Designed for immediate use in junior and high school classrooms, these lesson plans and curricular materials -- which adhere to national learning standards -- contain video segments from The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross with Henry Louis Gates, Jr., comprehensive instructions for classroom implementation, printable student handouts, links to online resources, and suggestions for extension activities to enhance your students' reading, viewing, and appreciation of African-American history.
Additional lesson plans will be posted following the national broadcast of each episode of The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross.
African-American Histories Since the Civil Rights Movement ~ Lesson Plan
Students learn about the diverse and divergent social and cultural paths taken by African Americans in their pursuit of equality and inclusion. Continue reading
It Takes Courage to be Weak ~ Lesson Plan
Students learn about the philosophy of nonviolence and about the role of nonviolent protest in the Civil Rights Movement. Continue reading
Life After the Emancipation Proclamation ~ Lesson Plan
Students explore the realities of life after the Emancipation Proclamation and learn about courageous individuals who fought against the inequalities African Americans experienced. Continue reading
Civil Disobedience and Social Change ~ Lesson Plan
Students will explore civil disobedience as a tool for social change, focusing specifically on Homer Plessy’s 1892 refusal to leave a “whites only” train car in New Orleans, which led to the landmark Supreme Court case Plessy v. Ferguson. Continue reading
Causes and Effects of Abolition ~ Lesson Plan
In this lesson, students explore the concept of “cause and effect” as it relates to the abolition of slavery in the United States in the 1800s. Continue reading
Resistance to Slavery ~ Lesson Plan
Review the geography of the trans-Atlantic slave trade and identify colonies held by different European powers around the year 1750. Learn about resistance to slavery and slave rebellions, from South Carolina and Florida to Haiti. Continue reading
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