African American History

Grade 8

Overview of Standards

The ten thematic strands provided by the National Council for Social Studies will be used to guide our instruction.

Culture Time, Continuity, and Change People, Places, and Environment Individual Development and Identity Individuals, Groups, and Institutions Power, Authority, and Governance Production, Distribution, and Consumption Science, Technology, and Society Global Connections Civic Ideals and Practices

Unit Overview

Unit One: African Kingdoms and the Middle Passage Unit Two: Slavery and Emancipation

Unit Three: African American Liberation Unit Four: Current Issues in the African American Community

Unit Four
Current Issues in the African American Community

The Descruction of the AfricanAmerican male image Black on Balck violence

Unit One African Kingdoms and the Middle Passage

Duration: 2 weeks

Lesson One African Kingdoms Lesson Two The Middle Passage Lesson Three Cotton Kingdom Lesson Four Daily Lives of Slaves Lesson Five Black Institutions

At the end of the unit students will be able to: 1. Understand how African Kingdoms flourished and declined 2. Determine the motivations that led Europeans to enslave Africans 3. Identify the causes and effects of the slave trade 4. Analyze how the invention of the cotton gin expanded slavery 5. Examine the daily lives of slaves. 6. Identify the institutions that African Americans created in order to cope with enslavement.

Unit Two Slavery and Emancipation

Duration: Two weeks Lesson One Slave Resistance Lesson Two Abolitionist Movement Lesson Three African Americans in the Civil War Lesson Four Reconstruction Lesson Five Jim Crow Laws
At the end of the unit students will be able to:
1. 2.

3.

4.

5.

Identify the leaders of slave revolts and their outcomes. Identify key players in the Abolitionist Movement Analyze the motives behind African Americans fighting in the Civil War. Determine the effects of Reconstruction on American life Examine the treatment of African Americans in the Jim Crow Era

Unit Three African-American Liberation

Duration: 2 weeks Lesson One Sharecropping Lesson Two Historically Black Colleges/University Lesson Three Garvey & Dubois Debate Lesson Four The Civil Rights Movement Lesson Five Black Panther Party
At the end of the unit students will be able to: 1. Determine the need for AfricanAmericans to work in subservient roles immediately after emancipation 2. Examine the creation of HBCUs and understand benefits of attending these universities 3. Analyze Duboiss and Garveys attitudes towards the progression of African-Americans 4. Interpret why there would be a need for the Civil Rights movement in the mid 20th century 5. Use the Black Panther Partys rules and wants in order to create their own social and political demands

Unit Four
Current Issues in the African-American Community
Racial Profiling Single Parent Homes Value of Education Media Influence Respect for Community and Elders Resilience

At the end of the unit students will be able to: 1. Identify racial profiling and analyze creative ways to curtail the practice 2. Discuss the impacts single parent homes can have a child. Create individualized plans to minimize this issue 3. Compare and Contrast the value for education during slavery and reconstruction vs. present day 4. Produce positive media campaigns highlighting the positive aspects of their communities 5. Create a community based project to benefit their community or elders

Differences and Similarities of the curriculums

Similarities The first two units address the same concepts Differences There is a major focus on the AfricanAmerican experience Our curriculum provides a focus on more current events affecting the AfricanAmerican community

Influence the change in the content

The curriculum must be centered on the experiences of the individual before any additional history can be taught Current events are taught because students need to know the connections of the past to the present If the majority of students in P.G. County are African-American, it is imperative and mandatory that students receive a thorough African-American history focus.