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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...
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Interactive
DocsTeach

Exploring America's Diversity: Miguel Miñan (Beginner)

For Teachers 4th - 10th
Many have traveled from around the globe searching for the American dream. Scholars research the life Miguel Miñan, an immigrant from Brazil, using ship and census records. The activity focuses on American diversity and highlights the...
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Interactive
DocsTeach

Exploring America's Diversity: Luther Powell (Beginner)

For Teachers 4th - 10th
Luther Powell immigrated to the United States to live the American dream—and create a better life for his son, four-star general Colin Powell. Elementary academics look at documents, such as, ship records to understand the immigration...
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Lesson Plan
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Smithsonian Institution

A Dream Deferred: DACA

For Teachers 8th - 11th Standards
 "Give us your tired, your poor, your huddled masses" has even more meaning for some children. The resource explores the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. Scholars analyze primary sources and participate in group...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Dream Career Presentation, Part 2

For Teachers 5th
Fifth graders brainstorm a list of characteristics people have when they are happy with their career. In groups, they review their material from the previous lesson and share their information with the class in the form of presentations....
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Tennessee Williams: Exploring the American Dream

For Teachers 9th - 12th
High schoolers read and analyze selections of Tennessee Williams' work. They write journal responses, conduct Internet research, perform various scenes from one of Williams' dramas, and create a presentation.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Keeping the Dream Alive

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students explore the life and works of black American playwrights to gain insight into how their works reflect and influence the black American experience.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The American Mosaic

For Teachers 8th
Eighth graders role play as a poor immigrant family moving from the Old World to the New World in search of the American Dream. They create a portfolio and journal of their travels.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Hollywood Magic-The Dream Factory Recreates the Novel

For Teachers 9th - 12th
The Great Gatsby, The Jungle and study HRC's Teaching the American Twenties-The Dream Factory are the focus of this lesson, Your students will rewrite a small scene from the novel into a dramatic film scene and then create a modern movie...
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Lesson Plan
California Department of Education

My Dream Career

For Teachers 6th Standards
Is your job a dream come true? Career seekers research to discover what their ideal jobs might be in the second of five career and college readiness lessons for sixth graders. After determining their occupational clusters, individuals...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

American Minority Groups

For Teachers 12th
Explore the contributions individuals have made in the lives of American minority groups. Twelfth graders write a five-page expository piece providing a social history, examples of discrimination, and patterns of assimilation for an...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

African American Poetry

For Teachers 9th - 11th
Students write their own dream poems in the style of African American dream poetry.  In this African American poetry lesson, students discuss the dreams of African Americans during the Civil Rights Movement  and read Langston Hughes's...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Native American Music and the Flute

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students study the role of the flute in Native American music while determining what an exemplary example of flute music sounds like. They develop a method of assessing a Native American flute performance. They perform a Native American...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Dream Catcher

For Teachers 1st - 5th
Learners create a dream catcher. In this visual arts lesson, students read the book Dream Catcher and create a dream catcher by using a willow branch, leather string, feathers, and beads.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

American Pride

For Teachers 7th - 9th
Students combine a variety of symbols to communicate ideas or information into a colored pencil drawing surrounding the theme, American Pride.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Let Your Motto Be Resistance: African American Portraits: Grades 3-5

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students explore the contributions of African Americans of the 20th century. In this African American history lesson, students examine portraits of Muhammad Ali, Romare Bearden, Lorraine Hansberry, Judith Jamison, and Leontyne Price in...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

"I have a Dream"

For Teachers 9th - 12th
High schoolers analyze the famous "I Have a Dream," speech by Martin Luther King Jr., and discuss the progress made since then. In small groups, they read and discuss various documents, and formulate a plan of action to help realize Dr....
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

When Worlds Collide

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students explore the intersection between immigration and America's vision of itself. They examine how immigrant groups view themselves as Americans, and how the American 'mainstream' views these same immigrant groups.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

"i Have a Dream" As a Work of Literature

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students read and analyze Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech. They answer discussion questions, and write and compose a speech that addresses an injustice in society.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Portrait of The African American Family

For Teachers 8th - 10th
Students examine how African American families were affected by slavery. As a class, they watch and read King's "I Have a Dream Speech" and write a paper on how this message relates to families. In their journals, they compare and...
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Worksheet
Curated OER

African-American Civil Rights in the U.S.

For Students 9th - 12th
For this African American history worksheet, students respond to 39 identification questions that require them to define or list the significance behind 39 events and people associated with the American Civil Rights Movement.
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PPT
Curated OER

The Death of a Salesman Act I: the Lowman Family & their American/Capitalist Dreams

For Teachers Higher Ed
This thirty-slide presentation, designed to accompany a lecture on the first act of Arthur Miller's The Death of a Salesman, would be appropriate for a college-level American literature class or perhaps as a teacher resource. 
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Novel Ideas: History of the American Novel

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Explore the history of the American novel in the contexts of literature and US history. How does a novel or piece of writing from a particular time showcase the mood during that historical period? After conducting research and discussing...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Song of the Lark

For Teachers 8th - 12th
Using the internet, class members research the biography of Willa Cather, view photographs of Red Cloud, Nebraska, and read the novel, The Song of the Lark. They discuss the film, its setting and characters, and explore the importance of...