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Teaching About Africa for K-12: Teaching About Africa for K-12

For K-12 teachers. Africa related lessons plans, web sites. Topics include art, culture, climate and the environment, health, history, literature, maps, music, photography, religion, sciences, society, workshops / institutes, and more.

Teaching About Africa for K-12

Africa Access
Guide to children's literature on Africa. Reviews are written by university faculty, librarians, and teachers many of whom are in African studies or have lived in Africa. Use the Search to locate, for ex., Swahili culture. Edited by Brenda Randolph. http://www.africaaccessreview.org/

Africa Center (Colorado)
"...a [Colorado] non-profit organization dedicated to promoting social awareness and knowledge of Africa by providing information, materials and services..." Directory of Colorado Africa-related resources. Based in Boulder, Colorado. [KF] http://www.africacentre.org/index.htm

Africa No Filter

  • Why Change the Way We Write About Africa. A storyteller's guide to reframing Africa. By Lerato Mogoatlhe. Published by Africa No Filter. 2022.
  • "ANF’s goal ..... is to leave an empowered narrative change ecosystem and an informed community of storytellers who work more deliberately to change harmful narratives within and about Africa." Has a grants program. Funded by the Ford Foundation, Bloomberg, Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, British Council and others. http://www.africanofilter.org/
     

Africa Society (of the National Summit on Africa)
Non profit launched 2002 as a a combination think-tank and public education organization. Its Teach Africa program supports the inclusion of Africa education in American schools. Based in Washington, D.C. http://www.africasummit.org/

Africa South of the Sahara: Selected Internet Resources - Historical Photographs
Directory of internet resources for historical photographs of Africa. Maintained by Stanford University Libraries. https://guides.library.stanford.edu/African-historical-photographs

African Indigenous Knowledge Systems
Dr. Gloria Emeagwali, Professor of History, Central Connecticut State University, provides citations to books and links to web sites relating to the, "Background History of Africa, African Food Processing Techniques, African Textile Techniques, African Metallurgy, Colonialism and Africa's Technology, and Mathematics in pre-colonial Hausaland, West Africa. http://www.africahistory.net

African Odyssey InterActive - Kennnedy Center for the Performing Arts
Site for a festival in New York of music, dance, and theater from Africa and the African Diaspora.  Has interviews with artists, a directory of web sites about Dance, Music, Literary Arts/Storytelling, Theater/Performance, K-12 teaching resources. [KF] http://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/aoi/artsedge.html

African Storybook
Download online picture storybooks in the languages of Africa. Includes stories in English. How to- and indepth guides in the use and development of picture storybooks, create a new picture storybook, translate a story, adapt a story for a different reading level and build your own storybook collection. Works with libraries in Kenya, South Africa and elsewhere. Based in Johannesburg, South Africa. https://africanstorybook.org/

African Studies Association. Outreach Council
U.S. scholarly organization which promotes the teaching of Africa in K-16 classrooms, collaborates on an annual teacher workshop, and produces teacher resources. https://www.asaoutreach.org/

Africans in America - October 19-22, 1998
"Africans in America will be the first comprehensive television history of the international events leading to the growth of racial slavery in the United States. The series opens in the 16th century on Africa's Gold Coast with the European and African trade, and ends on the eve of the American Civil War in 1865." Has a teacher's guide. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/

Afrophile: Recommended Titles on Africa for Children and Young People
Compiled by Brenda Randolph. Covers from primary grades to high school, includes books for teachers. Orig. pub. 1994, updated for 1996. Print copies are available for $15 plus $3 postage from Africa Access, 2204 Quinton Rd., Silver Spring, MD 20190. http://www.sas.upenn.edu/African_Studies/Proceedings_Rev/men_afrophle.html

American Historical Association
See Teaching Resources.  Includes Through the Lens of History: Biafra, Nigeria, the West and the World. http://www.historians.org/

American University. Washington College of Law - Rwanda Commemoration Project: Genocide In Our Time
The College of Law, Center for Human Rights and Humanitarian Law's Rwanda Commemoration Project: Genocide In Our Time produced a resource booklet (background, programming ideas, bibliography) , a lesson plan for high schools. Based in Washington, D.C. [KF] https://www.wcl.american.edu/impact/initiatives-programs/center/pastprojects/genocide-education-initiatives/

Amistad America
Site for Freedom Schooner Amistad and Amistad America. The Freedom Schooner visits U.S. and international ports providing educational programs, interviews with the captain or crew on the history and the significance of the Amistad story, the transatlantic slave trade and present-day race relations. Recounts the story of the 1839 Amistad incident. Based in New Haven, Connecticut. http://www.amistadamerica.org/

Bartle, Lisa M. - Database of Award-winning Children's Literature
Find books with African themes which have won American book awards. Bartle is a librarian at the Lima Regional Campus of Ohio State University. Searches can be limited by reading level, language. http://www.dawcl.com

Boston University. African Studies Center. Africa in the K-12 Classroom
Teaching tips and articles, Curriculum Guide: “How Big is Africa?”, podcasts, resources by grade level, lesson plans & activities, read aloud books with video (Wangari Maathai), videos about African languages, activities, etc. https://www.bu.edu/africa/outreach/

  • Artifact map - click on any artifact on the map (images included) and find a list of resources for the classroom about the artifact’s origins, background, and history. https://www.bu.edu/africa/outreach/teachingresources/bu-african-artifact-map-teaching-ideas/

  • How to Write about Africa. By Binyavanga Wainaina.  https://www.bu.edu/africa/files/2013/10/How-to-Write-about-Africa.pdf

  • Climate Change. https://www.bu.edu/africa/outreach/teachingresources/climate-change/

  • Health and Disease in Africa. https://www.bu.edu/africa/outreach/teachingresources/health-disease/

  • Ancient to Medieval History
    Nubia, Kingdom of Axum, the Spread of Islam, Empires of Medieval West Africa: Ghana, Mali, and Songhay, the Swahili Coast and the Indian Ocean Trade, Great Zimbabwe, and African and European Images of Each Other in History. https://www.bu.edu/africa/outreach/teachingresources/history/ancient-to-medieval-history/

  • History - 15th-19th Centuries. Enslavement and the trade of Enslaved People. https://www.bu.edu/africa/outreach/teachingresources/history/slavery-slave-trade/

  • History - 19th-20th c. Colonialism and Resistance. https://www.bu.edu/africa/outreach/teachingresources/history/colonialism/

  • Teaching African literature. https://www.bu.edu/africa/outreach/teachingresources/literature-language-arts/

  • Math and Science. Includes mathematics in the history of Sub-Saharan Africa, by Paulus Gerdes, https://www.bu.edu/africa/outreach/teachingresources/outreach-teachingresources-mathematics/

  • Specific Countries. Extra resources for Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Madagascar, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal. https://www.bu.edu/africa/outreach/teachingresources/specific-african-countries/

 

British Broadcasting Company - Africa Across the Continent
Older site. Daily life, profiles of kids, quizzes, a clickable map leading to country facts. http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/static/find_out/specials/newsround_extra/africa/html/default.stm
 

British Broadcasting Company, BBC. Lost Kingdoms of Africa
"British art historian Dr. Gus Casely-Hayford explores the pre-colonial history of some of Africa's most important kingdoms." Dr. Casely-Hayford is the Director of the Victoria and Albert Museum East, London, U.K. and was Director of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African Art in Washington DC.
Series 1.
1. Nubia https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mpz8h_MFkWg
2. Ethiopia https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qF8EqEqoI24&t=842
3. Great Zimbabwe  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2JR2FVrDHM
4. West Africa. Benin Plaques.  Benin art at the British Museum. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmrdunRXfbw
 

British Broadcasting Company. The Story of Africa
"...the history of the continent from an African perspective." "from the origins of humankind to the end of South African apartheid" by major African historians (Jacob Ajayi, George Abungu, Director-General of the National Museums of Kenya and others). Each segment has a timeline, bibliography, useful links. Mainly in text format. http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/africa/features/storyofafrica/
 

British National Archives. Learning Curve - Mussolini and Abyssinia (Ethiopia)
Archived site. "Ruled by Emperor Haile Selassie, the ancient civilisation of Abyssinia (Ethiopia) was situated between the two small Italian colonies of Eritrea and Somaliland. Its lands were fertile and rich in mineral wealth, two reasons why Italian troops attempted an invasion in 1896. Ultimately, the Italians suffered an humiliating defeat." Tutorial with photographs, excerpts from documents. Questions, activities for students. Learning Curve is a free online teaching and learning resource, [from the British National Archives] following the History National Curriculum from Key Stages 2 to 5.   https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ukgwa/+/https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/heroesvillains/g3/
 

Caravans of Gold. Fragments in Time: Art, Culture and Exchange across Medieval Saharan Africa
Teacher resources for the Workshop May 28, 2020 arising from the July 16 2021 – Feb. 27 2022 exhibit from the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art and 2019 Northwestern exhibit. Teachers Guide.  Sponsored by Smithsonian National Museum of African Art, Georgetown University, and Howard University.   https://www.blockmuseum.northwestern.edu/exhibitions/2019/caravans-of-gold,-fragments-in-time-art,-culture,-and-exchange-across-medieval-saharan-africa.html

 

Children's Africana Book Awards - Outreach Council, African Studies Association U.S.A.
The Outreach Council of the African Studies Association (U.S.) "annually honors outstanding authors and illustrators of children's books about Africa published in the United States." https://cfas.howard.edu/CABA
 

Dowling, Mike - Electronic Passport
Mike Dowling teaches at Roosevelt Middle School in West Palm Beach, Florida. "The Electronic Passport is a collection of the lessons I have written for my students." Includes Ancient Africa, Colonial Africa, Africa Today. http://www.mrdowling.com/
 

ePALS: Classroom Exchange
K-12 classes can locate schools in Africa which are interested in communicating by e-mail, IRC Chat, in English, French, Swahili, Afrikaans, and other languages. Use the Find Classrooms search form. From Cricket Media, Inc. of Cricket Magazine. Based in Easton, Connecticut. http://www.epals.com/

Facing History
"Facing History’s resources address racism, antisemitism, and prejudice at pivotal moments in history... Has resources on South Africa. https://www.facinghistory.org/

Five Windows into Africa
Bloomington: Indiana University Press, c2000. A cd-rom by Patrick McNaughton, John H. Hanson, Dele Jegede, Ruth M. Stone, and N. Brian Winchester.... An "interactive view of the people, cultures, and arts of contemporary Africa..." Examples from Ghana, Liberia, Mali, Nigeria. Article about the CD-ROM in Africa Today, Jan. 1999. The Instructor's Guide is online. "Designed as a companion to Indiana University Press's....textbook Africa, edited by Phyllis Martin and Patrick O'Meara." $39.95 for 2 cd-rom disks. https://www.amazon.com/Five-Windows-into-Africa-CD-ROM/dp/0253337593

GLAD, Centre for GLobal And Development Education
GLADE, is a development education centre in Somerset, England and an educational charity. http://www.glade.org/resources_teachingaboutafrica_links.htm

Google Earth
Combines satellite imagery & maps.  Fly to African cities. Many photographs of each city. Useful for seeing the location of lakes, bays in relation to cities. https://earth.google.com/web/

H-AfrTeach
Discussion on teaching about Africa. For teachers at all levels. Has course syllabi, reviews of children's books. H-AfrTeach is supported by H-Net, Michigan State, Boston Univ., and the Univ. of Pennsylvania. https://networks.h-net.org/h-afrteach

Hakuna Matata Adventure
Oregon teacher, Mary Foster, and her husband Abdiaziz who is from Somalia invite you to travel with them. Read about their 1996-1997 travels in an electronic journal (includes Morocco, Kenya, South Africa, Mauritius). On the site of the Global SchoolNet Foundation. "GSN began in 1984 as the Free Educational Mail (FrEdMail) Network and in 1990 became the Global SchoolNet Foundation. In 1993, with a grant from the National Science Foundation." http://www.globalschoolnet.org/gsh/past/hakuna/

Howard University. Center for African Studies - Outreach - K-12 Teaching Resources
https://cfas.howard.edu/outreach/k-12-teaching-resources

  • Bouctou, an Africana Magazine for Teachers and Students
    Issue No. 1 Trade and Scholarship in Medieval West Africa. Articles, beautiful images, teaching units, bibliographies.
    Issue No. 2. Connecting Threads: Islam, Arabic and Ajami. Fall 2023. Includes an article on early West African Muslims in the US such as Omar ibn Said, article on Timbuctoo, New Jersey, USA, Adjami texts, and more.  https://cfas.howard.edu/outreach/bouctou

  • Gold Road Interactive Map
    "The Gold Road Interactive Map highlights the people, places, and items related to the medieval Sudanic empires of Ghana, Mali and Songhai." https://cfas.howard.edu/outreach/gold-road

  • Discover Africa in the World
    The Project "reveals Africa-related sites in regions beyond the continent of Africa." Includes the U.S., Caribbean, Europe, Canada. Learn about the presence of early West African Muslims in the US and other historical figures. https://cfas.howard.edu/discover-africa

  • African Tea Traditions
    From Senegal and Tanzania. https://cfas.howard.edu/tea

  • Young Africans Building a Better World
    Environmentalists, inventors, writers, musicians, visual artists. https://cfas.howard.edu/outreach/read-africa/young-africans-building-better-world

  • K-12 Outreach Library
    Suggested books with reviews. https://cfas.howard.edu/outreach/k-12-outreach-library

  • Lesson Plans. https://cfas.howard.edu/outreach/k-12-teaching-resources/lesson-plans

  • Articles, Bibliographies, Videos
    Chimamanda Adichie speaking on "The Danger of a Single Story", Beyond Wildlife: Teaching About Africa and Stereotypes, The Trouble With Tribe and other topics. https://cfas.howard.edu/outreach/k-12-teaching-resources/k-12-teaching-resources-articles-bibliographies-videos

  • Read Africa Aloud
    Features author readings of outstanding books on Africa together with classroom applications and fun activities for children. https://cfas.howard.edu/outreach/read-africa/read-africa-aloud

  •  Summer Institutes for Educators. https://cfas.howard.edu/outreach/professional-development
     

Indiana University. African Studies Program - Outreach
https://africanstudies.indiana.edu/outreach/index.html

  • Teaching Resources. https://africanstudies.indiana.edu/outreach/teaching-resources/index.html
     

International Children's Digital Library
Free online children's books in English, Amharic, Swahili, Shona, Kinyarwanda, Arabic, Afrikaans. A digital library of international children's books.  Based at the Univ. of Maryland, College Park, Maryland. [KF] http://www.icdlbooks.org/

Islam in Africa Map - University of Texas, Austin. Library
Shows predominantly Muslim countries and coutnries with significant Muslim minorities. The map does not designate South Africa which has significant Muslim communities. From the Perry Casteneda Library Map Collection, Univ. of Texas at Austin. http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/africa/africa_islam_87.jpg

Lost Boys of Sudan
Award-winning documentary about two Sudanese refugee boys and their experiences in U.S. society. Producer / Directors: Megan Mylan and Jon Shenk. Study guide, lessons, essays.  Community Action Guide. Information about refugees. 87 minute film, in English and Dinka with subtitles. Site based in San Francisco, California. http://www.LostBoysFilm.com

Mali Magic - Google Arts & Culture
Mali's manuscripts, music, monuments & contemporary Mali art.
Short general articles, are not signed. Many images, photographs of Mali. https://artsandculture.google.com/project/mali-heritage
Includes -

 Map Quizzes

  • Africa Map Puzzle
    Identify countries and capitals. Easy and Hard levels of difficulties.  Does not include the Indian Ocean islands. Time yourself on how fast you can complete the puzzle. From Owl and Mouse Educational Software. http://www.yourchildlearns.com/mappuzzle/africa-puzzle.html
  • Map Game - African Countries, from Sheppard Software
    Includes the Indian Ocean islands. Different levels of difficulty. http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/African_Geography.h
  • Seterra Geography - Africa
    Quizzes for African countries, capitals, flags, cities, physical features, country provinces or counties. Download blank printable countries map. Does not include Comores, Mauritius, Seychelles. https://www.geoguessr.com/seterra/en/l/afr
     

Mariners Museum, Virginia - Age of Exploration
Exhibit designed for K-12. Brief information, maps showing routes traveled by Hanno, Ibn Battuta, Bartholemeu Dias, Prince Henry the Navigator https://exploration.marinersmuseum.org/explore/
 

Metropolitan Museum of Art

  • A huge resource, many photographs of art work.
  • Timeline of Art History - Africa https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works/#!?geo=af
  • Chronology- Africa https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/chronology/#!?geo=af
  • Essays - Africa such as African Christianity in Ethiopia. https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/essays/#!?geo=
  • African Influences in Modern Art
    African Lost-Wax Casting
    African Rock Art
    Afro-Portuguese Ivories
    The Age of Iron in West Africa
    Art and the Fulani/Fulbe People
    Art of the Asante Kingdom
    Arts of Power Associations in West Africa
    Arts of the San People in Nomansland
    Asante Royal Funerary Arts
    Asante Textile Arts
    The Bamana Ségou State
    Benin Chronology
    Divination and Senufo Sculpture in West Africa
    Early Histories of Photography in West Africa (1860–1910)
    The Empires of the Western Sudan
    Ethiopia’s Enduring Cultural Heritage
    Ethiopian Healing Scrolls
    Exchange of Art and Ideas: The Benin, Owo, and Ijebu Kingdoms
    Foundations of Aksumite Civilization and Its Christian Legacy (1st–8th Century)
    The Fulani/Fulbe People
    Gold in Asante Courtly Arts
    Great Zimbabwe (11th–15th Century)
    Ife (from ca. 6th Century)
  • Portraits of African Leadership: Living Rulers. Includes 

    • Bortolot, Alexander Ives. “Women Leaders in African History: Ana Nzinga, Queen of Ndongo.”
      Bortolot, Alexander Ives. “Women Leaders in African History: Dona Beatriz, Kongo Prophet.”
      Bortolot, Alexander Ives. “Women Leaders in African History: Idia, First Queen Mother of Benin.”
      Bortolot, Alexander Ives. “Women Leaders in African History, 17th–19th Century.”
      Bortolot, Alexander Ives. “Women Leaders in African History, 17th–19th Century.”
       

Metropolitan Museum of Art - Art of Africa: a Resource for Educators
By Christa Clarke. 217 pages. 2006. https://www.metmuseum.org/learn/educators/curriculum-resources/the-art-of-africa

  • Classroom Applications 
  • Animals in African Art 
  • The Power Behind the Throne 
  • The Human Figure and Abstraction 
  • African Art: Materials and Techniques 
  • Art and the Cycles of Life 
  • Masks and Headdresses 
  • Comparisons for Classroom
  • Websites
     

Metopolitan Museum of Art - Lesson Plans

Michigan State University. African Studies Center. Exploring Africa
Key facts about each country. Curriculum. The lesson plans are closed and require a password. http://exploringafrica.matrix.msu.edu/
 

Miami University Libraries. Children's Picture Book Database (Oxford, Ohio)
Created by Valerie A. Ubbes, Ph.D. "contains abstracts of over 4000 picture books for children, pre-school to grade 3." Under keyword, African, retrieved over 20 citations to titles. https://dlp.lib.miamioh.edu/picturebook/

Mountain Voices
A rich resource. "...interviews with over 300 people who live in mountain and highland regions round the world. Their testimonies offer a personal perspective on change and development." To access the interviews, one needs to register and fill out a questionnaire. Interviews from Lesotho, Kenya, Ethiopia, gathered by the Oral Testimony Programme of the Panos Institute. Topics discussed include agriculture, community, conflict, culture, development, economics, education, employment, environment, family life, festivals, food security, forestry, gender, health, history, identity, industry, crime, land, migration, politics, spiritual beliefs, tourism, etc. [KF] http://www.mountainvoices.org/
 

National Endowment for the Humanities - Edsitement - Africa
From the National Endowment for the Humanities, an independent federal agency created in 1965. Based in Washington, D.C.
Has Lesson plans, see the Search for Africa for topics such as -

  • Royal Art of Benin
  • Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart: Oral and Literary Strategies
  • Chinua Achebe’s "New English" in Things Fall Apart
  • Nelson Mandela & South Africa
  • Remembering Fela (Nigerian musician)
  • Meaning Behind the Mast - cultural significance of masks.
  • Egyptian Symbols and Figures: Hieroglyphs
     

National Endowment for the Humanities.Edsitement - Trekking to Timbuktu
Grades 6-8. Questions. Lesson Plan. Spread of trade and Islam in ancient West Africa. https://edsitement.neh.gov/lesson-plans/lesson-2-trekking-timbuktu-trade-ancient-west-africa-teacher-version

National Endowment for the Humanities. Edsitement - Afro Atlantic: Mapping Journeys
Grades 6-12. "discuss the Transatlantic slave trade and introduce students to the NEH-funded database Slave Voyages project." 
https://edsitement.neh.gov/lesson-plans/afro-atlantic-mapping-journeys

National Endowment for the Humanities. Edsitement - Slave Voyages
"about the voyages of enslaved people, first across the Atlantic and then within the Americas"   "After students have studied one or more slave narratives, ask them to explore the Slave Voyages site."   https://edsitement.neh.gov/media-resources/slave-voyages

  • Slave Voyages
     Data can be downloaded. Essays. "an archive of images, a database of the names of enslaved people, a 3-D animation of a slave ship, and other visualizations."  https://www.slavevoyages.org/

 

National Geographic Kids

Ngorongoro, Africa's Cradle of Life
Public television, lesson plans, environmental conservation.  http://www.pbs.org/edens/ngorongoro/

 

Omar Ibn Said

Library of Congress - Omar Ibn Said Collection
Omar Ibn Said was a member of the Fula ethnic group in West Africa. He was enslaved and taken to South Carolina. Documents in the collection are in English and Arabic, including an 1831 manuscript in Arabic on "The Life of Omar Ibn Said. Omar ibn Said's autobiography is the only known extant autobiography of a slave written in Arabic in America. Includes a section for teachers.  https://www.loc.gov/collections/omar-ibn-said-collection/about-this-collection/

Pulitzer Center - I Am Omar’: Exploring Identity and Representation
About Omar ibn Said. Middle School and High School level. "Students analyze a story about a Muslim scholar from Senegal, who wrote the only surviving autobiography in Arabic by an enslaved person in the United States." Lesson Plan. July 2021. The Center supports journalism programs. Based in Washington D.C.
https://pulitzercenter.org/builder/lesson/i-am-omar-exploring-identity-and-representation
 

PBS. Africa's Great Civilizations
Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr. hosts videos on African history. For Grades 6-8, 9-12. Discussion questions. Handouts. https://ca.pbslearningmedia.org/collection/africas-great-civilizations/

  • Mitochondrial Eve and Homo Sapiens in Africa’s Great Rift Valley
  • Aksum Kingdom: Trade and Ancient Africa
  • The Expansion of Islam and Trade in Africa | Africa's Great Civilizations
  • Queen Njinga Mbandi
  • Berlin Conference of 1884-1885
  • Links to California State Board of Education standards
     

PBS. Global Connections - Liberia and the United States: Historic Ties and Policy Decisions
Grade Level 9-12. "Students will understand how relations between countries change over time in response to both domestic and international pressures. They will think critically about factors affecting U.S. foreign policy toward Liberia and analyze the comparative weight of historic ties, historic debts, pragmatic political alliances, and human rights." Video clips of Franklin D. Roosevelt's Liberia trip, a meeting of President William V. S. Tubman with President John F. Kennedy, President Samuel Doe, commentary by Herman Cohen. Use the PBS search box to find other stories about Liberia. [KF] http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/globalconnections/liberia/educators/history/lesson1.htm

 

PBS Teachers
Public television free lesson plans. Has California State Standards; need to sign in. It is free. Select grade level, then Cultural Studies: Africa. Topics include Nigerian elections, Sudan, AIDS, slavery, Rwanda, African culture, Ethiopian religions, South Africa, African drumming, Queen of Sheba, Timbuktu, Kenyan women, Swahili coast. [KF] http://www.pbs.org/teachers/socialstudies/inventory/culturalstudiesafricanstudies-912.html


Peace Corps - Educator Resources
Find information by country.  A variety of resources, videos, lesson plans, etc. It's best to search the site. The selection pulldown menu does not work that well. https://www.peacecorps.gov/educators/resources/   Has resources such as -

Princeton Ethiopian, Eritrean, and Egyptian Miracles of Mary (PEMM) Project 
1,000+ Miracles of Mary folktales/stories and 2,500+ images painted of the Virgin Mary from African countries. The stories are originally in Ethiopic or Arabic script and published between 1300 and the present.  Includes 2,500 paintings of the Virgin Mary owned by repositories worldwide, digitized Arabic manuscripts and translated (into English) stories, research and lessons and a Bibliography. The Project was directed by Prof. Wendy Laura Belcher. [KF] https://pemm.princeton.edu

Rumford, James - Rain school
Boston : Houghton Mifflin Books for Children, 2010.
"The children arrive on the first day of school and build a mud structure to be their classroom for the next nine months until the rainy season comes and washes it all away."  Set in Chad, West Africa. Story and illustrations by James Rumford. Other books by James Rumford, former Peace Corps Volunteer. https://www.orange.k12.nj.us/cms/lib/NJ01000601/Centricity/Domain/1974/Rain%20School.pdf

Seeley, Cathy - PCV in Burkina Faso
Hundreds of photos, information, and essays about Burkina Faso, West Africa and Cathy Seeley's Peace Corps service as a secondary mathematics teacher from 1999 to 2001. About local gardening, school life, rural life, artists, craftspeople, a student activities page with sample questions. http://csinburkinafaso.com
 

Slavery and the Making of America
PBS television series (first aired Feb. 9, 2005). "four-part series documenting the history of American slavery from its beginnings in the British colonies to its end in the Southern states and the years of post-Civil War Reconstruction." "Episode one opens in the 1620s with the introduction of 11 men of African descent and mixed ethnicity into slavery in New Amsterdam." Chronology, resources for teachers, annotated book list for students, virtual museums prepared by four groups of students, online resources. See also a review of the TV series by David W. Blight, "America: Made and Unmade by Slavery" in The Chronicle Review, Feb. 4, 2005. [KF] http://www.pbs.org/wnet/slavery/
 

Smithsonian. National Museum of Natural History
Webinar: Human Origins Research in the Time of COVID-19
High school or college level. COVID-19 has disrupted research travel globally. How have scientists who conduct international fieldwork responded to this challenge?
About the work of a paleoanthropologist. Paleoanthropologist Rick Potts, Director of the Smithsonian’s Human Origins Program, describes how he was able to conduct a "virtual" field season at two sites in Kenya in the summer of 2021 in collaboration with colleagues from the National Museums of Kenya. https://naturalhistory.si.edu/education/teaching-resources/social-studies/webinar-human-origins-research-time-covid-19

South Africa: Overcoming Apartheid, Building Democracy
"...video footage documenting mass resistance and police repression, historical documents, rare photographs, original narratives and essays" "interviews with 45 South African activists"; biographies; maps; "designed especially for high school and undergraduate students." Includes Black Consciousness Movement, Truth and Reconciliation Commission, post-apartheid era. Has a 3 minute preview video. An Educators section uses primary materials. Maintained by Michigan State University MATRIX (matrix.msu.edu) and the MSU African Studies Center (africa.msu.edu). http://overcomingapartheid.msu.edu


South African History Online
An NGO, people's history online, based in Sunnyside, South Africa. Has a History of Film in South Africa (including a chronology), a history classroom section, This Day in History, a chronology of South African history, biographies, notable LGBTQI+ individuals, topics (African independence, Black Consciousness, Black education, Gandhi, Paul Kruger, Mandela, Umkhonto we Sizwe, passive resistance, the United Nations and apartheid, etc.). [KF] http://www.sahistory.org.za/

  • The Online Wall of Remembrance has biographies / photographs of anti-apartheid leaders, a list of banned people. "We are inviting you to help us with biographical details, letters, diaries, articles, photographs and reminiscences on those South Africans, people in your family communities people who played a leading role in the struggle."
     

Super Sema
African Animated Kids Superhero Series free on YouTube. Super Sema is a 10 year old girl with futuristic science-tech powers. Official trailer.  In "The King and the Forever Forest" Super Sema thwarts the evil King, who chops down all the trees, by using a tree planter drone to grow back the forest. Actor Lupita Ngong'o is one of the series' producers. Began March 2021. https://www.youtube.com/@supersemaofficial/featured

Teachable Moment
Free lesson plans  Has a section on South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu. A project of Educators for Social Responsibility Metropolitan Area, in New York City. http://www.teachablemoment.org/
 

Tropicsu
Clmate change education - Africa
Lesson plans. High school, undergraduate level. Funded by the International Council for Science (ICSU France), led by the International Union of Biological Sciences (IUBS France), and co-led by the International Union for Quaternary Research (INQUA). https://tropicsu.org/

  • Mountain Gorillas Ecosystem Services on threats to Mountain Gorillas. 
  • Lesson plans. 
  • Climate Change in each African country
     

UCLA. World History for Us All
A project of the UCLA Department of History. https://whfua.history.ucla.edu/     Includes sections on -

UNESCO World Heritage Sites
https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/
See heritage sites by region Africa. Interactive map.  Download an excel spreadsheet listing sites by country. See photos of landscapes by country.


UCLA. World History for Us All
A project of the UCLA Department of History. https://whfua.history.ucla.edu/     Includes sections on -

University of Washington. University Libraries - Karen Morell's Africa, New Orleans, and Trinidad Multimedia Collection
High school, college level. Audio readings by writers, Chinua Achebe, Dennis Brutus,  Kofi Awoonor and Wole Soyinka held in 1973. Interview transcripts. Audio of class discussion. Photographs. https://content.lib.washington.edu/morellweb/index.html
 

Women's History Museum of Zambia
Historical narratives of African women from an African woman’s perspective. Includes Leading Ladies an animated podcast depicting 17th and 19th century Zambian women who held significant positions of leadership. Example a podcast about Chilufya Chileshe Kapwepwe and her work in environmental conservation. Based in Lusaka, Zambia. https://www.whmzambia.org/

 

Wonders of the African World - Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
Covers Black Pharaohs, Meroe, Gedi, the Swahili People, Zanzibar, the Ashanti and Dahomey (Benin) Kingdoms, Aksum, Gondar, the Churches of Lalibela, the Dogon, Grand Mosque of Djenne, Empires of Mali & Ghana, the Tuareg, Great Zimbabwe, a 1,000 year old South African city - Mapangubwe, the Shona People, etc. Site based on the TV programs hosted by Prof. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. (Harvard Univ.) Includes a kids' activity page, teachers' lesson plans, audio clips. http://www.pbs.org/wonders/
For comments on the programs, see:

  • Africa Update (Central Connecticut State University) Vol. 7, No. 1, Winter 2000 on a debate about the programs. The site closed but has been archived by the Internet Archive.  https://web.archive.org/web/20240000000000*/http://www.ccsu.edu/AFSTUDY/updtWin2k.htm
     

World History - Map Tutorial
Tutorial by Professor Joni Seager, University of Vermont. Provides an analysis of the “Africae novo” map, from the early 1600s. Annotated bibliography, directory of on-line maps. The World History site is created by the Center for History and New Media, George Mason University. [KF] http://chnm.gmu.edu/worldhistorysources/unpacking/mapsmain.html
 

Young African Leaders Initiative,YALI
YALI is the U.S. government’s effort to invest in the next generation of African leaders. Launched 2010.

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