The Teaching Hard Histories for Racial Healing: Lynching in Virginia Curriculum project seeks to provide curriculum development, professional learning experiences, and program evaluation for current 6th through 12th grade Social Studies and English teachers on lynching in Virginia. Ultimately, this project attempts to foster understanding of our racial past and instill the dispositions and tools for racial healing in middle and high school students and teachers.
JMU faculty and graduate students have developed a series of English and Social Studies lesson plans for high school classes. These are freely available on the OER Commons. A list of completed lesson plans residing in the OER Commons, along with direct links to those lesson plans is provided below.
Social Studies (five lesson plans)
- How is media used to influence social perception? (go to lesson plan)
11th Grade VA and US History: This inquiry leads students through an investigation of the lynching of Allie Thompson and how negative media stereotypes and caricatures of African Americans influenced how he was portrayed and treated, along with how other prominent African Americans have battled these media stereotypes and narratives now and then. (STANDARD VAUS.8d) - How do the stories we choose to tell influence historical memory? (go to lesson plan)
11th Grade US History: This inquiry examines the lynching of Shedrick Thompson and its cover up as suicide by Virginian authorities. The inquiry seeks to uncover the ways in which the narratives that are often established by people in power may be incomplete or influenced by an agenda, how these narratives impact our historical memory and social perception, and to determine what role we have in uncovering a complete narrative and bringing the truth to light both in terms of historical events and contemporary ones. (STANDARD VAUS.8d) - Is everyone equally protected under the law? (go to lesson plan)
8th Grade Civics and Economics: Students investigate the lynching of Allie Thompson, a Black man who was accused of assaulting a white woman. While awaiting trial for his case in the Culpeper county jail, a mob of masked men stormed the jail and overpowered the guards. They took Allie Thompson behind the jail and lynched him without any legal ramifications. Students will be introduced to the idea that the rights promised by the U.S. Constitution have not been applied equally in America. (STANDARD CE.1 and CE.9) - Why were racial terror and lynchings allowed to happen? (go to lesson plan)
11th Grade VA & US History: This inquiry leads students through an investigation of the lynching of Shedrick Thompson and how authorities allowed this lynching to be viewed as suicide and how perpetrators were not brought to justice. Students will also look at how current African Americans, such as George Floyd, are facing racial terror. (STANDARD VAUS.8) - How has the media challenged or failed to challenge racism in the U.S.? (go to lesson plan)
11th Grade VA & US History: This inquiry leads students through an investigation of the 1891 lynching of three Black miners in Clifton Forge, along with an examination of different representations of lethal mob violence. Specifically, students discuss the accounts of this particular lynching from both Black and white newspapers and relate the event to media representations of contemporary incidents of racial violence. (STANDARD VAUS.8d)
English (four lesson plans)
- How do writers tell stories of those who have been silenced? (go to lesson plan)
11th Grade English: This inquiry leads students through an investigation of how society has silenced voices and stories throughout history through the use of newspaper articles, news interviews, and poems. This inquiry follows the killings of Raymond Byrd, Emmett Till, and the imagined attack of the Susan Smith case. (STANDARD English SOL 11.4 and 11.5) - How do we remember those that society has forgotten? (go to lesson plan)
10th Grade English: This inquiry leads students through an investigation of the writer’s style through intent and impact in order to develop their own voices in fighting against injustice. They will educate themselves on the lynching of Benjamin Thomas and modern racial violence through a combination of nonfiction and literary texts. (STANDARD English SOL 10.2, 10.3, and 10.4) - How Has Media Consumption Created and Recreated Historical Memory Through Time? (go to lesson plan)
9th Grade Evaluating Media Messages: This inquiry leads students through an investigation of the lynching of Shedrick Thompson and the murder of George Floyd. These two narratives help demonstrate the presence, strength, and influence that media has over the stories we tell based on who has power and persuasion techniques. Students will critically analyze the effect of media on relying on information and how it contributes to a larger societal narrative. The aim of this investigation is to allow students to step into the role of critical consumers of media literacy to uncover lost narratives and pervasive biases. (STANDARD English SOL 9.2) - How does understanding narratives of African Americans impact one’s ability to fight for racial justice and healing in the present? (go to lesson plan)
11th Grade English: This inquiry examines the lynching of Raymond Byrd to investigate the negative impact of bias. Students will compare the perspectives of Black-owned versus white-owned newspapers, historical newspapers versus modern newspapers, and primary source views of racism versus literary views of racism. (STANDARD English SOL 11.2 and 11.4)