Black History Month is coming up, and it happens to coincide with the time we are studying the history of the 1920's and 1930's. So what better topic to combine the two than the Harlem Renaissance?
We have already been working on it some, but I recently found what I think is a fantastic resource. John Carroll University has created the Harlem Renaissance Multimedia Resource, which pulls so much information about this fascinating period of modern American history into a central site.
What I love about this website--beside the fact that it is FREE--is that it includes not only the aspects of the Harlem Renaissance that most of us tend to think about, such as the music and the literature, but also the politics, the philosophy, the education, and even the international connections. There is a whole section on religion as well; in fact, throughout the entire site I saw the predecessors of Martin Luther King Jr's thoughts, philosophies, actions, and words. It not only has multimedia resources--pictures, audio, and a little video (all that I found was Billie Holiday)--but also lots of links to other websites with even more comprehensive information on that particular topic.
Particularly helpful to me were the timelines included and the map of Harlem itself. It has a general timeline of the political and artistic events during that period, which helps me put things in order. Even more interesting to us right now, however, was the timeline of the music. My son has been getting more interested in jazz, about which I am not that knowledgable (confessional--even though two of my brothers were performers, students, and aficionados of that musical genre, and my father is at least a long-time fan). The timeline helped me understand how ragtime gradually morphed into swing, with dates, different jazz styles, artist bios, and short audios of outstanding pieces along the way.
So if you are looking for resources about black musicians, writers, thinkers, educators, or politicians, this website is a great place to look.
Showing posts with label black history. Show all posts
Showing posts with label black history. Show all posts
Friday, January 27, 2012
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Curriculum Resource: Reconstruction
As I said earlier this week, teaching about the Civil War is tough for us. It is also hard to teach about Reconstruction, which was another non-stellar point in our history. However, in some ways Reconstruction is even harder because of the paucity of resources, especially compared to all the stuff that is available for the Civil War.
Here are some of the curriculum resources we found useful in covering the Reconstruction with our middle schoolers:
A History of US: Reconstruction and Reform 1865-1870 by Joy Hakim is a great overview of the specific time of the Reconstruction. This is a good book for middle schoolers.
Reconstruction and the Rise of Jim Crow 1864-1896 by Christopher Collier and James Lincoln Collier. This one covers a longer time span and is at a bit higher level, so it would probably be appropriate for high school as well as middle schoolers.
They Called Themselves the K.K.K.: The Birth of an American Terrorist Group by Susan Campbell Bartoletti. This is an excellent book that I reviewed last year when it came out; you can read the full review here. But the short version is that the book describes the evolution of the Ku Klux Klan from its earliest days as sort of a informal frat for ex-Confederates trying to feel better about their defeat to the powerful hate organization it was up through the 1960s, told mostly from first-hand reports. It is appropriate to both middle and high schoolers.
Black Voices from Reconstruction 1865-1877 by John David Smith. While not as engaging as the previous book, this one also contains personal and first-hand sources and covers some broader subjects of the time than were left out of the KKK book. Again, this could be used by middle and higher schoolers.
Forty Acres and Maybe a Mule by Harriette Gillem Robinet. A bit different from the previous titled, this is a fictionalized account of what life might have been like for a small group of freed African Americans, written by an author whose ancestors had been slaves of Robert E. Lee's. This is a middle school level book.
The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow is the website for an award-winning educational documentary series that explores segregation from Reconstruction through the modern Civil Rights movement. I haven't seen the videos themselves, but they sound like they would be really good to watch. However, on the website, you can view a timeline of major events from Reconstruction up to the mid-20th Century, interact with maps and other online resources, read the stories of some significant black leaders from the Reconstruction on, and access lesson plans for both middle school and high school grades.
As always, if someone has some other good resources to add to this list, please put them in the comments below.
Here are some of the curriculum resources we found useful in covering the Reconstruction with our middle schoolers:
A History of US: Reconstruction and Reform 1865-1870 by Joy Hakim is a great overview of the specific time of the Reconstruction. This is a good book for middle schoolers.
Reconstruction and the Rise of Jim Crow 1864-1896 by Christopher Collier and James Lincoln Collier. This one covers a longer time span and is at a bit higher level, so it would probably be appropriate for high school as well as middle schoolers.
They Called Themselves the K.K.K.: The Birth of an American Terrorist Group by Susan Campbell Bartoletti. This is an excellent book that I reviewed last year when it came out; you can read the full review here. But the short version is that the book describes the evolution of the Ku Klux Klan from its earliest days as sort of a informal frat for ex-Confederates trying to feel better about their defeat to the powerful hate organization it was up through the 1960s, told mostly from first-hand reports. It is appropriate to both middle and high schoolers.
Black Voices from Reconstruction 1865-1877 by John David Smith. While not as engaging as the previous book, this one also contains personal and first-hand sources and covers some broader subjects of the time than were left out of the KKK book. Again, this could be used by middle and higher schoolers.
Forty Acres and Maybe a Mule by Harriette Gillem Robinet. A bit different from the previous titled, this is a fictionalized account of what life might have been like for a small group of freed African Americans, written by an author whose ancestors had been slaves of Robert E. Lee's. This is a middle school level book.
The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow is the website for an award-winning educational documentary series that explores segregation from Reconstruction through the modern Civil Rights movement. I haven't seen the videos themselves, but they sound like they would be really good to watch. However, on the website, you can view a timeline of major events from Reconstruction up to the mid-20th Century, interact with maps and other online resources, read the stories of some significant black leaders from the Reconstruction on, and access lesson plans for both middle school and high school grades.
As always, if someone has some other good resources to add to this list, please put them in the comments below.
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