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african american

Reclaiming Hidden History: Students Create a Slavery Walking Tour in Manhattan

Teaching Activity. By Alan J. Singer. Rethinking Schools. How a teacher and his students organized a tour of the hidden history of slavery in New York.

Time Periods: Colonization: 1492 - 1764, 18th Century, Revolution & Constitution: 1765 - 1799, 19th Century, Early 19th Century: 1800 - 1849, Civil War Era: 1850 - 1864

Themes: African American, Racism & Racial Identity, Slavery and Resistance

Cover of "Race and Place" - RS magazine | Zinn Education Project

“Why Is This the Only Place in Portland I See Black People?”: Teaching Young Children About Redlining

Teaching Activity. By Katharine Johnson. 10 pages. Rethinking Schools. An elementary school teacher introduces the history of redlining through a role play designed for 1st and 2nd graders.

Time Periods: 20th Century, Cold War: 1945 - 1960

Themes: African American, Economics, Social Class

Stepping into Selma: Voting Rights History and Legacy Today

Teaching Activity. Teaching for Change. 2015. Introductory lesson on key people and events in the long history of the Selma freedom movement.

Time Periods: 20th Century, People’s Movement: 1961 - 1974

Themes: African American, Civil Rights Movements, Democracy & Citizenship, Organizing, Social Class

Rethinking the U.S. Constitutional Convention: A Role Play

Teaching Activity. By Bob Peterson. 14 pages. Rethinking Schools. A role play on the Constitutional Convention which brings to life the social forces active during and immediately following the American Revolution with focus on two key topics: suffrage and slavery. An elementary school adaptation of the Constitution Role Play by Bill Bigelow. Roles available in Spanish.

Time Periods: 18th Century, Revolution & Constitution: 1765 - 1799

Themes: Democracy & Citizenship, Laws & Citizen Rights, Native American, Slavery and Resistance, Women's History

Teaching with the Black Panthers’ Ten Point Program (Lesson) | Zinn Education Project

‘What We Want, What We Believe’: Teaching with the Black Panthers’ Ten Point Program

Teaching Activity. By Wayne Au. 7 pages. Rethinking Schools. How students can use the Black Panther Party's Ten Point Program to assess issues in their own communities and to develop Ten Point Programs of their own. Available in Spanish.

Time Periods: 20th Century, People’s Movement: 1961 - 1974

Themes: African American, Civil Rights Movements, Organizing, Racism & Racial Identity

School Days: Hail, Hail, Rock ‘n’ Roll!

Teaching Activity. By Rick Mitchell. Rethinking Schools. Description of a course on the history of music in the United States.

Time Periods: 20th Century, People’s Movement: 1961 - 1974

Themes: African American, Art & Music, Civil Rights Movements, Racism & Racial Identity

History Textbooks: “Theirs” and “Ours”: A Rebellion or a War of Independence?

Teaching Activity. By John DeRose. 4 pages. Rethinking Schools. Analysis of textbook passages from different countries, videos and books are used to explore different perspectives about the same event in history, i.e. "Philippine-American War" vs. "War of Philippine Independence."

Time Periods: 20th Century, Turn of the Century: 1900 - 1909

Themes: Imperialism, US Foreign Policy, Wars & Related Anti-War Movements, World History/Global Studies

Sharecroppers Challenge U.S. Apartheid: The Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party

Teaching Activity. By Julian Hipkins III, Deborah Menkart, Sara Evers, and Jenice View. Role play on the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP) that introduces students to a vital example of small “d” democracy in action. For grades 7+.

Time Periods: 20th Century, People’s Movement: 1961 - 1974

Themes: African American, Civil Rights Movements, Democracy & Citizenship, Organizing

How Red Lines Built White Wealth: A Lesson on Housing Segregation in the 20th Century

Teaching Activity. By Ursula Wolfe-Rocca. Rethinking Schools. The mixer role play is based on Richard Rothstein’s The Color of Law, which shows in exacting detail how government policies segregated every major city in the United States with dire consequences for African Americans.

Time Periods: 20th Century, 21st Century

Themes: African American, Civil Rights Movements, Economics, Laws & Citizen Rights

Witness to Apartheid: A Teaching Guide

Teaching Guide. By Bill Bigelow. 1987. Lessons and activities that accompany the 1986 film Witness to Apartheid.

Time Periods: 20th Century

Themes: Democracy & Citizenship, Racism & Racial Identity, World History/Global Studies

Our Grandparents’ Civil Rights Era: Family Letters Bring History to Life

Teaching Activity. By Willow McCormick. Rethinking Schools. An elementary school teacher connects the Civil Rights Movement to students’ family history by asking their grandparents to share their memories of the Movement.

Time Periods: 20th Century, Cold War: 1945 - 1960, People’s Movement: 1961 - 1974

Themes: Civil Rights Movements

The Color Line

Teaching Activity. By Bill Bigelow. A lesson on the countless colonial laws enacted to create division and inequality based on race. This helps students understand the origins of racism in the United States and who benefits.

Time Periods: Colonization: 1492 - 1764, 18th Century, Revolution & Constitution: 1765 - 1799

Themes: African American, Laws & Citizen Rights, Native American, Racism & Racial Identity, Slavery and Resistance

The Draft Riot Mystery

Teaching Activity. By Bill Bigelow. Students are invited to solve a mystery, using historical clues, about the real story of the Draft Riots.

Time Periods: 19th Century, Civil War Era: 1850 - 1864

Themes: African American, Democracy & Citizenship, Immigration, Racism & Racial Identity, Slavery and Resistance, Social Class, Wars & Related Anti-War Movements

Poetry of Defiance: How the Enslaved Resisted

Teaching Activity. By Adam Sanchez. Through a mixer activity, students are introduced to the various ways that enslaved people resisted the brutal exploitation of slavery. The lesson culminates in a collective class poem highlighting the defiance of the enslaved.

Time Periods: Revolution & Constitution: 1765 - 1799, 19th Century, Early 19th Century: 1800 - 1849, Civil War Era: 1850 - 1864

Themes: African American, Language Arts, Slavery and Resistance

Burned Out of Homes and History: Unearthing the Silenced Voices of the Tulsa Race Riot

Teaching Activity. By Linda Christensen. Rethinking Schools. Teaching about racist patterns of displacement and wealth inequality through the 1921 Tulsa Massacre.

Time Periods: 20th Century, Prosperity, Depression, & World War II: 1920 - 1944

Themes: African American, Economics, Racism & Racial Identity

Daisy Bates, Little Rock 9, and NAACP officers | Zinn Education Project

Warriors Don’t Cry: Connecting History, Literature, and Our Lives

Teaching Activity. By Linda Christensen. Rethinking Schools. Role play and writing activities for language arts and social studies on the Little Rock Nine, Brown v. Board, and schooling in general. Designed for use with the memoir Warriors Don’t Cry.

Time Periods: 20th Century, People’s Movement: 1961 - 1974

Themes: African American, Civil Rights Movements, Education, Language Arts, Racism & Racial Identity

A Revolution of Values

Teaching Activity. By Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. 3 pages. Text of speech by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on the Vietnam War, followed by three teaching ideas.

Time Periods: 20th Century, People’s Movement: 1961 - 1974

Themes: African American, Civil Rights Movements, Imperialism, US Foreign Policy, Wars & Related Anti-War Movements

Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton | Zinn Education Project

Seneca Falls, 1848: Women Organize for Equality

Teaching Activity. By Bill Bigelow. A role play allows students to examine issues of race and class when exploring both the accomplishments and limitations of the Seneca Falls Convention.

Time Periods: 19th Century, Early 19th Century: 1800 - 1849

Themes: Civil Rights Movements, Democracy & Citizenship, Laws & Citizen Rights, Organizing, Women's History

Reading Between the Lines: An Art Contest Helps Students Imagine the Lives of Runaway Slaves

Teaching Activity. By Thom Thacker and Michael A. Lord. 4 pages. Rethinking Schools. An art contest is used as the basis from which students can examine primary historical documents (advertisements for runaway slaves) to gain a deeper understanding of the institution of slavery in the North.

Time Periods: Colonization: 1492 - 1764, 18th Century, Revolution & Constitution: 1765 - 1799, 19th Century, Early 19th Century: 1800 - 1849, Civil War Era: 1850 - 1864

Themes: African American, Racism & Racial Identity, Slavery and Resistance

The Other Internment: Teaching the Hidden Story of Japanese Latin Americans During WWII

Teaching Activity. By Moé Yonamine. 18 pages. Rethinking Schools. Poetry, photography, and text are used in this role play to teach about the seldom told history of Japanese Latin American internment during WWII.

Time Periods: 20th Century, Prosperity, Depression, & World War II: 1920 - 1944

Themes: Asian American, Civil Rights Movements, Democracy & Citizenship, Immigration, Laws & Citizen Rights, Racism & Racial Identity, US Foreign Policy, Wars & Related Anti-War Movements, World History/Global Studies