Juneteenth Lesson Plan: U.S. History

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This lesson accompanies the BrainPOP topic Juneteenth, and supports students’ understanding of the significance of this holiday in relation to emancipation and modern-day celebrations. Students demonstrate understanding through a variety of projects.

Step 1: ACTIVATE PRIOR KNOWLEDGE

Display the word “Freedom.” Ask students:

• What do you think of when you hear the word “freedom”?
• What types of freedoms do you enjoy?
• How would you feel if you did not have these freedoms?

Step 2: BUILD KNOWLEDGE

• Read the description on the Juneteenth topic page.
• Play the Movie, pausing to check for understanding.
• Assign Related Reading. Have students read one of the two articles. Partner them with someone who read a different article to share what they learned with each other.

Step 3: APPLY and ASSESS 

Assign the Juneteenth Quiz, prompting students to apply essential literacy skills while demonstrating what they learned about this topic.

Step 4: EXTEND and DEEPEN

Students express what they learned about Juneteenth while practicing essential literacy skills with one or more of the following activities. Differentiate by assigning ones that meet individual student needs.

• Make-a-Movie: Imagine you are a state legislator sponsoring a bill to make Juneteenth an official school holiday. Make a movie persuading other lawmakers and the governor of the importance of commemorating Juneteenth.
• Make-a-Map: Identify the events in sequence leading up to Juneteenth, beginning with the Emancipation Proclamation.
• Creative Coding: Code a Juneteenth museum exhibit that highlights the traditions, symbols, and customs that commemorate this important day in history. 

More to Explore

Black History Unit: Continue to build understanding around important figures and events with more BrainPOP social studies topics.

Teacher Support Resources:

• Pause Point Overview: Video tutorial showing how Pause Points actively engage students to stop, think, and express ideas. 
• Learning Activities Modifications: Strategies to meet ELL and other instructional and student needs.
• Learning Activities Support: Resources for best practices using BrainPOP.