Songs of freedom, known as Negro spirituals, were not only a way for slaves to express their religious beliefs and uplift one another through trial, but they were also used to convey secret information and messages about the Underground Railroad. Teach your students a few spirituals, pointing out special phrases like "train," which were secret words to show someone from the Underground Railroad was nearby. Try "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" or "Follow the Drinking Gourd." Find a recording of some spirituals and let students dance to the music.
Make slave quilts embedded with a special code. Use the "Quilt Codes" page on Owen Sound's Black History website to teach student how different patterns had secret meanings. Have students construct their own quilts with black construction paper as a background, adding colored paper shapes on top. Hang the quilts along a line in the classroom with clothespins, just as quilts were hung with the laundry back then. See if the students can decode messages from their classmates.
Engage your students' critical thinking skills by reading aloud, then asking questions about, Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech. Explain inequality in the U.S. prior to the Civil Rights movement, then talk about how people wanted that to change, so they protested in various ways. Show a video of the speech and point out the many people who came to hear it. Read the "I Have a Dream" part of the speech, asking about the meaning of important phrases as you read. For example, "What does it mean to be 'judged by the color of your skin?'" "What do you think 'content of character' means?" and "What does brotherhood mean? Is it limited to only brothers?"
Teach students about the Negro Leagues and revolutionary black baseball players by reading books, making jerseys and playing ball. Consider "We are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball" by Kadir Nelson or biographies of Jackie Robinson or Satchel Paige. Ask students if they have a favorite baseball player now and mention that teams today sign players from a variety of backgrounds. Have each student make a "jersey" by stamping his last name and favorite number across the top back of a white t-shirt. Use block letter stamps and fabric paint. Once dry, each student can wear his jersey during recess. Play baseball with basic rules, using a soft ball.