Geoffrey Philp

February 12, 2026

Before You Teach Marcus Garvey, Read This First

Teachers often want to introduce Marcus Garvey but hesitate because the historical conversation around him feels scattered. Students hear the name, sometimes a quote, and occasionally the Black Star Line, but not the movement's structure or why it mattered.

The difficulty is not the material.
The difficulty is context.

Garvey was not simply a speaker or activist. He organized one of the largest mass movements of African-descended people in the early twentieth century. Schools, businesses, newspapers, conventions, and international chapters existed together as part of a single project: developing institutional capacity and historical consciousness at the same time.

Without that framework, lessons turn into fragments.

Teachers planning Marcus Garvey lesson plans usually ask the same questions:

Was he a separatist?
Why the Black Star Line?

Why meet controversial groups?
Did people really move to Africa?
Was the movement successful or a failure?

Instead of answering each question in isolation, I assembled a single classroom reference that teachers can consult before teaching.

Read the classroom reference here:
https://thegarveyclassroom.com/marcus-garvey-faq-teachers/

The page explains the UNIA, the Negro World newspaper, major events, common misconceptions, and the Pan-African background students need before discussing or using primary sources.

After reading, teachers can also use the Marcus Garvey GPT companion to interpret specific questions or student reactions:
https://chatgpt.com/g/g-6840376e2f9c819191d9416d4a2a96c3-marcus-garvey-gpt

The GPT does not replace the reference.
It helps clarify it.

When teachers understand the structure of the movement, classroom discussion changes. Students stop asking isolated fact questions and begin asking interpretive historical questions.

That is usually when the lesson begins to work.

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Labels: Marcus Garvey Marcus Garvey lesson plan Black history lesson plans Pan African history Teaching Black history

Free Marcus Garvey Lesson Plans at Teachers Pay Teachers

Black History Month is the season when educators scramble for resources that go beyond the same recycled figures and safe narratives. Garvey rarely makes the rotation. He should.

I created a free lesson plan, Marcus Garvey and the Power of the Mind, designed to introduce students to Garvey’s philosophy of mental emancipation through the framework of a growth mindset. The plan is ready to download, adapt, and use in your classroom today.

Get the free lesson plan here.

While you are in the store, check out our best sellers at The Garvey Classroom store:

• Black History Month Bell Ringers: Voices of Power (Grades 6–8)

• Marcus Garvey and Pan-Africanism (Grades 9–12)

• Garvey, Grit, and the Growth Mindset – SEL & Literacy Mini-Unit (Grades 5–8)

• Marcus Garvey High School Bundle | Black History Month (Grades 9–12)

• Marcus Garvey and the Black Star Line – Mini-Unit (Grades 9–12)

Several Pan-African heroes lesson plans are on sale for Black History Month.

If these resources speak to you, share them with a colleague, a department chair, a homeschooling parent, or anyone building a classroom where Black children see themselves as thinkers and builders. Forward this post. Send the link. The work grows when we pass it on.

Garvey taught that liberation begins in the mind. A lesson plan is a small thing. What students do with the ideas inside it is not.

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Labels: Black History Month, Free Resources, Growth Mindset, lesson plans, Marcus Garvey, Pan-African education, SEL, Teachers Pay Teachers, The Garvey Classroom

February 9, 2026

Black History Lesson Plans About Marcus Garvey at Teachers Pay Teachers

Most Marcus Garvey lesson plans on Teachers Pay Teachers ask students to memorize a name, recall a date, and move on. That is the lowest level of Bloom’s taxonomy. Remembering without understanding. Facts without meaning.

I spent twenty years studying Garvey and six years teaching middle school English before I understood what was missing. Garvey was a thinker. His writings contain arguments, strategies, and frameworks that twelve-year-olds can analyze, debate, and apply. The lesson plans I found treated him as a monument. I needed materials that treated him as a mind.

So I built them.

The Garvey Classroom on Teachers Pay Teachers now has 37 resources spanning Pre-K through 12th grade. Every lesson begins with either a story or an informational text grounded in primary sources. Students read, then they think. They write, then they revise. Social-emotional learning is embedded in the academic work itself. Here is what teachers find when they visit the store.

For middle school (grades 5 through 8), the collection includes individual lessons on Marcus Garvey, Frederick Douglass, Ella Baker, Harriet Tubman, Fannie Lou Hamer, Miriam Makeba, Ida B. Wells, Shirley Chisholm, Septima Clark, Sojourner Truth, Mia Mottley, and Claudia Jones. Each lesson integrates reading comprehension, vocabulary, text-based questions, reflective writing, and SEL. The Marcus Garvey Speech Analysis lesson uses his 1925 speech “A Word Before My Incarceration” as the anchor text. Students analyze Garvey’s rhetorical choices in real time. They hear a man speaking with authority and study how he constructs his argument. The

Marcus Garvey Middle School Bundle collects five resources, forty-two bell ringers, and thirty wisdom cards into a complete Black History Month toolkit for $14.99.

For Black History Month, the 42 Pan-African Heroes Bell Ringers give teachers six weeks of daily openers. Each page features a verified quote, three historical facts, and a reflective SEL prompt. Forty-two figures from across the African diaspora: Jamaica, South Africa, Ghana, Kenya, Trinidad, Burkina Faso, Mozambique, and the United States.

For Women’s History Month, the 8-lesson bundle covers Ella Baker, Harriet Tubman, Fannie Lou Hamer, Miriam Makeba, Sojourner Truth, Ida B. Wells, Shirley Chisholm, and Septima Clark. Students study women who built movements through organizing, investigation, and collective action. The Women’s History Month Bundle is $35.99.

For high school (grades 9 through 12), the collection includes Marcus Garvey and Pan-Africanism, Marcus Garvey and Rastafari, Marcus Garvey and the Harlem Renaissance, Marcus Garvey and the Black Star Line, Haile Selassie’s “Until” speech, Rosa Parks, and Mapping Marcus Garvey’s Hero’s Journey using Joseph Campbell’s twelve-stage structure. The Marcus Garvey High School Bundle brings all seven lessons together for $19.99. This bundle has been the top seller this year, with teachers purchasing it for Black History Month instruction and year-round Pan-African studies.

For Pre-K through 2nd grade, The Marcus Garvey Coloring Book comes with 78 fully scripted lesson plans. Three lesson options per letter, A through Z. Identity and observation. Character and habit formation. Early literacy and vocabulary. Every word is written for the teacher. Print, read the script, teach.

For elementary (K through 5), the Marcus Garvey Elementary Bundle includes Marcus Believes, Stand Firm, Claudia Brings Us Together, Young Marcus Garvey and His Big Dream, and The Power of Trying. Five lessons blending literacy, SEL, and culturally grounded instruction for $9.99.

For the full K-12 arc, the Marcus Garvey Complete Collection brings together all 20 core resources into a single curriculum sequence for $39.99. Students begin with identity and confidence in the early grades, develop structure and discipline in middle school, and engage primary sources and critical historical analysis in high school.

A free lesson is available. Marcus Garvey and the Power of the Mind teaches a growth mindset through Garvey’s philosophy for grades 5-8. No purchase required. Download it from The Garvey Classroom store and see how the approach works.

Every quote in every lesson is verified against primary sources. No paraphrased attributions. No invented dialogue. The standard is Garvey’s own words, drawn from The Philosophy and Opinions of Marcus Garvey and Message to the People. The scholarship draws on the work of Robert Hill, Rupert Lewis, Tony Martin, Carter G. Woodson, and Angela Duckworth.

Dr. Julius W. Garvey endorsed this work. Professor Rupert Lewis supported this work. That validation matters because the standard is Garvey’s own.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where can I find Marcus Garvey lesson plans on Teachers Pay Teachers?

The Garvey Classroom store on Teachers Pay Teachers has 37 resources covering Pre-K through 12th grade. Individual lessons cover Marcus Garvey, Frederick Douglass, Ella Baker, Harriet Tubman, Fannie Lou Hamer, Miriam Makeba, Ida B. Wells, Shirley Chisholm, Septima Clark, Sojourner Truth, Mia Mottley, Claudia Jones, Rosa Parks, and Haile Selassie. Every lesson integrates ELA, SEL, and culturally responsive instruction.

Are there free Marcus Garvey lesson plans available?

Yes. Marcus Garvey and the Power of the Mind is a free growth-mindset lesson for grades 5-8. It teaches self-awareness and perseverance through Garvey’s philosophy. No purchase required. Download it from The Garvey Classroom store.

What grade levels do these lesson plans cover?

The Marcus Garvey Coloring Book with 78 scripted lesson plans covers Pre-K through 2nd grade. The elementary bundle covers K through 5. The core collection of SEL and ELA lessons covers grades 5 through 8. The high school bundle covers grades 9 through 12 with primary source analysis, the Black Star Line, Pan-Africanism, Rastafari, and the Harlem Renaissance. The Complete Collection spans K-12.

Do these lesson plans align with Common Core standards?

Every lesson aligns with the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts, including the Reading Informational Text, Writing, and Speaking and Listening strands. Lessons also align with CASEL SEL competencies. International alignment includes UK Key Stage frameworks and Caribbean national curriculum standards.

Can I use these for Black History Month?

Yes. The 42 Pan-African Heroes Bell Ringers provide six weeks of daily openers. Individual lessons on Marcus Garvey, Frederick Douglass, Ida B. Wells, and other figures work as standalone Black History Month resources. Bundles are available for elementary, middle school, and high school. The full curriculum is designed for year-round use beyond February.

Are there Women’s History Month lesson plans?

The Women’s History Month Bundle includes eight lessons on Ella Baker, Harriet Tubman, Fannie Lou Hamer, Miriam Makeba, Sojourner Truth, Ida B. Wells, Shirley Chisholm, and Septima Clark. A standalone Mia Mottley lesson on climate justice and Caribbean leadership is also available. All lessons integrate SEL with rigorous ELA standards for grades 6 through 8.

Are these lesson plans culturally responsive?

Every lesson is grounded in Pan-African history and primary sources. Students study figures from Jamaica, South Africa, Ghana, Kenya, Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, Burkina Faso, Mozambique, and the United States. The curriculum addresses the systematic exclusion of African, Caribbean, and African American intellectual history from mainstream education.

Who created the Garvey Classroom lesson plans?

Geoffrey Philp is a Jamaican-born author, poet, and educator with 27 years of college teaching, six years as a middle school English teacher, and two decades of published Garvey scholarship. He is a Silver Musgrave Medal recipient and winner of the 2022 Marcus Garvey Award for Excellence in Education. He gathered more than 11,000 signatures supporting Marcus Garvey’s posthumous pardon. President Biden granted the pardon in January 2025. Dr. Julius W. Garvey and Professor Rupert Lewis endorse the curriculum.

Are primary sources used in these lessons?

Every quote is verified against sources, including The Philosophy and Opinions of Marcus Garvey and Message to the People. No paraphrased or unverified attributions appear in any Garvey Classroom material. The scholarly foundation draws on the work of Robert Hill, Rupert Lewis, Tony Martin, and Carter G. Woodson.

Is there a full-year Marcus Garvey curriculum available?

Yes. The Garvey Classroom offers a complete 39-week ELA and SEL curriculum for grades 6 through 8 called The Garvey Blueprint. It is organized around four quarterly themes: Clarity of Mind, Purpose and Obligation, Strength Through Discipline, and Legacy and Inheritance. Schools and districts can visit thegarveyclassroom.com or contact info@thegarveyclassroom.com for licensing and implementation details.

Do these lesson plans work for homeschool families?

Yes. Every lesson is designed for immediate use with minimal preparation. The scripted Pre-K through 2nd-grade plans require no planning. The classes for grades 5 through 8 include all reading passages, vocabulary, discussion prompts, and writing activities. Homeschool parents and co-ops use these resources for Black history instruction, culturally responsive ELA, and character development.

Visit The Garvey Classroom on Teachers Pay Teachers.

For the complete guide to year-round lesson plans: Marcus Garvey Lesson Plans for Teachers: Grades 6–8

For schools exploring curriculum adoption: Culturally Responsive ELA Curriculum for Middle School

For parents: The Garvey Classroom: What Parents Need to Know

Confidence is our birthright. Education is the medium.

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