Lesson Plan
John F. Kennedy Center

Harriet Tubman: Retelling History Through Dance and Drama

For Teachers 3rd - 5th Standards
Scholars listen to several pieces of music in preparation for a discussion about how instruments and lyrics convey emotions. With Harriet Tubman as the focus, small groups create an original song or dance. A reflection piece concludes...
Activity
Union Elementary School District

Famous Dead People Project

For Teachers 4th - 5th Standards
Despite the slightly off-putting title, the instructions and activities detailed in these project guidelines for researching a noteworthy figure will serve as a fantastic supplement to your next famous person research...
Lesson Plan
American Institute of Physics

The Black Scientific Renaissance of the 1970s-90s: African American Scientists at Bell Laboratories

For Teachers 9th - Higher Ed Standards
A two-part lesson asks young scientists to research the contributions of African American scientists at Bell Laboratories. After presenting their findings, class members watch two demonstrations that introduce them to total internal...
Unit Plan
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Broward County Schools

Women's Contributions to the United States

For Students K - 12th
Betsy Ross, Toni Morrison, Sacajawea, Amelia Earhart, Maya Lin, Sally Ride, Judy Baca. No matter the subject area or the grade level you teach you will find much to value in a manual that focuses on the contributions U.S. women have...
Interactive
DocsTeach

Deborah Sampson Gannett: A Woman Soldier in the Revolutionary War

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Fact or fiction: Women fought as soldiers in the Revolutionary War. The resource highlights the life of Deborah Sampson Gannett, a woman who disguised herself as a man to fight during the war. Academics decipher a legal document and...
Lesson Plan
American Institute of Physics

African Americans and the Manhattan Project

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
A lesson plan about the Manhattan Project will explode young physicists' understanding of the racial attitudes in the United States during and after World war II. Groups select an African American scientist or technician that worked on...
Interactive
DocsTeach

The Impact of Bloody Sunday in Selma

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Who is to blame when a peaceful protest turns deadly? Scholars research the impact of the civil rights march in Selma, better known as Bloody Sunday. The activity uses files from the FBI's investigation to help academics understand the...
Activity
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Brockman Elementary School

Living History Timeline

For Teachers 4th - 8th Standards
As part of a living history research project, learners research a chosen historical figure that they will study and physically represent in a gallery walk. This resource includes a project description, letter to parents,...
Lesson Plan
Carolina K-12

African American Troops in the Civil War

For Teachers 5th - 8th Standards
Middle schoolers explore the history of the African-American troops that served during the American Civil War. After reading primary source documents that detail the controversies about permitting freemen and former slaves to serve,...
Lesson Plan
1
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BrainPOP

Civil Rights Lesson Plan: Tracking History Through Timelines

For Teachers 3rd - 5th Standards
Use the accompanying assessment to determine your class's prior knowledge on Martin Luther King, Jr. before beginning a lesson on the famous civil rights movement leader. The resource has young historians thinking about life for African...
Lesson Plan
Stanford University

Ruby Bridges

For Teachers K - 2nd Standards
A two-part lesson features Civil Rights hero, Ruby Bridges. Part one focuses on the heroic actions of Ruby Bridges then challenges scholars to complete a Venn diagram in order to compare themselves to her. Part two begins with a...
Lesson Plan
John F. Kennedy Center

Harriet Tubman: An Informative and Impressionistic Look

For Teachers 3rd - 5th Standards
Informational text and impressionistic art lead a instructional activity about Harriet Tubman. Working in teams, scholars examine a variety of resources. They analyze, compare, and contrast the work.  Using their research findings,...
Lesson Plan
Maryland Department of Education

Our Children Can Soar

For Teachers 4th - 5th Standards
Amazing efforts of African American leaders are celebrated in a lesson plan on civil participation. The engaging resource focuses on primary and secondary sources to analyze the impact of African American leaders such as Ella Fitzgerald....
Lesson Plan
Marybeth Lobiecki

Beyond Baseball with Jackie Robinson

For Teachers 2nd - 8th
Jackie Robinson was more than a baseball star, he was a prominent activist. The thought-provoking resource focuses on the life and achievements of Jackie Robinson, from his baseball career to his civic participation. Academics listen and...
Interactive
DocsTeach

Twelve Years a Slave

For Teachers 8th - 12th
It's difficult to truly grasp the effects of slavery. Young historians use historical analysis to understand the struggle of slavery on African Americans. The resource provides text from the autobiography Twelve Years a Slave to help...
Lesson Plan
Scholastic

Jackie Robinson

For Teachers K - 3rd
Learners complete a six-page coloring book featuring Major League Baseball's first African American player, Jackie Robinson. To bring the pages to life, scholars follow directions adding color and pictures where directed. 
Lesson Plan
National Woman's History Museum

Fannie Lou Hamer and Social Activism

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Not all heroes wear capes. An impactful lesson focuses on the life and activism of Fannie Lou Hamer during the civil rights movement. Scholars read her speeches and other material, participate in group discussion, and complete a jigsaw...
Interactive
DocsTeach

Extending Suffrage to Women

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Votes for women! The activity highlights the push for the Nineteenth Amendment giving women the right to vote. High school scholars learn how the Fifteenth Amendment giving African American men the right to vote helped to spark the...
Lesson Plan
2
2
Smithsonian Institution

Fighting For Freedom: The Stono Rebellion and Free Frank McWhorter

For Teachers 8th - 11th Standards
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...
Lesson Plan
Crafting Freedom

The Self-Empowerment of Harriet Jacobs

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
In a hands-on learning activity, pupils read about and recreate the experience of Harriet Jacobs, author of one of the most famous slave narratives of all time in which she describes her years of hiding from her master in a confined...
Interactive
DocsTeach

Analyzing Jackie Robinson's White House Letter

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Jackie Robinson: A hero on and off the field. An eye-opening activity focuses on Jackie Robinson's social activism during and after the civil rights movement. Academics read a letter addressed to President Nixon, answer questions, and...
Lesson Plan
2
2
TCI

Ain't I a Woman?

For Teachers 5th - 8th Standards
Learners discover the impact of women on civil rights in United States history by analyzing primary source clues to identify influential female figures.
Lesson Plan
National Woman's History Museum

Shirley Chisholm, Unbossed and Unbought

For Teachers 11th - 12th Standards
An engaging resource introduces young historians to Shirley Chisholm, the woman, the Black congresswoman, the activist, and the candidate for President in 1972. Class members study primary sources, watch a video of her announcing her run...
Lesson Plan
TCI

Dreams Progress

For Teachers 6th - 9th Standards
Has society progressed to the dream Martin Luther King Jr. expressed in his famous address during the civil rights movement? Learners work with a partner to analyze one excerpt from King's "I Have A Dream" speech and find a current...