Fourth Grade Black History Month Projects
Black History Month is celebrated annually during the entire month of February in remembrance of significant African-American historical events. The goal of this month is to educate students about African-American cultural background and achievements. Most states have mandates and statutes that require educators teach classes about notable people, places and events particular to African-Americans. When looking for fourth grade Black History Month projects, go with ones that are interactive and require some creativity.
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Individual
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Have the students write a detailed report on the significance of Black history, noting some of the prominent African-American inventors and contributors, as well as some of the lesser known groups like African-American cowboys and pilots. Another project option is to discuss African-American poets such as Langston Hughes and Maya Angelou. Have each student write his own poem, discussing what Black history means to her. Post the poems on the board for parents, teachers and other classmates to read and admire, or have each student read the poem aloud to the class.
Group
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Create a Black history skit. Have the students dress up as an individual from history. Each student should write a speech regarding what his character contributed to black history. Make it a classroom game by having the students guess who the person is dressed up as. Another option is to create a skit of a famous black historical moment. For instance, read and discuss the Rosa Parks incident. Have the students create and perform a skit, detailing the incident and how it changed history.
Divide the class into groups. Each group should write down interview questions for an African-American figure, past or present. Have the group come up with five questions they would like to ask and how they think the public figure would answer those questions.
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Crafts
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Have the students draw a picture of an African-American figure studied in class. Underneath the picture, each student should describe who the person is and what his contribution was to black history. Another idea is to study the African holiday, Kwanzaa. Discuss the principals of Kwanzaa and how it is celebrated. Have the students make a Kwanzaa card to give to family members and friends. Remind each student to decorate the card with appropriate African images or with symbols of Kwanzaa. (See resources.)
Considerations
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Keep the projects interactive and make sure each student participates. For example, for the interview project, each student in the group should come up with at least one question. Conduct "cyberhunts" where you give the students a particular set of questions or topics and send them home or to a computer lab to find the answers. Students should keep a log of the websites from where they draw their information.
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References
Resources
- Photo Credit calendar for 2007 (february) image by Sergey Galushko from Fotolia.com
