Black History Month: An Educator's Guide

Black History month has been celebrated across the nation in February since 1926. Use this month to teach your students about the history and people of African descent. Help your students understand why we celebrate this holiday with effective lessons and hands on activities. Students benefit by gaining knowledge and developing useful skills such as social and interpersonal skills, fine motor skills, and critical thinking skills.

To integrate Black History Month into your curriculum, use this guide as a tool to find lessons and activities that match your student's needs. This guide is broken up into three categories: Lessons, Activities & Ideas, and Supplemental Suggestions so you can easily navigate through it and find just what you are searching for.

During this month-long celebration in February, teachers tend to focus a lot of attention on the Civil Rights Movement. Studying this time in history helps students to understand the effects of slavery and to learn more about the African-American leaders who stepped forward to end slavery.

You'll find lessons on the Civil War and learn about prominent historical figures. Use Martin Luther King Jr.'s jailhouse letter to inspire students and teach them literary elements. Use the history of the Civil War to create writing lessons where students will learn important literature concepts while developing critical thinking skills. All of these lessons provide your students with a plethora of knowledge on African-American Leaders and history during Black History Month.

• Lesson Plan: Teach About Civil Rights During Black History Month
• Lesson Plan: Civil Rights Timeline
• How History Has Changed: A Black History Lesson for Primary
• Elementary Social Studies: In the Footsteps MLK
• From Rainsticks to Drums: Lessons Exploring Native American Music
• Dr. King's Letter From a Birmingham Jail: A Lesson Plan for HS History or English
• Lesson Plans on "Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry": Mildred Taylor Civil Rights Lesson Plan
• Writing a Research Paper for a Civil War Lesson
• Civil War Fourth Grade Lesson Plans
• Social Studies Lesson Plan: Using the National Geographic Underground Railroad Site
• What Is the Underground Railroad?
• The History of Slavery Lesson Plans
• Create Relevant Civil War Lesson Plans
• Civil War Creative Writing Lesson - Character Sketch
• Civil War Creative Writing Lesson - Creating a Short Story
• Civil War Creative Writing Lesson - Writing Poetry
• Civil War Creative Writing Lesson - Writing a Position Paper
• Civil War Creative Writing Lesson - Writing a Research Paper

An exciting way to teach your students during Black History Month is through activities. When students use a hands-on approach to learning, they grasp the information better. You will find a variety of activities that allow students to use this approach such as manipulating clay to form a themed African-American Hero.

There are also some WebQuests that offer your students a different approach to a subject while still incorporating their hands on involvement to learning. Utilize these resources for grades K-12 to examine the historical components of Black History.

• Celebrating Black History Month With Activities
• Kindergarten MLK Observance: Planting Seeds of Peace and Justice
• "Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry" Teaching Guide: The Great Depression Activity
• Kindergarten History Lesson: Lesson of One Room Schools
• African American Culture Lesson Plan & Activity: Young Richard Wright
• Clay Activity With a Themed Hero: Rosa Parks
• Webcasts for Black History Month
• A Harlem Renaissance WebQuest
• Figurative Language to Dream About: "I Have a Dream Speech" Metaphors
• Study Guide for "I Have a Dream Speech": An In-Depth Look at Metaphors
• Frederick Douglas Facts and Project Ideas for Third Grade

The celebration of Black History Month is a time for your students to learn about the extraordinary successes and accomplishments African-Americans have made throughout history. To help your students understand this historical struggle have them read about the African-Americans who overcame slavery and went on to become successful entrepreneurs and leaders. Use these articles and ideas as teaching aids and background information to have students write an essay or create a project on these important historical figures.

• Successful and Famous African-American Entrepreneurs
• Learning About Black History: Board Games Worth Playing
• Teaching African-American Spirituals
• A List of African-American Women Astronauts
• African-American Astronaut, Robert Henry Lawrence, Jr.
• African-American Astronaut, Guion (Guy) Bluford
• Slaves Who Became Entrepreneurs
• Who Was Involved in the Civil Rights Movement
• The Issue of Slavery During the Civil War
• The First African-American Woman to Speak Against Slavery
• An American Civil War and Social History

Use these Black History Month lesson plans to create and develop a month-long unit on African-American events and important historical figures. Have a question or comment? Please feel free to comment on any of the above articles or this one in the comment section at the bottom of the page.