I have never been much of a "Groundhog's Day" fan... I think it might be because I still remember having to copy down the looooongest "morning message" EVER on Groundhog's Day when I was in first grade. (I hated that stupid morning message! It took sooooooo long to write... I liked reading it... but we had to copy it down... and I hated copying it. I remember being 6 years old and vowing that when I grew up and became a teacher I would never make my students copy down a long, boring morning message... a vow I am proud to say I have kept for all 17 years of my teaching career.) Anyway, my daughter's preschool teacher must be a fan of Groundhog's Day because she delivered such an enthralling lesson that my 4 year old could not sleep the night before Groundhog's Day. Seriously. She kept popping up her little head excidedly whispering, "Mommy, I am TOO EXCITED TO SLEEP! I just don't know if that guy is going to see his shadow or not... I can't wait!". Precious. Apparently he saw his shadow (so I hear...). She was very satisfied. However, we aren't too concerned either way since our air conditioning is on and our flip flops are in regular rotation here in sunny Florida.
While February, in my classroom, does not begin with lessons about rodents predicting the weather ;) it DOES bring some of my very favorite lessons of the year! As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, I jump start my Black History Month unit with Martin Luther King day. I really love focusing on Black History Month in my classroom. It has become one of my favorite times of the year... it is right up there with teaching about Growth Mindset, Women's History and Veterans Day. I L-O-V-E finding ways to inspire my little students!
So, I thought I would share some of my favorite ideas and activities for Black History Month in primary classrooms. Here we go!
This is a bulletin board that I put together in the front office of our school this year.
On the bulletin board I posted these "Biography Briefs". I created these a few years ago and I really, really love them. There are 28 different African Americans featured. There are athletes, scientists, educators, politicians, civil rights activists, and so many more incredibly inspirational people! Here they are featured on one board all together- but I originally created them so I could introduce one new person for each day in February.
My friend Charlotte is teaching third grade this year. She decided to present all the cards to her students and to let them each choose one person that they would like research further.
The "biography brief" cards can be purchased on their own and are a great starting point for any Black History unit or research project. They are also offered in a Black History Month Bundle that includes reading passages, text dependent questions and writing prompts that can be used along with the cards for student research. (This is especially helpful for young students who are new to research.)
The reading passages are differentiated. Each article is written on 3 different levels of text and vocabulary complexity. This will help your students to work independently and provides deep content at early and transitional reading levels.
Here are some other FREE Black History Month resources that you might find helpful :)
This is a great Martin Luther King Jr. book being read on Reading Rainbow
This one is Kid President talking about Martin Luther King Jr. (I LOVE, love, love Kid President!)
Great cartoon about Jackie Robinson's life.
Great cartoon to introduce students to Frederick Douglass and abolition.
Introduce your students to the struggles that Oprah Winfrey overcame to achieve her current success.
This video gives an overview of the fascinating life of inventor George Washington Carver.
This video is a great read aloud of the book The ABCs of Black History.
How are you teaching your students about Black History Month? I would love to hear some new ideas! I will be popping in again later this week with a few more ideas and some examples of student work. I hope that some of these resources or ideas help you to inspire your students to "think outside the box" and find ways to make the world a better place!
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