Curated OER
Whitewashing Southern History
Students discuss the fact and fiction of slavery in the South. After viewing a video on two New Orleans plantations, they determine the accuracy of the facts presented. In the computer lab, they visit various sites and examine which ones...
Curated OER
Three Coffles Lesson Plan
Middle schoolers read about the slave trade in primary source documents. They discuss differences and commonalities in experiences. They write prose or poetry from the point of view of one of the figures from the reading and create a...
Curated OER
Home Ties
Students explore the reasons people choose to migrate including political, economic and familial motivations. They interview family members and compare their ancestors own reasons for migration to those of African American urban migrants.
Curated OER
Dispute Over Slavery in Kansas Territory
Students analyze primary sources on slavery from Kansas Territory. For this Civil War lesson, students evaluate the antislavery and pro-slavery arguments and summarize key points. Students write a persuasive paper from the antislavery...
Curated OER
African-American History and Culture in the English Classroom
Ninth graders identify and recognize characteristics of nonfiction in literary works, explore language and culture of Gullah people, compare and contrast purposes of spirituals and quilts in terms of their relationships to escape from...
Curated OER
Color My World
Students examine colors and describe how colors contribute to the way a person may feel after listening to several books. Students also survey class for favorite colors and graph results, as well as discover how different colors are made...
Curated OER
Quilts: Patterns of Our Past Leading Us Into Our Future
Students examine the history of quilt making. They explore the pattern, designs, and color schemes of the quilt. Students read stories about quilting. They create a story to further develop into a story quilt. Additional cross...
Curated OER
Baroque Composers
Fourth graders study Baroque composers. In this music lesson, rotate trough three stations, collecting information on particular Baroque composers. Worksheets, information cards, and procedure included.
Curated OER
Creating an Abolitionist Newspaper
Fourth graders develop an understanding of the lives of slaves and their quest for freedom. They develop an understanding of the people who fought against slavery and the efforts that were made by them to create a better life for all...
Curated OER
Freedom Train North
Fourth graders conduct a novel study of the book Freedom Train North. They identify the parts of a story that include beginning, middle, and end. Students also recognize the setting, plot, and theme after reading a part of the book daily.
Curated OER
Spirituals
Students review factors that contributed to the development of the spiritual, which reflects the influence of African religious and Christian traditions, and slavery. Students collect spirituals/songs of their heritage from family...
Curated OER
Differences in Location Lesson Plan: Treatment of Early African Americans
Students reach The Domestic Slave Trade, then examine the differences between the people enslaved in North America as opposed to those in Brazil.
Curated OER
Forest Joe Lesson Plan: Outlaw or Hero?
Students become familiar with an American legend that is unfamiliar to many. Presented with the legend of Forest Joe, a runaway slave who, much like Robin Hood, stole from the rich to give to the poor, students draw comparisons and...
Curated OER
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.
Curated OER
Little America in Liberia
Students study the history of Liberia prior to and after the influx of immigrants of African Americans. They investigate the cultural differences between the African Americans and newly-arrived Liberians.
Curated OER
Mixing Races in New Orleans
Students discuss the changes in the legal, social, and political status of African Americans and those of mixed ethnicity after reading the narrative, Haitian Immigration: Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries.
Curated OER
Open Door, Closed Door Lesson Plan: Discrimination in Immigration And Migration
Students read The Northern Migration and research immigration policies of different nations for the past and the present. They create a bulletin board or spreadsheet using their information.
Curated OER
Trusting Statistics Lesson Plan
Students read a section of the Runaway Journey narrative and conduct a survey. They use survey statistics to question their validity and decide why a respondent might not answer truthfully.
Curated OER
Glad to Meet You, Newfane
Students brainstorm a list of important community locations or buildings. We take pictures of inside and outside and include the history of each. They describe the service or product it provides, the date originated, etc. They build a...
Curated OER
Master Spy
Students explain that a code is a system of symbols, letters, words, or signals that are used instead of ordinary words and numbers to send messages or to store information. They practice deciphering a variety of secret codes used in...
Curated OER
Would You Stick Your Neck Out?
Learners examine personal qualities of individuals who have been able to help others through selfless actions, and develop short skits about heroes who have stuck their necks out to help others.
Curated OER
Incorporate Black History into Math
February is Black History Month. So why not highlight lessons that connect mathematics to Africans and African Americans?
CommonLit
Common Lit: "The Underground Railroad" by Us history.org
A learning module that begins with "The Underground Railroad" by USHistory.org, accompanied by guided reading questions, assessment questions, and discussion questions. The text can be printed as a PDF or assigned online through free...
Scholastic
Scholastic: The Underground Railroad: Escape From Slavery
In this interactive unit students travel back to 1860 to follow a young slave as he flees a Kentucky plantation for Canada along the Underground Railroad. The interactive slideshow lets students read a short article at each stop. They...