6 Black History Month Lessons that aren’t about Slavery or Civil Rights (Elementary Grades)

February brings lots of interesting holidays and celebrations. There’s Ground Hog Day (six more weeks of winter- seriously), Valentine’s Day (more on that soon), Presidents Day (more on that too!), and perhaps most notably is that it’s Black History Month. So it’s safe to say that children of all ages will be very busy learning about all these holidays.

Some Fun Facts about Black History Month (in case you’re ever on Jeopardy, or just want to seem smart in front of your friends):

• BHM started out as “Negro History Week” in 1926 by Carter Woodson (the second African American to earn a Ph.D. from Harvard).
• “Negro History Week” was in the second week of February.
• This week was chosen to honor the birthdays of President Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass, not because it was the shortest month (though that is a weird coincidence hmm).
• In 1976, Negro History Week was expanded to Black History Month, as we know it, to the entire month of February.
• Each year, Black History Month has a theme. Last year, 2016, was “Hallowed Grounds: Sites of African American Memory”. This year’s theme is “The Crisis in Education.”

I LOVE this year’s theme, it’s an important one at the right time (not to get too political, but look at our new Sec of Ed- enough said). Education, in general, is suffering, and especially when it comes to Black/African American children and other children of color. I can (and probably will) write for ages about this particular topic, however, I will spare you my very strong opinions on this post and stick to the script.

Based on my own experiences in the classroom, as a student, an observer, or co-teacher, teachers often struggle a bit when it comes to Black History Month. They tend to stay to the tied and true- you know- MLK, Rosa Parks, Malcolm X, and now former President Obama. They probably will touch on slavery a bit too, the civil rights movements, and then touch on Obama and maybe some pop culture icons, but that tends to be it. However, there is so much more to Black History than these leaders (yes, they’re important, but seriously how many times are we going to learn the same facts about them). Black people have contributed so much to society and while we should be incorporating their stories into our general social studies curricula, we should take this month to really celebrate their achievements!

This whole month I will be launching activities, recommending books, and shedding light on some unknown figures all based on Black History Month. I will try to cover Kindergarten through fourth grade!

For your Pre-K/Kindergarten Class:

1. Garrett Morgan:

Garrett Morgan is an African American inventor who invented many things, most notably the Traffic Light in 1923. Though this invention changed the world, when he sold it to General Electric he only received $40,000. This can be a really fun invention to talk about with your little chickadees.

You can start off by talking to them about inventors and how people make things all the time to make living easier. Bring in real life pictures of Morgan and traffic lights and explain how it works.

Then you can have children make their own traffic light art. You can be pretty creative with this. You can cut out red, yellow and green circles out of construction paper and have children glue it onto black paper. You can also have children paint the circles. For kindergarten you can have them write one fact about Garrett Morgan on the bottom.

Also you can teach them how to play the game “Red Light, Green Light” for some movement!

2. Sarah Boone and George Sampson:

                                      

Sarah Boone was awarded a patent for the ironing board in 1892. George Sampson received his patent for the automatic clothes dryer that same year. Sounds like 1892 was a good year for clothes!

These inventions are super easy to incorporate into your lessons. First talk to children about the people who invented them. Remember this is Black History Month so make sure you mention they’re black! (kind of the point here). Bring in pictures of an ironing board and clothes dryer. Explain their purpose (make sure they know ironing requires heat). Reinforce that they should only try to use these with the help of an adult.

Bring in lots of old clothes from home and let children practice washing, drying and ironing clothes. Make a washer and dryer out of cardboard boxes. You can simply use a rectangular block as an iron, or bring in an old one (just don’t plug it in for them)! For extra effect you can bring in empty laundry detergent bottles and dryer sheet boxes. Even more fun if children dress up before hand to make the clothes “dirty”.

For your First/Second Grade Class

3. Jackie Robinson:

He was the first African American to play on a major league baseball team (Brooklyn Dodgers) in 1947. He later went on to be named Rookie of The Year, National League MVP and World Series champ. This is a great achievement to teach because it gets your kids moving!

Talk about sports during circle time and have children share their favorites and then tell them about Jackie Robinson and his achievements. Read the book Young Jackie Robinson to them. After, discuss how that now people can play whatever sports they want no matter what their skin looks like.

Bring in a real baseball and baseball bat and let children hold them and tell them how baseball works. Find a plush baseball and let kids play with it during gym.

Let children make their own baseball craft by cutting out big circles on white paper. Let them draw two curved lines down in red marker and let them paint the red stripes (or cross stitching) across the line with red finger paint!

4. Dr. James McCune Smith

Dr. James McCune Smith was the first African American doctor. He received his medical degree from the University of Glasgow in Scotland in 1837. The New York native had to travel so far because no American medical school would admit him. He then became the first African American to open a pharmacy in the United States.

Dr. Smith is a great example to use in doing whatever it takes to achieve your dreams and not letting anyone stop you. Talk about how since no one in American wanted to help him he went all the way to Scotland to chase his dreams.

For Dramatic Play, have white coats, stethoscopes, thermometers, and more to help children explore what doctors do. Beforehand, go over each instrument and what they do. Invite children to share experiences they may have had at the doctors.

For science you can talk about the bones in the body and have children learn about the bones of the body! Cut out some paper body parts and have children paste together a paper skeleton.

Maybe even bring in the game Operation and teach children how to play!

For your Third/Fourth Grade Class

5. Misty Copeland:

Misty Copeland is my personal favorite because she is truly empowering. I highly recommend reading her autobiography on your own! Misty Copeland is the first African American dancer to be promoted to the role of “principal” with the American Ballet Theatre, and only the third African American dancer to earn the role of principal in any major company. Misty Copeland not only breaks color barriers but body type barriers, considering she is not the average ballerina body type.

Talk to your children about Misty Copeland’s story (there are plenty of youtube videos!) Discuss how she was discriminated against for her skin color and body type, and that even today this still happens. Focus on the fact that discrimination shouldn’t deter you from your dreams.

For writing, have children complete any of the following prompts: “Thank you Misty for..” “When I grow up I want to…..” or  “If I could change one thing in the world…” Complete the writing process with these and hang them up on a bulletin board for everyone to see!

Get your third and fourth graders involved in the world of dance! Turn on some music and have a dance party to celebrate Misty’s accomplishment, maybe even play some classical music for a few minutes and examine the style of ballet. You can expand this to other styles too for a broader scope.

6. Guion Bluford Jr. and  Mae Jemison

              

Guion Bluford Jr (fun fact he’s from Philadelphia PA!). and Mae Jemison are the first African American man and woman to travel into space in 1983 and 1992, respectively.

Talk all about space with your children! Have students chose one to research (you can provide pre-selected links to help), and write a one page report on them. After the writing process is complete hang them up on a bulletin.

In science, students can learn all about space travel and some fun facts about space. Watch videos of space shuttles being launched into space. After, have them construct a model of a space shuttle!

I hope these give you some ideas to really make Black History come alive for your students. Remind your students that Black History does NOT end at slavery or civil rights. African Americans are so much more than that, and have contributed- and will continue to contribute- to the world with great talents.

Have any ideas for Black History Month? Do you agree or disagree with the ideas in this post? Share your thoughts with me in the comments!