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K–12 teaching and learning · from the UNC School of Education

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African American college students: Classroom activity
In this lesson plan, students will read a primary source document about African American college students in 1906 and answer a series of questions as they assume the role of a young African American woman in the early 20th century.
Format: lesson plan (grade 8–12 Social Studies)
By Jamie Lathan.
African American English
In this activity, students learn about the history of African American English and the meaning of dialect and linguistic patterns. Students watch a video about African American English and analyze the dialect's linguistic patterns.
Format: lesson plan (grade 8 Social Studies)
By Hannah Askin.
Africans before captivity: Graphic organizer
This activity provides a way for students to further their comprehension as they read an article about the regions of Africa from which most American slaves originated. Students will complete a graphic organizer and answer a series of questions.
Format: worksheet/lesson plan (grade 9–12 Social Studies)
By Pauline S. Johnson.
An American hero: Harriet Tubman
In this lesson, the school librarian and classroom teacher should work together to teach students about the life of Harriet Tubman in recognition of African-American History and Cultural Heritage Month.
Format: lesson plan (grade 1 Information Skills and Social Studies)
By Floanna Long.
Black American leaders as responsible citizens: Their roles, their contributions, their diversity
The focus of this lesson will be to help third grade students to clearly identify the need for having leaders arise from the citizenry of a given community. Students will review factual information to guide them in distinguishing the positive and negative qualities of leaders. Techniques will include guided reading of factual historical text during a Jigsaw, student note taking, student development of open-ended questions, and student engagement in a Socratic seminar.
Format: lesson plan (grade 3 and 5 Social Studies)
By Debbie Rollins.
Brown versus Board of Education: Rhetoric and realities
In this lesson, students will listen to three oral histories that shed light on political and personal reactions toward the 1954 Supreme Court ruling Brown versus Board of Education. Includes a teacher's guide as well as the oral history audio excerpts and transcripts.
Format: lesson plan (multiple pages)
Civil rights protests and dilemmas
In this lesson students explore well-known civil rights protests then listen to two oral histories of individuals who protested in their own way to promote equality for African Americans. Students specifically will consider personal risks involved in protest.
Format: lesson plan (multiple pages)
Civil rights wax museum project
In this lesson plan, students will choose African Americans prominent in the Civil Rights Movement and research aspects of their lives. They will create timelines of their subjects' lives and a speech about their subjects, emphasizing why they are remembered today.
Format: lesson plan (grade 5 English Language Arts and Social Studies)
By Sabrina Lewandowski.
Commemorative landscapes
These lessons for elementary, middle, and high school were developed in collaboration with The University of North Carolina Library Commemorative Landscapes project to introduce and promote student understanding and writing of North Carolina’s history through commemorative sites, landscapes, and markers.
Format: lesson plan (multiple pages)
De facto vs. de jure segregation
This lesson will help students understand the difference between de facto and de jure segregation. Students will listen to three oral history excerpts and discuss the experiences of segregation described in each. As a follow-up activity, students will brainstorm solutions to both de facto and de jure segregation.
Format: lesson plan (grade 10–12 Social Studies)
By Dayna Durbin Gleaves.
Desegregating public schools: Integrated vs. neighborhood schools
In this lesson, students will learn about the history of the "separate but equal" U.S. school system and the 1971 Swann case which forced Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools to integrate. Students will examine the pros and cons of integration achieved through busing, and will write an argumentative essay drawing on information from oral histories.
Format: lesson plan (grade 10–12 English Language Arts and Social Studies)
By Dayna Durbin Gleaves.
Discussion questions: Expanding to the west
This set of discussion questions was designed to help students understand an article about the settlement of the Piedmont region of North Carolina between 1730 and 1775.
Format: lesson plan (grade 8 Social Studies)
By Pauline S. Johnson.
Exploring the church in the southern black community
Students explore the Documenting the American South Collection titled, the “Church in the Southern Black Community.” Beginning with a historian's interpretation of the primary sources that make up the collection, students search the collection for evidence to describe the experiences of African Americans living in the south during the Antebellum through the Reconstruction Period centering on their community churches. The activity culminates in student presentations of a digital scrap book.
Format: lesson plan (grade 8 and 10–12 Social Studies)
By Meghan Mcglinn.
Farmville's choice
In this lesson, students will learn about rural life in North Carolina at the turn of the century. Home demonstration and 4H clubs implemented many programs to help people learn better farming techniques, ways of preserving food, and taking care of the home. Several North Carolina leaders went to great lengths to ensure the success of these programs. In part of this activity, students help the town of Farmville dedicate a monument to one of those people.
Format: lesson plan (multiple pages)
A forced migration: Reading lesson
In this lesson plan, students read an article about the slave trade in West Africa, which caused the kidnapping of millions of free West Africans by slave traders. The lesson plan includes reading strategies designed to prepare students for end-of-grade reading test.
Format: lesson plan (grade 8–12 Social Studies)
By Pauline S. Johnson.
Freedom songs of the civil rights movement
Students will listen to freedom songs recorded during the civil rights movement, 1960–1965. Students will write about personal reactions to the music and lyrics. Through reading and pictures, students will briefly explore historical events where these songs were sung. Listening again, students will analyze and describe — musically — particular song(s).
Format: lesson plan (grade 5 Music Education and Social Studies)
By Merritt Raum Flexman.
Hidden stories: A three-part lesson in African American history, research, and children’s literature
In this high school lesson plan, students will create a timeline of African American history, review a work of children's literature, and then create their own works of children's literature drawing on a primary source document pertaining to the life of an ordinary African American.
Format: lesson plan (grade 11–12 English Language Arts and Social Studies)
By Edie McDowell.
Inside and outside: Paradox of the box
This lesson serves to introduce students to symbolism (the box), to the literary element paradox, and to the abstract notion of ambiguity (freedom vs. confinement). It is designed for 2nd and 3rd graders, but may be adapted for use with upper elementary or early middle school grades.
Format: lesson plan (grade 2–6 English Language Arts)
By Edie McDowell.
Jackie Robinson taught us more than baseball
After determining student knowledge about Jackie Robinson, the teacher/counselor reads "Teammates" by Peter Golenbock to fifth graders. The teacher/counselor then divides students into four groups to work cooperatively on questions. Groups select leaders and recorders and each group leader presents answers to the whole class. The teacher/counselor ends the activity with a question that individual students will respond to in writing.
Format: lesson plan (grade K–5 English Language Arts, Guidance, and Social Studies)
By Jan Huggins.
Jim Crow and segregation
This is an integrated lesson plan that incorporates both eighth grade language arts and history. Using Internet research, literary analysis, and persuasive technique, students will practice reading and writing skills while analyzing the impact of Jim Crow Segregation on African Americans living in North Carolina and elsewhere.
Format: lesson plan (grade 8 English Language Arts and Social Studies)
By Burnetta Barton.