This guide is designed to help teachers incorporate African American history into the classroom curriculum. Designed to increase self-awareness and cultural sensitivity, the guide contains a variety of flexible lesson plans and activities for grades 3 through 12. The first section, "Teacher Background Information," presents introductory information on rites of passage and ways of celebrating community identity. The second section, "Rites of Passage," explores key concepts of rites of passage in southern African American communities, including birth, coming of age or baptism, marriage, and funerals. A section on "Community Celebrations" discusses the kinds of celebrations observed in southern black communities. Each of these sections presents student activity sheets. A final section is a bibliography divided into: (1) teacher resources (20 sources); (2) general African American history (36 sources); (3) African American culture (4 sources); and (4) children's books (32 sources). (SLD)