Black-History-Month-in-the-Classroom

I have never really stopped to give much thought to celebrating Black history month in my classroom. It just wasn't something I had really done much before. One of my schools required that we do something and so, out of obligation, I did. However, my views on that are changing.

Last year, I read a book that featured a strong African American girl as the main character. It was a work of fiction. I cannot for the life of me remember the title of that book, but what stands out to me is the reaction of one little girl in my class. She was hanging on EVERY SINGLE WORD. She was memorized. She had found herself in the story. 

My family also took a vacation that allowed us to spend one day in the heart of Montgomery, Alabama, most known for it's place in the civil rights movement. This was home to Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, and George Washington Carver also lived nearby. Being the teacher that I am, I brought along some books so that my own children could learn about these people on our road trip. By the time we got there, they had some idea what they stood for and what they had done for their people and really all of us. 

While spending the day in Montgomery, we took a tour of the place where Martin Luther King Jr. lived and even met some of the people who knew him personally. We visited with his neighbor, who was also the babysitter of his children and purchased her book about her experience. This is REAL history. My children were engrossed in history and loving every minute. A spark ignited in my daughter and when someone asks her what her favorite subject is, she will answer with two subjects, one of which is social studies. 

 We stood in the very place where Rosa Parks refused to leave her seat on the bus that day long ago. We walked the street in front of MLK Jr's house where a famous picture was taken of him marching for equal rights, surrounded by many others. We touched the spot on his front porch where a bomb was planted to kill him. It left a permanent mark that has never been fixed. We went to the church where he was a minister. We relived...history that day, imagining in our minds what it all must have been like. 

Thinking back over the experiences I had on that trip and the reaction of one little girl in my class you finally found herself in one of my stories, I realize that I do need to do more. I need to bring stories that can help this group of students identify themselves and the history of their race in America. It just can't be about the main founding fathers that we talk about every year, we need to allow time for other people that were pivotal in our history too. 

You can see some of the other ways I have brought the African American history to life in my classroom. You can see those here, here, and here. 

This year, I will be honoring some of the people who worked to give equal rights to all people. A few years ago, I created a pack of booklets to help my students study famous Americans. I have recently updated some of the booklets to include a printable story that can be used as the research guild for these booklets. I found several books into one set especially for Black History Month. You can find that here. The great thing about these is that they can be used with your students in a whole class activity, as partner work, in centers, or individually.