How to Create a Black History Lesson Plan
When February rolls around, make sure you're prepared with a lesson plan to celebrate Black History Month. Promote tolerance and equality by teaching your students about the struggles and triumphs of African Americans. While focusing on the Civil Rights Movement is essential, there are other aspects of African American history you should teach to make the kids appreciate their contribution to American society.
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Instructions
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Begin your black history lesson plan with the topic of slavery. Introduce slave narratives so the kids can understand what it was really like during those times.
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Teach the kids about the Civil Rights Movement. Begin with Rosa Parks and talk about what segregation was like at that time. Make the lessons come alive with pictures, documentaries and audio files.
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Spend some time talking about Martin Luther King and his accomplishments. Have younger kids write poems and draw pictures based on a quote from one of his speeches. Have older kids write essays about how his work influences America today.
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Play CDs of jazz, soul, blues and gospel in the classroom so kids can understand the influence of black history on these musical forms. Pick a well-known musician in each category and discuss his life and how it reflects the issues African Americans had and still have to face.
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Show the kids art created by African Americans. Talk about the influence of black history on these artists. You can, if you wish, focus on the Harlem Renaissance and its influence on American art at the time.
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Take the students on a field trip to make black history more vivid. The Martin Luther King, Jr., National Historic Site in Atlanta and the African American Civil War Memorial in Washington, D.C., for example, are great places to take the kids.
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Tap into online resources for lesson plan ideas. Type "Black History Month" in the search box on the Teacher Vision website for a selection of activities. The Lesson Plans Page also has topics like the Underground Railroad and African Art.
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Tips & Warnings
For younger kids, use storytelling in your lesson plan to make history come alive.
Have older students write essays comparing issues from black history that are still relevant today like oppression, prejudice and disrespect.
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Comments
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ckattia
Nov 08, 2010
Alexander Mils, a black man, invented the elevator, Richard Spikes, a black man, invented the automatic gearshift, Joseph Gambol, also black, invented the Super Charge System for Internal Combustion Engines, and Garrett A. Morgan, a black man, invented the traffic signals. the electric trolley, which was invented by another black man, Albert R. Robinson. African American, Charles Brooks, invented the street sweeper. John Love invented the pencil sharpener, William Purveys invented the fountain pen, and Lee Barrage invented the Type Writing Machine and W. A. Love invented the Advanced Printing Press. They were all, you guessed it, Black. William Barry invented the Postmarking and Canceling Machine, William Purveys invented the Hand Stamp and Philip Downing invented the Letter Drop. Joseph Smith invented the Lawn Sprinkler and John Burr the Lawn Mower. Frederick Jones invented... ben...
