Five Easy Lessons for Black History Month
- Grades: PreK–K, 1–2, 3–5, 6–8
Last February, during calendar time, I told my class about how February was Black History Month. Before I could go any further, I had a little redhead stand up and point to himself with both thumbs and say, “Black history is MY history!” I asked where he had heard that and he said, "The Disney Channel," but he wasn’t truly clear about what it meant. Now, I love that story but I also love the teachable moment it provided me. It was the perfect way for me to teach that although February is called Black History Month, it’s a time when we all continue to learn about human history that benefits/affects all of us.
To celebrate Black History Month, we make trading cards of different important figures of African ancestry who changed the world in many different ways. I use this downloadable trading card template and the following lessons to broaden my class’ knowledge about black history. The following lessons can be used in one focused week or over the course of the month. The length and detail of the sentences on the back of the trading card is easily differentiated for all grade levels and learners.
We All Scream For Alfred L. Cralle
To introduce this inventor I read Spoon by Amy Krouse Rosenthal, in which the character (and utensil) Spoon dives headfirst into a bowl of ice cream. After we finish this book, I get out a tub of ice cream and have the students come up and try to scoop it using a spoon.
After a few have tried, we turn our conversation towards what makes scooping with a spoon so difficult. Then, through careful guided questioning, the kids begin talking about the ice cream scoops that they use at home and how they are different than the spoon they tried to use.
This is when I pull out my ice cream scoop and break the news that someone had to invent the scoop and how it makes a lot of people’s lives easier. That person is Alfred L. Cralle. Having personally worked at a Baskin-Robbins for almost two years in high school, I can say that Cralle impacted my life for the better!
All the students who want to try to come up and scoop their own scoop of ice cream get the opportunity. As they are scooping, our classroom conversation consists of discussing the differences between the spoon and the ice cream scoop. After they finish their ice cream, they write their sentence on the back of their trading card.
5, 4, 3, 2, 1, Blastoff! Mae Jemison
Every kid wants to be an astronaut at some point and if it hasn’t happened before the day I introduce Mae Jemison, then it will during this lesson. To begin, I read Mousetronaut by Mark Kelly about a mouse who goes on a space mission. This leads us to Mae Jemison, who was the first African-American woman in space in 1992. (I guess it’s a sign of how old I am that I feel like 1992 was just a couple years ago.)
I typically pull up some videos of Jemison so the students can hear and see her. After we talk about how many years people had been going to into space before an African-American woman was able to go, we make our own rockets. Each student gets a slice of cheese and two saltine crackers. They have to manipulate the square piece of cheese into different size triangles.
They get to eat their rocket while completing the sentence on the back of their trading card. While they are writing their sentences I put on the song "Rocketship Run" by The Laurie Berkner Band. I love how it relates to space and also gives my kids practice counting backwards.
The Golden Girl Gabby Douglas
I start this lesson by reading Gabby Douglas: Going for Gold by Tori Kosara. It’s a short, quick, nonfiction book that covers her backstory and how she became the first African-American female, from any country, to win the all-around gold medal for gymnastics at the 2012 Olympic Summer Games. I love pointing out that even at such a young age, Douglas has written several books. I also bring in the book Grace, Gold, and Glory to show my class one of the books that she has written.
What I love about this lesson is that I can pull up videos of her Olympic routines and we can talk about how much she had to overcome to make it to the Olympics. She had to live away from her family for several years to reach her goal. After they complete their trading card, we revisit the goals that each child set as their New Year’s Resolution.
College Kids Change the World
In 1960, four college kids in Greensboro, North Carolina began the sit-in movement at a local Woolworth's. This lesson starts off the fantastic book by Carole Boston Weatherford called Freedom on the Menu. I am so thankful that we have already learned about Martin Luther King Jr. because my students have background knowledge about peaceful protests. After learning about what a lunch counter is (through setting up a line of chairs with certain chairs being off limits to certain groups of people — they easily relate this to our water fountain activity from the day we learned about Martin Luther King Jr.), they complete their Greensboro Four trading card.
Peace, Love, and Nelson Mandela
I have become a huge fan of Kadir Nelson after finding his book Nelson Mandela. I was actually thrilled to see that he created a poster for the Scholastic Read Everyday, Lead a Better Life campaign this year. We discuss the word freedom and talk about Mandela’s contribution to the people of the world. There are also lots of videos that you can show your class about what he suffered through and what he accomplished. After starting our trading cards by copying a sentence, the class is ready to begin writing their own fact after learning about Mandela.
Please comment about other books and activities that you use for Black History Month.
I can’t wait to see you next week.