggle for racial and gender equality, influences on African-American culture during the 1920s, and economic boom and social transformation of post-World War II United States.