Connect the ideas of jazz improvisation and art to writing poetry. Learners collaborate and write different lines of poetry, imitating the jazz styles of improvisation and freewriting. Take a close look at the poems "Tenebrae" by Yusef...

Contemplate what music learners listen to and why they listen. Can they find poetry within music lyrics? Specifically hone in on blues lyrics and ruminate upon the social issues prevalent in the themes. Particular song lyrics coincide...

Mr. Bojangles was born just after slavery was abolished and became one of the most beloved entertainers of his time. Explore key vocabulary, the life of an African-American entertainer, and the impact of the Harlem Renaissance on...

Students explore the Swing Era and its implications. They answer questions and listen to music from the era.

Young scholars investigate the African American culture in the 1920's and the Harlem Renaissance. They read and analyze poems written by poets of the Harlem Renaissance, listen to jazz music and identify the characteristics of the...

Young scholars identify themes of selected nonfiction, fiction, poetry and art to Harlem Renaissance jazz and describe the impact of jazz on African-American literature of the Harlem Renaissance

Eleventh graders explore, examine and study about the impact of the Harlem Renaissance on the American culture. They assess and explain how the Harlem Renaissance was a "rebirth" for the African American culture through art, music, and...

Students are introduced to the culture of African American art. Using the internet, they research the events surrounding the Harlem Renaissance and discover how it produced a wide variety of art and literature. To end the lesson, by...

Students examine the blues, poetry, the Harlem Renaissance, and the 12-bar blues form. They watch a segment from the video, "VH1 Driven: Jamie Foxx," participate in a class discussion, and listen to songs by Ray Charles and a poem by...

Young scholars examine the Harlem Renaissance. Using the policies of various presidents, they analyze international and domestic events. They discuss the importance of the passing of the 18th and 19th Amendments. They research the...

Students create an artistic rendering based on what they have learned from the film and the lesson.

This resource from the Circle Association at the University of Buffalo gives background on the origins of the Harlem Renaissance and highlights its most famous authors.

A look at Jacob Lawrence and his art, and instructions on how to make your own tempera paints and "paint your own story," using Lawrence's work as inspiration.

This site includes the author's credits as an editor and playwright, a biography, and links to three of his books.

This site focuses on Zora Neale Hurston including a bibliography, the video [2:30] "Zora Neale Hurston: Jump at the Sun" and links to 11 of her books including her most famous work There Eyes Were Watching God.

A learning module that begins with "Mother to Son" by Langston Hughes, accompanied by guided reading questions, assessment questions, and discussion questions. The text can be printed as a PDF or assigned online through free teacher and...

A learning module that begins with the poem "No Images" by William Waring Cuney, accompanied by guided reading questions, assessment questions, and discussion questions. The text can be printed as a PDF or assigned online through free...

A very brief overview of the decade between the end of World War I and the Great Depression.

A brief biography and a list of the works written by Harlem Renaissance author, Arna Bontemps.