Are your upper elementary students already familiar with popular Black History figures? Are you struggling to make a plan for this year?
If you teach upper elementary the odds are that your students have already learned about Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, and Thurgood Marshall. This does not mean that they are not important, they are vital to our students’ education, but there are many other inspirational and influential African-Americans that we can learn about in our classroom during Black History Month and throughout the rest of the year.
At the end of the day, Black History is American History. We owe it to ourselves and our students to learn about influential African-Americans all year long, not just during February.
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Ask Your Students What They Know & What They Want To
In order to accommodate their passion for learning, I created these jigsaw resources with each of these categories in mind. I tried to include some of the more popular historical figures as well as some that they might not have known about.
Bring in Literature
If you are looking for a more familiar African-American to share with your students Salt In His Shoes is an excellent example of working hard and being passionate about what you want. It is the story of Michael Jordan, growing up.
There are of course many, many more pieces of literature that make the lives of influential African-Americans come alive. These are just a few of my favorites.
Research
Review

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