Free, Printable Black History Worksheets

Schoodoodle has a free, printable booklet full of worksheets about African-American historical figures.  This is perfect not only for Black History Month lessons, but also for any time you want reading comprehension activities or a spotlight on important people in American history.

The booklet contains exercises on people like:

• Frederick Douglass
• Benjamin Banneker
• Ida B. Wells-Barnett
• Bessie Coleman

... and many more!

Not only do the worksheets include reading comprehension skill questions, vocabulary practice, etc. but they also include writing prompts that make extensions easy for each activity.  Thanks to Schoodoodle for providing the resource!

-Veronica

Register for a Live Webcast Celebrating Freedom Rides

The National Museum of American History is presenting a live webcast on Feb. 9 that is available for middle and high school classrooms.  From the website:  "Freedom Rides veterans Congressman John Lewis, D-GA, Diane Nash, Jim Zwerg, and Reverend James Lawson will share how they became involved in the Freedom Rides and how their lives were affected by them. They will join filmmaker Stanley Nelson and scholar Raymond Arsenault to discuss the meaning of the Freedom Rides and the role of young people in shaping America’s past and future."

Register here for the webcast, a teacher's guide, and view this special video about the Freedom Rides, an important part of American history:

Are Black Authors in Your Class Library?

Black History Month gives an opportunity to assess how much diversity we promote each day.  If you look in your classroom library, do you know how many black authors are represented?  If you were asked to list some of your favorite black authors of children books, or some popular books for children with black characters, could you readily respond?


If you need some help in this area, try The Brown Bookshelf is the place for you.  As I posted during Hispanic Heritage Month, it's good to have a list of books that showcase diversity for your students.  The Brown Bookshelf provides just that, complete with author interviews, book reviews and tons of information about black authors and illustrators.  If you're looking for books about black characters or by black authors and illustrators, chances are likely that this blog can help you in your quest.  The blog also is making February their 28 Days Later initiative , which they describe as "a month-long showcase of the best in Picture Books, Middle Grade and Young Adult novels written and illustrated by African Americans."


I'm always impressed when I visit classes and schools that have a broad representation of authors and characters in their books:  male and female, different cultures and ethnicities, socio-economic backgrounds, etc.  It's part of helping students become better readers and recognizing the value in people's differences.  The Brown Bookshelf is just one resource that helps teachers in that regard.




-Veronica

image:  microsoft

Decorate Your Door for Black History Month

Check out this inspirational Schooltube video from Edwards Middle School.  In it, you see footage of the entire school participating in a door-decorating contest to celebrate Black History Month.  Each class chose a person to highlight, worked together on different components of their door design, and showcased their best efforts for judging.  

I like this project because it provides a good research activity, gets students working actively and cooperatively, and it gets the whole school involved in acknowledging an essential part of American history.  Plus, I bet the kids had some fun!  Another good thing is that the concept could be adapted to fit any other special concept you want students to highlight (for instance, a time period in history or an author study).  

I also found another good link with a door decorated to resemble a book by a Black author.  Could you organize this activity for your school or grade?  How great would it be to have students take a tour of the Black History Month “exhibits” and jot down notes about interesting things they learned, possibly as a springboard for further study?   How will you celebrate Black History Month?