African American history is celebrated every year during February. Why not all year long? African American history has existed as long as America. If you are looking to add more African American History in your classroom, there are a multitude of resources available.
No matter whether you are looking for general African American history resources or subject-specific resources, there is something for every classroom. Of course, there are history resources for all kinds of topics from slavery, to national parks, to the Great Depression, to social justice! The Library of Congress has digital collections to assist in teaching a variety of topics, from baseball to zines. Take a trip to an African American History museum in your area. Read a book about black history! Have some fun in math class with a rap video about African American mathematicians. Discuss African-American pioneers of science during science. Try out STEM activities that celebrate African American history. Explore African American art. Teach your students about the influence of African American music. Choose a weekly or monthly event to highlight. Find a lesson plan that works for your classroom and teach one.
Want to try something interactive? There are many activities available. Quick games like a history challenge, matching, and name that person are fun activities where students can learn and test their knowledge at the same time. Engage students with an interactive timeline or audio recordings. Students can be history detectives with activities and games where they explore African American history using clues and primary sources. There are also options for more immersive/longer-term activities. More Than a Mapp is a free app used to discover and contribute to African American history where you live that uses location to reveal black history in your city, and allows you to upload map points of your own. Third and Long is an interactive student workbook that engages students via numerous creative activities and functions including interactive timelines, photo galleries, articles, infographics, primary source documents, and videos that uses professional football to explore the history of civil rights and racial progress in America.
African American history is American history and should be celebrated throughout the year. TeachersFirst has many classroom resources as well as blog posts available to spark some ideas for your classroom. Let this Black History Month be your starting point!
(This post was updated February 2022)